Anastasia Duckworth | Undergraduate Portfolio Georgia Institute of Technology | School of Architecture
Academic Projects
Personal Projects | Artwork
Mapping the Immateriality of Light | Velux Competition Paris, FR
“Literal transparency is of course notoriously difficult (as Pei himself admitted) to attain; it quickly turns into obscurity (its apparent opposite) and reflectivity (it’s reverse). Transparency converts into translucency, and this into darkness and obscurity. The inherent quality of absolute transparency is to turn into its opposite, reflectivity.� - A. Vidler: The Architectural Uncanny
The focus of this project is on natural light as the generator of a spatial experience that changes with time. Architecture is engaged as a molding of space and light, acting as a mediator between the occupant and the outside world. Architecture becomes both the mediator and the framework through which natural light plays an intangible and ever-changing role. The design directs a space to respond to the ephemeral quality of natural light, attempting to emphasize the immateriality of light through its materialization. The architecture, acting as both medium and framework for natural light, allows the generation of a path and direction of a space by natural light. This mapping is emphasized as a momentary phenomenon. The monumentality of light is expressed by viewing natural light as a material phenomenon. Light as a Solid and Void engaged questions of density and weight in experiencing lighting phenomenon. Light as a void in a solid substance can make the negative appear to be solid when viewed from certain angles. The question of framing, materiality, and medium through which natural light is experienced constitutes the experimentation for this project. The inherent quality of change is implied in the continuity of form.
This investigation began with explorations of lighting and transparency in the everyday. I photographed myself blowing bubbles inside of bubbles and documented the temporal qualities of maintaining this action. Lighting was explored as a chance to illuminate the fleeting moments in which the layers of bubble within bubble were visible. This transformed into a study of transparency and spaces, and the use of natural and artificial light as the generators of spatial experiences that changed with time. The bubbles generated explorations into gradients of light, suspension, lighting and framing, and light as a framing element. I constructed diagrammatic study models to begin mapping daylight through changes in illumination along conductive planar surfaces as the light changes and passes overhead throughout the day. I proposed a series of day lighting pavilions in which to explore light as a spatial experience. These pavilions will be situated in the public park centered along the Seine in the 15th arrondissement.
Appalachian Trail Outpost | Walasi Yi Interpretive Center Blood Mountain | Neels Gap, GA
The Appalachian Trail, or alternatively America’s first trail, is one of the longest continuously marked hiking trails in the world. Measuring over 2100 miles, the Trail traverses 14 states along the Appalachian mountain range from the northern terminus at Katahdin, Maine, to its southern terminus at Springer Mountain, Georgia. Envisioned as a “sky-line” trail, it employs the highest route available, following the ridge lines of the Appalachians and marked with white rectangular blazes. First proposed in 1921 as a refuge from the industrialized city centers, the Trail was envisioned as a path connecting a series of farming, work, and study camps along the ridges of the Appalachian mountains. “An Appalachian Trail: A Project in Regional Planning” was published in the Journal of the American Institute of Architects, outlining a proposal in which hiking was an incidental focus. The focus later shifted towards hiking and conservation, with the Trail being completed in 1937, and managed by the National Parks Service and volunteers from the Appalachian Trail Conservancy. The Walasi Yi Interpretive Center is located on the Blood Mountain Archeological Area in the Chatahoochee National Forest. Blood Mountain marks the highest point of the trail, and is the only place along the 2100 miles where the trail passes through a man-made structure. Situated at Neels Gap, the site rests on a geographical “saddle”, providing an ideal lookout post. Attracting everyone from day-hikers to thru-hikers, out on the trail for months at a time, the Center is ideally situated as an outfitters for all your trail needs. The outfitters contains a grocery store, trail gear, repair kits, general supplies, and a post office to have supplies waiting for pick up or for sending back superfluous gear. There is also a small hostel which includes indoor facilities for showering and laundry. I proposed a limited intervention, working with and around the existing structure, as the Walasi Yi Interpretive Center is a registered historic building. My goal was to repurpose and update the existing structure, adding additional outpost facilities and expanding upon the popular hostel. The proposal played with the idea of trailblazing and focused on the point at which the Trail passed through the Center. My goal was to intervene at the point where the trail touched the structure, marking the spot as a giant trail blaze. As well as introduce additional sleeping facilities to expand upon the existing hostel, where one could be close enough to the community without completely abandoning the camping aspect.
