architectural portfolio
YOU &YOUR PATCH OF LAWN Columbia
M.Arch Yr. II
w / Grace E. Alli
Georges Teyssot describes the lawn in his book, The American Lawn as a “carefully contrived patch of ‘nature,’ where a multitude of uses and meanings have converged, from domestic haven to civic showplace to economic force and even national playground.” It is that piece of the ‘park’ one keeps up(to) himself, notes Robert Fishman. 1 Often tied to suburbia commodity and ecological monocultures, this project seeks to place the lawn out of context in an urban site in the Bronx, NY. By rendering the surface(s) of the site as new spaces for shared domestic and public activity, the project seeks to provide new re-combinations of ‘lawn’ as shared and private incipient space. In other words, can the lawn, traditionally tied to single family suburban home, fundamentally act as promoter of community and responsibility in the urban? Proposing 280 units of housing (181,000 sf), the project consists of a spectrum of lawns
ranging from vastly mutual to questionably private micro-lawns embedded within each units’ square footage. The space between the blocks forms a kind of residual lawn that provides spaces for porch-like gatherings, markets or amenities. Given it’s misalignment with the urban grid, the project also provides transverse views and circulation into and through the site. The units – ranging from micro studio, studio, 1 bedroom and 2 bedroom – consecutively line up within the mass to form new combinations and carve double-story spaces that re-invent the row house form. By placing these row-like lawns and shared grassy “streets” in an urban fabric, the project ultimately seeks to offer a harmonious gradient encompassing private and communal lawns. 1
Robert Fishman. Bourgeois Utopias, 1987.
site isometric
We began the project with a study of few precedents. First one being the Astor Row in New York and the latter, CUPA, Centro Urbano Presidente Alemán in Mexico City. Located in upper Harlem on west 130th street, Astor Row is a series of 28 row houses grouped in pairs. Unusual for the place and time, the architectural details unique to Astor Row set them apart from other 19th century row-houses with their simple brick facades and broad wood porches with the adjacent yard giving them a rural quality, disparate from the more urban high- stoop brownstones. Astor Row, with their deep front-lawns, recall Harlem’s shift from country town to urban Manhattan. It was the unique lawns that peaked our interest in Astor Row houses, which eventually became our project’s focal point. Designed by Mexican architect, Mario Pani, CUPA was a response to the rapidly growing population of Mexico City. Situated in the southern, less urbanized part of the city, CUPA includes 1080 units in a vertical distribution to free the ground floor, occupying no more than 25% of the surface with 6 different buildings of up to 13 stories with central light wells. The tower-in-the-park typology has been married with street-in-the-sky circulation where every 3-story share a corridor exposed to outside elements. It is these shared corridors with their communally kept planters that drew us to study CUPA and incorporate this aspect into our project. We aim to marry the shared-ness of CUPA with the personal of Astor Row in our interpretation of lawn typology. Precedents
CUPA
Astor Row
site model
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great lawn communal lawn communal kitchen GREATcenter LAWN community COMMUNAL LAWN mailboxes COMMUNAL KITCHEN laundryCENTER room COMMUNITY MAILBOXES bike rack LAUNDRY ROOM vertical circulation BIKE RACK parking entrance VERTICAL CIRC. PARKING ENTRANCE retail RETAIL bus stop BUS STOP
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Ground Floor Floor Plan Plan Ground
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1 2 communal lawn COMMUNAL LAWN 2 vertical circulation
Fourth Floor Floor Plan Plan Fourth
