C ame ron
Parke r,
B . F. A . A r c h i t e c t u r e C a n d i d a t e 2 0 1 6
Table of Contents Project I City Scale: Entry, Path and Place Project II Ward Scale: Edge, District, Path, Node and Landmark Project III Building Scale: The Phenomenology of Place
Cameron Parker
B.F.A. Architecture Candidate 2016
Draw 115 Graphics for the Building Arts Spring 2013
Professor LaRaine Papa Montgomery
Dedication
I would like to dedicate this portfolio to
my former scenic design professor Nolan O’ Dell. He was the one that inspired me to become a designer and eventually this led to my interest in Architecture
Entr y, Path and Place
Project I:City Scale
Original Concept Map
C ame ron
Parke r,
B . F. A . A r c h i t e c t u r e C a n d i d a t e 2 0 1 6
Entry
At this 1:3000 scale of the city of Savannah, the main nodes of entry are emphasized by the black circles which have been distilled from the diagram. Each point of entry which has been extracted from the diagram is significant in how it offers a unique perspective of the visual approach of the city. From the Talmadge bridge for instance one perceives the city of Savannah as represented by its skyline, while an entry point such as the one at Derenne Avenue would offer no view of the skyline included in the historic district.
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historic district. This diagram also i l l u s t r a t e s the network of primary pathways and how they control the circulation throughout the city. Most of the approaches offer a lengthy journey to the historic district. We see from this diagram just how isolated the historic district of the city is from the rest of Savannah. The largest circle on the diagram illustrates the importance of the historic district in how its unique modified grid directs the flow of traffic around the significant and culturally rich squares of Savannah.
Historic Pathway River
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In locating the historic pathway in the city of Savannah, I decided to follow the path along River Street. The buildings that lie here between Bay Street and River Street represent a region that is known as Factors Walk. The buildings here go by this name in reference to their former use as factories in which cotton was prepared and processed for maritime trade. 0’
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The coast of Savannah nearest the river represents the oldest region where General James Ogelthorpe first landed in 1733. River Street is one of the busiest points of circulation within the Historic District attracting millions of tourists each year. The city was centered on trade, making this site that follows the water the most significant in the creation of this city.
Recreational Pathway
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In the city of Savannah, Broughton Street provides a circulation route for entertainment, dining and shopping. It acts as an epicenter for these types of activity. The storefronts run along either side of the street, east and west. Bull Street connects perpendicularly to this path and contains the most significant public squares, as you
Bull St.
Broughton
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make your way to Forsyth Park, the largest park in the historic district. The park draws thousands of tourists and locals everyday. There is a culture that has been born here as it becomes a routine custom in the lives of the locals. This path is appropriately located along these two streets as they are some of the most active.
Bull St.
Cultural Pathway
This pathway shows the circulation that occurs along Bull St. This route of travel is among the most prominent in the city as it connects River Street to Forsyth Park. As you make your way from City Hall, you pass through five of the city’s squares, which include a multitude of spiritual buildings. This makes up the large religious culture that exists in the city, as every square includes at least one large church. 0’
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Local shops and restaurants also exist along this route, contributing to the entertainment sector and culture of the city. Finally, Forsyth Park acts as the crowning jewel of this path as locals and tourists accumulate on a daily basis to enjoy the largest public park in Downtown Savannah. This has become one of the busiest routes in Savannah thanks to the prominent landmarks that lie on this path.
Civic Pathway President St.
The main civic path that exists downtown runs along President St. This route circulates in a consistent manner running in a linear direction until interrupted by the round-about circulation of the squares. These public structures exist as the buildings that serve the public. They are the official and government sponsored structures vital to the everyday operations of the city. They also include the buildings 0’
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that are open to the public, ie: The Telfair Academy of Arts and Sciences. These buildings are easily accessed from Oglethorpe Avenue and are easily found as the buildings wrap around the respective squares that they pass through. There is a mix of local and visitor traffic as certain civic buildings are visited by locals and some others, such as the museum and banks by locals and tourists alike.
Path River St.
Broughton St.
