marion forbes forbesmarion68@gmail.com 865 660 8071
sebrof noiram
> ritual in appalachia summer abroad helsinki, finland
omakuva: a process in self discovery
> knoxville rowing association
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continued readings
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It is important to highlight readings and influences I had for every project. Everything is collage, as Lucien Freud says.
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contrafact: a study in sound dislocation
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> knoxville 2043: summer research internship
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> self directed
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independent study
summer abroad rome, italy central european grand tour helsinki, finland
transcriptions
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aihcalappa ni lautir
cadence a staccato pulse quickens as the car glides past the percussive louvres.
exterior perspective from car
ritual in appalachia spring 2013 | katherine ambroziak
cadence: a critique to order
the ambroziak family fold | image credit_k. ambroziak This semester we have experienced ritual as the Ambroziak Family Fold. Each activity has provided opportunity for study, analysis, storytelling, and bonding and leaves us with a warming sense of togetherness.
A monument sits in the hills with a phrase carved into the bottom, underneath a bronze ribbon, that reads: until you’re home again. The memorial park site in Abingdon provides an eclectic setting for several war memorials and pavilions. I believe that a bus terminal, located on the boundary between highway and park, can provide order to the site as an argument for memorial. As a counter memorial, the bus terminal acts through transition, providing opportunities for ritual within seemingly mundane, programmatic transitions. The collective memorial process then becomes augmented through the use of the terminal by the community and the public. The terminal sits within a larger context of networks and destinations located in the surrounding Appalachian region. The memorial site is located on highway 75, which sits perpendicularly between the parallel highways 11 and 81. Highway 11 connects Abingdon to Damascus as does the Virginia Creeper trail. Highway 81 connects Abingdon to Bristol and other large cities that sit further south on the highway. The counter memorial is reacting to the eclectic nature of the memorial park; the master plan shows the lack of structure in design intent, leaving spaces that lack hierarchy and leave the visitor feeling lost. Across the highway adjacent to the park lies a box store with a large paved area for parking. This box store and surrounding strip mall provides the immediate context to a large part of the site with residential areas hugging the other three sides. Offering opportunity for ritual, the bus terminal sits in transition between the strip mall and memorial park.
detail floor connection | marion forbes This floor connection examines the possibility of sound amplification and adaptation through attention to detail.
a death in the family | james agee We are talking now of summer evenings in Knoxville, Tennessee, in the time that I lived there so successfully disguised to myself as a child.
aihcalappa ni lautir
the porch | image credit_m. forbes The porch is the true front door. the porch connects the house to the street as the public fsce.
001
002 ticket booth callout 001 phoneboott callout 002| m, forbes Signage becomes a tertiary means for communication and rhythmic effort.
ritual in appalachia
site plan [opposite page]
interior perspective from entry
the site is located across highway 75 from the local kroger. the project is a critique to order and disorder between the grid of the parking lot and the eclectic memorial site.
[transcription 001: spring 2013]_m. forbes A young man leaves home for Fort Bragg, located 270 miles away. His family is sitting with him as he waits for the bus to arrive to take him to Fayatteville. The 3:10pm bus from Bristol arrives early and as a couple moves through the walkway between the highway and the bus terminal; cars are muffled through a transparent screen leaving hums of air in their wake. They are here for the weekend to travel to Damascus on the Virginia creeper bike trail and will most likely rent from the shop located within the terminal. They pass a woman and daughter eagerly awaiting the arrival of some loved one coming home from a long absence. The terminal is the first and last step in the transition between loss and gain. The ritual lies in the moments before departure and before arrival; anticipation and longing wash over the faces of all that move through the terminal.
let us now praise famous men | james agee+walker evans 1. the great ball in which we live The world is our home. It is also the home of many, many other children, some of whom live in far away lands. They are our world brothers and sisters...
