Undergraduate Thesis Book // Brian Kato by Brian Kato

Virginia Tech Bachelor of Architecture Fall 2014 + Spring 2015 Brian Kato

Thesis: A Study of System an investigation into the relationship between subject and object

002 - 011

Introduction 012 - 035

Evolution + Decay 036 - 063

Scale + Hierarchy 064 - 113

Intersection + Interaction 114 - 165

Repetition + Variation

166 - 191

Appendix

Introduction

Process + Maturation

Experience + Evaluation

The book is organized in order to explore sytem through the different contextual conditions that have arisen within the work.

Repetition + Variation

Intersection + Interaction

Scale + Hierarchy

Evolution + Decay System + Generation

005

The initial study was an exploration of system as the interaction or relationship between the two materials of concrete and metal wire. The architectural project is an investigation into system as a measuring device of the desert. Contextual qualities such as the sky, the horizon, and water (or lack of water) are engaged through the architectural space to create a heightened experience of the context. The specificity of the system is important to create a clear and profound relationship between the occupant and the context. Through the study of system, several questions have been uncovered. How does context allow for variation within a system? When does a person enter a system? Can a system be poetic? Do systems allow for growth and decay within the context? What is the relationship between subject and object within a system?

(Top) DaSilva, Peter (1) (Middle) Holzherr, Florian (2) (Bottom) Niarchos, Nicolas (3)

007

Throughout the study of the thesis, and in particular during the development of the architectural project, several artists played a key role in understanding the context and scale of the desert as a site for a built investigation into system. Michael Heizer was an important precedent in terms of understanding scale and having the freedom to make a physically large mark in the landscape, and, in particular, the earth. Another important artist was James Turrell who engaged the scale of the sky through his Roden Crater project. Richard Serraâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s piece in the desert of Qatar entitled, â&#x20AC;&#x153;East-West / West-Eastâ&#x20AC;? was important to understand scale, the horizon, and materiality.

009

The initial thesis investigation explores system as an interaction between conceptual frameworks. The role of media in the thesis is as a generator of spatial conditions which occur within the interaction of two materials (concrete and metal). Through the making of molds and castings with these two materials, fundamental architectural questions are raised such as mass and void, perception and orientation, figure and ground, and line and plane. Process plays an important role in the making of the objects and has a direct relationship with their formal outcome. Processes of making the mold developed from a simple extrusion of a shape into more sculptural, three-dimensional outcomes. As this process developed, different materials had to be used in order to achieve varying outcomes. Drawing played an important role in the process after the object had been created as a means of understanding what had been made rather than its traditional role as a generative design tool. Throughout the exploration of system, there is a heightened relationship between the subjective and the objective. Initially, the creation of the system is a very subjective task, however, once the system is established it becomes a very objective process to operate within the system and create the design of the object (the mold). The viewing of the completed object once again returns to the subjective and the role of the camera lens becomes an important part of the representation. The images of the completed objects seek to only show the individual spatial interactions created by the system, rather than the object as a whole.

The fifteen molds of the objects show the greater context within which each object was created.

The architectural project is a measuring system of the desert. The site is in southwest Arizona, thirty minutes east of Yuma. The site occurs along a subtle ridge line that runs from the southeast to the northwest. Contextual qualities such as the sky, the horizon, and water (or lack of water) are engaged through the architectural space to create a heightened experience of the context. The specificity of the system is important to create a clear and profound relationship between the occupant and the context. Through system, the relationship between subject and object is explored. As the designer, I subjectively employ or choose a system to engage a particular context. However, when operating or making choices within the system, design decisions become very objective and operate within the constraints of both the system and the site. The occupation of the space then returns to the subjective and is shown through the photographs and collages of the built models. The horizon room is a sequence of spaces which occur at the lowest point along the ridge line. The structure provides a datum through which the flatness of the desert may be observed. The structure creates a dialog with the horizon by providing moments where the horizon is revealed within narrow vertical strips, but then also fully engaged within a frame above and below the horizon. The sky room occurs on a flat plateau and is sunken into the earth eight feet in order to deny any view of the immediate horizon. Different spaces are attached in a radial pattern around the sky room to provide conditions which amplify an individualâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s experience of the sky. The spaces also provide a way to triangulate oneâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s position in the landscape and thus create a sense of place. The water room is a sequence of spaces which reveal the drainage pattern of water when it rains in the desert. As the spaces continue further down the drainage path, their capacity to contain water grows. Once water reaches a certain level in each space, it will flow through a drain and into the next one. When it rains a significant amount, the water in each of the rooms will flow between them creating a continuous understanding of the water room.

