SEVERN C LAY–YOUMAN 2 005 -2 008
BIKE DAEMONS New York City DOT City Racks Competition New York City, NY with Nathan King and Daniel Ramirez
B
ecause of their speed and efficiency, bicycles may well be the future of transportation in the 21st Century city. For cycling to reach its full potential in the urban milieu, a locking strategy must be developed that meets the needs of all cyclists. The traditional bicycle rack simultaneously accommodates and explicitly limits the urban cyclist: here you may bring your bike on the sidewalk, here you may park your bike safely, here you are allowed. It is a familiar type of urbanistic intervention: clearly delineated, appropriately proportioned within the streetscape. It belies, however, the opportunistic nature of urban cycling: rather than a simple replacement for driving a car, cycling fills the gaps between walking, public transportation and driving. We are proposing a fixture that opportunistically utilizes the existing streetscape. We are proposing a promiscuous fixture, one that can be attached to a wide range of existing street poles and can accept a wider range of locking methods. Because it does not require complicated installation, it can meet local demand quickly. Because it takes up no new real estate, it can serve areas without enough sidewalk space for traditional bicycle racks.
The traditional bicycle locking paradigm draws the line between public utility and the private user at the fixed rack, with the user bringing his or her own chain and lock. We are proposing to shift this line from the rack to the chain, providing a more flexible fixture that can act as either a chain or a rack, depending on demand. The cyclist is no longer required to carry a heavy chain with them, and can get by with a small U-lock or motorcycle lock.
TYPICAL FIELD ASSEMBLY
Field-welded End Link locks assembly together and to pole, and creates a theft- and tamper-proof chain.
CLAMPS (2)
LINKS(1 0)
END LINKS (2)
1 :4 SCALE DETAIL DRAWINGS
TERRA INCOGNITO
Park and Cultural Center Parana, Argentina Hernan Diaz-Alonzo and Florencia Pita Studio with Francis Bitanti
T
he existing landscape of the project site in Parana, Argentina is formed from the tailings of the gravel mining operation that had existed there previously. As such, it is a landscape without a pastoral memory – the contours shifted whenever the mine moved its operation. We chose as a provocation for our proposal to approach the site topologically rather than topographically; rather than searching for a normative “natural” state by inventing a memory for the landscape or seeking to anchor the design within the geometries of context, we allowed morphological features to swim within this plastic landscapes, forming contingencies and coherences within the site and context. We set up the site plan to work with two largely distinct circulatory surfaces. The canyon floor and high plains are joined through aerosolized sections of ground. For the studio, we focused on two different scales of landscape cells: a hillpillow or “hillo” that hybridizes a natural formation with an infrastructural-scaled form, able to accommodate either a landscape program or an architectural program, and a concert hall situated in the aerosolized ground between two promontory cliffs.
Right: The site plan was developed through
morphological variation, allowing topologicallysimiliar forms to find contingencies and coherences within the landscape.
I N TERN ATI O N AL SEED BAN K Theodore Roosevelt Memorial Island Washington, DC David Ruy / Karel Klein studio
T
he design for this international seed bank was guided by a study of floral phenomena and the function of decoration and ornament. Sited as it was in the midst of some of the most valuable terrorist targets in the United States and in the middle of the flood plain of the Potomac River, I decided against making this a "bunker style" seed bank, choosing instead to celebrate the seed storage aspect of the program. The seeds are stored in three spirals which, encased in glass, glow like lanterns at night. The building is divided between public areas and private lab/seed bank areas, cut through with an interior alley and flower garden, which is visually accessible from all parts of the building. This internal exterior space is clad with mirrored iridescent panels, reflecting light and shifting color phenomena throughout the building.
Right: Flower sectional study. Facing page: Interior alley with iridescent paneling.
Above: "Light Garden" cutting through the building complex would throw color and light deep into the building. Facing page: Tile studies formed the beginning of the form-finding process.