Path in the city of Savannah is determined by the circulation existing between the prominent structures interspersed throughout downtown. The paths highlighted show primary pathways that currently exist. The landmarks throughout the city control the traffic that exists inside of the historic district. The paths here spread out from the central axes of River Street, (the origin of the city), as well as Bull Street. This takes you from north to south, which then branches off into the east and west sectors, taking you throughout the entirety of downtown.
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Place Historic
Cultural
Recreational
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The buildings found along the Historic Pathway include members of Savannah’s Factors Walk ; which represent the original buildings used to process and distribute the export of cotton out of the city.
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These buildings are made up of the various shops that run along the main shopping district of Broughton St. The shops and dining that run the expanse of the street compel tourists to explore the entirety of this path.
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Civic
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The buildings that define this path fall along historic Bull St. and consist of the many churches and spiritual buildings that rest along it. You start at the river and move through five squares, ending at Forsyth Park.
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This path is comprised of the many federal and governmental buildings that run along State St. These buildings mostly attract the locals of Savannah. This path runs through the center of five of the squares of Savannah.
Place Composite Historic 1. Olde Harbour Inn 2. One Eyed Lizzy’s 3. Savannah Candy Kitchen 4. Cotton Exchange Tavern 5. Bernies River Street 6. River Street Inn 7. Wet Willie’s 8. River Streets 9. Olympia Cafe 10. Hyatt Regency Savannah 11. Cobblestone Cafe 12. Bohemian Hotel Savannah 13. Christmas On the Savannah 14. Land & Sea Wear 15. Dockside Seafood 16. Chucks Bar
Cultural
1.Trinity United Methodist Church 2. Christ Episcopal Church 3. Independent Presbyterian Church 4. First Baptist Church 5. Savannah Theatre 6. Gallery Espresso 7. Red Clover 8. Saint Johns Episcopal Church 9. The Gryphon Tea Room 10. SCAD Poetter Hall 11. SCAD Morris Hall 12. Congregation Mickve Israel 13. St. Paul’s Greek Orthodox Church 14. Bull Street Baptist Church
Recreational
1. Savannah Bee Company 2. Paris Market 3. Sylvester and Co. 4. Gap 5. Banana Republic 6. Clipper Trading Co. 7. Urban Outfitters 8. Coffee Fox 9. Starbucks 10. Corleones Trattoria 11. McDonalds 12. Panera 13. Kayak Cafe 14. Civvies 15. The Tea Room 16. B&D Burgers
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Civic
1.Telfair Academy of Art and Sciences 2. Jepson Center 3. Juliette Gordon Lowe Federal Building 4. IRS Federal Building 124 5. IRS Federal Building 126 6. First Chatham Bank 7. United States Postal Office 8. U.S. Post Office and Court House 9. Wells Fargo Bank 10. Chatham County Court House 11. SCAD Bradley Hall 12. Metropolitan Planning Committee 13. Chatham County Courthouse- Judicial Center 14. Robert E. Robinson Parking Garage 0’
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Walking Radius This diagram shows the area that can be covered in the city, on foot, within ten minutes. This diagram buttresses the argument that Savannah is one of the most walkable cities in the nation. The epicenter of this radius lies in the Heathcote Ward of Telfair Square. From this point stretching in any direction you are able to travel to the next square over. Within this vicinity you can access a place to eat, shop, a place to stay the night, etc. This 1000 ft. diameter shows the accessibility of the city and the resources that are available in such a short span.
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Savannah
Presentation Board
A Network of Social Pools C H ity
a ll
The image to the right shows a plan view of the City of Savannah at the 1:500 scale. The layout of the city compares to the social hierarchy that bodies of water hold in a forest setting. Animals are drawn to these areas within a forest. Similarly, the inhabitants of Savannah are drawn to the social pools, which exist within the city as the parks, squares and river. The image to the right shows the prevalent public structures existing throughout the city creating a cultural pathway that bleeds out from the river and Bull street. The streets act as canals that transport the populace from each social pool, comparing to the trails existing in a forest. The rest of the residencies that occupy the city act as the monotonous trees that flood a forest.
