Community | a collection of selected designs

COMMUNITY a collection of selected designs Alexander Dever University of Florida Bachelor of Design

Master of Architecture First-Professional

COMMUNITY a collection of selected designs

1. IMAGE + SUBJECT |

Hell’s Kitchen, Manhattan, New York, USA

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2. SECTIONAL CONSIDERATIONS |

Hell’s Kitchen, Manhattan, New York, USA

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Projects from lower division design

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San Martín de las Cañas, Jalisco, Mexico

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Charleston, South Carolina, USA

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Making

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3. COLLECTION | 4. LANDSCAPE | 5. UNION | 6. TECTONIC |

one

IMAGE + SUBJECT Hell’s Kitchen, Manhattan, New York, USA

TITLE COURSE YEAR CRITIC

design seven arc 4322 fall 2009 levent kara

* designed in collaboration with Jason Aberman

“It is necessary to establish that the mechanism of repetition and difference that underlies works of this type is exclusively the result of an operation that begins and ends in the subject. This result reproduces for us a metaphorical image of the subject’s own recollection, bathed in the solitude of the anguished situation where all lessons of history have apparently been discarded, and nothing other than individual talent has replaced history to provide guidance for the architect.”

Sola-Morales

IMAGE + SUBJECT is initiated with the investigation of an urban environment unveiling a variety of characteristics. Satiated with conditions and assemblages, what is Architecture’s role in this urban culture? How has image + subject infiltrated urban culture? In analyzing site conditions and experiencing Manhattan as place, the nature of urban culture is uncovered. A repetitious amount of overbearing structures creeping to the edges of unbound space, subjects [I + others] traversing from one structure to the next, underground and across opaque asphalt, social praxis stripped to cordial chats along the traces of tradition and culture. Is this the way to construct urban culture, where working and residing mesh to shape a hybridized way of dwelling? Is this the cultural ideal [essence], or can novelty be discovered in the image + subject of an urban culture? Can there be innovation in a culture where subjects are prone to responding to the market image? Architecture needs to strive to be the mediator in a network of ideology, designing an image that depicts the subject.

from left to right: northern context; southern context; scale of neighboring building from adjacent park

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left (top to bottom): intrinsic courtyard; interior sunken courtyard; extrinsic courtyard opposite: east faรงade at night

right: example of stitching urban fabric, from the High Line in Chelsea, Manhattan left: conceptual plan opposite: context

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above: conceptual elevation opposite: aerial view below: south elevation

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above (left to right): cross section thru mixed use tower/extrinsic courtyard; cross section thru performance center/commercial tower; cross section thru performance center/intrinsic courtyard below: south longitudinal section

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commercial courtyard; perspective

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interior sunken courtyard; perspective

two

SECTIONAL CONSIDERATIONS Hell’s Kitchen, Manhattan, New York, USA

TITLE COURSE YEAR CRITIC

design seven arc 4322 fall 2009 levent kara

“Architecture is the ultimate erotic act. Carry it to excess and it will reveal both the traces of reason and the sensual experience of space. Simultaneously.”

Bernard Tschumi

SECTIONAL CONSIDERATIONS is a one-month inquiry of the vertical conditions in Manhattan. The study begins with the analysis of David Chipperfield’s BBC Scotland, with emphasis placed on the expression toward the vertical situated along the horizontal. The building is then deconstructed and massaged into an innovative structure, infused with primitive concepts and imposed with novel curiosities. The tectonic traces are explored through an assemblage of scenes captured around and within the structure, related to experience and memory.

north east

south east

north west

south west

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BBC Scotland | David Chipperfield

above: memory assemblage below: considerations opposite: final consideration in context

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three

COLLECTION projects from lower division design

TITLE COURSE YEAR CRITICS

design 1 thru 4 architecture 2007 thru 2008 perez, macleod, tanzer, hailey

“For the beginning is assuredly the end - since we know nothing, pure and simple, beyond our own complexities.�

William Carlos Williams

COLLECTION contains an accumulation of design programmes from initial inquisition of architectural design. A progression through the first four semesters of architectural design study is revealed. The focus is on one portion of each semester: analysis, space making, vertical movement, and intervening.

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three | one

ANALYSIS

design two | macleod

ANALYSIS of pre-existing structures provided the foundation for breaking components down into constituent parts. Outsidein: analysis of form between ground and sky and inside-out: analysis of intervention - the room as a city/the city as a room. Outside-in discusses the organizational, spatial, and tectonic logic and spirit of Villa Bianca by Guiseppe Terragni.

Representation of spatial relationships and building language is through articulation of plan and section in a diagrammatic organization. Inside-out is a mapping of Carlo Scarpa’s Fondazione Querini Stampalia in Venice. The plan is the formal convention acting as a navigational and spatial map, creating a rhythm and system of measure. Urban scale in an associated context is discovered through the mapping of spatial itineraries and the role of time and sequence in relation to the public realm.

analysis of Villa Bianca

top view

nesting

analytical model

hierarchy

joint

light

outside v. inside

right: situation in context

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analysis of Querini Stampalia

three | two

CUBE

design one | perez

CUBE is a dynamic spatial composition of relationships.

Acting as a familiar volume it is the initial step taken toward architecture. An A-B-A [6x6x6] composition of spaces were created, where B is the connective piece for the A’s. Exploring issues of primary, secondary, and tertiary spaces, a linear element is implemented to define the composition, punctuating the space, and controlling the dimensions.

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axonometric projection

three | three

VERTICAL design four | hailey

VERTICAL is an intervention in Hong Kong, China.

