Reflections: GSAPP Portfolio, Part 1

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REFLECTIONS

NICOLE MATER

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REFLECTIONS RETROACTIVE THESIS

TOOLING

1 • Propagate

170 • Bone Growth 186 • Spring-Net Structures 180 • The Unseen

HISTORICAL ANALYSES

196 • Guidebook Agency 204 • House:Housing 212 • Parallel Obsessions

APPLIED CONCEPTS

228 • Kerby 248 • Transient Urban Platforms 268 • A Living Wall for the Dead

299 • Afterword

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RETROACTIVE THESIS

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This monograph is a retroactive thesis, the product of reverse-engineering my previous work. The process revealed my tendency to design sequentially and a preference for inventing unitized systems. I am intrigued by the potentials of systematic design that utilizes prefabricated customized units.

The post-parametric unit is not a standard building block. Each individual component has the ability to be entirely customized, the system adjusting to accommodate it. Specificity can be achieved and options are endless.

I want to keep working toward this. Maybe forever.

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As systems grow they evolve, the process by which involves sequential change.

This is an investigation of the operations that enable proliferation in my architecture.

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SEQUENCE

ADD SUBTRACT DISTORT MULTIPLY DIVIDE

PROPAGATE

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SEQUENCE

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MULTIPLY

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49

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T We build higher than we can climb. As towers continue to

This building is the product of an exploration inverting, flipping,

climb skyward, we rely on conveniences and technologies to

and mirroring, in an aim to achieve circulatory complexity that is

enable us to do so. The Urban Survivalist realizes that in order

well received by the user. A primary stair is propagated around

to ensure his success in such an environment, he must be

the site, held together by occupied space. This complex knot

prepared for the dissolution of those conveniences.

can be easily comprehended by the user. When you are inside, you understand your position relative to the rest of the building,

Ultimately, we choose to exercise to ensure our survival. Can

and you are comforted by knowing that there are many ways

we re-frame our notions of survival and success to include

out. The stairs challenge the user by gradually increasing in

the conquering of our built environment? If so, is the banal

height, almost imperceptibly, on each level.

gymnasium successful in inspiring us to do so?

openings created by the configuration are used for climbing,

The porous

stretching, changing, swimming, and rest.

This is not a gymnasium. This is a training ground for the urban survivalist. There are no dumbbells, barbells, or other mindless equipment. Those who are willing, climb.

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SURVIVALISTS’ PLAYGROUND

EXTREME URBAN FITNESS

We build higher than we can climb.

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One primary unit

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Multiplied. Manipulated.

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Spa

Pool

Climbing Walls

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DIVIDE

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My mother might be a hoarder. Can you see her dining room

What happens when Freudian psychology is used as a marketing

table? Neither can I. It’s buried under stacks of “stuff”. If you flip

tool for more than half a century? Mass consumption and over-

through any given portion you would find receipts, junk mail,

purchasing abound as a method of pursuing happiness, but

and a scattering of yellowed yearbook photos. Her basement

at some point must wane. The return to a culture that values

is in a similar state, but at a larger scale. Instead of stacks

objects for their functionality is imperative to its continuance...

of paper, there are stacks of boxes, tables piled high with

Is it possible that our culture could be heading in a direction

Christmas ornaments, kitchen gadgets, and clothing dating

that would enable us to release our objects? Or have we laden

back to the early 1980s. My father might be a compulsive

our physical belongings with so much mnemonically attached

shopper. His obsession is of an enormous scale; he collects

emotion that they are impossible to give up.

cars. It’s “practical.” They are an “investment.”

Both of my parents are emotionally attached to their respective collections. God forbid I offer my assistance in de-cluttering or my advice on downsizing. For reasons I will never fully understand, those conversations are taboo.

In antiquity, scholars utilized the Method of loci as a mnemonic device, in which they would envision the mind as an elaborate palace, with places for each object of memory. In this scenario, architecture is used as a visualization tool to aid memory retrieval. I am reversing this relationship to create a physical work of architecture to act as a receptacle for memory. These stored memories will create mnemonic ties for a large audience

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Memory Palace

- the residents of Manhattan.

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Mom and Dad, if you’re reading this, I love you.

Collective memory receptacle

We consume. We collect.

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West Elevation

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East Elevation

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Even Levels 85

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SUBTRACT

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T My family rarely takes vacations. We are many, and travel isn’t

The Free Hostel takes the idea of a hostel to the next level. An

cheap. As a child, wherever we went was a trip of necessity

aggregate of things, it tells the story of the people who have

or familial obligation. Everywhere that we traveled, we always

visited. The standard is for relaxing -- the Free Hostel is for the

looked for free accommodations -- usually with relatives. To

adventurous. The primary unit of the hostel is derived from a

this day, my parents would rather stay on an air mattress of the

standard hotel room. Room amenities that are bastardized,

floor of my apartment than to pay for a hotel. As such, I am fairly

privatized versions of community elements have been removed

unfamiliar with hotels, except through business travel. I always

and appropriated into communal space. Guests choose a bed,

find them a bit sterile, regardless of amenities and decor.

and can store their belongings in the accompanying locker.