sixt
2-be
h fl oor
droo
m F2
water tank
fift
2-be
h fl oor
droo
m F1
elevator garbage chute
four
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mix
thir
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communal lawn
Seco
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stud
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Grou
stud
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laundry room bike rack mailbox communal kitchen
Housing Block Axon
studio
1 bedroom 2 bedroom - A
2 bedroom - B
Unit Axons
36'-0" 9'-0"
36'-0"
9'-0"
9'-0"
9'-0"
6'-0"
+09'11"
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+09'00"
+09'00"
±00'00" -00'05"
±00'00" -00'05"
1B
10'-0"
10'-0"
2B 24'-0" 9'-0"
9'-0"
24'-0"
6'-0"
12'-0"
+09'11"
+09'11"
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1A
12'-0"
2A 12'-0"
12'-0"
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2B
2A
12'-0"
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1A
12'-0"
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1B
studio
Studio + 1 br Units
10'-0"
303 sf + 308 sf lawn
1br
408 sf + 272 sf lawn
+19'11"
+19'11"
+18'11"
+18'11"
+09'11"
+09'11"
+09'00"
+09'00"
±00'00"
±00'00"
3A
3B 12'-0"
12'-0"
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3B
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3A
12'-0"
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3B
2br (f1)
500 sf + 168 sf lawn
2br (f2) 2br Units
perspectives
elevation
june 21 12pm
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section ss’
BROOKLYN PUBLIC LIBRARY Columbia
M.Arch Yr, I
We s t art ed out our pr o je cts b y lo o kin g a t f ew c anonic al l i brari es aro u n d th e g lo b e . I n t eres t i ngl y enough I picke d th e Se n d a i M e d i at heque by Toy o I t o. Wh a t Ito h a s d o n e i n S endai by bri ngi ng a no ve l criticism to M a i s on D om -I no i s t o ex plo d e th e co lu mn s i n to an array of t hi n s t ructu ra l ste e l tu b e s w h i ch hous e t he buil din g se rvice s a n d c i r cul at i on. The res ul t ing sp a ce is e ith e r i n h a bi t able or a t em porary tra n sito ry sp a ce . I n t hi s proj ec t I s t rove to tu rn th is typ e o f fl eet ing s pac e i nt o one th a t is h a b ita b le a n d s t at ionary. The P lat e-Tu b e -Skin sch e me o f Sendai morphs i nt o a Pla tfo rm-Fin -Co n e c o mbinat ion in m y int erpret a tio n o f th e lib ra ry. A not her as pec t of t he p ro je ct th a t wa s c r i ti c al t o i nc orporat e t o t h e o ve ra ll sch e me w a s t he v iew s t he s it e off ere d to Ma n h a tta n i s l a nd. B ei ng l oc at ed at an imp o rta n t p o sitio n w i thi n t he B rook l y n s k y li ne a n d rive rfro n t, th e
su b je ct fa ça d e re q u ire d s p e c i a l a t t e n t i o n . Th e b o o k fa ça d e o n th e we s t s i d e o f t h e b u ild in g u n d e rta ke s th is tas k b y p u t t i n g “ t h e ce a se le ss se a rch fo r kn o w l e d g e ” o n d i s p l a y. Th e sp a tia l in fra struc t u r e a p p r o a c h l e d me to b ra ke u p th e flo o r p l a t e i n t o p l a t f o r ms a n d co n ve rt th e co lu mn s i n t o f i n s . T h i s mo ve g a ve wa y to a mo du l a r i t y wh e r e t h e e xp a n se o f a p la tfo rm wa s a d a p t e d t o c r e a t e in h a b ita b le a n cilla ry sp a ces . Ta n g e n t s we r e cru cia l to th e o ve ra ll stru ct u r a l d e t a i l o f t h e p ro je ct wh e re th e co n e s met a t t h o s e p o i n t s a t th e to p . L o ca tin g b ig g e r co n e s a t t h e c o r n e r s o f th e site b o u n d a ry a ll o we d t o a d d r e s s th e m in a n stra te g ic fa sh i o n wh e r e t h e y h o u se d p ro g ra ms wh ich d e ma n d e d g r e a t e r sq u a re fo o ta g e . Th e in b e t we e n s p a c e s we r e fille d with sma lle r co n e s ex c e p t t h e i n t e r i o r co u rtya rd wh ich o ffe rs a sa f e h a v e n f o r t h o s e who want a break from the bustle of the streets.
