August R Rulewich architecture portfolio
Cover Page: Analytical drawing of generative joint (Key Points - Pavilion)
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aXis
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BLURRED BOUNDARIES
A DISSOLUTION OF BEASTS
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FILTRATION
26 KEY POINTS
28 TECHNICAL DRAWINGS
29 OTHER WORK
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A DISSOLUTION OF BEASTS
A DISSOLUTION OF BEASTS EXAMINING SITE ACROSS SPACE AND TIME Along the shores of Western Europe lie the remnants of the Atlantic Wall, a string of bunkers and fortifications built by Nazi occupation during WWII. This “wall” stretched from the northern tip of Norway all the way south to the Spanish-French border. Though terrible in its intent, the attention to detail on such a massive scale is quite a feat. However, as geographies shift, so too do the structures above. In the dash to construct the fortifications, many were built without foundations. With rising tides and receding shorelines, these monoliths have slid, rotated, crumbled, been buried or exposed, and in some cases removed completely. The result is a strange field of beached whales, these structures once commanding strength and power now sitting as curious artifacts of a context no longer existing.
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One particularly concentrated fortification lies at Berck, just south of Calais, France. As with many cases, the structures here have been abandoned and ignored, addressed formally only when safety necessitated their removal. But this proposal in no way seeks to argue against this abandonment – in many ways it should be celebrated. Instead what is of interest is how the push and pull of time and the sea has played out across the forms, and how they may continue to do so.
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[a] Collapsed and broken bunker Bunker B2. Panoramio. <http://www. panoramio.com/photo/19813421>. [b] Rotated bunker 2014. Bunker Berck 2. D-503. <http://d-503.com/illuviation/ bunkerberck-2/>. [c] Full site, looking south Bunkers Berck Sur Mer. Panoramio. <http://www.panoramio.com/ photo/11427585>.
This Page: [d] Methods of shifting [e] Full site plan, showing data in space and time.
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A DISSOLUTION OF BEASTS
This Page: [a] Full site model
Opposite: [b] Site model detail shot, looking south [c] Site model detail shot, looking north [d] Object iteration matrix a
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A DISSOLUTION OF BEASTS
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This Page: [a] Exterior render, looking towards Berck [b] Interior render, illustrating lighting condition [c] Surface elevations Opposite:
[d] Process of transformation [e] Sectional relationship between typical bunker and object [f] Plan relationship between typical bunker and object
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When one goes to Berck, and walks through the field of bunkers and battlements just north of town, it is quite clear that the passing of time has had a profound affect on their character. What is less clear is how these effects have moved across their surfaces and the surface of the shore. At first glance, the fragments of concrete appear haphazardly strewn about, but quite rapidly an understanding of logic begins to emerge. Given the obscurity of time, however, this pattern is never fully viewed as a complete system - one sees the affects it has rendered on the site and its objects, but not the system itself. The goal then is to begin to peel back the layers of time, to reveal some of these processes, and to afford additional layers of understanding and appreciation for the site and the systems of time. Through the introduction of new forms, a series of way-points can serve as guides for the site, an instrument of index, allowing visitors to more readily understand the methods of change at work. New layers of data are revealed, through placement of object and formal language, as new and old speak to each other and additional information is exposed.
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As one moves from point to point, through the introduction of light and shell and space, one can see the complex with new eyes, from its past to its present, and ideally, into the future. For as the rising tides draw ever nearer, the dance of these strange beasts will continue, now with new dancers, until eventually, all will disappear into the sea.
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This Page: [a] Overall axonometric view, looking south-west
BLURRED BOUNDARIES
Opposite: [b] Interior atrium render [c] Exterior render, looking east
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BLURRED BOUNDARIES - NATIONAL FORESTRY LABORATORY OF HALIFAX, NOVA SCOTIA (in collaboration with Sara Neyman) The new National Forestry Lab of Halifax, NS looks to re-imagine the integration of the secured laboratory program into the larger urban fabric. The building blurs physical boundaries between outside and inside as well as the intangible boundaries between laboratory space and open urban areas. The buildingâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s main function is the research and application of forest biomes relevant to our modern urban lifestyle. Through its landscape, façade, and circulation, the laboratory exist as an extension of the city. b
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BLURRED BOUNDARIES
SPATIAL ORGANIZATION
The secured and unsecured programs are situated at opposite ends of the mass, with interstitial program occupying the center space. This helps to facilitate integration and interaction at a very basic spatial level, with interior circulation interlocking the 3 disparate parts.