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Key Public Structure Private Structure Social Region
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When designing circulatory paths within a city plan it is important that there be a motive for a person to travel along a specific route. When the city was designed by Ogelthorpe in 1733 he did exactly that; organizing the city into a modified grid that included units called wards. These wards include a systematic ordering in the utilization of the space into both the public and the private sector. The lots which run on an East-West axis establish themselves as the public space structures, while the lots running on the North-South axis have been established for private residences. The squares which remain within the center of the wards are also reserved as a public community space. The two enlargements in the center of the board depict both City Hall, which lies right along the river and rests at the very end of Bull street and also shows Forsyth Park which lies towards the end of the Historic District and also rests on Bull Street. This defines both the beginning and the end of the Historic District and shows the true importance that Bull Street plays in acting as the social and cultural spine for the city of Savannah.
P r o j e c t 2 : Wa r d S c a l e Edge, District, Path, Node and Landmark
Site Plan
This site plan shows the Heathcote Ward in Savannah, Georgia. More specifically, it depicts the plan view of Telfair Square. At this scale the various residencies and structures that make up the square can be distinguished from one another. The hierarchial scale of the ward can be seen here by the size of the lots. The Trust lots here are occupied by the two Federal buildings on the east side as well as by
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the Telfair Academy and Trinity Church on the west side. The south tything blocks have been consumed by two public buildings as well, existing as the Juliette Gordon Lowe Federal Building on the east and the Jepson Center on the west. The north Tything blocks still exist as two separate blocks on each side and are taken up by various shops and storefronts on either side as well as by parking lots.
Heathcote Analytique
Here, the Heatchote Ward is shown in an analytique elevation view at the 1/16”= 1’-0” scale. All of the elevation views of the interior structures nearest the square are depicted. Here it is easy to see the proportional relation that many of the buildings have to each other. Also clear are the contrast in the periods of the various structures, as evidenced by the primary contours the structures have.
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Telfair Academy Floor Plan
Moving from the ward scale, we move to the more detailed building scale. In moving to this scale, we see the roof removed and the interior parts of the floor plan revealed. The individual rooms of the academy are represented by the buildings which define the walls and boundaries of the Ward, the corridors of the house represented as the streets in the Ward. We see that in essence, the organization of these two spaces is one and the same.
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Telfair Academy Elevation
In this more detailed elevation of the Telfair more information of the facade is available. Various architectural elements are identifiable at this scale. One can see some of the proportional and geometric relations that exist in this design. This scale also lends itself to recognize the extreme detail of this very ornate Regency Era facade. Perception of depth is represented through careful choice in line weight, with elements with depth represented with a bolder line and those with less, with a thinner one.
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Isometric Paraline
Here, a paraline view of the Telfair Academy is seen. The isometric shows a different level of information than the basic Elevation. Here we can see the depth of the space in a 2D representation.
Tri-partite This diagram depicts the relation that the Telfair Academy Floor plan and elevation have in common. In both of these orthographic views the space is divided into sections of three. Tripartite means three parts and both are partitioned into three vertical sections. In the floor plan the center hallway delineates the section breaks, with the other two parts representes and the north and south wing rooms. On the elevations, these parts are defined by the north and south edges of the projecting portico , as well as by the third tier of the roof of the building.
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This diagram depicts the primary contour of the two orthographic views. It is a simplification of the primary shape. The dashed line running vertically on each of the views shows the vertical symmetry that each of the views of the structure contain. The diagram also shows that the symmetry is broken in the horizontal orientation. This is done by the cylindrical wall extension in plan and by the peaked roof in the elevation view.
Proportional This diagram depicts the proportional relation between the size of the structure seen in each of the views. The ratio between the two almond shapes in each is 1:2. The floor plan relates the main entry of the house to entrance into the back sector of the house. The larger shape relates the main entry to the most western side of the house. In the elevation view of the house , the plinth is related to the enlightening window elements in the center of the facade. The larger relation is between the plinth and roof, which also contains an enlightening element.
Golden Section These diagrams depict the golden section relation that exists in both the plan and elevation view of the Telfair. In the plan view of the house, the central hallway is connected to both of the east facing rooms as well as to the west facing rooms . This demonstrates a circulation diagram considered using this ratio (1:1.618). The elevation golden section relates the horizontal of the portico to roof horizontal. This also relates the two bootom symmetric windows to the symmetries of the chimneys on the north and south ends of the elevation.