site analysis
Maison Dom-Ino
XL_01 R25'-0"
XL Sendai
S_03 S_01R6'-0"
S
M_01
R6'-0"
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L_02
M_03
R12'-0"
M
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M_02
R20'-0"
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R12'-0"
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S_04
XL
R25'-0"
R6'-0"
XL
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R6'-0"
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S_07
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XL_03 NYPL-Dumbo
Geometric UnderPinning
R25'-0"
Modules
Concept Diagrams
R6'-0"
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R12'-0"
M
R20'-0"
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XL
Axon on Site
4
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1. RESERVES VAULT 2. STORAGE & SORTING 3. MECHANICAL 4. ELEVATOR MACHINE ROOM
Plans
1. BOOK FACADE 2. SOLITARY STUDY HALL 3. LIGHTWELL SLAB
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9
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1. RECEPTION + RESERVES 2. KID'S LIBRARY 3. OUTDOOR SEATING 4. BAR/CAFE 5. KITCHEN 6. GALLERY SPACE 7. LOADING/DELIVERY 8. RECEPTION + RESERVES 9. VESTIBULE 10. CLOSET 11. MECHANICAL 12. STORY TELLING
Plans
+59'03"
4
3
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11
+59'03"
+58'00"
5 +59'10-1/2"
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+58'00" +59'10-1/2" 43'09"
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+59'10-1/2"
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1. ADMINISTRATION OFFICES 2. STAFF LOUNGE 3. CAFE BELOW THE STAIRS 4. STAFF TOUCH-BASE 5. STAFF MEETING ROOM 6. BOOK FACADE 7. LIGHTWELL
Plans
+59'03"
4
+59'03"
4
1. BOOK FACADE 2. BOOK SHELVING MACHINE 3. QUIET STUDYING 4. SMALL GROUP STUDY 5. INCUBATOR SPACE 6. MEET-UP 7. AUDITORIUM
8. A/V 9. LIGHTWELL 10. STAFF/PUBLIC MEZZANINE 11. SCENIC SEATING 12. COMPUTER LAB 13. COMMUNITY ROOMS
4
CL
CL
CL
CL
80'00"
69'03"
59'10-1/2" 58'00"
49'4-1/2" 41'10-1/2" 40'00" 36'03"
24'00"
00'00"
-14'06" -17'06"
Longitudinal section
CL
CL
80'00"
59'10-1/2" 58'00"
41'10-1/2" 40'00"
24'00"
00'00" 00 0 0 0 00 0"
-14'06" -14 14'06 06 " -17'06" 17 1 7'0 06"
Transverse Section
1/2" Thick Bolt Plates
XL Fin
8" Long Structural Bolt & Nut L Fin
Wall section + Detail
elevator stairs circulation path book path
Circulation Axonometric
GENERAL STUDY PRIVATE MEETING ROOMS
BOTTOM OF LIGHTWELL
INCUBATOR SPACE
ROOF TOP GARDEN
ELEVATOR SHAFT MECHANICAL SHAFT BOOK SORTING ROBOT BATHROOM + CLOSET ATRIUM SMALL GROUP CUBICLE
QUIET STUDY HALL
CHILDREN’S LIBRARY
GENERAL STUDY
LIBRARY OUTDOOR CAFE & COURTYARD
COMPUTER LAB MEZZANINE BOOK FACADE INFO DESK & RESERVES
AUDITORIUM INFO DESK & RESERVES
GALLERY SPACE
COMMUNITY HALL
KITCHEN DELIVERY & PICK-UP
RESEARCHER CONSULTATION
RESERVES VAULT
GENERAL STUDY
STAFF LOUNGE & INDOOR CAFE BELOW THE STAIRS
MECHANICAL RESERVES VAULT
STAFF MEETING ROOM
ADMINISTRATIVE OFFICES
CIRCULATION VAULT
Program Axonometric
Renderings
Renderings
the DUTCH REFORMED CHURCH School Columbia
Degree Yr, M.Arch Yr. II
w / Qianfan Guo
Having closely studied the scarred past of Newburgh through a series of sectional drawings, we noticed the damage caused by the urban renewal reforms of the ‘60’s. Taking on the nationally recognized Dutch Reformed Church (DRC) as our point of intervention, the history of the city and the national landmark overlap at critical points to reflect the effects of time through different scales. In an effort to avoid the repetition of this particular history or to intercept its’ trajectory, we propose to recreate the foundations of a new type of civic building where city officials, academics and the local populus come together to form the next set of policies for the future of Newburgh. The physical recreation of the basement to house city officials and academics is paired with community based programs which aim to expand the facilities of the Free Library of Newburgh and the existing community garden in front of the DRC to invite the public to oversee, participate and get educated in the newly created civic center.
