Syracuse University 2020-21
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Build Cover Site Pavilion Observe Community Center Slice Arts Incubator
The similarity within all architecture projects is the idea of building and creating something. Where this started in Studio was with the idea of tectonics and stereotomics. The project shown in fig.1 is from the first-semester studio and was the first project we did. In the assignment, we used planes and beam elements to suggest spatial relationships. This idea of the building is not only applied to the actual physical construction of the shapes but also suggests the creation of a built environment that is created through different elements. Fig.2 was also created in the first-year studio. In this project, a built construction was created out of booleaned elements in rhino. This was then physically drawn on paper as well as the negative space on the other side. Like the other studio project, the concept that not just the actual built work is suggestive of space, but also the absence of those spaces creates relationships. fig.1
4 BUILD
fig.2
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fig.3
6 BUILD
fig.4
fig.5
fig.6
These concepts of built works were continued in both representation courses. The work in fig.3 was created in Rep I, where the idea of spatial relationships and forms were taught in both 3D and 2D. This drawing was done in 2D but meant to represent the 3D action of combining, layering, and subtracting. Building does not necessarily have to be tangible, the concept and action of building can be applied to many different forms, but still, yield similar effects to actual architectural forms. This idea can also be seen in the work from Rep II, which takes the idea of building into the digital realm. The project shown to the left is an exploration into the different techniques one could use in Rhino, which is the tool used to create these diagrams. The work is split into 3 categories, where fig.4’s models show simple geometries which are combined to create complex forms. Fig.5 uses 3 - 4 fluid shapes to achieve the same effect. Fig.6’s drawings also use 3 - 4 shapes, however, in this one, the shapes shown are the intersection of the previous shapes.
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Once moving past the simple act of building shapes through combining and subtracting, the next step questions what to do with those forms. This is where covering is utilized. Covering can mean many things, like the material of the object, the opacity, or if that shape is used as an actual form. An example of this would be in the plan drawings for fig.7 & 8. The simple line drawings shown have been given different hatching, which then goes onto inform the creation of the models of each. The act of covering these drawings in representational techniques like hatching creates larger compositional meaning for the object, spaces left white become voids and dark hatching can suggest the height of walls. However, this idea of covering is not just surface level, it asks what the object or form is at its deepest level.
8 COVER
fig.7
fig.8
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fig.9
fig.10
This series of drawings explore surface and covering at many different levels. In fig.9, the form was created through a series of boolean subtraction and additions. An abstracted material form was then added to part of the model to distinguish the exterior structure from the interior. For the second part of the project, shown in fig.10, more color and texture were added to the model to suggest materiality and differentiation between elements. In fig.11, the final part of the project is illustrated where support and structural systems are added to the project. In each of these representational techniques, more pieces are added to the initial form that was created through boolean union and subtractions. Each covers and adds more context to the abstract forms that were contextless before the essential cover was added to each of them.
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fig.11
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Once a context has been given to the object, it is then essential to put the object in context. This is where the environment plays a key role within built works. To site an object means to place it within a condition or environment, which is important because all architecture cannot exist in a void. How these sites are represented in figural work can also play a key role in the understanding of the place. Fig.12 shows 2 quick sketches of the same built environment on the Syracuse University campus. One is a line drawing which the other uses lines to show shading and depth. While both drawings show a built environment, the techniques elicit a different response. This plays into the earlier concept of the cover, but the key here is the addition of a larger context that the work exists in. It is not just the representation of planes, but how these planes interact with their surroundings.
12 SITE
fig.12
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fig.13
14 SITE
This composition shows how the relation of cover and environment might work together in context. Taking a piece from the project represented in fig.11, this project places that piece in even further context. The question of how to site this project was really important when going about creating this composition. How would certain openings in the shape interact with the landscape, how should existing shapes create new ones, etc? The addition of the site created new opportunities for representation, like water elements or how greenery would interact with the facade. For example, oranges and pinks were chosen for the built work to contrast with the greens and blues of the ground. Representational techniques for the site also brought about some interesting design opportunities, like representing ground heights with lines instead of shading to contrast the shading done in the interior structure.