THE DECORATIONAL, THE DECOFUNCTIONAL, AND THE PERFORNAMENTAL
T
he first thing you notice when looking at these gloves is that the old form/function dichotomy is gone. There is a slippery relationship between performance and form. Some of the ornament – namely the carbonfiber knuckles, openly advertises performance. Carbon fiber is the new gold leaf – it indicates that no cost has been spared on performance. The carbon fiber knuckles are interesting, though, because they are simultaneously functional and decorative. A glove's program (if you will) is both incredibly specific and terribly banal. The user must be able to manipulate small objects like keys and pens one moment and accessing the glove's more exotic functionality the next. A glove that is so specific in its function that it prevents a certain amount of flexibility becomes an impediment and quickly gets stuffed in one's pockets. Despite the wide range of performative applications, there is very little figural experimentation in the glove. A glove must be warm, dry and (possibly) match one's outerwear. Robert Stern's mitten may be cozy, but the number of exotic mitten species suggests a basic dissatisfaction with the typology (mitten-over-fingerless-glove, “lobster-claw” two-fingered glove, etc). There is the openly decorational – the Troy Lee Designs logo on the wrist. Motorcycle branding, like the signage of Venturi's Las
Vegas strip, must be instantly recognizable at high speed. This is less interesting from an architectural standpoint - however, there is ornament that is purely functional - look at the leather piping surrounding the velcro tabs at the wrists. Though it is not accentuated, it serves to make the transition between the softer grasping surface and the velcro surface. It prevents a frequently-used surface from falling apart. Like a chair-rail or baseboard, it solves an architectural problem. The glove even has something like architectural poché – the form and experience of the inside is very different from its outside. Functional decoration tends to happen where the glove designer must negotiate these two conditions, either for hand entry, finger exit, or ventilation. There is no reason to pretend that the inside and outside are continuous (though in the topological sense they are) – even reversible gloves celebrate the difference between the inside and the outside. Within this poché are layers of foam or batting with either sculptural or insulative qualities. The design of gloves has become incredibly specific, and the range of materials that can be deployed both in the lining and the outer glove is almost endless. Whether the designer chooses to highlight certain functions (say flexibility, or ventilation) is part of the delicate calculation that goes into making a commodity objet.
Above: Troy Designs 2008 Apex Pro Cycling gloves
A
A
B
SECTION A - A
B
AUDITORIUM
SECTION B - B
CAFETERIA SERVICE
RESEARCH LIBRARY
LAB
SEED STORAGE
LAB
LAB
LAB
LAB
LAB
CAFETERIA
LAB
RESEARCH LIBRARY
This page: Seed bank spirals would be internally lit at
night, visible from the Kennedy Center on the other side of the Potomac. Facing page: Section through research labs.
PRATT STUDENT MAILBOXES Pratt Institute, Higgins Hall Brooklyn, NY Jeffrey Tarras Digital Fabrication Class
E
xploring the performance requirements for a new set of undergraduate and graduate mailboxes in the Pratt architecture building, we discovered that the undergraduate students often used their boxes as transactional spaces for exchanging drawings, folders and CDs with fellow students and faculty. We designed a packed cellular system around these spatial requirements, and towards the intention of improving the mail-sorting process in the department.
Left: We used quarter-scale Bristol paper models to test the physical curvature properties of the units, then scanned them to preserve those qualities. Facing page: Rendering of proposed final installation.
PRATT STUDENT MAILBOXES Construction Sequence
O
ur initial proposal for the installation of the student mailboxes was to use off-theshelf standards and brackets to hang the aggregated units off the brick wall. Our initial mock-up indicated that this did not provide a sufficiently regular grid to allow the delicate variations in the pattern to come through. Furthermore, the clear plastic we initially chose did not provide enough stiffness to allow the individual cells to hold their shape. It was agreed within the team that a stiffer translucent plastic would serve to calm some of the visual noise of the mounting system and hold the pattern better. Project Team: Severn Clay, Mike Delafave, Nathan King, Loreen Segal, Masami Ueki.
Above: Aggregating units before hanging. Left: Labels were cut separately from standardized cells Facing page: Photograph from first mockup.
ROUSE HILL NATATORIUM Rouse Hill, NSW, Australia Jeremy Edmiston Studio with Frank Bitonti and Brian Osborne
O
ur proposed public natatorium rolls out of the arid landscape north-west of Sydney, creating an inflection in the sandstone as it slopes towards the wetter riparian zones of Caddies Creek to the north. The program consisted of an indoor Olympic pool, a gym and locker facilities, and outdoor recreational and diving pools. Water is an important issue in many areas with increased development, and this is especially true in New South Wales, where rainfall is limited to only certain seasons during the year. Taking into account existing regional drainage patterns, we incorporated onsite water storage and created a surrounding reflecting pool which would act as a heat sink to tame temperature fluctuations throughout the year. A seasonal bioswale around the building helps to deal with run-off during peak rainfall periods and blends the pool with the surrounding environment.