(Left) Images show the experiential qualities of the horizon room (top), sky room (middle), and water room (bottom).

(Right) The contextual plan for the architectural project shows the location of the horizon room, sky room, and water room in relationship to each other. The understanding of room is as a container of a multiplicity of different types of spaces.

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are systems static? or do they always allow for change? if a system becomes more complex, is a new system created or is it a variation of a previous system? how much does a design depend upon the system within which it is being created? how does a system interact with a context? how is context a system? how is system the mediator between a person and their surrroundings? how is system a lens through which to view or understand the context? how do systems allow for growth and decay? do systems allow for continuity and change simultaneously? can the interaction of two pre-existing things (context and architecture) create something new? is the interaction (between context and architecture) itself pre-existing and only has to be discovered?

Evolution + Decay

Object 04 The objects are seen as a frozen moment of time within the process of evolution and decay. Although the effect or atmosphere created by each object is very specific, the final form of the object is one of a number that could create different amplitudes of the given effect. For example, the ratio of mass to void within each object could occur along a range of densities, however, each object is a testing of one point or moment within the range of density. The experience of the object can then be used as a means of evaluating whether the given density is successful or not.

The ordering system for the metal wire is one of expansion and growth whereas the rockite is being carved and eaten away from the implied mass.

Object 06

The mass of the object is understood as a combination of masses rather than as a singular thing.

(Right) The objects that engage evolution and decay the most are the ones that seem to be a frozen moment along a design process that has the ability to either increase or decrease along its path.

(Left) The wire allows the forms of the object to exist within the context of gravity. (Right) Orientation plays a primary role in the perception of the objects. The structural hierarchy of the two materials inverts itsefl within these two images.

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Object 09

Sprayfoam insulation was used to create the void space in the object. It is used to create a specific condition, however, the specifity of the physical form is completely reliant upon the chemical processes within the material and not through a design decision.

The metal wire weaves itself into the form of the object. The interaction becomes amplified where the wire begins to rust as it enters and exits through the rockite mass.

Object 15

None of the wires is continuous through the form. Two systems intersect each other in the middle of the object in order to create a structural bridge.

The process dictates the form of the object. The interior of the object is made entirely of ruled surfaces because a hot wire cutter is used to create the voids. The object seeks to engage the spatial opportunity created using this process.

There is a strong dialogue between the outside and inside surfaces of the form. The contrast creates a sense of ‘interiority’ within the object.

Tension is created within the form where the void doesn’t go all the way to the edge of the object.

Sky Room

The sky room is a sequence of spaces which are aligned with different elements of the context such as the movement of the sun and moon, surrounding peaks in the landscape, and other rooms occurring on the site.

029

Evolution and decay are important to understanding the idea of system because they can be engaged at the macro scale of architecture. The most easily understood example of evolution within architecture is the city. The city undergoes growth, decay, evolution, and change at a constant pace. Buildings change much less throughout the course of the same amount of time, and are oftentimes designed without any thought of evolution. Intrinsic to the notion of system is allowing for space to evolve, and if spaces are designed with that intent, they will have the ability to evolve much easier in the end.

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Through the architectural project, the idea of evolution and decay is engaged through the sky room and the water room at the scale of the site. Each room is understood as having the potential to hold a range of spaces which can grow or shrink depending on the experience. The role of subjectivity and experience become a method of evaluation of the system and whether it is successful or not. Evolution and decay are an exploration of the density of a system.

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(Top) View from west. (Bottom) View from east.

