Full Portfolio 2018
Full Portfolio / 2018
1.
In Between Stone and Air
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Robinson Theater
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Richard Meier Skateboard
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The Chapel of Longing
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Diagram Dissolution
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Dwelling: Inhabit Nothing
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Urban Observatory
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Vertical Street
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F.R.E.D.
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Velohome
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Richard Meier Model Shop
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Museum of the Unexpected
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Presentation Drawings
51.
Library in the Labyrinth
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Baroque Libraries
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NYPL Hunts Point
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NYPL Melrose
In Between Stone and Air Cornell Design X (Spring 2014) / Prof. Francisco Mangado Assignment: To design a exhibition space for sculptures with artist residence in a marble quarry located in Almeria, Spain
In such a deeply beautiful landscape, the scheme is less an intervention and more an imitation. It is not an attempt to repeat the exact effect of the site, rather a careful unpacking of its essential elements. The formal inspiration is the edge between two site conditions, the steps (right) and the plateau (opposite page). The folding of the plane into a volumetric enclosure not only mediates this boundary, but also creates a dramatic void and sponsors the descent. The result is a refined abstraction of the surroundings superimposed with a choreographed sequence of taking away the view and slowly unveiling it. In this way, the inhabitant can enjoy an uninterrupted perspective of the landscape while also being offered a dramatic retelling of the local experience of space, light, texture, and views.
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In Between Stone and Air / Cornell Design X (Spring 2014) / Prof. Francisco Mangado
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The top plan shows the central gallery space. By distributing the load across four massive polished marble columns, the large space leaves the original cut edge of the marble and the ground plane unaltered. The second plan is a more articulated plug-in-volume that serves as the artist residence and adjoining studios, with the interstitial space and circulation located behind. The platform below oers a community space for the sculptors.
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Opposite Page The sequence of descent begins with the approach. The thick surface only reaches chest height, allowing for an uninterrupted view of the landscape beyond. The visitor descends below into a voluminous dark space. A gap of light permeates under the hung wall, illuminating the sculpture gallery. The visitor continues along the walkway to a point of compression between the folded surface and the existing marble face, the view to the distance still limited. Finally, a step down grants an uninterrupted view out to the landscape.
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In Between Stone and Air / Cornell Design X (Spring 2014) / Prof. Francisco Mangado
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In Between Stone and Air / Cornell Design X (Spring 2014) / Prof. Francisco Mangado
As seen in the study models, the design process began with a complex narrative and underwent a process of abstraction and simplification to yield a product that is highly refined. The ultimately minimal attachment produces a respectful structure encompassing a deep space within. The series of sections show a rigorous analysis of structural situations, as well the important shading effects offered in the very hot climate of Spain.
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Robinson Theater Ennead (Summer 2013) / Richard Olcott FAIA Collaborative Team Commission: To retrofit a Works Projects Administration Neoclassical auditorium with a new theater and conference room addition. All work completed as part of the Ennead Architects Team (Renderings and Diagram by Others) Schematic Design Phase
Located in downtown Little Rock, AR, the Robinson Theater is a prominent public building serving as an iconic set piece in the capital. The renovation and addition dramatically upgrades the perfomance capabilities of the space visually, acoustically, and in capacity. I focused specifically on the design within the auditorium including the acoustic walls and ceiling, the balconies, the stage, and the seating layout. In addition, I produced the schematic design drawings for all staircases, and contributed to floor plans and auditorium sections.
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Robinson Theater / Ennead Architects (Summer 2013) / Richard Oclott FAIA
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Richard Meier Skateboard Richard Meier & Partners Architects (2014) Request: To design and produce a skateboard for the Los Angeles Museum of Art and Design charity auction, Groundswell.
Combining fragments from Richard Meier’s collages, this board shows a more colorful side of his artwork in combination with the signature white grid. In collaboration with and signed by Richard Meier.
