James Bradley Brogdon Architectural Design Por tfolio - Selected Works University of Florida and University of Virginia
Transf or ming Manhattan Su bt l e S hi ft s Wi t hi n t h e Gr id Ne w York, Ne w Yor k Des ign 7 Critic: Albe r t u s Wa ng Co llabor a t ion w it h Jes s i ca C r u z e The site is located in northwest Manhattan between 10th and 11th avenues, and 44th and 45th street. The Hudson borders to the north and Broadway to the south, with central park to the east and 42nd street to the west. A tower is situated on the north end of the lot to anchor the site within the surrounding context. This gesture also serves as a connection to the existing surrounding skyline. A series of three mid rise residential towers mark nodes within the site. Pedestrian traffic in Hell’s Kitchen exists mostly on avenues running from east to west. Our proposal takes advantage of this by utilizing a series of suggestive permeations through the site on the ground level. Found regularly throughout the city are cuts through city blocks to alleviate long pedestrian travel routes. Because of the large scale of the Manhattan city block, interior courtyards serve a multitude of functions such as extending the street edge, enhancing site circulation, creating public space, as well as functionally enhancing maintenance needed on the site
Public Entry
While visiting the site, a series of speculative sketches were done. These sketches convey no more than simple forms and slight gestures. The importance of these was great as many of these gestures become major spatial occurances in the project
Tower Configuration
Form Exploration
Used to clarify the relationship between program development and scale of the overall project, these diagrams serve as a catalyst in the design process. The simple suggestive nature of these diagrams carries over into the finished product. This product becomes one where program is readily understood. The site anchored on either end, a shared floor throughout the perimeter, and a bold gesture in the large open air public courtyard.
Site Anchors
Shared Floor Circulation
Open Air Courtyard
Site Circulation
Residential Proposal
Commercial Edge Speculative Section Sketches
Plan Ciruclation and Footprint Diagramming
The large scale courtyard stands out as the primary public gathering space. Its size makes it an extremely bold architectural gesture in a city where floor space is among the most expensive in the world. In Manhattan, green space is something sought after but very ahrd to come by. Typically the exterior edges of a site are those influenced by and used for teh creation of “green� spaces. The footprint of this project therefore becomes an inverse of that condition.
To grasp this project at the personal scale, nodes of importance are studied through vignetter imagery. These detailed “encounters� of the architecture help to familiarize the project with the scale of the individual.
Door Window Stair A r chi t e c t u r a li z i ng t he A bs t ra c t Des ign 3 Critic: B r a d le y Wa lt e rs
To construct a space, the conceptual must eventually become concrete. This exercise begins the negotiation between abstract space making and scalar operations. The door, window, and the stair are the elements of architecture that can give space inherent scalar qualities.
Two types of models are constructed to evaluate spatial opportunity. Models constructed of linear elements create interlocking volumes of space from which to work. Planar models are constructed also and stretch the notions of transparency and opacity in spatial relationships.
Ver tical Pr og ramming O cc u pa t i onal Node s Des ig n 4 C ritic: Albe r t u s Wa ng
The vertical condition presents many unique spatial opportunities. In this exercise, the verticality of the tower is dissected by occupational nodes. The spatial conditions in these nodes serve to develop an itinerary through the project.