The sky room creates an understanding of the different parts or relationships found within the sky in reference to the greater whole of the sky.

Water Room

(Left) Contextual sketch exploring the drainage path of the site as well as the relationship of the water room to the horizon room and sky room.

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The water room occurs along a natural drainage path in the landscape. The intent is that the sequence of spaces will reveal a natural system which is rarely activated in the desert, but has the ability to become a powerful force.

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(Below) Detail sketch exploring the relationship between retaining wall and platform.

035

During the lighter, winter rains of the desert, each water room is understood as an individual space collecting water from it’s immediate surroundings. During the heavier, intense summer rains the rooms create a continuous drainage path creating an understanding of the collection of spaces as the water room.

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is a system dependant on itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s content? or is it independent? can a system exist outside of the content it is acting upon? does the content also, in turn, act upon the system? if a system needs content to be visible, is the system pre-existing within the specific contentâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s DNA? how does system operate through order? does clarity disguise a system? if a system becomes more complex, is a new system created or is it a variation of a previous system? how much does a design depend upon the system within which it is being created? how does a system interact with a context? how do you enter a system? how is system the mediator between a person and their surrroundings? how is system a lens through which to view or understand the context? what does specificity mean in a system?

Scale + Hierarchy

Diagram 03

At the initial outset of the thesis, a system of analysis was used to investigate the word ‘system’. The inner ring is a list of words used in the Merriam-Webster definition of the word ‘system’. The outer ring is a list of words used in the definitions of the inner ring of words. Connections are then created between a word and the words that define it. Several key words came to the forefront of this analysis because they were used in multiple definitions. For example: arrange, connected, and group.

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Diagram 04

This diagram shows the horizontal relationships between words. The same words are analyzed using a thesaurus to understand the relationships occurring within each ring of words instead of between each ring of words. The system of relationships between the words was pre-existing of the diagram, however, the diagram serves as a device to understand the strength of correlation between words within the context of ‘system’. The diagram is a system or way of understanding a pre-existing system, much the same way architecture is a system that seeks to engage and understand the contextual systems and forces surrounding a building.

Certain words come to the forefront when looking at ‘system’ such as act, characteristics, group, order, and type.

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Object 02 Within the architectural objects, scale is engaged through the use of two different materials. The formal hierarchy of the objects primarily based on the rockite while the structural hierarchy oftentimes begins with the wire. The understanding of scale occurs within the object and oftentimes an object may have several different spaces that have different types of understandings of scale.

(Left) The hierarchy of the structure changes with the orientation of the object. The wire provides lateral stiffness and bracing rather than shear support. (Right) The initial reading of scale within the object is of the mass and void of the rockite form. Secondary spaces are created where the wire creates implied boundaries within the void. The texture of the materials creates a tertiary reading of scale.

The creation of the system which takes place when constructing the mold is understood as objective.

The photography of the constructed object becomes a subjective way of viewing the object.

The sketch and formalised analysis of the object occur as a way of objectively understand the process required to make the object and open up a further understanding of what had been made.

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Object 04

The formal hierarchy contrasts the structural hierarchy. Formally, the rockite takes precedence over the wire, however, structurally the wire is what allows the form of the rockite to be read in that orientation.

Object 09 + Object 14

The wireâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s primary function is structural and allows the organic form to retain its orientation.

The object relies on the wire as a formal means of creating an understanding of scale. The thinness of the wire contrasts the massiveness of the rockite.

Object 10 + Object 13 (Right) The wire along the corner initially appears to serve structural importance, however, the form could structurally exist without it. Instead, the wire creates an amplified perception of the tension created by placing a void along the corner of the object.

(Left) The form of the object exists only because the wire serves as the structure for the object. The wire also allows for the form to read as floating planes cantilevering off of the back right edge.

051

Horizon Room

The architectural project seeks to give a sense of scale to the context of the desert which is devoid of most references to scale. The landscape of the desert becomes an abstract form. Each room seeks to bridge the scale of the individual with the scale of the contextual qualities present in the desert. This act of bridging occurs through differentiation in form and material qualities.