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Richard Meier Skateboard / Richard Meier & Partners Architects (2014)
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The Chapel of Longing Cornell Design IX (Fall 2014) / Prof. Thomas Phifer and Gabriel Smith Assignment: To design a space for meditation in the West Village of Manhattan
The Chapel of Longing is never completed. It is a backdrop for the changing conditions of time: it is weathered by nature and illuminated by the atmospheres of different seasons. The Chapel is first experienced in the spring as a light formwork structure of rough-cut oak lumber. The transformative texture, both on the surface of the boards and their impression on the concrete, reveals the delicate natural light. The continuous wall within is cast in layers of reclaimed aggregate concrete over the course of three years. The boards are taken off over the course of one year. The clean form will decay; the crisp concrete will crumble. Reaching the back corner, there is a moment of seeing the inner space of the chapel with the outside world at the periphery. The imprint of the boards is visible on the walls. The interior garden, planted before the form work was constructed, develops a presence after years of hiding behind the wall. Nature is an honest reflection of the accumulation of time.
11 The Chapel of Longing / Cornell Design IX (Fall 2014) / Prof. Thomas Phifer and Gabriel Smith
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Set in the West Village, Manhattan, the chapel oers peace and respite amongst a dense urban backdrop. The parti ips the site in on itself with the entrance at the edges and the blank enclosure along both street facades.
13 The Chapel of Longing / Cornell Design IX (Fall 2014) / Prof. Thomas Phifer and Gabriel Smith
An extensive exploration of the form of Longing led to the shape of this opening. The horizontal grain is calm and it implies layering accumulated over time. The distant is other; it implies a disconnection from the inhabitant. The vague is the most important; it casts doubt on certainty and allows for the projection of memory. As shown to the left, the curved walls allow for a gentle opening of space and soft light. It marks the threshold between outside and inside.
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15 The Chapel of Longing / Cornell Design IX (Fall 2014) / Prof. Thomas Phifer and Gabriel Smith
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17 The Chapel of Longing / Cornell Design IX (Fall 2014) / Prof. Thomas Phifer and Gabriel Smith
As one enters the central space, it opens into a bowl, rigid and bare. In its youth, there was a harsh daylight cast upon its curving walls. In its age, the weathered surfaces are speckled with light filtered through the leaves. There is a single bench in the center, the only content in this container framed by trees and sky. The bench is constructed of the formwork that once lined the interior space; it rots over time. The trees grow towards the end of the summer, and envelope the space with fall foliage. Once this abstract space of meditation is experienced, one sits in the bench and is reoriented back towards where they came. It is no longer about abstraction, but rather a careful framing of the existing Vestiges of the site. It is about the weathered beauty of the Mundane. Finally, the return to the street shows an aged surface, not so fresh, not so pure. The trees have grown tall but lost their color and life.
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Diagram Dissolution Cornell Design VI (Spring 2013) / Prof. Arthur Ovaska Assignment: To create a new urban tech campus for Cornell on Roosevelt Island with academic, residential, and cooperative professional spaces
A rigid process of diagramming is used to combine the plans of three campuses. These campuses are chosen based on their conformity to a Beaux Arts U shaped plan in order to create an interior and isolated space. The focal point of the opening is the Louis Kahn memorial at the tip of the island. The chosen plans are: UVA because of its precedence as an ideal and comfortable academic landscape, Coney Island’s former dreamland park because of precedence as the development of Manhattan’s culture of congestion and strong theme, and Salk because of its precedence as an ideal institution plan and strong perceptual frame. These three plans are combined through a morphology. The three plans are combined to become one sequential space with three different movements.
19 Diagram Dissolution / Cornell Design VI / Prof. Arthur Ovaska
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Axon Drawing: 5’ x 3’
Continued Expansion
21 Diagram Dissolution / Cornell Design VI (Spring 2013) / Prof. Arthur Ovaska
Phase 1
Phase 2
The sequence from the bridge to the tip of the island can be seen as the dissolution of the ideal diagram towards a more contextually sensitive plan. The landscaping reinforces this progression beginning in enclosures on a grid, and slowly becoming more natural and enveloping the buildings. It is about the gradual transition from the dense and ideal urban fabric to an open and calm space that culminates in Kahn’s room, the most tranquil space in New York City.
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Dwelling: Inhabit Nothing Cornell Design III (Fall 2011) / Prof. Vince Mulcahy Assignment: To create a dwelling inspired by the Vessel located anywhere in Ithaca Valley
23 Dwelling: Inhabit Nothing / Cornell Design III (Fall 2011) / Prof. Vince Mulcahy
This project seeks to define the nothing in the landscape. What abstract views lack content the same way the mundane door did? The dwelling obeys the typology of a view framing box. Hovering over the water, the inhabitant descends into the long hallway. Long slits create a sense of anticipation for the view at the end, facing the city of Ithaca across the lake. However, the glass at the end is frosted. The viewer is reoriented by two large glass planes above and below. Nothing, in this case, is found to be the space between raw elements: sky and water.
