SARAH LISSA SCOTT Graduate Design Portfolio University of Florida Master of Architecture 2010
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Tactile Spirituality: a chapel of light and air
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A New Landscape: reinventing the procession
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Shadowlands Library: excavation for art & literature
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Glimpses of History: an interpretive center
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[con]Forming to Limitations: a coastal Florida house
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Inclusive Dwelling: a place of ability, mobility, & play
Tactile Spirituality: a chapel of light and air
Ground as an Urban Material: In the ejido town of San Martin de las Cañas, the working plaza of the former hacienda is an introverted and underutilized space, bounded Graduate Studio 3, Summer 2009 by a nearly contiguous wall that was composed over time to become a Preservation Institute: Caribbean continuous façade for the public space. In order to reconnect this vital Professors: William Tilson public plaza with the surrounding fabric, a new public groundscape is Alfonso Perez-Mendez created that extends the plaza to the street. The ground is broken and folded to carry and store rainwater, creasing the urban terrain as an Published in Architrave extension of the contextual conditions to manifest various surfaces for Spring 2010 bullfighting, performances, meditation, and other public occupation. San Martin de las Cañas Jalisco, Mexico
The form of a church emerges from the creases of this landscape, facing out toward the mountainous geography of the surrounding region. From the street, the ground emanates as the architectural form, anchoring the lighter chapel space and extending upward to become a bell tower. Carved into this new architectural ground and revealed by
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a vertical incision into the topography is a community library and learning space. Systematic Water Control: The collection, distribution, and protection from water are all integral in the language of the architecture, both through the use of water as an architectural element, and by revealing its systematic movement throughout the site. The building and associated plaza ground simultaneously accommodates rainwater, groundwater, and river water, storing them separately to satiate the needs of both the occupants and the foliage of the landscape. The stone surface of the bull ring plaza is creased to direct rainwater into covered channels and diverts it to terraced temporal pools at the north edge of the public space. The concrete surface of the chapel groundscape directs the water down through a slice in the landscape to a trough that collects at the library level. Water also becomes part of the religious ritual of baptism in the context of this chapel. Intersecting the entry of the chapel, a baptismal font is fed by the existing river channel. By walking over this symbolic water to go into the
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space of worship, the parishioner is reminded at each entry of the salvation obtained during the ritual act of baptism. Tactile Light and Materiality: By introducing a resonant tactility of material and detail, a poetic richness is achieved with a modest palette of materials: concrete, copper and glass. The admittance of light is controlled within the chapel space to create an ephemeral quality of light that reveals the textures and tectonic details as well as the spatial dynamics of the structure. Slices cut into the concrete structure create isolated moments of direct illumination within the library spaces below. The light itself becomes a material of building, and its interaction with the elements of the architecture breathes life into the spaces, in rhythm with the natural diurnal and seasonal patterns. Similarly, shadows and darkness also become a means for revealing architectonic articulation and spatial interaction: the thresholds of entry from the plaza and street beckon the public through the mystery of their shadow. Temporal Recordings: Utilizing a building as a means of recording time incorporates notions of permanence, ritual, durability, adaptability, and ultimately decay. The evidence of this documentation can be ephemeral, marking the daily navigation of light from east to west, or more tangible by taking the form of the weathering of certain materials, vegetative growth, and other various remnants of time. The bell tower is a vessel for light, opening to the south to mark the passage of the sun throughout the day. The copper skin of the chapel faรงade begins its life with a pinkish luster, and over time gradually fades to the mottled green-blue hue of its characteristic patina. The concrete will also bear the marks of time, as the water collected by its surface begins to leave its artifacts.