The Horizon Room is sited between two hills along the ridgeline of the site.The relationship between the hills is a smaller scale microcosm of the relationship between the larger hills and mountains that also occur along the ridgeline.

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Scale and hierarchy provide a way for the occupant to directly interact with and engage a system. Architectural projects are oftentimes large and difficult to comprehend at once, but if a system is understood across multiple scales, they have the ability to bridge between an individual and their greater context. Hierarchy plays an important role in the clarity of a project. Oftentimes, a systembased architecture which tries to balance multiple systems within the same building becomes complex and difficult to read. A hierarchical approach to system allows for different systems to take precedent within different scales. This creates an interaction between the systems.

The initial reading of the room is of mass and void to allow for an understanding of the flatness of the horizon as well as the scale of the desert.

As the individual moves closer to each individual pavilion, they start to see the rhythm occurring within each space and they are provided with a secondary reading of scale.

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(Right) A tertiary reading of scale occurs for the individual once they start occupying the spaces and seeing the joints between the tilt-up concrete wall panels.

The structure is created of precast panels which are joined together using embedded steel plates. The panels are assembled sequentially down the length of the structure.

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does system occur within the moment of interaction? if a system becomes more complex, is a new system created or is it a variation of a previous system? when does a system stop being a system? how does a system interact with a context? how do you enter a system? how is system the mediator between a person and their surrroundings? how is system a lens through which to view or understand the context? can the interaction of two pre-existing things (context and architecture) create something new? is the interaction (between context and architecture) itself pre-existing and only has to be discovered? what role does system play in the relationship between subject and object?

Intersection + Interaction

Diagram 01 The diagram is a system for analyzing a piece of writing. The piece of writing is in itself not as important to the understanding of system as the relationship or syntax of words occurring within the essay. This system reveals those relationships and the density of the relationships throughout the course of the essay.

2. I have no intention of reviewing architectural trends and their connection to the arts. My general emphasis on space rather than on disciplines (art, architecture, semiology, etc.) is not aimed at negating academic categorization. The merging of disciplines is too worn a path to provide a stimulating itinerary. Instead, I would like to focus attention on the present paradox of space and on the nature of its terms, trying to indicate how one might go beyond this self-contradiction, even if the answer should prove intolerable. I begin by recalling the historical Context of this paradox. I will examine first those trends that consider architecture as a thing of the mind, as a dematerialized or conceptual discipline, with its linguistic or morphological variations (the Pyramid); second, empirical research that concentrates on the senses, on the experience of space as well as on the relationship between space and praxis (the Labyrinth); and third, the contradictory nature of these two terms and the difference between the means of escaping the paradox by shifting the actual nature of the debate, as, for example, through politics, and the means that alter the paradox altogether (the Pyramid and the Labyrinth).

11. Should I intensify the quarantine in the chambers of the Pyramid of reason? Shall I sink to depths where no one will be able to reach me and understand me, living among abstract connections more frequently expressed by inner monologues than by direct realities? Shall architecture, which started with the building of tombs, return to the Tomb, to the eternal silence of finally transcended history? Shall architecture perform at the service of illusory functions and build virtual spaces? My voyage into the abstract realm of language, into the dematerialized world of concepts, meant the removal of architecture from its intricate and convoluted element: space. Removal from the exhilarating differences between the apse and the nave of Ely Cathedral, between Salisbury Plain and Stonehenge, between the Street and my Living Room. Space is real, for it seems to affect my senses long before my reason. The materiality of my body both coincides with and struggles with the materiality of space. My body carries in itself spatial properties and spatial determination: up, down, right, left, symmetry, dissymmetry. It hears as much as it sees. Unfolding against the projections of reason, against the Absolute Truth, against the Pyramid, here is the Sensory Space, the Labyrinth, the Hole. Dislocated and dissociated by language or culture or economy into the specialized ghettos of sex and mind, Soho and Bloomsbury, 42nd Street and West 40th Street, here is where my body tries to rediscover its lost unity, its energies and impulses, its rhythms and its flux . .