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16 PAVILION
In this project, we were tasked with creating a pavilion meant to be used as a community space, as well as a voting location every 2 years. Spacial relationships and movement were highly important in this project, as spaces needed to be adaptable, yet highly specific at times. The construction of this project was first done representationally As seen in fig.7, study drawings were done to create 2D compositions which were then transformed into 3D spaces. Those spaces were then either only represented by bar elements that fly overhead in the pavilion, or were defined by walls to create more private or specific programmatic areas for voting. The pavilion site is also situated in downtown Syracuse, so means of entry were considered based on nearby streets and buildings that surrounded the site.
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fig.14
18 PAVILION
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Making and creating is not the only key aspect in building, it is just as important to observe and annotate other built works to analyze them. Fig.18 & 19 show quick five-minute sketches of specific parts of buildings. These sketches are meant to train the eye to see existing works through the sense of shape and shade, design techniques explored in other areas of the foundation year. By breaking down the known shapes into these basic elements, it helped to understand how to work your way back again, how to create some sort of representation with shapes and shadow. While existing more like a brain training technique, they also speak to the larger ideas at play in the field.
20 OBSERVE
fig.18
fig.19
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fig.20
22 OBSERVE
fig.21 These next two projects dive deeper into the idea of observation and how that simple act can produce representational work. Fig.20 was done by observing a section of the famous Philips Exeter Library by Louis Kahn. The section is then compared to a floorplan of the building, which is added below. The combination of these two representational techniques helps paint a larger picture of the space. Things like the circular staircase matching up with the circular elements might not be discovered without the act of carefully observing all of the elements in relation to each other. Fig, 21 is also the result of observation based on preexisting architecture. The El House by WW. Architects is a unique residential project that produced interesting results from observations of the plans, sections, and axons. These studies resulted in new compositions separate from the original designs of the
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24 COMMUNITY CENTER
This next major project was a partial facade of a building created from a careful study of another famous architectural work. This project’s inspiration comes from the Mill Owners Association building by Le Corbusier. The project takes inspiration from the repetitive facade elements and simplistic color pallet. The most important observation can be seen in the first diagram in fig.24, which is a 6x6 grid that the original project’s facade is divided into which was also used here. Additionally, the perforated, rounded wall on the first floor in the building was an ode to the moves done in several other projects by le Corbusier where the typical gridded pattern is interrupted by another element. While almost all of the design decisions came from those studies of the Mill Owners Association building, a conscious effort was also made to move away from some of the typical elements, like the angled walls that are very distinguishable on that project.
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fig.22
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fig.24
fig.23
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Slicing or sectioning a building is typically done in the final stages of the project as a representational technique of relationships not typically seen from a perspective or plan view. This move can yield new, dynamic elements that help understand the project more or add a new perfective. In fig.24, this technique is used to create new shapes from a preexisting, boolean object. While exciting by itself, the section shows new, interesting shapes that were previously unknown from the initial form. These slices can become seperate from their original context and take on new design meanings.
28 SLICE
fig.24
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fig.25
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fig.26
Fig.25 & 26 both represent the same project where a form was constructed purely in section. Fig.25 is a collage of several sections diagramed from various buildings, including a piece from Fig. 20. The section exists purely as a composition, only interested in how spaces interact from this angle. This drawing is then fully realized in fig.26 in the model form where those relationships become tangible. So much about the building can be observed from this angle, even if that building does not exist. The pathways that people could take or spaces populations could exist in are more tangible than they might be in elevation and section.
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32 ARTS INCUBATOR
The Arts Incubator is in many ways the culmination of all of the previous ideas and projects, however, most important in the design of this project was the section. As seen in fig. 30, the long section of this plan is the key to understanding the spatial relationships between entries, larger atrium spaces, double-height rooms, and walkways. While perspective renderings also help in the understanding of the scale of these spaces, the sectional cut is where the full picture is illustrated. The Incubator is meant to exist as a collaborative space for artists and those who come to visit their art. However, the site is situated in an infill lot, so specific design techniques like a voided center and large atriums were used to help make the spaces inside feel open connected, without making the entire floorplan of each level open.
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fig.27
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fig.28
Studio
Studio Studio
Studio
Office
Office
Gallery
Gallery
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fig.30
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