The new fall quarter coincided with both the need to conduct studies from home due to COVID-19 and a growing personal interest in the philosophy of phenomenology, aided by coursework in the subject. After being assigned a research project sited atop the Hearst Castle's Cuesta Encantada, the studio was invited to choose between designing either an observatory or a cultural research center near the site's long-deprecated bear enclosures. Formerly envisioned by the virtuosic talent of Julia Morgan to gratify Hearst's will to enchant visitors with a barrage of exotic animals, the somewhat ill-conceived project was inevitably decommissioned as the man's finances soured and the vision of hosting so many disparate wild creatures fell short of ambitions. Regardless, the monolithic concrete structures still stand today, begging an imaginative renewal which might restore the original splendor of Hearst's high-octane imagination while offering a pointed response to the lavish grandeur of his nearby fortress of solitude.

Zen Science sees the Castle's obsession with ornament, textural cacophony, and experiential overload as symptoms of detrimental, capitalistic miserliness. As a spiritual and tectonic counterweight to its artifice, this project represents a concerted effort to maintain stereotomic sincerity. Monumental concrete surfaces unwind from the contours of the extant bear enclosures, creating a system of radiating concentric arcs in plan which translate to various sectional changes in plane. Visitors are invited upon entry to traverse a bridge over a reflecting pool in one atrium of the enclosures, and are guided through a stepped labyrinth of planes which act as a series of roofs for casual visitors seeking a splendid mountainside view, and as shelter for regulars and Hearst Castle employyes looking to grab a warm meal from the interior cafe. Motifs of ruptures throughout the site create breaks in anticipated surfaces, extending out towards the sky to form observation decks for pedestrians and even a small outdoor stage for interactive lectures. Removed from the main site is a subterranean hostel, allowing nightly visitors hoping to immerse themselves in the project's astronomical thema a chance to forego a trip back down the mountain in favor of cozy domiciles with skylights that pierce the ground plane to transmit sky views. The project's centerpiece is the outdoor amphitheater, accessed either by winding underground tunnel-meets-ramp-meets-art-gallery or from the project's cliffside gardens to offer a cosmic connection during intimate nocturnal performances.