(Left) Tschumi, Bernard (4)

(Right) The diagram shows the relationships between the words in each sentence. The color of the lines shows when each relationship occurs within the essay. The blue lines occur towards the beginning of the essay while the red lines occur towards the end.

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13. This operation of reason, which precedes the perception of the cube as a cube, was mirrored by the approach of concept-performance artists. While your eyes were giving instructions about successive parts of the cube, allowing you to form the concept of cube, the artist was giving instructions about the concept of cube, stimulating your senses through the intermediary of reason. This reversal, this mirror image, was important, for the interplay between the new perception of "performance" space and the rational means at the origin of the piece was typically one aspect of the architectural process: the mechanics of perception of a distinct space, that is the complete space of the performance, with the movements, the thoughts, the received instructions of the actors, as well as the social and physical Context in which they performed. But the most interesting part of such performance was the underlying discussion on the "nature of space" in general, as opposed to the shaping and perception of distinct spaces in particular. It is in recent works that the recurring etymological distinction appears at its strongest. Reduced to the cold simplicity of six planes that define the boundaries of a more or less regular cube, the series of spaces designed by Bruce Nauman, Doug Wheeler, Robert Irwin, or Michael Asher do not play with elaborate spatial articulations. Their emphasis is elsewhere. By restricting visual and physical perception to the faintest of all stimulations, they turn the expected experience of the space into something altogether different. The almost totally removed sensory definition inevitably throws the viewers back on themselves. In "deprived space," to borrow the terminology of Germano Celant, the "participants" can only find themselves as the subject, aware only of their own fantasies and pulsations, able only to react to the low-density signals of their own bodies. The materiality of the body coincides with the materiality of the space. By a series of exclusions that become significant only in opposition to the remote exterior space and social Context, the subjects only "experience their own experience."

14. Whether such spaces might be seen as reminiscent of the behaviorist spaces of the beginning of the century, where reactions were hopefully triggered, or as the new echo of the Raurnempfindung theory, now cleaned-up of its moral and esthetic overtones, is of little theoretical importance. What matters is their double content: for their way to "make space distinct" (to define space in particular) is only there to throw one back on the interpretation of the "nature of space" itself. As opposed to the previously described pyramid of reason, the dark corners of experience are not unlike a labyrinth where all sensations, all feelings are enhanced, but where no overview is present to provide a clue about how to get out. Occasional consciousness is of little help, for perception in the Labyrinth presupposes immediacy. Unlike Hegel's classical distinction between the moment of perception and the moment of experience (when one's consciousness makes a new object out of a perceived one), the metaphorical Labyrinth implies that the first moment of perception carries the experience itself. It is hardly surprising, therefore, that there may be no way out of the Labyrinth. Denis Hollier, in his book on Georges Bataille, points out that from Bacon to Leibniz the Labyrinth was linked with the desire to get out, and science was seen as the means to find an exit. Rejecting such an interpretation, Bataille suggested that its only effect was to transform the Labyrinth into a banal prison. The traditional meaning of the metaphor was reversed: one never knows whether one is inside or not, since one cannot grasp it in one look. Just as language gives us words that encircle us but that we use in order to break their surround, the Labyrinth of experience was full of openings that did not tell whether they opened toward its outside or its inside.

(Left) Tschumi, Bernard (4)

(Right) This diagram shows the relationship within the context of the paragraph rather than the sentence. The result is a much more cohesive looking diagram implying that at the scale of the paragraph, most of these words would be brought up or discussed.

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Object 07

The wire runs through the middle of two of the secondary voids that have been created which results in a powerful interaction between void, secondary void, and wire.

(Right) The intersection of the two voids creates a secondary void running the other direction. This removes emphasis from the individual voids and places upon the interaction of the voids with each other.

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One of the voids runs all the way through the object creating a break in the mass. A wire formally and structurally supports the cantilever.

The initial intent of the object was to engage the corner and activate it. The result was an interaction between the void of the two opposing corners creating an interiority to the object.

Object 08

The wire creates a heightened perception of the space by interacting with multiple void spaces.