1:10 sect 003
003
+20
Material choice and structure allow sound to become the main signifier for spatial transition. In this detail one can see how the wood decking is augmented through a hallow gap in the structural framing. This gap allows for the boards to reverberate the movement of bikers, runners, and travelers.
Sound begins to dampen as one moves into the building. Wood is softened by a layer of cork, absorbing footsteps in the main interior space of the terminal. Sound is associated with speed and movement, indicating transition and threshold. Structural fins provide visual screening that then translates audibly as one moves past and through the accodrian of timber. Steel members add a steady pulse as buses move over the exterior decking.
call out 003
call out 004
1:20 highway level 005
1:20 elev 001
004
1:10 section 003 sectional perspective of bus deck and terminal interior 1:20 elevation 004 | m. forbes this section and elevation show the relationship of the bus terminal to the site. arms reach across the highway to bridge pedestrians over traffic. wood louvres provide rhythm to daily commutes. +20 highway plan 005 | m. forbes this level plan shows the relationship of bus traffic to highway and pedestrian traffic on the highway 75 level. a walking path moves through the building, connecting the lower pedestrian system into the space.
buses traverse a raised wood deck elevated above the terrain. precedent interest found in aircraft carriers and airship hangars.
avukamo
a new university center
seasonal site elevation
fore, is the city of his dreams:
spring, summer, fall, winter
omakuva summer 2012| brian ambroziak
a process in self-discovery OMAKUVA. a sanctuary [transcription 002: project brief]_b. ambroziak
001
002 a postcard to ikonen 001 002| m. forbes To me sacredness is in the memories found in a forest; memories of nature and wanderers and autumns in tents. A footpath created through repetition is a symbol of what once was and is becoming. A fallen tree is known to have once stood. Traces of the past linger in my peripheries as I wander through the grass and the trees. I see blurred colors of a boat moving just out of my sight. Did it have sails? I see a whale amongst the trees. Did it once sing? But all of these things that I see remind me of a place I once knew and maybe what I am seeing are memories surfacing from my mind. This is the sacredness of my forest, the inability to decipher what is present and what is past.
The Schjerfbeck Chapel will serve as an intimate sanctuary available to people of every belief. A tranquil meditative environment inspired by the paintings and tapestries of one of the most important and recognized artists in the entire Nordic region, Helene Schjerfbeck (1862-1946). The Schjerfbeck Chapel counters fleeting histories, stories, and processes that exist only as ones and zeros and whose lack of accessibility for future generation will far exceed that of the physical artifact. The gallery by its very nature, as a collector of visual memoirs and perceptual shifts, possesses our past. The rituals, stories, and objects contained within its walls transmit from generation to generation a collage of hidden presences. Without these traces, we run the risk of isolation, an existence in a constant present. The chapel typology embraces the acts of self-reflection and meditation and provides a sympathetic opposition to the outward gaze of the gallery visitor – quite simply, in seeing through another’s eyes we might better understand ourselves. self-portrait. Over the next three weeks you will tell two stories: first, the struggle that accompanies discovery as you attempt to draw from your artistic conscience and create a self-portrait – an OMAKUVA, and second, how design transmits layered meaning through form rooted in individual readings of a unique site and program. Balzac wrote in Le cabinet des antiques, “It is as easy to dream up a book as it is difficult to put it on paper.” This is a process of design that considers first and foremost process and has as its end goal… honest objects! memory. The memory of the chapel differs for each visitor. For some an idealized shape, others a hull, some have no recollection of the visit at all. As with all things, the actual form of the architecture fades with time. On approach, cells exist in a seemingly choreographed dance as mechanical shades follow distant and constant rhythms. The light of the moon is as sacred to the dreamer as that of the candle.
invisible cities | italo calvino cities and memory 2 When a man rides a long time through wild regions he feels the desire for a city. Finally he comes to Isidora, a city where the buildings have spiral staircases encrusted with spiral seashells, where perfect telescopes and violins are made, where the foreigner hesitating between two women always encounters a third, where cockfights degenerate into bloody brawls among the betters. He was thinking of all these things when he desired a city. Isidora, therefore, is the city of his dreams: with one difference. The dreamed-of city contained him as a young man; he arrives in Isidora in his old age. In the square there is the wall where the old men sit and watch the young go by; he is seated in a row with them. Desires are already memories.