The Dwelling’s axis of focus is perpendicular to the form. Although the structure is very horizontal, it is all about the vertical space between the sky and the water.
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Urban Observatory Cornell Design V (Fall 2012) / Prof. Henry Richardson Assignment: To design a residential hotel in Ithaca at the urban focal point of the commons
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The pedestrian street of the commons is too much of an isolated attractor that fails to inspire further exploration from the foreign visitors. An intervention at the east end has the potential to draw visitors along the primary axis, oer a nuanced perspective of the nearby built environment, and become a proponent of exploring beyond the familiar.
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25 Urban Observatory / Cornell Design V (Fall 2012) / Prof. Henry Richardson
Double height rooms wrap around corridors on every third floor allowing for full width rooms
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The null intervention revealed the necessity to place the glass gem in a wall. A wall to hold the gem will make it precious as well as veil the object from the vehicular approaches. The trees of the commons provide a natural veil of approach, as seen in the previous vignettes. Several dierent formal combinations are considered.
27 Urban Observatory / Cornell Design V (Fall 2012) / Prof. Henry Richardson
After examining complex formal configurations, the final design reflects a clean box as a gem. The complexity arises within, where the individuality of the apartments shines through. The reflective volume is understood as a pure box from a distance. On approach it is understood to hide a deep complexity.
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Vertical Street Cornell Design IV (Spring 2012) / Prof. Dana Cupkova Assignment: To design a town hall for the small upstate New York town of Owego with precise programmatic requirements and a developed environmental and structural strategy In collaboration with Nick Dareau and Maria Stanciu
The project deďŹ nes the relationship between the river and the street by abstracting the site into formal architectural styles in order to address the evolving relationship between them. The face confronting the street sees a very participatory environment with a focus on eďŹƒciency and functionality resulting in a pristine volume described with a modernist language.
29 Vertical Street / Cornell Design IV (Spring 2012) / Prof. Dana Cupkova
The river facade takes queues from the context by extending out into the landscape and prioritizing observation. The unfolded language reflects a more gestural surface condition. The symbolic nature of a town hall is addressed with the grand public terrace.
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Third Floor
31 Vertical Street / Cornell Design IV (Spring 2012) / Prof. Dana Cupkova
Fourth Floor
The fold and resulting rupture create a direct connection between the exterior public spaces and the meeting hall.
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F.R.E.D. Far Rockaway Ecological Dunescape Ennead Lab (Summer 2013) / Richard Olcott FAIA Collaborative Team Competition: To design a 2000 unit prototype flood proof community in Far Rockaway Selected as one of four finalists in an international competition with 117 entries, F.R.E.D. presents a radical new approach to flood proof housing. A series of dunes create a natural resilience to flooding and a continuous landscape. The housing and courtyard spaces sit on top of platforms above the dunescape. Several infrastructural piers cut through the site offering public amenities and access to the water. Varying clusters of housing branch off from these piers creating small communities within the larger fabric. The project went on to win the Leading Innovation in Resilient Waterfront Design Award. All work completed as part of collaborative team at Ennead Architects (rendering below by me).
33 F.R.E.D / Ennead Lab (Summer 2013) / Richard Olcott FAIA
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Velohome Design VII (Fall 2013) / Prof. Davide Marchetti Assignment: To analyze Via Flaminia, one of Rome’s Consular Roads, and propose a site, program, and intervention
The project includes five developments that stretch along a continuous river park. A big theme for the project was introducing the bicycle as a target mode of transportation for Rome. A series of dense nodes are introduced along the river park that serve as destinations for the biker. The focus of the project is the Velohome, a dense bike themed park that becomes a new gateway to the city and an advertisement for the bicycle.
The northern half of the road is more interesting because of the lack of development. The site is understood as a series of existing strands: Via Flaminia, metro line, river, green space, bike path. These strands, along with topography, existing program, transpositions, infrastructure, parks, and flood planes were mapped and compiled resulting in the selection of these five sites.