There are shared kitchens, study spaces, bars, and television

My experience with hostels abroad has been far more exciting,

rooms throughout the building. The hostel has the ability to

and I am really fond of the sense of community that is fostered

grow over time, as each of the bed units are a repeated and

through shared, temporary living space. I appreciate the way

mirrored primary that form the structure and layout of the

that hostels become an aggregate of things left behind by

building.

other travelers. Free books, towels, posters, and more build up over time, creating an eclectic community atmosphere.

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FREE HOSTEL

UNITIZED NOMADIC COMMUNITY

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Bathroom

Storage

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King-size Bed Mini Bar Kitchen

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Entertainment

Workspace Daylight

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A standard hotel room.

Shared facilities

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Reduced Storage

Smaller bed Moved to bar Shared kitchen

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Entertainment

Shared workspace Daylight Elements of the standard hotel room can be dispersed, reduced, and multiplied to create a community of smaller rooms.

Planar Reduction

Section Manipulation

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Typical Floor Plan

Personal Space

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Shared Space

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ADD

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Is color additive?

I am suspicious of color in architecture.

When divorced from the material, color as a graphic or manifestation is meaningless. As an appliquĂŠ, it is a stand-in for a concept never manifested.

Colorless architecture does not boast in its perceived image of purity, but rather, it acts as a medium for accepting the color of its surroundings. The colors change throughout the period of the day, the seasons, the years based on the light and context of any given place.

In search of an acceptable color palette, I arrived back at the answer of monochrome. The softest tones are those that interest me the most, that feel the most like they belong to the earth and can be found in real materials and in reflections and the aura of those materials.

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T I am enamored with fashion, but hate shopping. I am drawn to

The

sleek, couture clothes, but I never buy them. I have a difficult

prototyping and production spaces, and inventory housing.

figure to dress. I am not a standard size, but I am neither thin

The ground floor is optimized to allow inbound and outbound

nor fat. There was a time when I was incredibly frustrated with

loading to occur throughout the day. The avenue-facing

my shape, but I now realize that frustration ought to lie with

west end serves as pop-up retail space for participating

the ill-fitting clothes and not my own body. Yet still the act of

companies to showcase their products on a rotating basis.

shopping leaves me uncomfortable, and at worst, in tears.

Each floor above consists of a small, west-facing office with

To me, going shopping means facing the judgmental eyes of

adjacent production and inventory facilities. The west-facade

salespeople and the distorted reflection of the dressing-room

acts as a media device to broadcast to the general public.

mirror; I’d sooner go for a swim in the East River. I much prefer

The shape of the facade is derived from the viewing angle of

the experience of shopping online. Order something, try it on in

pedestrians, and its jutting, shelf like features are intended

the safety of my own apartment, and send it back if it does not

to point advertisements directly at the passing consumer. As

meet my standards.

these companies rely on customization, their presence on the

Bespoke Billboard is comprised of startup offices,

Avenue is paramount for their competition with other retailers The recent proliferation of companies that offer custom fitting

who are able to have large, stocked stores. The billboard itself

clothes has been revolutionary in the way that I shop. I can

is a custom-made piece, well-aware of its surroundings and

order clothes that fit my own measurements, as can anyone

impositions on the public.

else. Mass customization via small, internet-based companies is changing the way that I interact with the fashion industry, and I want to encourage their growth.

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BESPOKE BILLBOARD

MASS-CUSTOMIZATION STARTUP HOUSE

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SURFACE : STRUCTURE

Rectangular Panels

Structure DiamondExpanded Panels

Structure Expanded

Structure

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Ground Floor

Level 18 137

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DISTORT

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As a designer mildly involved in the each of these modern

Each building contains a 200-seat lecture hall and two

cults, I have noticed the exclusionary attitude each of

reception halls appropriate for cocktail parties, gallery

these two sects can have toward the other, especially their

installations, and weddings. As teaching and learning are

resistance to admitting their similarities. By placing these

instrumental to both of these groups, each building is also

institutions side by side, I aim to amplify the commonalities

equipped with classrooms and meeting rooms. The two

between each group and force interaction

buildings face each other with translucent

between them, in the hope that mutual

facades that allow each institution to see

understanding will be achieved.

its own reflection during the day, and the inhabitants of its counterpart at night.

Both

Urban

Intellectuals

and

Religious

Fanatics share nearly the same spatial needs,

To the outsider, it appears that these buildings

but neither group is willing to share a building

are disjointed, maintaining the appearance that

with the other. Rightly so, to maintain a full,

the groups are avoiding each other. Beneath

active congregation, each group should have

the surface, they share a large library and

concurrent events that fill both buildings in

archive, bringing together books and artifacts

their entirety. To exploit this relationship, I have

from each culture and creating a place where

designed one building and mirrored it on the site, facing each

understanding and respect can be achieved. The 10,000

other. Anonymous structures, they announce their intention

square foot library is complete with reading rooms, offices,

only through their use.

and stacks.

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“PLAY NICE,

YOU TWO.�

URBAN INTELLECTUALS & RELIGIOUS FANATICS

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Lower Level Library

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