Sectional
diagrams
Mapping Venice A P u r pos efu l Wande ri ng Ve ne z i a, I t al y Des ign 8 Critics : G u y Pe t e r s on a n d To m S m i th Co llabor a t ion w it h S ta n l ey N g Venezia offters a unique spatial story. Public and private are blurred within the density of the “floating city.� Campos serve as teh major public components. More than this, they serve as visual markers and landmarks. To experience the unfamiliar spatial circumstance existent in Venice, it is necessary to become lost. Meandering through both alley and waterway, glimpses of spatial significance are offered. The collective path through the city becomes a collage of experiential and visual memories i
n
Section AA
East Elevation
Section BB
North Elevation
Cafe
Reading Room
West Elevation
South Elevation
First Floor Plan
Second Floor Plan
Thir
1. Lobby Gallery and Entry 2. Reception 3. Restrooms
1. Reception 2. Director’s Office 3. Assistant Director’s Office 4. Conference Room 5. Workroom 6. Restroom
1. L 2. R 3. L
rd Floor Plan
Librarian Office Reading Area Library/Stack Space
Fourth Floor Plan
Fifth Floor Plan
1. Gallery 2. Archive 3. Archivist’s Office
1. Gallery
Plan diagram sketch series
The glass prism serves as an anchor adjacent to the campinile of the church
T h e F lorida Landscape Ca pt u r ing t he Phe nome nol ogical Des ign 5 Critic: Nina Hof e r
The natural landscape and terrain serves as a site for spatial inquiry. The development of the project starts in a rigorous study of the perceptual, physical, physiological, and phenomenological aspects that shape the natural world. The inherent complexities of the natural landscape become foundations for the act of making architecture. The temporal aspects of the site focus the project. Vegetation, wildlife, and the ecosystem are evaluated and translated into an architectural system.
Each wash in the series carries with it inherent ephermal qualities. In order to architecturalize these moments of ephemerality, this exercise becomes a suggestive spatial investigation into nodes of built and constructed realities within the landscape.
Phenomenological observations transition into design decisions. The project situates itself comfortably within the natural landscape. The material palatte reflects the surrounding context. The architecture becomes a vessel through which nature is observed and replicated.
The “Florida room� embodies much that the landscape has to offer. The porosity of the screen condition allows the free passage of both air and water from exterior to interior. This condition has tactile implications on all of the senses and place the occupant within a truly natural realm.
Elemental House D we l l i ng w i t h A nc i e nt Ro ots Gradu a t e S t u d io 3 Critic: W.G. Cla r k
A house should be at one with its context. Every built work is an imposition into something pristine. The act of building requires an ethical and conscious decision regarding what it means to dwell. A sequence of constructed spaces blend landscape and dwelling. The spatial character of the place is created using selected architectural elements (i.e. door, window, stair, hearth) in conjuncture with the natural elements of earth, air, fire, and water to form a series of spaces entwined in context and enriched in ancient roots.
e a r t h
a i r
f i r e
w a t e r
Sunken into the earth and selectively fragmented, pieces of occupation and dwelling within the landscape create a bond in which house and natural context cannot exist without the other.
The submersion of the dwelling into the ground immediately creates an ancient dialogue with the landscape and earth. The approach offers only a glimpse into the chasm that is the stair and the furnace that is the hearth. These two are situated within a created pool of water that opens only for the grass and the buried open air courtyard
An al ytical Sketching Tr ave l Ske t chi ng and Obs e r va tion A br oad Critics : G u y Pe t e r s on a n d Ma r ti n Gu nde r s e n There is no tool more relevant to my architectural process than the sketch. While abraod, it became the primary means by which I could quickly and accurately depict the spatial character of a place. The act of sketching engrains both idea and place in memory. Every sketch therefore becomes more than just visual representation or analytical exercise; it becomes an experience.
The essence of place is captured in the cityscape sketch. A “magnified edge� can be used to very quickly and effectively portray the condition of the skyline or landscape.
Philadelphia Community Center I nt e rg e ne rational Connections Phi l a delphia, Pennsylvania Gradu a t e St u d io 2 Critic: W.G. Cla r k The narrow site exists between North 2nd St. and Cuthbert St. The project is an ideological invesitgation into the modern community center. With multiple programs dispersed on site, there are instances in which intriguing intergenerational mixing of occupants occur. Rather than fight this occurance, I chose to enahnce the project through it. Using library, as the main compenent, the computer lab has become a node from which teens are teaching the elederly technological skills. This interaction in turn, offers the teens a sense of purpose, and a connection with a generation that may be lacking. Occupying the first four floors, the modern library is a re-interpretation of public gathering, reading, computer labs, and flexible space. An open air green roof becomes the fifth floor which separates the pubic space below from the private apartments above. The site also houses a theatre complex, which along with the other programs aims to transform this derelect urban sector into a re-invorated modern public space
Entrance into main lobby
Iterative study models serve as investigations into scale, propotion, material, and site negotiation