OPENING OF SOLIDS
To help integrate the collective atrium and circulation space, the solid lab block is broken apart and lifted up above the main level. This allows for users to physically move within and under the volume, and provides views of the testing lab below.
URBAN SEQUENCE
The site sits directly between Citadel Hill and the Halifax Central Library. The building then functions as a green “bridge,”absorbing the exterior inward as people move along and across. This allows the atrium to become an interstitial space between interior and exterior, bringing the landscape up and throughout the building’s volume.
THE POROUS FACADE
Porosity and absorption are achieved through the use of controlled façade. The interior lab skin is the most solid to maintain a level of security. As this façade wraps around the office side, it opens to allow for a more public interaction.. The atrium façade then wraps this mass, functioning more as a screen than a surface.
REINTEGRATION
To allow for the researchers and staff to reintegrate with the public realm, terraces at each level bring the research space out from the volume and into the void, without compromising the lab’s security – and in the case of the exterior terrace, out into the city completely.
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[a] Section diagrams illustrating each of the 5 points [b] Site plan, showing lower and upper levels across slanted site
This Page: [c] Interior atrium render, showing the main circulatory stair
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BLURRED BOUNDARIES This Page: [a] Transverse section through atrium and lab block Opposite: [b] Render of north-eastern corner [c] Night render of western facade [d] Diagram illustrating shifting of floors within lab block [e] Site map [f] Detail section illustrating construction of glulam beam on western facade (screen) 14
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BLURRED BOUNDARIES
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All images photographs of final sectional model, 1:50 scale. Final model dimensions: 4 ft long x 3 ft wide x 5 ft tall (including base) [a] Detail of rear terrace [b] Overall section [c] Western screen facade [d] Detail of main stair and lab terraces [e] Detail of courtyard and entry to atrium [f] Detail of courtyard to atrium to lower lab connection [g] Overall sectional model
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This Page: [a] Axonometric view of gatehouse and wall [b] Front elevation
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Opposite: [c] Upper floor plan of gatehouse [d] Perspective views illustrating approach up to and passage through gate
aXis - GATEHOUSE AND LIBRARY FOR LE CORBUSIERâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;S ATMA BUILDING
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Stage One of the project saw the designing of a gatehouse for the existing Mill Ownerâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Building (or ATMA) by Le Corbusier in Ahmedabad, India. Currently, the building is situated far back from the road, and is essentially non-existent within the city fabric. Our gatehouse not only had to provide a secure entry into the site but also sought to bring the people from the city into the building itself, through the use of shifting views and utilizing the gatehouse itself as a focal point for entry.
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Stage Two focused on the design of a library / exhibition space situated directly between ATMA and the Sarambathi riverfront. Beyond this primary function, the building attempted to utilize the site as a direct connection between the riverfront and the city proper. Thus, the design functioned as both stationary space as well as that of entry. Formal organization was influenced heavily by the urban order of classical Indian cities, as well as that of the ghats from Varanasi. These ghats, or â&#x20AC;&#x153;gatesâ&#x20AC;?, consist of varying steps and terraces, allowing for the river to become a direct connection to the surrounding urban fabric as people move up and down for religious activities or simply to bathe and wash clothing. This system was then organized around a central axis, a direct extension of the ramp at ATMA, off of which the spaces broke apart into smaller, more specific functions.