Central Axis
This diagram represents the central axis that exists in both the plan and elevation view of the Telfair house. In plan , all of the rooms and spaces are related to each other through the center axis of the main hallway; the primary point of circualtion. In elevation, all of the windows are connected through this central axis to the chimneys. In both of these views, an almost radial quality to the symmetry is seen. The central axis contributes to a continuity in the space.
Bubble and Circulation Diagrams In this bubble diagram, the hierarchy of space and relative use of the rooms in The Mary Telfair house is displayed. The left diagram shows the first floor in which the space exists as strictly public. This public space has been represented in warmer colors in order to show this. The second floor is represented by the diagram on the right. All of these spaces exist as private, as they are bedrooms. The hierarchy of size of the bubble is relative to the size of the room and social hierarchy. The underlay that is seen beneath these show the paths of circulation one takes on each floor of the house. The red arrow represents the primary circulation, while the yellow represents secondary.
Analytic Diagrams
The Phenomenology of Place
Project III:Building Scale
S weet
patches of life Among unfamiliar Meaningless masses
Phenomena Essay In looking at the overall theory of phenomenology I was drawn to the aspect of the senses and how different visual aspects are able to create to the sense that we are able to perceive in a space. In reading up on Phenomenology I really thought about relation to humans through both their scale and the relation of the surrounding to us. Humans are attracted and connected to their surroundings through comparable elements. We connect in a common experience that can ultimately be derived from the likeness that the environment has to us. Our instincts draw to these things that we can interpret as we contain them ourselves. Savannah is a city that in many ways connects us to it in how it is planned. We can relate to it as we are able to move through it uninhibited by something that is man-made or that does not feel natural to us. The city is very tactile.
We step over it and can feel the age and the growth as we step over an area of asphalt that has cracked as result of a root emerging. As we step over the cobble stone of a street and trip over the uneven surface, we are reminded of an experience traversing a rough mountain side. The squares bring us back to nature. We understand the organic over the unnatural rigid quality of many of the structures in the city. This is what draws us in to the tree littered squares. We smell the grass andthe earth and hear the ruffle of the leaves as a wind is dispersed through the tree canopies. This is the Savannah that we know and understand. That is why we are so compelled to travel through it. We are familiar with it and are not compelled to distance ourselves from it because it disturbs us. We are the vehicles through which we travel which make our experience of the city much more personal. The nodes of the
square remind us that the space that we plan and execute is for ourselves. This is the architecture that we are meant to create; that which we understand and that compels an experience. Through careful planning and analysis it is simple to control experience through our physical and visual perception of the space. We have lost our focus in Architecture in how we do not contemplate the experience of the beholder. If we are to have intent and purpose then we need to explore the compulsions that inspire this feeling. This is the least complex facet of design, yet one of the most important. So this is what I am able to realize when looking at the phenomenon that takes place in Savannah. That which is organic and on our level feels right and that which isn’t we force ourselves to disconnect from. The city contains a hierarchy of spaces. The natural and traditional facades are appropriately
decorated as they are inviting. These are the places of inhabitation. The civic buildings that we see however are at a disconnect. Their materials are not familiar and their scale disconnects ourfamiliarity. We recognize on an instinctual level that these are not natural spaces. They are intimidating and do not contribute to a shared comfort. These buildings are also appropriately designed in this way as they are above us. They represent power, be it city hall or the church of St. John the Baptist. My first time in the city drew me into the natural spaces and spaces where I recognized a history, through either a musty smell or a deteriorating façade. Any return to nature or indication of its power over the manmade is what connect to in the city. The organic is the target of my perceptions in this city and that is why I choose my paths accordingly when circulating the city.
Mind Map
This mind map explains my first representation of how I personally perceive the city. The black and white region of the map shows the static area that is disconnected from man, due to its lack of natural elements. The green represents the squares, where the life exists. The river is also represented in a colorful manner due to the life that it contains. The squares are small voids that bring man back to nature in a sea of industrial growth and static.
Final Representation
Here the life of the city glows underneath the urban sprawl. We see that man is most connected to these regions, as they are natural and familiar. The static does not compare tro the richness of the culture that resides in these squares.