The project began with an exploration of the site, documented in a book of diagrams and sketches of my experience along this particular stretch of the Appalachian Trail. I documented the approach towards the Center from both sides of the Trail, and included my own impressions of the point of contact between the existing structure and the Trail. I further explored this approach and point of contact through a series of sketch models. These study models evolved into a larger site model in which the additions act as both a frame and blaze to mark the Trail and its passage through the site. The elevated walkway above the Trail acts as both a landmark and a lookout post, from which you can see both down the valley or up the mountain, as it is situated directly in the saddle.
Plan
Section
Ways of Seeing | Visual Practice | Image-Making exercise in lenticular device making and manipulation
This investigation began with an interpretation of the instruments and experimental research of Sir Charles Wheatstone and Sir David Brewster on binocular vision and depth perception, in particular, the Wheatstone Stereoscope. This optical instrument addresses the binocular disparity resulting from the horizontal separation of the left and right eye, in which the two eyes form different images of any objects which are near enough to have dissimilar perspective projections, uniting into one image the two representations as seen by each eye separately. Wheatstone theorized that the mind was able to fuse dissimilar images into a single object, resulting in a perception of space encompassing depth, solidity, and relief. He determined that complete fusion of the image does not take place, as it is always possible to distinguish the distinct retinal impressions through axial adjustments. Singleness and depth therefore followed stimulation of slightly disparate retinal points. Published in 1833, Wheatstone states the principle upon which the stereoscope is constructed, where “A solid object, being so placed as to be regarded by both eyes, projects a different perspective figure on each retina; now if these two perspectives be actually copied on paper, and presented one to each eye, so as to fall on corresponding parts, the original solid figure will be apparently reproduced in such a manner that no effort of the imagination can make it appear as a representation of a plane surface”. My own investigation into binocular vision began with constructions in which I attempted to physically combine separate images and overlap them in such a way as to investigate how one perceives the overlapped image. How one could decipher a “whole” from a “part” of an image, and the visual cues that we take to determine whether an image is complete. I proposed a collapse of legibility, beginning with the illegible image overlap, and moving towards the legible. Visual cues such as colors, shapes, contrast, and directionality began to determine legibility. In the earliest constructions, the spacing is uniform, and the subtraction of alternating pieces has been replaced by corresponding substitutions from an additional image. An early construction replaced the working plane with a reflective surface, that of a mirror. This introduced a new dimension of interaction in which the observed image alternated between an applied surface and the depth created by the mirror plane. One must actively engage in deciding between viewing the applied image and the image reflected back to the viewer. The resultant image alternates dependent upon the plane of focus. The introduction of the mirrored surface as a reflecting plane to substitute for a lenticular lens resulted in a further collapse of legibility. The distancing of panes between surfaces results in a space in which depth becomes the image. What is reflected comes to the forefront, and the applied image becomes the new framework.
Le Chemin de fer de Petite Ceinture | the abandoned beltline of Paris proposal for the re-appropriation of abandoned rail lines in central Paris, FR
The Petite Ceinture is a circular rail line that follows one of the ancient walls in the heart of the city. From the mid 19th century to the early 20th century, the line connected the main railway stations within the fortified walls of the city. This central beltline is comprised of almost 20 miles of abandoned tracks that are only occasionally glimpsed when walking about Paris. People are drawn to this abandoned wilderness in the heart of Paris, a city with limited green space. Isolated and largely invisible from street level, the railway is encased in long tunnels, deep cuttings, and bridges. It was abandoned with the advent of the underground Metro. Largely forgotten, the city continued to build up around it. Elevated, depressed, or underground, one only catches glimpses of this central beltline. My site proposal makes the assumption that these abandoned tracks of the Petite Ceinture will eventually become integrated into the public realm, maintaining much of the same appeal, and employed as a promenade and public park. Accessibility is an issue in terms of immediate public access. The city fabric has built up around the tracks with no attempts to integrate these lines into the neighborhoods. There are steep drops in levels as well as walls, streets, tunnels, fences and bridges separating the pedestrian from the rail level. Throughout the city there are limited points of access in which the pedestrian plane comes within a few vertical feet of the beltline, and a quick leap can bridge the gap. One can occasionally find abandoned service stairways leading down to the tracks as well. I proposed to introduce a point of access that acts as a living wall and beacon to announce accessibility to my particular site along the Petite Ceinture. The structure can act as an exchange and communications board between the neighborhood and others along the path, creating a dialogue between those at this junction, and others from neighborhoods bordering the railway. My goal is to provide public access while maintaining the wilderness sensibilities of the path that already act as a huge draw to the population.
