the modern brothel
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NEIGHBORHOOD: Fort Point, Boston
Animation Stills from a collage response to Fort Point
Downtown Boston 40
Fort Point Historic District
SITE!
proposed developm
Reaction to site in the form of animated collage
d Seaport ment 41
THE SITE
New, largewindowed residential buildings, a bit out of scale with the existing structures
Summer street The elevation of this street makes traversing Fort Point cumbersome, stairs only exist in a few locations. In terms of design, the street allows for entry-points at two levels, or the design could be used as a connector between the levels.
Neighboring historic factories repurposed as high-end lofts
SITE
SECTION
At the intersection of the old Fort Point neighborhood and the looming constructions of the new Seaport neighborhood, the site is lined by streets of different elevations. The building needs to have a powerful connecting force, both physically between streets and figuratively between neighborhoods.
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TI O N
S E C
NEIGHBORHOOD: Fort Point, Boston
The Site
heterotopias
Mapping Fort Point I had a strange feeling of placelessness in the eerily desolate Fort Point/ Seaport area. I mapped heterotopia as a way of understanding this feeling. Types of heterotopias are designated according to Michel Foucault’s Of Other Spaces. The area was full of these such spaces: museums, convention centers (fairgrounds), museums, parking lots, court houses. Next I mapped pleasure. In order to be able to map in a concrete way, pleasure had to be separated into parts. Food/drink was mapped with white dots corresponding to yelp reviews. Beauty was denoted with lightness where art and outdoor park space resided. Places of work were shaded with black (not that I find work dis-pleasurable). Places of play were highlighted in white. Finally, the overlay of these maps gave me an idea of the centers of pleasure in the area. 44
PLEASURE
DISCONTENT
food/drink
beauty (art and outdoor space)
work
play
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Mapping and research lead me to Craigslist. By searching the personal ads with the keyword “Seaport� I could view certain wants and needs of the community. Each day I would check the listings and gather data. Eight characters based on Craiglist users became my clientele, the residents of the building. The building would take cues from the layout of the website. I struggled with how to use Architecture to define gender... visitors enter through one of three bathroom doors.
public guest private
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Having Foucault on my mind, the soulless high-rise constructions of the coming Seaport neighborhood, and the research into Craigslist personal ads, a brothel seemed the appropriate mixed-use program. At this stage in the design, the Brothel was a utopian one. The residents would support each other as a family, living communally. A large central elevator would connect each floor, becoming a vertical living room.
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Many iterations brought me to the final form of the building. I drew inspiration from the Seattle Public Library and The New Museum. While making this model - struggling with how to scale down materiality - I found the building somewhat appalling. I grew to love the grotesque nature of the building. It is like a body, strangely beautiful flaws and all.
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An exterior stairway spirals the building, an extension of the sidewalk. Pedestrians on the street can peek into windows, and out at views. This ideas plays on the voyeuristic aspect of Craiglist. The stair took shape by connecting “nodes� specific places to look in and out. The stair then shaped the floor slabs. A perforated metal skin pulls the parts together, playing with the fishnet stocking trope. Inside the building, two glass elevators serve the residents and clients. Using the elevator is like browsing on Craiglist. Stills from an animation of the elevator ride border this page from bottom to top.
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SLABS
SKIN
CIRCULATION
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9 GARDEN OF EARTHLY DELIGHT
Roof top accessible by sidewalk stair or interior elevator
8 ENVY
“Bi or curious ladies we are a stable couple looking for a cute sexy bi or curious girl today, if you are looking for a great time nsa with a couple please come by.”
7 PRIDE
“W4Pats fan: I am a mature sexy MILF who would love to strip and pleasure patriot fans . I have a group of bruins fan who like to met before the game like last night. So much fun but the Bruin stunk. Lost 4-0. Good thing they all got off or they would have gone home miserable. Lol."
6 SLOTH
“It’s a glorious sunny Wednesday. Let’s have fun. I’ll be around all day laying in the sun.”
5 VANITY
“Sitting here naked waiting for friends to come have some fun. Come strip, join in, watch from afar.”
4 DECEPTION
“3 sexy and sensuous drag queen/TV/CD party girls. Ever fantasied about not one... not two... but THREE sexy trannies? Come through all sexy, hard-bodied men! t4m tt4m tt4mm”
3 SECRECY
"VERY discrete, versatile but not into kissing. All are welcome, married, single, men, women, etc. Special guests may receive a dinner in the nude”
2 GLUTTONY
restaurant and bar at level of summer street
1 UNCLEANLINESS
baths at level of Boston wharf rd
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PLANS
3 SECRECY
The floor is divided into a private area on the right for the client and a more public half on the left for his guests. The only place where the exterior stair can see inside is the kitchen, where the client prefers to be nude.
2 GLUTTONY
A few feet below Summer Street, visitors descend into a restaurant and bar
1 UNCLEANLINESS 60
Resident’s entrance on the lower right lead to a large bath and the resident’s elevator Three entrances into bathrooms make visitors define their gender upon entering.
8 ENVY
A wall-less space, full of sofas and carpets, gives plenty of room for the group activities that occur on this floor.
7 PRIDE
An dedicated Patriot’s fan gets her own stadium for her performances.
6 SLOTH
The client, a sun-bathing enthusiast, has a large outdoor patio that looks out at the harbor. His bed faces directly east.
5 VANITY
The exterior stair crosses through this floor, becoming a Vasari corridor with various sized windows framing views of an exhibitionist and his wall-less space. His bed and bath are elevated on a stage.
4 DECEPTION
Three transvestites live on this floor. A long runway dominates a large, wide open room with tall ceilings. Curtains separate the beds from the rest of the 61 floor, veiling those behind it as clothes veil the body.
Dyed concrete slabs make each floor visible through the steel skin facade, hinting at the life within and playing on the colors of free sexuality.
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steel skin provides support for exterior stair and clothes the building
when the skin intersects with floor slab, a clerestory window attaches to the steel
window between exterior stair and interior resident
laminated milky glass covers exterior stairway
dyed concrete floor
At intersection of stairway and floor slab, steel beam cantilevers the stair
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building usage over a day
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W1 SPACED 8’ O.C. L1
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UPLIT FRITTED GLASS EXTERIOR SKIN FACADE
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Lighting study of the bathing room
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L2
L2 IN WALL OF STAIR ABOVE
take aways: -utopian fantasies are easily corrupted by internet gathered data -to do a controversial project, plans must be explicit -adobe illustrator -making tiny floor slabs out of plaster is difficult -the importance of a precident
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