Located on the Stanford University campus, the single-story sanctuary completes the lifelong dream of artist Nathan Oliveira, who died in 2010 after teaching at Stanford for three decades. The team created a technology–free space for people in the Stanford community to relax and meditate. There is no Wi-Fi or cell-phone service.
The team used ancient construction techniques. Natural-color, rammed-earth walls, which form a backdrop for a series of the artist’s paintings, also serve as a thermal barrier. Wall colors, chosen to augment earth tones in the paintings, required the team to find soils from quarries all over the state. Crews also incorporated soil excavated on site during construction of the footings.