Site Plan | Rail Plan | Site Sections
Plan | Elevation | Sections
Community Swimming Center at Plaza Fiesta Buford Highway | Atlanta, GA
“He scanned its length and felt connected to it, sharing the surface and the environment that came into contact with the surface, from both sides. A surface separates inside from out and belongs no less to one than the other. He’d thought about surfaces in the shower once.� - Don Dellilo The Majority of the inhabitants of this suburban community forgo the automobile, employing public transportation and foot-power to traverse the highway. This neglect of the pedestrian in favor of the automobile is evident in the lack of sidewalks, and size of lots devoted to parking and deliveries. This issue of community accessibility and orientation of the site to Plaza Fiesta, reveals a dialogue between destination and occupation. Occupation resulting from discovery and reflection, and destination as a determined condition. The ambiguous boundaries present within the Plaza work as a medium for discovery. Dynamic occupation, allowing for discovery, can be achieved directly through synchronic alignment and a diachronic path, allowing for views without direct access, implying the act of discovery. The light strategies emerged from a reading of simultaneous inside and outside conditions and intermediate zones discovered in the Plaza and in the site study of airports. I was interested in the relationship between adjacent spaces and the physical medium that connects them. I attempted to use light to render ambiguity of a space. Through these studies, I became more interested in a median plane as occupiable space. I then began to look at the parti as conducive to simultaneous occupation and display. I wanted the pedestrian to reclaim the site and began constructing intermediate zones to allow a transition from Plaza Fiesta to the site. I also engaged the convergence over the site due to air traffic, as relating to a gathering and release. I liked the opportunities this presented for pedestrian interactions and wayfinding, in terms of convergence and redirection. I am interested in the transition between indoor and outdoor space. The entrance condition at Plaza Fiesta is such that one enters the building zone before one is actually inside. This space that is both inside and outside acts as a transition in its removal from the parking area and the outside noise to focus on inside activity, without passing into the interior of the Plaza. I wanted to capture this ambiguity of inside and outside by defining some kind of light experience between the two extremes, attempting to understand how light can define this transition between boundaries to render an ambiguity of inside and outside. My design strategy is to energize the space through particular characteristics and interactions of spacial containment, materiality, and light. My design process began with the construction of the central design element, an occupiable light corridor that transitions between inside and outside. From there, a multitude of quick sketch models emerged, each employing a version of the day lighting element representational of the parti.
plaster cast model of day lighting parti | construction and final model
Plan
Clairemont Elevation
Plaza Elevation
Buford Elevation
Site Plan
Transverse Section
Longitudinal Section
ACA Woodruff Arts Center Competition | 3rd place
Drafting by hand series acid steel plate etching 8.5in x 12in
Drafting by hand series acid steel plate etching 8.5in x 12in
Drafting by hand series acid steel plate etching 8.5in x 12in
Portraits charcoal pencil 8.5in x 11in
Figure and portrait studies pen and marker 8.5in x 11in
Untitled church interior charcoal pencil 8in x 5in
Blind double exposure matte print on photo paper 8.5in x 11in
The dinner party matte print on photo paper 8.5in x 11in
The second shoe matte print on photo paper 8.5in x 11in
Vacuum tubes matte print on photo paper 8.5in x 11in
Radio matte print on photo paper 8.5in x 11in
Rem Koolhaas | McCormick Tribune Campus Center | IIT Interiors Polaroid 4.25in x 3.5in
Rem Koolhaas | McCormick Tribune Campus Center | IIT Interiors Polaroid 4.25in x 3.5in
Rem Koolhaas | McCormick Tribune Campus Center | IIT Exteriors Polaroid 4.25in x 3.5in Mies van der Rohe | S.R. Crown Hall | IIT Exteriors Polaroid 4.25in x 3.5in
Bernard Tschumi | Parc de la Villette | Paris, FR Follies photograph 7in x 4in