Author: Lexi Lai
Date: Spring 2026
Activity: Independent art program
Medium: Pen, paper, and electronic tablet during the design process; paper and glue for draft designs, and card stock for final output.
Objective: The project sought to build concepts for a wing of a museum. Caracol, or “snail” in Spanish, is my interpretation of that space, inspired from a shell’s expansive space narrowing to a tunnel.
Design Inspirations
I began with drawing illustrations of shells to inspire the built structure, adapting the layered design of the shell.
I designed the layered shapes purposely to direct a visitor’s attention toward the tunnel with a vanishing point inside the museum’s next wing.
Paper Fan Roof
The initial design was a simple unadorned layer which I iterated with horizontal folds and cuts, resulting in a hammered metal appearance. Borrowing from the folding design of Chinese paper fans, I eventually used a folded design requiring a single, half-cut portion of paper with strands folded on top of each other. This had the added benefit of letting in light and providing shelter.
Built Model
Following the snail shell design motif, I purposely designed the layers inside the expansive section to point to the tunnel entryway with a vanishing point inside the museum itself. This is heightened by the concentric vortex of the passage into the museum, deliberately chosen to invite the visitor to enter the museum.