35 Velohome / Design VII (Fall 2013) / Prof. Davide Marchetti
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local: support space between existing recreational spaces urban: collector/endpoint, integrate to olympic and metro
Once the sites were selected, each of the five was treated with an initial site analysis. These studies revealed an distinct theme based on each context. This theme was then transferred into an initial massing idea: block, wall, funnel, curve etc. Each site gets a matrix of possibilities for the next massing step. The intent is to more closely examine ideas of symmetry and interiority before diving into a further formal development. It is an exercise in stretching out the initial thoughts of the design process. One of the massings is chosen for further development, and goes through a linear process of scaling, proportioning, and specifying for the site and program. The final axon is then physically modeled and placed on the site. These five initial designs are not considered final products, but rather tests that probe each site to help determine which one has the most potential for semester long investigation. The fifth site is chosen for its potential to advertise a theme that stretches the entire intervention, the bicycle.
37 Velohome / Cornell Design VII (Spring 2013) / Prof. Davide Marchetti
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local: river museum and outdoor theater urban: connect via salaria, national reserve, villa ada
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local: research center with public outreach component urban: connect to bike path, metro, urban condition
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local: hotel and convention center urban: connect to metro and theater, conclude manicured park
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local: sculpture garden, commercial/retail urban: beginning, advertise bike path, connect to GRE
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From north to south, the campus begins with a small bike rental pavilion that marks the starting point of the path that leads all the way to the center of Rome. Continuing south, there is an a refurbished factory that is repurposed to house a bicycle museum and a custom bike workshop. Thirteen professional biker apartments wrap around the velodrome, each apartment is complete with a personal entrance ramp into the velodrome. The wrap stretches out towards the water and culminates in public amenities including a cafe/restaurant and small shops.
39 Velohome / Cornell Design VII (Spring 2013) / Prof. Davide Marchetti
A detail of the second floor plan shows the thirteen individual professional bicyclist units complete with personal bike parking spaces and ramps.
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41 Velohome / Cornell Design VII (Spring 2013) / Prof. Davide Marchetti
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Richard Meier Model Shop Richard Meier & Partners Architects (2014) / Managed by Graham Kervin Collaborative Team All work completed in collaboration with the Model Shop Team. Below Wooden Railings, Courtyard Facade Studies, Penthouse Right Base, Context, Column Structure, Existing Facade Studies, Interior Walls and Floor Plates
43 Richard Meier Model Shop / Richard Meier & Partners (Fall 2014) / Managed by Graham Kervin
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Museum of the Unexpected Design III (Fall 2011) / Prof. Vince Mulcahy Assignment: To design a museum in tribute to Rod Serling, the creator of the Twilight Zone, located in Binghamton, NY
Final Section Drawing: 10’ x 3’
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45 Museum of the Unexpected / Cornell Design III (Fall 2011) / Prof. Vince Mulcahy
This geometric object takes roots in the ground at the point of entrance and extends in both the x and y axes. The horizontal extension later erupts to form theatre seating for the screen of the primary form. The vertical object becomes a vessel of connection between the ground and the sky. The interior spaces are reshaped as they react to the foreign phenomenon.
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Justin Wadge / Cornell University / Department of Architecture
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Once the section was refined, it was reinterpreted to become a developed three-dimensional object.
47 Museum of the Unexpected / Cornell Design III (Fall 2011) / Prof. Vince Mulcahy
The project becomes an object that is firstly concerned with framing itself from outside but consequently frames the outside when within. On the river side, the viewer approaches the building to see only particular moments of the geometric rupture within. Upon circumnavigating the structure, the object within is revealed in its entirety as it breaks open the facade.
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Presentation Drawings Mitchell Giurgola Architects (Spring 2016) Assignment: To redevelop the presentation strategy for Mitchell Giurgola drawings submitted to publications and awards.
1. LAB 2. LAB SUPPORT 3. CLASSROOM 4. OFFICE 5. COMMON 6. SERVICE
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Drawing from examples by David Chipperfield, Richard Meier, and Tod Williams and Billie Tsien, I removed all color from the drawings and poched the walls to establish stong figure ground relationships. Floor patterns in prominent common spaces are articulated to draw attention and also add a finer degree of detail to the drawing. Trees are richly detailed and irregular as a counterpoint to the rigid architecture, and subtle grey tones juxtapose the inside and outside.