Challenging the classical temple atopa-mound typology, we removed the soil below the church -and consecutively regrounded it-, in an effort to expose the new foundations which the new type of civic building will rest on. Furthermore, we also took notice of the underutilized parking lots surrounding the library and the buildings built for civic purposes around the area. Pitching Grand St. as a public corridor to branch off of the commercial Broadway avenue, we envision them to converge at a public square created by the elimination of Grand and 2nd streets bordering the block where the library sits on. Overall, we think, in order to address the significant problems of the DRC and the surrounding area, one would need bold architectural moves to signal the change towards a different path in the history of Newburgh. It is with this ideology we have implemented our design decisions.
Historic American Buildings page Survey titleTitleTITLE Photo
savage wilderness
Having found the Hudson School of Painting, Thomas Cole painted these series to depict how empires are born, how they flourish, expand and come to an end. Having been close friends with Thomas Cole, Alexander Jackson Davis was greatly affected by the Hudson Painters. That’s why in his own words, he designed the DRC in a way that “Owing to the descent of the ground … the pavement of the portico is nearly on a level with the top of the buildings between it and the river, so that the full effect of its architecture may be seen while passing the town, henceforth serve as a conspicuous and characteristic landmark, indicative of the refined taste, discrimination, and sense of classical beauty of at least a few of the inhabitants of Newburgh.” Similarly Newburgh is and has mostly been observed page Thomas titleTitleTITLE Cole Paintings
pastoral picturesque
in the same way Cole depicts his paintings, looked at… from across the river. Looking at Newburgh through the lens of DRC we see can see the same course/cycle of empire building has taken place, and although it is not our intent to come off as scaremongers, it is not hard to see that Newburgh and especially the DRC has entered into a phase which very well resembles Thomas Cole’s last painting, the Desolation. This initial grounding of the building was heavily aligned with the architecture Davis was importing from Greece and the ideas behind Akropolis and Parthenon. Although it was applicable (another word) to talk about a new democracy being born, the same couldn’t be said about the architecture.
consummation
destruction
page titleTitleTITLE desolation
sectional site study
sectional site study
section perspective
add soil
water path
remove soil
soil displacement
page titleTitleTITLE Diagrams
ridge area
ridge creation
ridge path
water flow path
page titleTitleTITLE Public Square Plan
page Perspective titleTitleTITLE - Hudson
page titleTitleTITLE Perspective - Newburgh
CHAMPAIGN MUSEUM for ANCIENT LIFE UIUC
B.S. Arch Yr. IV
T hi s s tr u c t u r e w i l l se r ve t h e c i ty o f C ham p a i g n b o t h as a m u s e u m a n d a re se a r c h c e n t e r f o r a r c h a e o l o g i c al st udi e s . H o u s i n g t he r ece n t l y d i s c o v e r ed T-Rex s k e l e to n f ro m A r i z o n a , t h e m use u m w i l l d i v e rs if y the programmatic ca t a l o g u e o f d o w nt ow n C ham p a i g n .
facade model
entrance/reception 1 gift shop 2 public bathroom 3 egress stairs 4 elevator room 5 mechanical room 6 staff bathroom 7 work area 8 coordinator’s office 9 storage area 10 offices 11 exhibition space 12
1st Floor Plan
public bathroom egress stairs mechanical room director’s office assistant director’s office accounting office exhibition space library orientation room kitchenette storage
13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23
2nd Floor Plan
1st Floor RCP
2nd Floor RCP
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Systems DisinteGrated
south elevation
0
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4’
8’
16’
32’
A section AA’
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4’
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16’
C 32’
D
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sky light sky light cap and frame water vapor + flashing capstone + scupper batt insulation 4” rigid insulation 6” steel decking w/ concrete fill W8x13 girder light bulb
33’
W8x13 column triple pane glass hanged kirkstone w/ bolted clips
4” steel decking w/ concrete fill pebbles and rocks window frame W21x44 girder
9’6”
4” rigid insulation 10” thick spread footing sidewalk drain 0’0” -2’0”
wall detail section
shifting windows
single plane windows
