CONNER THACKARA PORTFOLIO
TABLEOFCONTENTS TABLEOFCONTENTS
HIGHLINE STAIRCASE 2-3 HIGHLINE STAIRCASE 2 RAPTOR CENTER 4-7 RAPTOR CENTER 3-5 HARRISON PATH STATION 8-11 HARRISON PATH STATION 6-8 NEWARK SCHOLARS RESIDENCE 12-15 NEWARK SCHOLARS RESIDENCE 9-10 NEWARK GRADUATE HOUSING 16-19 NEWARK GRADUATE HOUSING 11-13
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HIGHLINE STAIRCASE
My design intent was based on my observations while walking along the Highline itself. The paths created left the user constantly changing directions and shifting perspective along the pathways. I approached the project with the aim of creating those same perspective shifts as users are transferred from the ground to the 30’ high railway.
PERSPECTIVE
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STACKING
GENERATIVE SHAPE DIAGRAM
The project was to be designed around the creation of a stair for the Highline in New York City, an old freight train railway. The railway was converted into a public park that is elevated above the streets of Manhattan. The challenge was to design a staircase that met the elevated park and connected to the sidewalk below.
NG
TILI
HIGHLINE STAIRCASE
N
To achieve the intended series of perspective shifts I began to create a system of separate geometries that would come together to create a single unit. A simple geometry was stacked and tiled, as well as shifted and rotated to create a collection of stacked units.
TOP VIEW
The geometry used allowed the creation of hollowed out areas that could be occupied. This was done so that the stair could be used not only as a medium for transportation but also as an occupiable structure. The path is created on the tops of these units and the stairs are carved into them. The paths are bordered by green spaces creating more stopping spaces among the project. The path constantly shifts directions as it directs to the next set of stairs. As the users move along the path their views are not directed solely at their destination but rather the environment around them. PERSPECTIVE
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RAPTOR CENTER This project was to create a raptor center in Rifle Camp Park located in Little Falls, New Jersey. This project would be a rehabilitation center birds of prey, as well as a visitor center. The structure is situated within a natural ravine allowing for interaction between different height levels. The design approach I used was to give the visitors the same experience moving through the space that the recovering birds would go through as they recover. The basic form was derived from the combination and booleaning of 3 separate shapes; the cube, the rectangle and the torus. The cube is represented by the exterior shell of the building which is large sheets of connected frosted glass. The glass diffuses the natural daylight, obscuring the outside world for the recovering birds’ safety. The torus is interlocked into the cube to create a glass halo within the inner space that gives
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a 360° view of both the exterior and interior. The torus would be centered around a growing tree within the building. The rectangular box frames a quarter of the torus as a cornerstone of the building and allows for exterior viewing on both sides of the building. The visitors would enter the building via a path that leads underneath the exterior skin of the building. As they move through the building they progress upwards just as the birds recover their flight abilities. Ultimately, the visitors exit on the roof, which is connected directly to the ravine’s cliff edge. The roof features a large glass aperture on the floor which allows for maximum light as well as giving the visitors a chance to look back at how they progressed through the space. The open roof symbolizes the birds final freedom as they are released back into the open skies.
RAPTOR CENTER
PERSPECTIVE RENDERS
PERSPECTIVE SECTION
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RAPTOR CENTER
1ST FLOOR PLAN
2ND FLOOR PLAN
ROOF PLAN
PERSPECTIVE RENDER
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RAPTOR CENTER
EXPLODED ASSEMBLY
PERSPECTIVE RENDER
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HARRISON PATH STATION
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The focus of this project was the creation of a PATH station on a pre-existing NJ transit track in Harrison, New Jersey. The station was required to connect the sidewalk level with the tracks, 35’ above. There was also a requirement that this station be built with a strong emphasis on masonry as a building material.
Once this form and approach was set, I started to look at the bricks as not just walls, but individual pieces within the building’s context. I started experimenting with turning certain sets of bricks to provide gaps within this solid form, creating screen walls on the exterior to let in light and air.
To start designing this station I first looked at the material as a general subject. Brick being a dense and solid object, I aimed to play on those characteristics. I took a very basic rectangular masonry box form that can be stacked almost infinitely upwards, and ‘floated’ it. I raised the entire masonry structure up from the ground on a steel support grid, to create a sense of levity in juxaposition to the material’s physical charictaristics.
The ground floor of the structure has few walls, this is for the creation of an open air market or performance space to draw in pedestrians and commuters alike. The stair leads up into the masonry structure, running along the outer edge. The path is supported from the room via more steel structuring and eventually leads to the platform. The roof’s core is removed to create an open skylight, allowing for maximum solar coverage of the open-air space on both levels.