(Below) The sketch was used not only as a way to test ideas before creating the object, but also as a construction document for the object.

(Right) The object has a labyrinthian spatial quality because of the intersecting voids. Spaces fold into each other throughout the object.

(Right) The mass of the rockite is continuous throughout the object even though at moments parts of the mass seem to be floating. The metal wire serves as reinforcement for the object.

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Object 10

The voids spiral up through the object, engaging the corner and creating an interaction between the voids along each face.

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Object 11

The object is a study of the interaction between different types of voids.

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(Right) The formal qualities of the voids contrast each other, however, the wireâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s formal quality stays consistent throughout the object, tying the different voids together.

Object 12

None of the primary voids travels all the way through the object.

The primary voids intersect each other to create a secondary void which runs all the way through the object in the opposite direction of the primary voids.

The object is activated by light on one side but remains very static from the other side.

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Object 13 + Object 14

(Left) Organic voids interact with each other creating a single moment where the two curved surfaces intersect at the same point.

(Right) The hierarchy of the voids inverts when numerous primary voids intersect to create a strong secondary void.

Horizon Room The drawings represent the continuous, unfolded concrete walls which create each of the three spaces of the horizon room. The areas that are shaded darker are all of the exterior facing surfaces of the spaces.

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The potential of this drawing is to explore the textural qualities of the concrete. The concrete could have a rough texture on all of the exterior facing surfaces making it seem as though the spaces had been carved out of a solid mass.

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099

50’

Level Two

10’

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101

50’

Level Three

10’

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103

50’

Level One

10’

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105

50’

Level Two

10’

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(Left) There are moments where the entirety of the horizon is revealed and framed for the occupant.

(Left) The horizon is the moment of interaction between the sky and the ground. The horizon room seeks to conceal and reveal individual parts of the horizon in order to gain a greater understanding of the whole.

(Right) Voids interact and intersect with each other to create a continuous space throughout the structure.

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Sky Room

(Below) The outer ring of spaces in the sky room unfold towards the context creating a heightened interaction between the structure and resultant space.

(Right) The two walls of each sky room space are shifted to create a dynamic interaction within the space as well as with the context.

Water Room

The images show how the two material systems in the water room physically intersect and interact with each other.

how do systems allow for change? what is the difference between a systematic study and a study of systems? at what point does clarity disguise a system? if a system becomes more complex, is a new system created or is it a variation of a previous system? when does a system stop being a system? how does a system differ from a pattern? do systems always include variation? can systems allow for continuity and change simultaneously? what does specificity mean in a system? can you have variation without repetition?

Repetition + Variation

Object 01

The analytical drawing shows where the physical interactions of void and wire occur in the object.

The initial object that was created was a very generic repetition of voids that had a variation of lengths interacting with a repetition of wires that had a variation of placements.

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Through making this initial object. key contextual conditions arose such as orientation, light, and perception.

Object 03

(Right) A repetition of points becomes a line and a repetition of lines becomes a plane. (Left) Intersecting voids are repeated creating two readings of scale within the system of void.

The analytical drawing shows the interactions between wire, mass, and void.

Object 05

Shifting from the scale of the object to the scale of a single interaction between wire and void.

This object appears to be very similar to object 01 but feels more defined than it because a chance operation was used to determine the result rather than just pure intuition.

The object was created using chance operation within the system of repetition and variation. A die was rolled to determine the positioning and placement of each void and wire.

Object 07

(Left) The mold is just as spatial as the final object. The mold is the interior of the mass.

(Right) A repetition or rhythm of voids is created along opposing surfaces of the object. The interaction creates an inside.

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Object 10

The wire was placed along half inch increments vertically creating variation within the distance between each wire following the path of the curve.

Variation was created by intuitively cutting contours into rigid insulation with specific constraints of dimension. Order was found by placing the voids from shortest to longest.

Gradient of light.

(Right) The result was an object that had a strong interaction between both wire and void.

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(Top) The interactions on the exterior surfaces are orthogonal, whereas the interaction on the interior surfaces is curvilinear. (Bottom) A variation of void space results in a secondary variation within the interaction of void space.