003
exterior perspective 003 [opposite page] this shows the entrance to the sanctuary. a whale sits in the distance.
004 peep hole 004 | m. forbes the child has a space between spaces. hidden from the adults, they can spy through an opening behind the tapestry.
sanctuary section
if on a winter’s night a traveler | italo calvino dressed in a pair of big dark glasses and a smearing of walnut oil, placing between her person and the beams of the dog days’ sun the brief shield of a popular New York magazine.
noitaicossa gniwor ellivxonk
Knoxville Rowing Association Boathouse Fourth Year Undergraduate | ARCH 471 | Hansjorg Goeritz Marion Forbes
The Knoxville Rowing Association Boathouse sits as new development along the South side waterfront of the Tennessee River. The boathouse begins a transition from the urban edge of the University of Tennessee’s campus into a predominantly residential area of Knoxville. In the proposed master plan of the South side waterfront, the boathouse will help lead the area in environmentally efficient strategies that will improve the quality of the river and the city. The design challenges the use of the vehicle and brings together a community of walkers, runners, and bikers. This community will begin to transition Knoxvlle into a city that is no longer dependent on its highway systems. The South side water front design consists of shops, restarants, and recreation fields all connected by a central River walk. This riverwalk provides pedestrian access all along the water front and connects to the proposed pedestrian bridge across the river to the University of Tennessee campus.
001
knoxville rowing association fall 2012 | hansjorg goeritz
boathouse and bridge
southside waterfront masterplan | sketch the existing masterplan for the southside waterfront in Knoxville lacks opportunities for urban transition and pedestrian activities. this preliminary sketch shows my attempts at creating an urban transition space.
The Knoxville Rowing Association Boathouse sits as new development along the South side waterfront of the Tennessee River. The boathouse begins a transition from the urban edge of the University of Tennessee’s campus into a predominantly residential area of Knoxville. In the proposed master plan of the South side waterfront, the boathouse will help lead the area in environmentally efficient strategies that will improve the quality of the river and the city. The design challenges the use of the vehicle and brings together a community of walkers, runners, and bikers. This community will begin to transition Knoxville into a city that is no longer dependent on its highway systems. The South side water front design consists of shops, restaurants, and recreation fields all connected by a central River walk. This riverwalk provides pedestrian access all along the water front and connects to the proposed pedestrian bridge across the river to the University of Tennessee campus. River walk_a new greenway proposed alongside the river. The proposed river walk provides the area with pedestrian access to all areas of the South side waterfront. This gravel path is met by areas of decking that allow pedestrians to view boat races from the water level. The river walk allows for areas of habitat restoration where new wetlands help improve the health of the river downstream.
bench and water collection | sketch this preliminary sketch shows attention to detail of water collection on site. the exterior louvre system also provides rain screening that simultaneously drains into a water collection system. site plan 001 | m. forbes this is the final rendering of the knoxville masterplan.
Plaza_The main plaza sits at the 836 level of the site and acts as an entrance into the KRA boathouse and public house. The plaza is made entirely of permeable pavers that sit above a rainwater storage system. The water is able to drain and filter directly from the plaza into the cisterns. The water is then reused in the kitchen and bathrooms on site.
spaces of memory | k. ambroziak this was a busy semester...
