Gregory Dalfonzo
Architecture Portfolio
“It’s the questions we can’t answer that teach us the most. They teach us how to think. If you give a man an answer, all he gains is a little fact. But give him a question and he’ll look for his own answers.” -Patrick Rothfuss As a student, I am learning to ask the unanswerable questions that will push my design endeavors farther.
CONTENTS
THESIS PROJECT Cape Town Civic Tower
PRIOR PROJECTS
Chicago Studio - Cermak Axis Roanoke Building Museum Blacksburg Middle School Blacksburg Graduation Hall Japanese Apartment
OTHER WORK
5
11 17 21 23 25
Sketches 27 Photography 29 Constructed Drawings 31
THESIS: CAPE TOWN CIVIC TOWER The goal of the three dimensional city is the complete dissolution of the ground plane. This is not to say that everything should simply be moved up and into skyscrapers, but that the public realm should be so evenly distributed in space that ascertaining the original ground level is impossible. In a sense, ground level becomes nowhere and everywhere at once. It becomes relative to the observer. My thesis examines this new typology through the program of a civic tower in Cape Town, South Africa, set in the year 2076. The site was chosen due to the juxtaposition of mountain and sea, creating a upper and lower reference point for a city that has none. Additionally, Cape Town was chosen due to the low to mid rise buildings, which create the possibility, that as the city grows taller and more dense, the idea of connecting all the buildings at multiple levels, and with public transit, could be realized. The civic tower takes 6 programs that are typically sprawling low rise buildings and distributes them in a vertical arrangement, creating three towers and three crossover spaces. The
CURRENT WORK programs were split into these categories based on the need for light and the size of individual spaces in the program. The transit fills one of the crossovers, halfway up the tower, and the elevators exist in the interstitial space between the towers.
Far Left: aerial views of Cape Town Center Top, The site as it is today Center Bottom: The site in 2076, with my project Far Right: Googl Street View of the Site 5
THESIS: CAPE TOWN CIVIC TOWER Left: Parti Diagram of the current iteration. The school library and museum are arrayed vertically, while the gym, transit, and theatre are arrayed horizontally. Bottom Left: typical configurations today. Short long buildings that take up a lot of ground area.
SCHOOL
MUSEUM
THEATRE GYM TRANSIT
GYM
TRANSIT
LIBRARY
SCHOOL
LIBRARY
MUSEUM
EXISTING CITY TYPOLOGY MUSEUM
SCHOOL
LIBRARY T TRANSIT
THEATRE
GYM
THEATRE PROPOSED CITY TYPOLOGY
CURRENT WORK Center Top: The City as it is today Center Bottom: The city as with ground dissolved, circa 2076 Right: Massing models from throughout the semester
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THESIS: CAPE TOWN CIVIC TOWER Left: Section\Elevation of the tower. Center: Plans of various configurations of he tower
CURRENT WORK DIAGRAMMATIC PLAN AND SECTION OF PHASE III SCHOOL
TRANSIT
LIBRARY
PERFORMING ARTS CENTER
MUSEUM
FITNESS CENTER
Right: Diagram of iteration III (future)
SERVICE SPACE
ELEVATOR CORE
9
CERMAK NETWORK This group project focuses on integrating McCormick Place Convention Center into the surrounding context to activate the area as a single cohesive neighborhood. This will create an intermingling of local Chicagoans and Convention-goers that more fully utilizes the potential of this area. The method is tripartite: an urban master plan, new programmatic spaces, and a connective pathway come together to bridge the human scale with the aggrandized scale of McCormick Place.
FOURTH YEAR Activation of existing elements Creation of a tightly woven urban network. Manipulation of scale and context.
11 11
5’
CERMAK NETWORK
BUS STOP RESIDENTIAL
RETAIL
100’
200’
400’
OUTDOOR MARKET
LOCAL BUSINESS DEPAUL STADIUM
HOTEL
HISTORICAL
DATA CENTER
PARKING
HYATT HOTEL
MCCORMICK NORTH
MAIN ENTRANCE
MCCORMICK SOUTH
GRAND CONCOURSE
FOURTH YEAR
PATH WITH PROGRAM
INDOOR PARK MCCORMICK EAST
BRIDGE BURNHAM HARBOR
NORTHERLY ISLAND
NORTHERLY BRIDGE This portion of the aforementioned project focuses on a connection from McCormick Place to Northerly Island. The floating bridge connects the soon to be park designed by Jeanne Gang to McCormick and the surrounding neighborhoods. It also completes a loop, incorporating the new park more thoroughly into the city fabric. The design borrows hexagonal language from the Studio Gang project, which allows it to fold into a compact mass via tesselation to let ships pass into the harbour.