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House of Air: To contend with the high temperatures of the regional climate without the use of mechanical methods of cooling, the skin of the chapel is pulled open to best capture the prevailing breezes and draw the air easily through the entire space, allowing the body to be cooled by evaporation. The structural elements of the chapel are intertwined to create a dynamic spatial framework to contain the space, and the banded surface of the faรงade is broken to contour to the form of the structure and pulled gently apart to allow light and air to infiltrate the volume. The tectonics of the building are constructed so that it can be manipulated to respond to the climatic conditions, allowing the space to breathe adequately throughout the cycles of both day and year. A series of folding panels completely opens part of the south faรงade to extend the space of the chapel out toward an exterior seating area on the plaza. The spaces enveloped in concrete also are also open to the movement of air through the selective use of a porous screen surface to take advantage of the generally mild climate.
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A New Landscape: reinventing the procession
Chengdu, China Neri and Hu Design and Research Office Shanghai, China
Project Team: Lyndon Neri, Principal Rosanna Hu, Principal Jonas Hultman Erika Lanselle Mariarosa Doardo Carmen Lee Xiang Wang Sarah Scott Published in Architectural Record December 2009
In the very center of the city of Chengdu, China, a new cultural node is emerging. With the addition of an Oceanarium and other public entertainment facilities in the area, the need for a cultural complex became evident. The invitation to the competition that was held to determine the design was extended to only five groups of architects. MVRDV and Zaha Hadid were chosen, along with three Chinese firms. Neri and Hu Design and Research Office was one of these. As an intern for NHDRO, I collaborated extensively during every phase of the development of this competition entry. The project called for 320,000 ft² of art exhibition space and 540,000 ft² of other program elements including an opera theatre, performance halls, cinema, a convention center and other spaces. Taking cues from traditional Chinese art, this cultural arts center emerged as an image of monumental tranquility. 3D modeling by Sarah Scott, rendering by Xiang Wang
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Throughout the design process, the sequencing of progression through the spaces became the primary focus. The first indication of this is the mode of entry: access to the complex is entirely pedestrian and emerges from beneath the surrounding ground surface into a singular open-air public plaza. To the east, the landscape created by this space of public gathering extends to become part of the art exhibition space. Becoming submerged beneath a layer of water and earth, the landscape begins to shift and fold to envelope an interior circulation hall. By layering the circulation landscape underneath the sheet of water, a completely new set of experiences is achieved. Floating above this space are a set of translucent veils that contain the numerous individual gallery boxes. These veils serve as lanterns by drawing natural light into the underground spaces. The procession of moving up into each of the veils takes you through a system of controlled itineraries that emerge from the sunken ground and graft onto the gallery boxes. The winding nature of this circulation provides an endless procession of views, which at some points is restricted to a sliver and at others becomes a panorama of the context.
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To the west of the public entry plaza rises a grand stair that leads up to the opera portion of the complex. The formality of this movement is in stark contrast to the patterns of circulation in the art exhibition space. Varying speeds of ascension are found on the stair. At the top, the edge of the opera veil is lifted to allow passage to the different parts of the complex. The veil of the opera masks a spatially interactive series of stacked volumes that contain the various programmatic elements. The modes of entry into the different areas mark a clear separation of program. A simple system of controlled itinerary elements connects the volume of the entry to an interstitial mezzanine that is occupied by a set of restaurants. Other elements originate from this mezzanine space and move through the residual space between the volumes and the veil. By focusing on the processional movement through the spaces, the new landscape created by this project retains its elegance while providing a range of spatial and visual experiences unseen in any other project in China.