noitaicossa gniwor ellivxonk
River walk_a new greenway proposed alongside the river. The proposed river walk provides the area with pedestrian access to all areas of the South side waterfront. This gravel path is met by areas of decking that allow pedestrians to view boat races from the water level. The river walk allows for areas of habitat restoration where new wetlands help improve the health of the river downstream. Plaza_The main plaza sits at the 836 level of the site and acts as an entrance into the KRA boathouse and public house. The plaza is made entirely of permeable pavers that sit above a rainwater storage system. The water is able to drain and filter directly from the plaza into the cisterns. The water is then reused in the kitchen and bathrooms on site. Screen_A wood screen wraps both the boathouse and the public house providing shade and protection from solar heat gain. The screen begins at the river walk level, wrapping over the top of each building. The bending form allows for areas of circulation, sitting, and transition. A transition from water to land, the boathouse sits as a boat dry on land. Ivy grows on areas of the screen improving the local habitat and protecting the building from rain and solar heat gain. Gateway_The new pedestrian bridge connects the University of Tennessee campus to the site. The Public house sits along the face of the river, providing easy access to more of the public parts of the program such as the classrooms and the restaurant. The boathouse and the public house, together, create a framed view of the Lady Vol’s boathouse across the river as well as views of downtown. The buildings provide a gateway for the river walk while opening up the waterfront to the city. Orchard_An orchard of red maple trees sit as a prominent area on the site. Adjacent to the main plaza, the trees provide shade and restoration to the local habitat. The red maple trees link other public spaces along the waterfront to the KRA site.
The rain screen can be seen in the above diagram. Beginning at the river walk, the screen begins to wrap the exterior facade of both the public house and the boathouse. The screen then travels to the ground again as a ramp. This ramp is the main gateway from the 836 plaza level to the 820 river walk level.
The structure of the building consists of a series of heavy timber space frame columns which support the interior programs. Inside ths hull created by the space frame sits a series of structurally concrete units that house HVAC, elevators, and firestairs. The structure is exposed providing the building with a warm sense of openess and grandure. Similar to a boat, the space frame columns support the hull [roof] and provide ample space within. The interior program elements, not including the bathrooms, are separated by a series of 10’ partitions. These partitions allow for a consistant view of the entire structure from every part of the building.
building plan | m. forbes the overhead structure is outlined in red. the river walk, plaza, screen system, gateway, and orchard can all be seen in the smaller image above. the image to the left shows a detailed view of the same board.
knoxville rowing association
interior perspective from boat storage Screen_A wood screen wraps both the boathouse and the public house providing shade and protection from solar heat gain. The screen begins at the river walk level, wrapping over the top of each building. The bending form allows for areas of circulation, sitting, and transition. A transition from water to land, the boathouse sits as a boat dry on land. Ivy grows on areas of the screen improving the local habitat and protecting the building from rain and solar heat gain. Gateway_The new pedestrian bridge connects the University of Tennessee campus to the site. The Public house sits along the face of the river, providing easy access to more of the public parts of the program such as the classrooms and the restaurant. The boathouse and the public house, together, create a framed view of the Lady Vol’s boathouse across the river as well as views of downtown. The buildings provide a gateway for the river walk while opening up the waterfront to the city. Orchard_An orchard of red maple trees sit as a prominent area on the site. Adjacent to the main plaza, the trees provide shade and restoration to the local habitat. The red maple trees link other public spaces along the waterfront to the KRA site.
noitaicossa gniwor ellivxonk
knoxville rowing association
_B
_A
_B
Exterior Rain Screen_ 1 x 6 members structurally independant of the rest of the building. The members connect to an exterior column system and connects back to the building’s facade with steel members.
Exterior Roof Cladding_ Red Ceder roof shingles [ at 1 1/2” thick ] connects to a series of purlins that support the roof cladding system.
Roof reveal_ A
6” piece of glass provides a small reveal between the exterior walls
and the roof. This allows for the roof to appear floating above the rest of the building adding to the strong dynamic created by the space frame columns.
Glue Laminated Wood Beam [ at 6 x 24 ]
Space Frame Column System_ A series of heavy timber, space frame columns together create the main structure for the boathouse and the public house. The columns are 18” in diameter and support 4 1/2” finger props on the lower level and 6” finger props on the top level.