chosen detail
on YARDSatCORELEAR’SHOOK Columbia
M.Arch Yr, I
I s t art ed out my proje ct b y lo o kin g a t a f ew c anoni c al m aps th ro u g h o u t th e d e c ades buil t up f rom t he 1 7 7 0 s u p to p r e s ent day. I c onc ent rat e d my fo cu s o n w h ere t he edge of t he wa te r u se d to b e a n d c om pared i t w i t h a Ne u illy ma p o f t h e c urrent c ondi t ions of th e site . Fro m m y res earc h I f ound out th a t th e o ld s h i p y ards w hic h us ed t o b e o n th e site p r o v i ded a plac e t o get i n to u ch with th e A m eri c an l abour v alues a n d p rin cip le s f o r t he new l y i m m i grat ed p o p u la tio n o f t h e l ow er eas t s i de t en e me n t d we lle rs. Or i g inat ing f rom our d iscu ssio n s a b o ut m appings , we a ll se e me d t o f i nd t he E as t R iv e r Pa rk h ig h ly d e t ac hed f rom t he res t o f th e city d u e t o the FD R hi ghw ay c ut tin g in b e twe e n . My main obj ec t i v e wa s to s t i tc h bac k t he w at erfro n t a n d th e l o w e r eas t s i de c om m uni t y, a s we ll a s, to
e sta b lish a mo re fre qu e n t c o n n e c t i o n with Bro o klyn b y d ive rtin g t h e e a s t r i v e r fe rry ro u te to th e p ie r. B o r r o wi n g f r o m th e o ld d o ck ya rd a rchi t e c t u r e l a n g u a g e my p ro je ct a lso h in ts to t h e f i r s t h a l f o f th e 2 0 th CE Co re le a r ’s P a r k wa t e r f r o n t . Th e g a b le ro o fed b o a r d wa l k h o u se s ma n y live ly areas ranging fro m b a rs to re ta il a n d t r a n s f o r ms i n t o a se mi-sta d iu m a t a c e r t a i n p o i n t t o e n jo y g a th e rin g s, fe stivi t i e s a n d s p o r t s e ve n ts. By p ro vid in g t h e s e e l e me n t s my p ro je ct strive s to re a c h a p a r wi t h th e Hu d so n rive r wat e r f r o n t . P a y i n g a tte n tio n to d iffe re n t s i t e c o n d i t i o n s , su ch a s th e th re sh o l d b e t we e n t h e h ig h wa y and th e park, the me a n d e rin g g a b le stru c t u r e t r a n s f o r ms in to a se mi-sta d iu m, w h e r e i t l e a v e s th e so cce r fie ld b e lo w u n d i s t u r b e d .
Aerial Maps of NYC - 1924 Outline & Index Map of New York City, Borough of Manhattan - 1916 Sanitary & Topographical Map of the City and Island of New York - 1865 Map of the City of New York Extending Northward to Fiftieth St. - 1852 Topographical Map Of The City and County Of New York - 1836 The Firemen's map of the City of New York - 1834 Plan of the city of New York by Thos. H. Peppleton - 1817 Plan of the city of New York Casimir Th. Goerck - 1803 Map of New York drawn to His Excellency Sr. Henry Moore - 1776
concept
method
Procedurally, I started out by connecting the dots from the critical inner city and NYCHA housing hubs to the water front. Keeping few main axes in tact, the structure expands in parallel strands, suggesting the direction of movement from the inner city to the East river. Paying attention to activities taking place on ground, the complex coils around sports fields and event spaces. Further fragmenting each segment into programmatic uses (with the use of color on trace paper), the project starts to gain functional purpose and gives the citizen a reason to walk on the raised boardwalk. Additionally, by rerouting the ferry traffic on the east river to include a terminal on one of the docks reaching out to the river, the East River park becomes ever more connected with the city and other boroughs.
g
Programmatic Plan
f
ferry terminal beer garden restaurant bar retail communal
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Roof Plan
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WILLIAMSBURG
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inspiration Taking inspiration from the Parrish Museum in Montauk, Long Island by Hertzog de Meuron, the gable structure provides a canopy over the user at all times. The typical gable construction has been given a twist with the bold use of cylindrical concrete columns coupled with angled I-beam construction. With the use of deep rafters and frequent joists, the composition gains a certain granularity that performs an attractive play with light and shadow. Looking at the history of Corelear’s Hook -as the area around East River Park used to be called- one can not escape but to notice the many ship yards lined all the way south down to Wall Street. Bringing these structures back from history, functionally I used ‘the pier’ as a part circulatory, part semi-permanent tool to tie back the detached park back to the city.
study model
berkhan eminsoy beminsoy@gmail.com +1(217)552-9050