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Shadowlands Library: excavation for literature & art
Marfa, Texas Graduate Studio 2, Spring 2009 Professor: Marlon Blackwell
The small desert town of Marfa, Texas, is a monument to another time and place; a collection of relics and oddities left by the many different people that have inhabited the city. Minimalist artist Donald Judd has perhaps the most visible influence and since his death, the town has become a sort of tribute to him and the other minimalist artists of the 1980s. By maintaining the galleries, personal studios, and various in situ art installation spaces created there and hosting an annual art festival, this town in the middle of the desert continues to attract a creative and diverse group of people. The Chinati Foundation, which was created by Judd with the help of other artists, houses many works from the minimalist artists including Judd’s 100 untitled works in mill aluminum, an ethereal set of boxes which delicately manipulates light and reflectivity through subtle variation of forms. However, the oddities of Marfa are not isolated to art: a ghostly phenomenon of unexplained flickering lights known as the Marfa Lights are observed in the desert just outside of town. A juxtaposition of opposites was designed within the context of this strange town: a private library and a public plaza. The library was designed as a place of intellectual repose for a couple and their collection of books, including dozens of illuminated manuscripts. Three works of sculptural installations were also contained within the library: Robert Rauschenberg’s 1955 Bed, Robert Irwin’s Untitled 1966-67, and Donald Judd’s Untitled 1984. The public plaza is designed as a space that can house many or only a few. Both the crowds of the Chinati Festival and the daily patrons of the mobile lunch truck known as the Food Shark were considered in the design of this space. The plaza faces the Chamberlain Building [part of
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the Chinati Foundation] across the main street of Marfa, Dean Street. Also adjacent are Donald Judd’s Architecture Studio and Architecture Office, which were buildings he transformed into spatial installations of art and objects from the past. The gesture of the project developed as an excavation of the desert ground, operating according the proportional module developed by Judd for his various volumetric boxes. This rectangular module was multiplied in scale to become suitable for different functions, and was applied to a long swath of land adjacent to the railroad tracks to define the territories of occupation. The proportional modules were then extruded both above and below the datum of the natural ground and constructed of rammed earth and concrete. In this way, the carved extrusions reveals the stratified layers of the soil and create a new landscape to house both the public and private functions. An extensive canopy constructed of a perforated screen hovers over this undulating ground to shade a portion of the public space. It folds down vertically to contain the volume of the library within layers of screen and a tensile cable supported glass envelope. Suspended from this canopy is a mezzanine floor that delicately connects a series of stalagmite rooms carved from the extruded ground.
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These rooms are private chambers for reading, designed to hold individual segments of their literary collection and provide atmospheres of seclusion for the couple to enjoy the ritual of reading a book. Each of the sculpted earthen chambers manipulates the entrance of daylight differently, creating a ethereal quality of light and shadow that allows the mind to become consumed by the words on the page. This controlled darkness is contrasted with the dappled glow of the open volume contained by the canopy screen, which cracks slightly open to allow slices of light from above to penetrate the space, creating a unique range of experiences as one moves throughout the library.
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Castillo de San Marcos
Glimpses of History: an interpretive center
St. Augustine, Florida Graduate Studio 1, Fall 2008 Professor: Guy Peterson
An investigation of the character of pedestrian circulation through the historic fabric of St. Augustine, particularly along St. George street, reveals that the movement between and through the continuous faรงades of this street becomes a filtered action: moving from the street void into the adjacent public spaces and shops, beyond to inner courtyards, and back into the street. The development of this Interpretive Center sought to facilitate this kind of movement through the site. A set of thresholds is identified along St. George Street and CUNA Street that provide a pedestrian connection through the site to the eastern A1A edge. A set of datums is extracted from this that informs the various itineraries and visual connections through the spaces of the Interpretive Center. The primary threshold datum extends along the southern edge of the Spanish Quarter and is straddled by the divided exhibition pavilions, creating a node of formal entry into the Interpretive Center and a transition into the associated territories. The volumes of the museum are segregated by basic program, and are fragmented in response to the scale and adjacencies of the historic fabric. A monumental stair leads from the pedestrian datum up to the main entry within the middle structure. The entry hall begins as a low space