Exterior Wall System_ The exterior stud walls consist of a sufficient amount of insulation for the space. The walls are 12” thick and have and interior and exterior weather barriers protecting the walls from condensation.
Horizontal Board Siding [ SYP at 3/4” x 4” ] 5” Rigid Insulation Interior Plywood Finish [ 3/4” thick ]
Steel Beam Connector
HVAC_ The HVAC ducts are 18” in diameter.
The geothermal heat pumps for the
entire building sit within the concrete masses that are covered by the roof’s hull.
Steel Cable [ 1/2” thick ]
Rain Screen Overhang_ The rainscreen continues as an overhang as the public restaurant continues its seating outside on the river walk. The decking leaps from ceiling to floor while continuing its evolving datum across the site.
River Walk Decking_ The river walk decking provides areas along the gravel path for pedestrians to view the river on and/or close to the level of the river. The decking is made of 2” x 6” wood members.
Concrete Foundations_ The public house and the boathouse sit on structural concrete floor slabs that connect on-grade to a series of concrete piles. The piles provide a deep footing for its site that is close to the Tennessee River’s flood plain.
detail section and elevation | m. forbes the detail section and elevation shows structural detail in context of the exterior envelope of the building. the preliminary sketch of the rain screen and bench detail can still be seen in this section after design development throughout the semester.
_A
002
site section 002 | m. forbes this drawing shows the relationship between campus, the existing boathouse, and the knoxville rowing association boathouse.
interior perspective from entry
yduts tnednepedni
1010 gallery fall 2013 | marion forbes a study in sound dislocation.
interior view of 1010 gallery exhibit | photograph r. murray richard murray photographed the entire exhibit, recording wonderful melodies in blue.
independent study spring+fall 2013 | keith mclelland+brian ambroziak
contrafact: a study in sound dislocation WARNING: If you have vision problems, please refrain from looking directly at the light. Eyes are not to be trusted...
scrim line | photograph r. murray a bright blue light disorients visitors at the entry, privileging the ear for continual experience.
It is here, in sound dislocation, where space is transplanted from outside sources--a fictional space made of many spaces, an opus of sound. To experience space without sight, one relies on the familiar to help understand the place in which they are in. Footsteps on marble, a cart’s wheels squeaking to a halt in front of the freight elevator, humming voices fill the dome leaving thoughts inaudible--all indicate interaction and reaction to space. For an active switch from the eye to the ear, what is left? Sound excerpts from different site locations in Rome provide auditory texture, creating the initial structure of the space. Contrafact, as a musical term, is defined as a new melody written over existing chord changes. New melodies (sounds that are no longer familiar) weave themselves between the existing sequences of Roman domes. A visual aid is placed in the gallery to help guide the visitor through the fictional soundscape. Though this exhibit/experiment focuses on sound, do not be fooled by visual projection... Marion Forbes is a fifth year undergraduate architecture student at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville. She has been working under the guidance of Professors Brian Ambroziak and Keith McClelland in an interdisciplinary independent study entitled Contrafact: a study in sound dislocation. This exhibit acts as testing ground for an architectural thesis, an idea that relies heavily on the ability of the ear and the power it may hold over the perception of space.
1010 elevation | photograph r. murray the exterior street elevation of the 1010 gallery.
Recordings taken from a trip to Rome during the May 2013 Mini-Term, ROMA REVISITED.
coming through slaughter | michael ondaatje Then I hear Bolden’s cornet, very quiet, and I move across the street, closer. There he is, relaxed back in a chair blowing that silver softly, just above a whisper and I see he’s got the hat over the bell of the horn…Thought I knew his blues before, and the hymns at funerals, but what he is playing now is real strange and I listen careful for he’s playing something that sounds like both. I cannot make out the tune and then I catch on. He’s mixing them up. He’s playing the blues and the hymn sadder than the blues and then the blues sadder than the hymn. That’s the first time I ever heard hymns and blues all cooked up together.
