MICAH MARTIN
Selected Works
2014
SECOND YEAR COMPETITION
The program asked the students to design a bird watching pavilion on the Appalachian Trail. Requirements included indoor and outdoor space, covered and uncovered outdoor sitting/viewing areas, and a 2:1 site slope.
DESIGN
Constrained by the landscape itself, this building compliments the slope of the forest by reflecting it over the horizon line to create the slope of approach, and the roof.
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3
1
PLAN A 1
PLAN C
PLAN B 2
3
SECTION 1
C
B
SECTION 2
A
SECTION 3
This study of color was designed to observe the way certain colors interact with eachother. After desaturating the colors we were asked to decide the main cause of the interactions. The third square demonstrates that I believed the change in light was due to intersection. Therefore, I demonstrated that with lines to recreate the desaturated piece. The last drawing attempted to chang intersecting qualities into differing widths and shades.
The drawing above was developed into a model that use the line weights to filter light. After constructing study models we made one last model that incorporated the same characteristic of light. The model took on it’s first inhabitable form.
3000 Books, 3 Floors
A
A
This building was designed to house 3000 books, and to give the readers three different floors to read and relax on. The building consists of a one story entrance progression, that leads to a three story tall reading hall. The space surrounding the building includes a courtyard and waterfall. SECTION A-A
During the early stages of constructing the model I went outside to capture the different shadows the building’s features can make. The many columns throughout the building’s design made the most notable shadow formations, some of which included elements of structure that could not be seen once the model was complete.
This top floor provides the ultimate privacy for reading inside the building. The reason the top floor was designed as the smallest was the fact that being the highest in the building would induce a sense of desired seclu sion for the reader’s privacy. The reading area only allows light to enter along the axial entry line that is established by the floor below, keeping the axis present.
A
B
A-A
B-B A
B
One of the most important aspects of this building’s design is the axial progression upon entry. The bookshelf plays a key part in this as the line is interrupted by it. This causes the reader to diverge from the center and swirl around the central line. The bookshelf does not brake the progression by diverging the reader but establishes it. It does this by keeping the person moving in relation to the center, therefore it establishes the center axis of the front hall.
LINEAR PROGRESSION
DESIGN PROCESS
The elevation views to the left reveal different ideas of how to design the building’s approach. The bottom of the three designs proved the most reasonable, and the drawings below display the other side walkways that I added later on.
A A
The roof of the building is slanted at the same angle as the concrete leading to the ground floor. This relationship houses the sloped stairs which repeat throughout the structure causing a unity of angled components.
SECTION A-A
The building’s footprint and angled approach are designed to respect the surrounding area by not being intrusive to the site and the immediate environment. Thus, the remaining piece of the site is open for use.