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Opposite: [a] Ghats at Varanasi [b] Representative Floor Plan (middle level)
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[c] Ghats at Varanasi [d] Thumbnail sketches of circulation through library site [e] Rendered site plan showing gate house (left) and library complex (right)
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Opposite: [a] Rendered exterior as seen from the Sarambathi River [b] Longitudinal Section showing relation of gate house (left) and library (right) to existing ATMA building (center)
This Page: [c] Rendered exterior view as seen from ATMA [d] Various exterior views of library complex, showing passage through the site
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[EMBED]
This Page:
[a] East-West section showing Black Box and Theater relationship [b] Daylighting study model [c] Sectional study model [d] Render of southern entrance, looking into the interior courtyard (main level)
Opposite: [e] Massing model [f] Representative plan (main entry level)
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[EMBED] - PERFORMANCE CENTER FOR MADISON WISCONSIN Stereotypically, a performance hall is meant to curate an experience of the performance within, allowing for complete user immersion. However, many performance halls lack any sort of proper extension of this experience - one can never fully remove themselves from the outside world. Here, the design seeks to cultivate and nurture a more full and complete experience of the performance, allowing for the user to more absolutely remove themselves, and yet still maintaining a secondary connection to the city. The central courtyard of the design serves as a secondary “street” off of which the main performance halls are located – the journey to them, while not excessive, requires purpose and effort, passing through multiple interior and exterior spaces at different levels. This serves to prolong the transition from the city at large to the city of the performance, allowing for a more complete mental shift into the space.
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FILTRATION
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This Page: [a] Developable Column, plans and elevations [b] Developable Column, method of assembly [c] Generative cube, stacked taskboard model Opposite: [d] Night render from below [e] Residency, polygonal section model
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FILTRATION - STORM KING ARTIST RESIDENCY Antoine Pevsner’s Developable Column easily illustrates the idea of an “inverse column” - a column generated from the surface rather than the interior, a column implied, but not created. Using this as a jumping point, a method of circulatory filtration became the guiding principle for a proposed artist residency at the Storm King Art Center in New Windsor, NY. The negative space created by the column’s surface became a center of flow infiltrating the entire mass of the building, pulling and guiding the public through the space. The living and work space for the artists in residence was then located above and below this circulation, with a separation via wall and floor to provide privacy for the artist while still allowing the public to enter and experience the building. e
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KEY POINTS
KEY POINTS - PAVILION The joint (seen above) began the process of organization, exploring a small box and how it could be assembled, disassembled, and what held it together. From this, the idea of a key, or anchor, stayed throughout the project, as did the necessity of assembly. The joint was then broken up into various modules, which when arranged created multiple pods, each held to the landscape via a large anchor or key. Originally the modules were to become movable platforms throughout the site in downtown Troy, NY, but this quickly changed to the concept of each pod disassembling into its constituent modules, to allow new forms to take place as the users desired.
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This Page: [a] Beginning joint, assembled (left) and exploded (right) [b] Beginning joint, abstract perspectives [c] Final pavilion model, fully assembled [d] Final pavilion model, partially assembled (top), and base folded for transport (bottom)
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TECHNICAL DRAWINGS
TECHNICAL DRAWINGS
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Technical Drawings: As a first look into the world of technical detailing, this class also showed us the importance of hand drawing. The necessity of proper line-weights, material, and labeling/lettering quickly became apparent. Here, the project was to properly detail a building wall corner through axon and section, utilizing a facade system and illustrating its connection to the structure beneath.
Detailed axon and plan of a corner condition, showing foundation, two floors, and roof, as well as assembly details.
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OTHER WORK a
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[a] Sketch of the Golden Temple, Amritsar (pen) [b] Ainslee (charcoal, chalk) [c] Room 110, To Scale (ceramic) [d] Kahn (charcoal, chalk)
This Page: [e] Silence (graphite) [f] Still Life with Eye (graphite) [g] Distortion (charcoal, chalk)
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August Rezendes Rulewich Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute School of Architecture class of 2017
(413) 522-8804 arulewich17@gmail.com www.arrulewich.com 375 West Mountain Road Bernardston, MA 01337
Self Portrait in Ink (felt-tip pen, India ink).