3402 ellivxonk
exterior elevation of bearden housing typologies | m. forbes + d. zegel daniel zegel and I were charged with exploring housing typlogies in areas of urban development in knoxville by the year 2043. digital montage.
knoxville 2043 summer 2013 | ted shelton
Plan ET summer research internship
downtown knoxville park | m. forbes + d. zegel this view shows potential for a parkscape downtown after the removal of the bisecting interstate 75.
3402 ellivxonk
knoxville 2043
burlington housing typologies | m. forbes + d. zegel in this perspective we explored the idea of pocket neighborhoods filling vacant lots in the burlington area of knoxville.
snoitpircsnart
sketch experpts
[transcription 003: m. forbes] I saw my grandmother yesterday in a painting. I walked through rooms of memories of summers spent in Knoxville rolling down grassy hills, playing with wooden rabbits, and steeling brooches from the bathroom cabinet. Images of small girls wearing silk shoes, lazy days on the couch, and stories by the fireplace tiptoed through my dreams as I slept. Awake, I see the paintings clearly as they exist on the wall in front of me. Asleep, they come to life. My dreams have become retold stories of memories from my past intertwined with the life paintings of Helene Schjerfbeck. Carefully cataloged self portraits line the walls of the Ateneum. I watch her age gracefully from a young student to a master. Only at the end of her life do I no longer see her depicted in her own self portraits. I see Hazel.
transcriptions study abroad | helsinki, central europe, rome summer 2012 + summer 2013
finland summer 2012 [transcription 004: m. forbes] My commute home is not a lavish as it once was. Bike rides surrounded by dark waters between rows of birch and silver pine wander off into dreams, providing scenery for melodic resemblances of what I have now convinced myself of as past. Only last summer was I fixed in the Nordic city of Helsinki; lost somewhere between ice and fantasy.
the whale and the shell | m. forbes
I cannot complain, however, of the sunny bike rides home through this musky town in which I have found myself presently. As May turns to June life begins to envelope the streets of downtown, entertainment in which my eyes welcome. Skirts walk in arm with Jeans in baseball caps; Straw Hats tend to walk alone or with Stilettos lost in years of wealth and worn leather. Conversations pass quickly as I avoid the pothole on the right side of the road. Mary-Is-Going-To-The-Beach passed an argumentative Well-You-Should-Have-Told-Me and How-Many-Times-Do-I-Have-To-Meet-Your-Mother; the voices’ crescendo, only lasting brief moments amidst the bustle of cars and garbage trucks. It’s hot here, and the days only seem to get hotter. But what I love most about summer present is what I seemed to miss the most in Helsinki…night. I longed for the kind of night that darkened everything more than two feet away and the night where fire flies were just as bright as stars. These are the nights that take both hands off the handle bars, leaving me to coast though the empty streets of North Knoxville. These nights, even mosquitos seem to sleep away the heat and all I can hear are the blasting drones of summer bugs.
helene schjerfbeck: life works The Ateneum in Helsinki housed, for the summer, Helene Schjerfbeck’s life works. I visited several times, finding new paintings to sketch each time. Above are images from her trip to Rome.
I spent last summer lost in memories, regaining glimpses of childhood; trying to remember who and why I am. But these nights, warm and whimsical, are where I lose grasp of the impending doom of adulthood.
invisible cities | italo calvino The inferno of the living is not something that will be; if there is one, it is what is already here, the inferno where we live every day, that we form by being together. There are two ways to escape suffering it. The first is easy for many: accept the inferno and become such a part of it that you can no longer see it. The second is risky and demands constant vigilance and apprehension: seek and learn to recognize who and what, in the midst of inferno, are not inferno, then make them endure, give them space.
snoitpircsnart
rome sketches
sketches from rome
transcriptions study abroad | helsinki, central europe, rome summer 2012 + summer 2013
mini-term: roma revisited summer 2013