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that contains the bookstore and information counter, and turns to open into a double-height lightwell space that provides the vertical procession to the Castillo de San Marcos exhibition on the second floor as well as the Spanish Quarter exhibition across the threshold datum. The exhibition space on the second floor frames views of the Castillo de San Marcos, the surrounding historic fabric of St. Augustine, and the architecture of the Interpretive Center. To the north of the lightwell space, a cluster of exhibition spaces is situated along the eastern edge of the Spanish Quarter and contains the history of Spanish colonial life. The interstitial spaces created between these volumes become a series of small courtyards that extend outward into the promenade along A1A to connect the public edge into the architecture. To the south of the main building, an auditorium and an elevated administration space create a courtyard garden that is connected to the main entry hall and opens beneath the elevated volume to the south into a public greenspace and CUNA Street. Woven into this interstitial courtyard space is an elevated pedestrian bridge that provides a connection across A1A from the territory of the Castillo de San Marcos and the proposed subterranean parking structure. Layered through these fragmented pavilions is a set of coquina walls that stitch the spaces together by containing between them the circulation passages and service spaces. These walls are
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composed of a combination of monolithic poured tabby concrete and selective portions of porous coquina screenblock that provide a visual link to the adjacent territories. Mediating the edge between the Spanish Quarter and the three associated gallery pavilions, one of these walls contains a transient exterior exhibition space that can be closed off to be a part of the closed circulation loop of the Interpretive Center or opened for special exhibitions to allow for public occupation. The porous portions of the coquina walls provide glimpses into the Spanish Quarter at various elevations along the undulating plinth. Pushed into this exhibit corridor, the exhibit pavilions frame more selective views through to the Spanish Quarter and also across A1A to the Castillo. The tectonics of the architecture respond to concerns of sustainability by employing various passive cooling strategies and maximizing daylighting from the north. The use of a cement composite rainscreen faรงade system creates a ventilation void space within the walls to significantly reduce radiant heat gain during the summer months as well as insulate the building during the winter. The roofs of the Spanish Quarter structures are activated by water collection channels, a solar hot water system, and photovoltaic panels. The other volumes support green roofs to further reduce the cooling load of the complex.
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[con]Forming to Limitations: a coastal Florida house
Casey Key, Florida Florida Modern Seminar, Fall 2009 Professor: Guy Peterson
The design of this house was undertaken as part of a seminar course that examined the history of modernism in Florida, and was designed as an exploration of the limitations and possibilities of modern coastal architecture. The small tract of land the house occupies is part of a thin barrier island on the Gulf coast of Florida near Sarasota, and is therefore regulated by all the restrictions determined for hurricane and storm surge safety. A specific volume of buildable space is imposed on the property by the various setbacks and limitations, including the Sarasota County Gulf Beach setback from the shore, and the FEMA height requirement of +19.4’ above water level. The challenge of this project was to insert a 3,000 sq ft dwelling for a family of four within the resulting limited envelope.
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The formal gesture of the house is composed of two intersecting volumes of space that are lifted from the ground: one long, low and solid and one tall and open. A ribbon of board-form striated concrete wraps around and within the spaces of these two volumes, interlocking them with its continuity. The social spaces of the house face the Gulf of Mexico to the west, overlooking the water from a double-height living space. Along the length of the low bar, the western edge opens to the view of the water and the master and guest suites are pulled to either end, separated by the kitchen and dining spaces. The top floor is the domain of the children, housing their bedrooms and a screened play space overlooking the main living area and out to the beach beyond. Two additional exterior garden terraces are extended along the roof of the low volume. The house faces the neighbors and the street with a more solid facade, providing the necessary privacy for the more intimate functions of the family.
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Anchoring the center of the house, an elevator core is wrapped with a stair to connect the upper interior spaces of the house to the ground level below. Extending from the street, the ground slips beneath the mass of the house to form a carport and a series of sheltered outdoor terraces that connect to an existing swimming pool. The built surface dissolves into concrete bars that slide past one another to stitch the constructed ground with the natural ground. Along the north edge of the property, an elevated wooden boardwalk is extended from beneath the house to connect to an existing deck on the beach. The architectonics of this house are very much inspired by the innovative and regionalist work of the mid-century modern generation of Florida architects like Paul Rudolph and the so-called Sarasota School of Architecture. However, this house stands as evidence that today’s standards and regulations for building in this region have significantly altered the form of coastal Florida modern architecture, pushing from the demure and compact tectonic houses of the past to architecture that takes on a more monumental scale and material solidity.