49 Presentation Drawings / Mitchell Giurgola (Spring 2016)
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Library in the Labyrinth Cornell Thesis (Spring 2015) / Advisors Vince Mulcahy and Jim Williamson Proposal: To design a series of reading rooms within a labyrinth sited in Venice
Library in the Labyrinth is an exploration of how architecture can produce a narrative, and simultaneously how narrative can produce an architecture. The narrative is understood as a choreographed sequence of space; it is a visual and emotive experience of place. I begin with the idea of the promenade and the picturesque. I draw further inspiration from the work of John Hejudk and Jorge Luis Borges for their abilities to surpass linear understandings of narrative towards labyrinthine experiences that transcend singular times. The project is sited at the intersection of contrasting approaches in the southeast of Venice; the program is the series of intimate reading rooms from Borges’ Library of Babel. I trace routes through the streets of Venice as montages of perspective paintings. These sequences converge, diverge, open up, and collapse to produce an intersecting labyrinth of space. They are then formally abstracted to become the internal streetscape of the library. The observer transitions from the outside world to an intimate study conducive to getting lost in a book.
51 Library in the Labyrinth / Cornell Thesis (Spring 2015) / Prof. Vince Mulcahy and Jim Williamson
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Three distinct routes are produced inspired by three characters from Hejduk’s Victims. Above, the resulting montages of paintings confront eachother and create physical space in between. Below, the paintings are intertwined and cut into apertures. The three characters are then extracted as purely formal diagrams. The distinction between illusionistic and physical space is collapsed. In the wooden model, the intertwined paintings maintain the rotations in the labyrinth, and are extruded to recreate the depth implied by the image. Then, in the white model, the wire frame volumes are carved to reproduce the perspectival eects of the original images. The three white models are connected to form the labyrinthine fabric that is the architecture.
53 Library in the Labyrinth / Cornell Thesis (Spring 2015) / Prof. Vince Mulcahy and Jim Williamson
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55 Library in the Labyrinth / Cornell Thesis (Spring 2015) / Prof. Vince Mulcahy and Jim Williamson
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57 Library in the Labyrinth / Cornell Thesis (Spring 2015) / Prof. Vince Mulcahy and Jim Williamson
The inner streetscape is designed from outside in. The forms are results of reproducing the streetscape. These inhabitable volumes become the fourteen intimate reading rooms. An important step in the implementation of the labyrinth in the city is the addition of the cylinders. The project seeks not to be about the compression of the city, but rather about the infinite space behind the form. The cylinders become holes that show the empty space that the maze is masking. Like the work of Borges, the central theme is to weave contrasting narratives in such a way that the literary structure collapses. The cylinders show the infinite depth between the water and the sky. It is a reminder that the maze is an imposed structure that rests on the infinite.
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59 Library in the Labyrinth / Cornell Thesis (Spring 2015) / Prof. Vince Mulcahy and Jim Williamson
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Baroque Libraries: The Journey to Getting Lost in a Book Cornell Eidlitz Travel Fellowship (2016) Proposal: To travel to the Czech Republic, Austria and Italy to document the sequences of space leading in to Baroque Monastery Librarues using Japanese Moleskin Leporello Notebooks.
Centuries ago, when rooms walled with books were a novelty, they were treasured.They were part of highly choreographed tours through monasteries, incredibly intentional stages for the performance to a visiting dignitary. Today, we ought to remember what once mattered so much. There was an emphasis on the physical journey to prepare oneself for getting lost in a book. The long hallway that makes us think long while we walk. The open courtyard that proceeds to the dark enclosure, making us aware of our passage. We ought to remember what it feels like to open a book in a state of presence, fully prepared by the place, ready to absorb. Centuries ago, when rooms walled with books were a novelty, they were treasured.They were part of highly choreographed tours through monasteries, incredibly intentional stages for the performance to a visiting dignitary. Today, we ought to remember what once mattered so much. There was an emphasis on the physical journey to prepare oneself for getting lost in a book. The long hallway that makes us think long while we walk. The open courtyard that proceeds to the dark enclosure, making us aware of our passage. We ought to remember what it feels like to open a book in a state of presence, fully prepared by the place, ready to absorb. The drawings have been exhibited in solo exhibitions at St. Florian Monastery in Upper Austria, Cornell University Department of Architecture in Ithaca and New York (accompanied by a lecture) along wtih an upcoming show at the Bibliotecca Valecelliana in Rome (Spring 2019).