Opposite: A combination of natural ventilation and a shallow wading/reflecting pool help to moderate temperatures inside the natatorium.
Opposite and Previous Pages: Model Photographs. Above: The natatorium was designed to roll out of the
existing terrain, creating a momentary inflection in the landscape.
A
B
C
A. Outer weatherproof fabric deflects rain and wind B. Wood grid shell with universal joints C. Inner lightweight fabric helps to further diffuse light
Facing page: a possible universal joint for the wooden frame was tested at 1 :4 scale through rapid prototyping. Above: The facade was left as open as possible to facilitate natural ventilation.
DOMINO SUGAR FACTORY: ADAPTIVE MIXED-USE Peter Macapia Studio
T
his studio began with a study of the effect of urban heat islands on re-zoned industrial areas of the Brooklyn waterfront. Participants were asked to take a position towards urban heat islands in their proposals and the possibility of their mitigation through architectural interventions. Instead of freezing existing architectural buildings in time, this project proposes a different approach to adaptive re-use: a "wrapper" that contributes to the re-purposing of the site by improving building performance while creating new opportinuties for program in and around the buildings. This wrapper is composed of cells which have evolved towards an optimal configuration to reject direct solar radiation while diffusing sunlight into the building and the street below. This allows the existing building to make full use of daylighting while minimizing cooling loads.
Right: The adaptive wrapper engages and re-purposes
existing industrial buildings poorly suited to residential or mixed-use conversion.
INITIAL CONCEPT STUDIES
T
he first studies for the project sought a sort of proof-of-concept for the use of a pure genetic algorithm for architectural formfinding. By loosely linking the form-finding to performance, I hoped to create that was not driven by performance, but tested or filtered based on performance. The initial intervention imagined an interstitial construction between two existing buildings, creating potential connectors above the street level and a shaded program spaces on the street below.
Right: Initial intervention explored the possibility of
construction that could help mitigate urban heat island effects. Facing page: Dappled shadows create new program spaces on the street below.
SIGNAL TO NOISE
F
urther explorations of the genetic algorithm for this project required contending with the signal-to-noise ratio - the genetic search space brings with it a lot of stochastic information, and I chose to structure it with a top-down approach to form. I populated a topological mesh with morphological units - by varying the number of distinct species of units present at any one time, I could fine-tune the balance between gestalt and noise.
Facing page: The form was guided by the site,
structural and environmental contingencies, while the micro-behaviours of the mesh were determined by a genetic algorithm. Left: By structuring the mesh into a distinct number of possible "species", I could fine-tune the noisiness of the final form.
A
A
Section A - A
Facing page and Right: Mentalray renderings Multimedia II - Jason Stoikoff, Instructor
BROOKLYN ACADEMY OF MUSIC ARTS DISTRICT BUILDING Jason Vigneri-Beane studio
R
ather than approaching development by anchoring a complex with a small number of larger tenants, this project proposes encouraging diversity by providing a habitat for an ecology of small businesses, arts organizations and artists. In this way, the life-cycle of the building is considered as a totality, with the architecture serving as a framework responding to the demands of a shifting population of tenants. Public space within this "performance-scape" is more than just a backdrop; it is a collector, an attractor of opportunistic urban theater.
Right: The retail component of this mixed-use project
is an ecology of flower retailers - the aggregation brings competition as well as shared resources for the tenants.
38 GOLD STREET RESTAURANT New York City, NY Maria Sieira Studio
T
he second project of this first semester design studio began with the development of an architectural program based on the research of social, cultural, technical and political issues of food consumption. Through a formal from-generation process, we sought to squeeze as much program into the narrow, alley-like lot in Lower Manhattan as possible.
Right: The narrow, two-story building had to negotiate a narrow, L-shaped alley and lot.
2nd Floor
Ground Floor
Section A-A
Facing page and Above: Study for a hallway intervention. The form was constructed with developable surfaces, which were stitched together for the study model. Maria Sieira Studio