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Principles of Universal Design:
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Equitable Use Flexibility in Use Simple and Intuitive Use Perceptible Information Tolerance for Error Low Physical Effort Size/Space for Approach/Use
Inclusive Dwelling: a place of ability, mobility, & play
Micanopy, Florida Masters Research Project, Spring 2010 Professors: Mark McGlothlin Bradley Walters
March 1, 2009: Vehicles collide. Two children die. A young girl is left paralyzed. A family’s lives are changed in an instant. An opportunity arising from tragedy, this master’s research project is the exploration of the notion of an inclusive environment for a person of disability. The criteria for such as environment as been identified, questioned, and reapplied to a dwelling place in the undulating forest landscape southwest of Micanopy, Florida. While this seeks a solution to a very specific situation, universal design is certainly a wider social imperative. The term disability has become defined not merely as a physical human condition, but as a complex interaction between a person, society, and the environments they occupy. In this way, the built environment can be as much a cause for disability as a physiological impairment. The concept of universal design transcends mere accommodation to provide a more inclusive environment that fosters a sense of ability and independence equally for all who occupy. For this exploration of such an environment, the parameters of a universal design have been defined for a child: Hunter Davis. Hunter is a brilliant and creative ten-year-old girl whose life was changed forever by a car accident that left her paralyzed from the chest down and reliant on the use of a wheelchair to move through the world. Seeing disability not as a burden of design but as a generator of possibilities, this new dwelling place was developed based on her abilities and the adaptations necessary as she grows. This is the pursuit of a house that provides possibilities for Her to grow and learn and play unencumbered by her surroundings. A house which takes into account
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the transient relationship between a family and their place of dwelling, and all the daily rituals and patterns of living that occur within. Located in rural Micanopy, Florida, the land the house occupies is a 17 acre undulating landscape of forest and wetland. It is densely populated by hammocks of oak and pine, and is dominated by a hillside sloping down toward a transient pond-wetland that forms the southern and eastern edges. The dwelling is organized by the rationalization of a modular system of wall components and modified by organic shifts in the landscape. The functional parti of the house is a simple gesture: the private areas of the house are separated from the social spaces though the insertion of two exterior rooms into the center of the house. A primary circulation route weaves across and between the layers of the house, but the secondary patterns can take many different itineraries depending on the needs and preferences of the different members of the family.
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Contained within a large volume to the south are the social spaces of the dwelling. This volume begins level with the plateau to the west, meeting the ground with an entry porch and carport. As it begins to hover out over the open hill, the volume vertically expands and selectively contracts to form the main living area and an expansive screened porch on the south edge. The private areas in the house are nestled into the treeline to the north, providing a more intimate connection with the forest. Smaller private porches extend into the landscape, engaging the ground more directly to provide pockets of solitude within the canopy of surrounding trees. The strata of the house are manifested in three systems: canopy, wall, and ground. The floor planes are composed through subtle horizontal stratification of smooth concrete planes. The layers of the canopy are overlapped and broken to allow light and air into the space, and define spatial micro-settings by manipulating the underside of the plenum. This dynamic relationship between canopy and ground is augmented through the insertion of vertical composite walls which playfully orient themselves primarily along a general east-west directionality. These wall assemblies mediate between the strata of the canopy and groundplane to stitch them together, and because of this are composed of three layers which take on unique tectonic and material properties. The structural elements of the canopy and ground systems form two elements the composite assembly: the canopy contributes a tectonic wood structure, and the carved ground manifests as structural concrete walls which act simultaneously as structure, retaining walls, and a textured finish material.