Object 13

The wire follows three diagonal paths through the object creating secondary spatial boundaries.

During the process of making the mold, the object is seen as a layering of voids.

The shadow the wire casts is oftentimes as important as the structural necessity of it.

(Left) The wires cast shadows within the voids, giving each individual void a sense of repetition. (Right) A wire runs through the sequence of cantilevers, structurally supporting the object and visually creating tension within the object.

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Object 14

This depicts an attempt to generate a system for the object.

The curvilinear voids create a strong variation of shadow within the object.

The voids were created by cutting two intersecting contours into a cubic volume of foam.

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The voids were arranged within the mold from the most static form in one corner (upper left) to the most dynamic form in the other corner (lower right).

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(Left) The wire was placed to create different types of clusters within the object, allowing for different readings of scale.

A singular void uses its form to create a variety of light conditions.

Horizon Room

Southwest elevation of the southern space in the horizon room. The platform allows for view out over the desert and frames the horizon.

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Northeast elevation of the southern space in the horizon room. The slope of the site folds the occupant into the structure and allows them to enter onto the platform.

The repetition of the structure mediates the light creating a measure of the sun (light) and the land (shadow).

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(Top) Through repetition and variation, the structure screens multiple spaces at the same time. (Bottom) As the structure lifts off the ground, the repetition changes to allow for the perception of a floating mass.

Sky Room

Initial sketch exploring the relationship between occupant and structure and the perception of the structure as a frame through which to see the context.

The inner ring of spaces relates to celestial events while the outer ring of spaces relates to events occurring in the landscape.

(Right) The sky room is a repetition of precast concrete panels. The panels create a dramatic shift in the experience of the space as they unfold towards the context.

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50’

10’

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Sketch exploring structure and detail of the precast panels.

(Right) The tension-compression system of the supporting structure allows for variation to occur within the angle at which each panel is placed.

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100’

20’

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(Left) The sky room explores the relationship of contextual elements with the sky.

(Right) The interior of the spaces within the sky room contrasts the exterior by providing a smooth, monolithic surface without any reference to the structural system occurring on the exterior.

(Right) Tension is created as you enter the sky room because the intent of the structure is only revealed when a person is in alignment with what is being viewed.

(Right) The inner ring of spaces within the sky room explore the skyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s relationship to the movement of the sun and moon.

(Right) The outer ring of spaces in the sky room unfold towards the context. (Far Left) Reveals between the panels allow for moments where light starts to mark the repetition of the system along the ground plane.

Each space within the sky room creates a unique frame of the sky for a person to occupy.

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Water Room

(Above) Sketch showing how the water room latches onto the drainage path of the site.

(Right) Water leaves each space at the level of the platform through three drains which overflow into each successive space.

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20’

4’ (Above) The diagrammatic section drawings show how the volumetric spatial qualities change in the water room as it moves down the drainage path. The capacity to hold water increases as it moves.

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(Left) The water room meets the landscape at a very intimate scale.

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A study model for the water room shows how the retaining walls begin to reach out into the landscape but are doing so in a very subtle way.

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(Right) The pathway creates a horizon or datum through which the water (as well as the potential for water) within the space is measured.

(Left) The rhythm of structural elements for the platform creates a variation of shadows within the water room.

(Right) Detail of how the repetition within the stairs, pools, and supporting structure meet.

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The platform creates a variation of spaces within the water room. Initially, a differentiation is created between above and below. Below the platform, a variation of spaces occur within the structural supports of the platform.

The atmosphere of the room changes based upon the quantity of water that is contained.

Appendix

Pre-Thesis Study: Three Rooms The room in the prairie creates a relationship between the static nature of the topography and the dynamic movement of light. The cubic form of the room and the heavy materiality of the space engages the topography while the sliced openings in the walls engage specific moments of light. The interior of the room is a smooth polished concrete while the exterior is a rough board-form texture. In addition, there is a gravel perimeter around the room creating a textural quality to the space which begins to engage the textures found in the prairie. The interrelationships between the heaviness of form, dynamic quality of light, and textural qualities of materials enhance and engage the individualâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s perception of the prairie.