The programme consists of a veledrome, climbing wall, archery range, and bath house. This intervention questions issues involved in programming spaces, i.e. the relationship between programmes. As well as the integration of a system of elements into a pre-existing structure.

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tai yip | denton corker marshall

three | four

INTERVENTION design three | tanzer

INTERVENTION is a response to the devastation caused by hurricane Katrina in the Lower Ninth Ward of New Orleans, Louisiana. The diversity found within New Orleans between people traversing the same streets, interacting with the same buildings creates a series of differing spatial stories utilizing the same physical spaces. The varying levels of occupation are explored through concepts of permeability where commerce is placed on the ground level, leading to public space and private occupation above.

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four

LANDSCAPE

San Martín de las Cañas, Jalisco, Mexico

TITLE COURSE YEAR CRITIC

design eight arc 4323 summer 2009 alfonso perez

“Architecture is an art when one consciously or unconsciously creates aesthetic emotion in the atmosphere and when this environment produces well being” Luis Barragan

LANDSCAPE contains a community center in San Martín de las Cañas, Jalisco, Mexico. The issue of place-making is explored through the energy provided by haciendas, creating a public space, within a town.

A didactic landscape is the driving force for information in response to ‘placing’. This landscape will create a relationship between the ground, public space, people, and architecture. The community center is a place of public accommodation in rural communities and supplements the development of culture, while becoming part of the landscape and reacting to climate.

from left to right: context, situation on the water’s edge; water as a mediator in the town

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7 am

12 pm

6 pm

a connection is to be established between man and the distant landscape by dissolving any obtrusive structures. The public space is inserted between two structures as they frame the distant view.

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the programme consists of an outdoor public space, indoor public spaces, and private rooms for public utilization.

from left to right: trace of water on material; use of water in museum of anthropology in mexico city; celebration of water on a hacienda in mexico

above: exploded axonometric; structure, programmatic boxes, and roof enclosure below: south elevation

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flux and flow: a public space for freedom incorporated in juxtaposition to the flow of water below: the calligraphy of envelope the piecing together of U-glass to form a playful composition is due to the various manipulations and sizes of the glass. An obsession of the vertical became a strong expression, which is softened by the protrusive programmatic boxes.

five

UNION

Charleston, South Carolina, USA

TITLE COURSE YEAR CRITIC

design six arc 3321 spring 2009 karl thorne

“Form only affects our feelings through what it represents.�

UNION begins in Charleston, South Carolina with the analysis of the city, studying topics of path, tradition, and climate. The programme is a trades union headquarters with leasable office space, an art gallery and screen room, and dwellings. An emphasis is made on the traditional Charleston house with the integration of a southern porch along the east-west axis, responsive to climate.

The mobility of path is expressed through the mysterious enticement of the public.

The union of commercial and public is celebrated in the joint of circulation. Union portrays the culmination of trades and people situated in the Charleston fabric.

Juhani Pallasmaa

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from left to right: engraved path; dichotomy of old and new; charleston house with southern porch along the east-west axis

south elevation

above: south west axonometric; north east axonometric right: massing studies of programme opposite (above): interior perspective opposite: cross section perspective

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ventilated double skin construction

1. restaurant 2. kitchen 3. storage 4. bookstore 5. janitor closet 6. gallery 7. theater 8. meeting hall 9. president’s office 10. secretary’s office 11. building manager’s office 12. vice president’s office 13. employment/registration 14. treasurer/book keeping 15. work room 16. receptionist 17. conference room 18. office space 19. housing

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5

3 1

7

4

2

6

ground level

9

11

10

5

12

17

8 13

14

15

16 open open to below

first level

5 open to below

18

19

18 open 19

fourth level

circulation core; perspective

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courtyard; perspective

six

TECTONIC Making

TITLE COURSE YEAR CRITIC

design eight arc 4323 summer 2009 alfonso perez

“Despite its concern for structure, an emphasis on tectonic form does not necessarily favor either Constructivism or Deconstructivism. In this sense it is astylistic. Moreover it does not seek its legitimacy in science, literature or art.�

Kenneth Frampton

TECTONIC is a focus on the act of making. Programme is absent in the construction of a single space. Topics of primary, secondary, and tertiary structure are explored, followed by issues of enclosure and the calligraphy of the envelope. Joints and connections are integral in the assembly of an architectural pavilion and aid in the cohesive container of space. Gottfried Semper discussed four elements of architecture: hearth, enclosure membrane, framework, and earthwork. These elements were later reinterpreted by Kenneth Frampton as: hearth, envelope, frame, and podium. The hearth of a structure serves as the conceptual entity, the life that is held within (identity), the enclosure membrane (envelope) forms the walls and roof, the framwork (frame) is comprised of the columns and beams, and the earthwork (podium) is the plynth or base. These four elements solidify the tectonic assembly of a pavilion.

identity

envelope

framework

podium

influential methods of making (left to right): stacked slate; woven basket; shark skin

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an analysis of materials, revealing feasibility of construction including: precast concrete pieces, metal sheathing, steel structural elements, and glazing x 8

x 26

x 21

x 14

x 308

x 70

x 6

x 230

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above: south elevation | top | north elevation right: cross section

below: exploded cross section

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exterior envelope

interior envelope

secondary structure

primary structure glazing enclosure lateral stabilization

tertiary structure

floor panels secondary floor structure primary floor structure

footings

above: floorplan opposite: structural elements

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This portfolio is a portrait of the culminating influences of people in my life My wife | this was not possible without her.

My family | their support eased my worries and encouraged me.

My friends | their laughter and insight balanced my chaos.

My professors | who challenged me and instilled theories for design.

My God | without Him, nothing is possible.