CRANBROOK NATATORIOUM
A CASE STUDY
ARCH 589:F09 LISA SAUVE ADAM SMITH CHARLIE VENEKLASE
CONTENTS
MEASURE PLAN DETAIL
MODEL
PHOTOGRAPH SEQUENCE
837’
+
MEASURE P1 P2 P3 D1 D2
P1
CRANBROOK CAMPUS AXIS To tie the end of the campus of the “unkempt backyard” Williams and Tsien utilized the main access stretching across the campus. The axis line reaches from the Cranbrook House to the bent arm of the Cranbrook Natatorium. This bent arm is “looking for a weightiness – a pressing down – and then a release” says Billie Tsien. The entire project relates back to the site, either within a horizontal axis or the vertical relationship between ground and air.
NATATORIUM
WEST
GRAND ALLE
LIBRARY
+
CRANBROOK HOUSE
MAIN AXIS
+
3째 MUSEUM
EAST
P2
ARM BEND DETAIL PLAN
“The long bent site wall serves the building as well as the landscape. It provides an end to a long grass courtyard designed but not completed by Saarinen and contains an inclined walk and stairway. They lead to an enclosed bridge that connects to the existing locker rooms and the playing fields beyond.�
-Tod Williams + Billie Tsien
P3
CIRCULATION EXPERIENCE SECTION PLAN
The path of the axis then continues through the architecture. The continual path enters the building and leads the user through the condition of the bent arm and into the natatorium. This path is a continuous stream of consciousness that does not break from beginning to end. The offset of the entrance from the axis shift the user into a new path and then folds itself back through the original axis of the campus. The new addition to the Cranbrook Academy campus connects and responds to the conditions of the context as well as makes new relationships inward on its own details.
AX
IS
PR
ES
SU
FIG.1 GLAZED & BRICK EXTERIOR
RE
FIG.2 GLAZED BRICK INTERIOR
D1
BRICK DETAIL @ BEND
AX
IS
RE
LE
AS
E
BRICK STUDY MODELS @ BEND
D2
SECTION DETAIL @ CRITICAL THRESHOLD
MODEL
SECTION CUT EXPERIENCE PATH
THE MODEL IS A SINGLE PATHWAY THROUGH THE BUILDING. BEGINNING AT THE ENTRANCE, DOWN THE RAMP, THROUGH THE LOCKER ROOM AND INTO THE POOL. THE SECTION DEMONSTRATES THE TOPOGRAPHIC CHANGE IN ELEVATION AS ONE PROCEEDS THROUGH THE RITUAL OF TRAVELING TO THE POOL AREA.
4’ X 4’ MDF BASE HARDWOOD MODEL LASER CUT CHARCOAL
THE MODEL IS HINGED AT EACH TURN TO ALLOW FOR IT TO BE EXPERIENCED IN A CONTINUOUS SECTION FROM START TO FINISH.
BUILD SEQUENCE
COLOPHON © 2009 ADAM SMITH, LISA SAUVE, CHARLIE VENEKLASE TAUBMAN COLLEGE OF ARCHITECTURE @ THE UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN ARCH 589: SITE OPERATIONS