CURRENT WORK Tesselation Integration Completion Motion
15 15
ROANOKE BUILDING ENVELOPE MUSEUM The Roanoke Building Envelope Museum responds to the surrounding civic center to create an icon for Downtown Roanoke. The copper cladding references the nearby Wachovia Tower, while the 122 foot height maintains visibility from other streets and gives back a part of the site as park space. The central atrium acts as a gathering space while emphasizing the gentle twist of the structure and the sky bridges complete the building structure while emphasizing sweeping views of downtown Roanoke.
THIRD YEAR Central Organizing Space Material Choice Individual Parts Create a Unified Whole
17
ROANOKE BUILDING ENVELOPE MUSEUM
THIRD YEAR
19
BLACKSBURG MIDDLE SCHOOL The Blacksburg Middle School is based on three main principles: the replacement of double loaded corridors with open atria, the usage of roof space as open green space, and views within and without. A central atrium organizes the building and provides usable interior space. The roofs of the cafeteria and auditorium become large open fields, while the offset of each floor plate creates an adaptable ribbon of green space on each floor. The roof acts as after hours community space and takes advantage of sweeping view of downtown.
Aud itori u
m
Stor age
Stairs
Stud en Ope t n Stud y Area
Clas
Stairs Clas
sroo m
sroo m
Scie nc Prep e
her Pr ep
Scie
nce La
b
Clas
Clas
sroo m
Fem al Bath e room Teac
sroo m
Reso
Stud en Ope t n Stud y Area
Stairs
urce
Med
ia Ce
Cafe
nter Ro
teria
of
Stairs
Gym
nasiu
m
Stud en Ope t n Stud y Area
Roof
Clas Clas Clas
sroo m
sroo m
Clas
sroo m
sroo m ADA Elev ator
Proj ec Lear t Based ning Lab
Male Bath room
Proj ec Lear t Based ning Lab
Stud en Ope t n Stud y Area
Stairs
THIRD YEAR Adaptable Green Space Interior and Exterior Views Central Spaces Replace Corridors
21
BLACKSBURG GRADUATION HALL The Montgomery County Graduation Hall creates an experience out of graduation through the use of processional architecture that reinforces the idea of graduation as a moving on. A glass cube acts as an entrance hall and uses light to respond to changing environmental conditions. A glass staircase leads underground to a gallery showcasing student work. A tunnel then leads to the graduation planetarium. The planetarium creates the illusion of leaving the current world behind, reinforcing the metaphor of graduation as a signifier of moving beyond the comfortable.
THIRD YEAR Spatial Experience Geometric Minimalism Transparency Response to changing environmental condition
23 23
ROANOKE JAPANESE STYLE BUILDING APARTMENT ENVELOPE MUSEUM A renovation project that began with a single column and defined wall and ceiling evolved into a Japanese style apartment. It takes advantage of typically low geometry to create a sense of openness, while using Shoji style wood and paper sliding screens to segment the symmetrical spaces. The layout is oriented to take advantage of southeast light in the bedroom and southwest light in the kitchen and conversation areas. The apartment embraces order and simplicity through careful control.
Evening Light
Dining Pit
Conversation Pit
Kitchen Reflected off closed Shoji Screen
Passes through open Shoji Screen
Bathroom Bedroom
Foyer Morning Light Closet
CURRENT SECOND YEAR WORK Japanese Aesthetic Low to the ground design Adaptable Spaces Sacred vs. Profane Symmetry
Section-Entry Hall
Section-Dining Room
Section-Conversation Pit and Bedroom
25
EUROPE SKETCHES The Virginia Tech Eurotravel Program is an exploratory study abroad program that focusses on learning European Culture, Architecture, and Urban Life. Students are encouraged to document what they learn through sketching, photography, and other methods. Feel free to visit our web page, that I lead the design team for. http://www.eurotravel. arch.vt.edu/
Great Court at the British Museum Norman Foster + Partners London, England
FOURTH YEAR Top Left: Oruptgaard Museum Zaha Hadid Copenhagen, Denmark Top Right: NY Carlsberg Glyptotek Wilhelm Dahlerup Copenhagen, Denmark Bottom Left: Copenhagen Opera House Henning Larsen Copenhagen, Denmark Right: Notre Dame Du Haut Le Corbusier Ronchamp, France
27
EUROPE ROANOKE PHOTOGRAPHY
FOURTH YEAR
29
DRAFTED DRAWINGS My first semester of studio, I earned a B+. My professor said that anyone not happy with their grade could attempt to, over winter break, work up to a better grade. I was not happy with my grade, but I also realized that it was fair. Rather than try to argue, I did perspective drawings and design exercises over my break, and when I got back, my professor was extremely pleased. I re-earned myself an A for that first semester. The perspective drawings I did over winter break, led into an exploration of drafted drawing in the second semester of the year. I created a set of 6 drawings, size 18x24, along with a few unfinished failures. I mostly used pencil, but explored pen as well. Rather than draw from observation, I chose to draw from imagination, only using real life as inspiration. These are the two drawings that I consider most successful.
FIRST YEAR Perspective Interpretation Shading Precision
31