(Right) The exterior board-form concrete texture runs vertically, hiding the openings within the texture. (Below) The openings in the wall are activated by light in different times of the day and year.

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The room in the mountains seeks to amplify an individual's feeling of compression and release that occurs as you walk through the forest. The forest creates compression and release through the density of the tree canopy as well as through the topography of the terrain. The room engages the contextual system of the topography by raising the space up off the ground creating one layer of release. The room also allows for release through the density of columns and creating large apertures in the ceiling where the columns have been cleared away allowing the individual to be drawn up through the space and further amplify the feeling of release.

(Below) The glass on the exterior is translucent in order to reflect the surrounding landscape and blend into the site.

(Below) Columns are clustered in the space left between the overhead openings.

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The room in the city serves as a viewing apparatus through which the users can understand the city. The site is located in a unique part of the city at the beginning of the 16th Street Mall. There are view corridors up the 16th Street Mall, towards the civic center area, as well as north up Broadway Street which is a major northsouth transit corridor in the city of Denver. The continuous structure follows the restraints of the triangular site and seeks to have no definition between interior or exterior, but rather something to look through. Frames are cut into the structure to allow for sight lines towards the three major attractions in the area, and openings are also made for circulation through the site. The largest expanse of wall is along Broadway Street to provide a visual block for the road. In addition, a pedestrian and biker circulation zone is maintained along the southwest edge of the site to encourage safe circulation through that zone.

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(Above) The walls fold to create a sculptural space. (Left) The walls frame views and allow for circulation through the site. (Right) A zone for bikers is created along the southwest edge of the site.

Light Study

The light study was conducted as a way to test ideas of repetition and variation in a very specific way and with very specific constraints. The constructs that were the most successful were the ones that retained clarity within the variation of the elements.

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Project Development + Process

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The initial design idea for the desert site was to engage two elements of the context: the sun and the earth. Retaining walls were used to hold a thin, continuous overhead structure that would filter light down into the space. The system was manipulated to create overhead openings, framing different moments of the sky.

As the design for the project developed, a sequence of spaces was developed in order to create a line in the landscape. In addition, a more specific program began to be developed of having a horizon room, a water room, a sky room, and an earth room. However, each room was forced into using the same system to create space.

(Top) The structure serves as a screen between different spaces. (Middle) The strong light of the desert is mediated by the depth of the structure in the overhead plane. (Bottom) As you leave the space, views of the context are framed by the architecture.

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Charcoal drawings were done as a way to test different atmospheric conditions.

Several axonometric drawing studies were conducted to investigate how the spaces could start to engage and interact with the surrounding landscape. The retaining walls began to intersect and reach out into the earth and unfold into the space.

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The drawing was investigating how to engage scale within the context of the desert. This iteration of the project is sited at the base of the mountain in the southeast corner of the site.

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Axonometric drawing of the earth room holding itself into the slope of the mountain.

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Study models were made in order to understand the potential of the constructed ground plane being a volumetric subtraction from the earth.

References + Acknowledgements

1. DaSilva, Peter. “Travel - Image.” The New York Times. The New York Times, 19 Mar. 2006. Web. 6 June 2015. 2. Holzherr, Florian. “Crater Eye Plaza.” James Turrell. N.p., n.d. Web. 06 June 2015. 3. Niarchos, Nicolas. “Richard Serra in the Qatari Desert - The New Yorker.” The New Yorker. The New Yorker, 16 Apr. 2014. Web. 06 June 2015. 4. Tschumi, Bernard. “The Architectural Paradox.” Architecture and Disjunction. Cambridge, MA: MIT, 1994. 27-52. Print.

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Thank you to my parents (and the rest of my family and friends) for being so supportive of me throughout my life and especially over the past five years. Their stability helped me focus on my academics and grow as a person.

Thank you to my advisor, Paola, for always encouraging me and (trying to) get me to be uncomfortable within my design process. I will always keep on â&#x20AC;&#x153;pedaling hardâ&#x20AC;? thanks to her.