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Negotiating between these two structural systems is a modular system of wall elements comprised of vertical enclosure modules and a system of container modules. This system absorbs storage, machines, and furniture into the thickness of the walls, allowing the debris of life to be easily organized and displayed/hidden. Additionally, by stretching the functional elements along a wall, more clear floor space can be achieved in the adjacent spaces, giving Hunter more unencumbered access to all the functions and storage of the house. The system of enclosure is constructed so that some of the window modules are operable to take advantage of natural airflow. They can be manipulated at will to respond to the surrounding conditions, allowing the space to breathe adequately throughout the cycles of both day and year. By composing the structure, enclosure, and container modules into a composite vertical assembly, all the spaces of the house are wrapped with edges that are activated by the ability to be multifunctional. The integration of this dwelling place within the landscape manifests a variety of relationships, creating moments which variably embed, extend, and disengage from the datum of the hillside ground. These physical relationships with the natural landscape are
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reinforced through the spatial and visual interactions that occur across and between the layers of space within the house and in the surrounding landscape. The connection to and perception of the landscape changes through the different spaces of the house. From the south screened porch, the perception is that of hovering above the ground below. The west courtyard extends the ground of the house outward onto the plateau, and is defined vertically by the extensive canopy of a mature oak tree. The second courtyard encapsulates a pocket of outdoor space within the house, extending the perception of the horizon into the interior. By varying the heights of these glimpses, the perception of the landscape is experienced uniquely by Hunter from her wheelchair posture and eye level. By varying the spatial relationship between the spaces and nature, the house unfolds in a playful dynamic of unexpected spatial sequences and visual connections between and through the layers of the dwelling and out to the surrounding landscape.
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Education:
Academic Experience:
Master of Architecture 2010 University of Florida School of Architecture Bachelor of Design 2007 University of Florida School of Architecture Graduated Summa Cum Laude Associate of Arts 2003 Santa Fe College [Dual-enrollment] High School Diploma 2003 Eastside High School Graduated with Highest Honors
Awards & Honors:
Architecture Academic Excellence Award University of Florida School of Architecture Spring 2010 Arthur Bleen Anderson Scholarship University of Florida School of Architecture Fall 2008 and Spring 2009 Publication Architrave, Spring 2004 and Spring 2010
Graduate Teaching Assistant Architectural Design 1 & 2 University of Florida School of Architecture Spring 2009 and Fall 2009 Undergraduate Teaching Assistant Architectural Design 1 & 2 University of Florida School of Architecture Fall 2005, Spring 2006, and Fall 2006 Vice President American Institute of Architecture Students UF chapter; Fall 2006 Preservation Institute: Caribbean Studio University of Florida study abroad program Guadalajara, Mexico; Summer 2009 India Vertical Studio University of Florida study abroad program Pune, India; Spring 2007 East Asia Studio University of Florida study abroad program Hong Kong, China; Summer 2006
Sarah Lissa Scott: Qualifications & Experience
Professional Experience:
Technology Consultant University of Florida CIRCA Computer Labs Gainesville, Florida; 2006 – 2007, 2008 – 2010 Administrative Project Coordinator Moses & Associates Engineering Consultants Gainesville, Florida; Dec 2007 – July 2008 Architectural Intern Neri & Hu Design and Research Office Shanghai, China; Aug 2007 – Dec 2007 Architectural Intern Apostrophe Architects Mumbai, India; Jan – April 2007 Construction Field Office Intern PPI Construction Management Levin College of Law field office Gainesville, Florida; May – Aug 2004
Contact: Sarah L. Scott sarahlissascott@gmail.com
References:
Diane Bennett Office Manager Moses & Associates Engineering dbennett@moses-eng.com Andrew Roman Senior Associate Neri & Hu Design & Research Office aroman@neriandhu.com Martin Gundersen Professor, University of Florida margund9@gmail.com
Notable Software Experience:
AutoCAD, Rhinoceros + Vray, FormZ, SketchUp, Adobe Creative Suite (Photoshop, Illustrator, InDesign), Microsoft Office Suite, and other programs
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SARAH L SCOTT
UF MArch 2010
sarahlissascott@gmail.com