Libraries / Cornell Travel Fellowship 51 Baroque Richard Meier Model Shop /Eidlitz Richard Meier & Partners(2016) (Fall 2014) / Managed by Graham Kervin 61
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Libraries / Cornell Travel Fellowship 51 Baroque Richard Meier Model Shop /Eidlitz Richard Meier & Partners(2016) (Fall 2014) / Managed by Graham Kervin 65
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New York Public Library Hunts Point Branch Mitchell Giurgola Architects (2016 - Present) Paul Broches FAIA and Carol Loewenson FAIA Collaborative Team Commission: To restore and retrofit a 1927 Carrere and Hastings designed library (Historic Landmark)
Located in the Bronx, the Hunts Point Branch (1927) is a beautiful example of Carrere and Hastings' refined neoclassical approach. The parti is quite simple, two grand reading rooms stacked on top of eachother with all ancillary spaces moved to the back of the site. The team at Mitchell Giurgola was tasked with restoring the existing facade including window replacement, a new ADA compliant, symmetrical entrance ramp, and repairing and repointing of the brick facade. On the inside, new white oak floors will be complimented with surrounding custom white oak bookshelves, built in window benches, custom white oak chairs and reading tables, and black terrazzo stairs. Once completed, the much needed overhaul will offer state of the art technological resources, meeting spaces, and beautiful reading rooms for adults, teens and children, all in a clean and contemporary design that pays homage to the century old library traditions.
67 NYPL Hunts Point Branch / Mitchell Giurgola Architects (2016 - Present)
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Second Floor Drawing Produced with Mabel Jiang
STAIR B GARAGE STORAGE
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Drawing Produced with Mabel Jiang
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Drawing Produced with Mabel Jiang
The drawing above shows the proposed return to the historic double hung wood windows and the new limestone entrance ramp. The reading room, pictured to the right, employs traditional wood shelving wrapping the room with huge new windows to match the original (since replaced with thick aluminum windows and security gates). The space is filled with a thoughtful mixture of computer workstations, long communal reading tables, and clusters of lounge chairs. A new glass vestibule is introduced at the entrance, simple in form so as to not detract from the grand volume of the room. A wooden partition is introduced at one end to divide the adult and teen spaces.
69 NYPL Hunts Point Branch / Mitchell Giurgola Architects (2016 - Present)
Rendering by Andrew Thomas and Mabel Jiang
Rendering by Andrew Thomas and Mabel Jiang
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New York Public Library Melrose Branch Mitchell Giurgola Architects (2016 - Present) Paul Broches FAIA and Carol Loewenson FAIA Collaborative Team Commission: To restore and design an addition to a 1914 Carrere and Hastings designed library.
The Melrose Branch (1914), also designed by Carrere and Hastings, suffered from a severe fire in 1959 that burned the upper floors. Surviving until now with only modest reconstruction and repairs, this branch was long overdue for a major redesign. The existing condition (top right) needed another floor addition not only to satisfy the growing programmatic requirements, but also to restore the proportions of the building closer to the balance that it used to have. Similar to how the punched windows below continue in a regular pattern across the facade, the newly proposed curtain wall rhythmically runs across the street facades. Mullion caps extend deep outside the glass, made deeper at the round internal columns that coincide with the window spacing below. It is capped with a deep aluminum louver and facia above to create a modern day cornice.
71 NYPL Hunts Point Branch / Mitchell Giurgola Architects (2016 - Present)
Existing Conditions
Proposed
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73 NYPL Melrose Branch / Mitchell Giurgola Architects (2016 - Present)
Third Floor
MELROSE BRANCH LIBRARY
Second Floor
First Floor
Early in the design process, the top floor reading room was reserved as the childrens floor, offering them abundant natural light and the opportunity to have lower sills to see out of. The lower two floors (Adult and Teens) follow the NYPL design standards developed by Mitchell Giurgola and used on the Hunts Point Branch, including white oak floors and custom book cases/built in benches, along with custom white oak reading tables and chairs. A three story steel and black terrazzo stair connects the main reading rooms in a simple white volume punctured by vertical strip LED lights. The childrens reading room features a wood slat ceiling, conveying the warm wooden interiors to the street.
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Construction Documents for Theater in Connecticut, Hunts Point Library, and Melrose Public Library available upon interview
www.justinwadge.com jmw396@cornell.edu