HARRISON PATH STATION
PERSPECTIVE SECTION
SITE RENDER
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HARRISON PATH STATION
SOLID ON FRAME DIAGRAM 20’ x 20’ GRID LAYOUT
BRICK ROTATION
EVERY OTHER COURSE
SCREEN WALL SECTION
90°
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90°
HARRISON PATH STATION
PERSPECTIVE RENDERS
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NEWARK SCHOLARS RESIDENCE This project was my first venture into designing for public housing. The project was to create an infill housing building that holds 6 private rooms, as well as a coffee shop and an event hall. The infill space has a large existing rear park area that would be open to residents of the building. My design strategy was based on on-site observations. There was a very busy street on one side and an enclosed private park on the other, with the proposed building between the two. I attempted to create a connection of the two areas using my building. The building is a conduit between the manmade movement space (the street) and the organic stopping space (the park). The design incorporated 2 different types of connections; physical and visual. The physical connection was accomplished through compacting the building and programming to one side of the site. This created a large hall-like space on one side
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that invites the public from the street into the space and back to the organic area. This space is enclosed on the side by an interlocking wall that covers the blank side of the neighboring building. This wall system blossoms into a screen wall of vertical wooden slats. These slats work to filter out the southern light while creating a visual aspect through shadows on the building itself. The interlocking screen wall creates overhead cover on an occupiable green roof. Each of the six private rooms has a balcony that extends into this space so that the residents can share the experience of the open space. The visual connections were created through the use of glass. From street level, there are multiple instances on the facade where passersby can catch glimpses all the way through to the organic space, without actually entering the building or physical connection space. The interlocking screen wall creates overhead cover on an occupiable green roof.
NEWARK SCHOLARS RESIDENCE
STREET RENDER
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NEWARK SCHOLARS RESIDENCE
GROUND FLOOR PLAN
2ND FLOOR PLAN
CONNECTION MEDIUM
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VISUAL CONNECTION
SOLID
FACADE CONNECTION DIAGRAM
MAN-MADE MOVEMENT PATH
CONCEPT DIAGRAM
ORGANIC STOPPING SPACE
CONNECTION MEDIUM
SOLID
VISUAL AND PHYSICAL CONNECTION
VISUAL CONNECTION
NEWARK SCHOLARS RESIDENCE
3RD FLOOR PLAN
4TH FLOOR PLAN
PHYSICAL MODEL
PERSPECTIVE SECTION
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NEWARK GRADUATE HOUSING This project was a single public housing building that was part of a larger city block redesign. The redesigned block was created by interlocking 2 sets of connected buildings with a large inner courtyard. The building to be designed was located on the corner of the main entrance to the inner courtyard. I used the interlocking site strategy that was developed to determine the building’s form. I took a basic perimeter block building and interlocked a second cube geometry into the corner of the building. This corner is the entrance to the larger site, making it very important for drawing visitors into to the site. I then carved space out of the top of the cube to create an occupiable open roof over the corner point. The ground floor of the building is primarily commercial, including a cafe, bar and retail space. The residents have a private lobby in the rear of the build-
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ing for easy access. The building’s residential rooms consist of quad-unit, double-unit and single-unit typologies. The rooms are situated along a doubleloaded corridor, where they meet the corner space, which is a double height common area. This common area starts at the second floor and continues through to the roof of the cube. A large piece is cut out of the roof and 3rd floor slab to create a light well that floods the large space with diffused light. The envelope of the building includes extrusions at intervals that contain common areas for the rooms. The common rooms within the quad units and single units are extruded out and fully glazed to allow sight down both sides of the street. In contrast, the bedrooms within the quad units are recessed to give more privacy. This strategy yielded a system of extruded channels up the facade, broken up horizontally by the private spaces.
NEWARK GRADUATE HOUSING
STREET RENDER
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4TH FLOOR PLAN
3RD FLOOR PLAN
NEWARK GRADUATE HOUSING
FORM 1
FORM 2
FORM GENERATION
INTERLOCK
SPACE CARVING
WO DW
WO
GROUND FLOOR PLAN
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DW
2ND FLOOR PLAN
DO
UBL
DO
UBL
E LO
E LO
AD
AD
ED
RRID
CO
OR
DIAGRAMTIC LAYOUT
RRID
OR LIGHT CHANNEL
ED
CO
LIGHT CHANNEL
NEWARK GRADUATE HOUSING
QUAD PLAN TYP.
SINGLE PLAN
EXTRUSION
TYP.
DOUBLE PLAN TYP.
ENVELOPE FORMATION
SPACE CARVING
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BACKGROUND NEW JERSEY INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY EDUCATION
5-Year Bachelor of Architecture 2011 - Present
DIGITAL MEDIA SKILLS
Adobe Creative Suite, Autodesk AutoCAD, Autodesk Revit, Autodesk 3ds Max, Autodesk Inventor, Rhinoceros, Grasshopper, V-Ray, Microsoft Office
MODEL MEDIA
Chipboard, Plexi, Foam, Wood, Laser Cutter
AWARDS + HONORS
Two works (Newark Scholars Residence, Graduate Housing) selected by NJIT faculty for NAAB reaccreditation showcase Fall 2013
CONNER THACKARA conner.thackara@gmail.com (908) 239-5764