projec ts stephanie lee selected work m. arch ii yale school of architecture 2014 b. arch virginia tech 2012
stephanie lee stephalee4@gmail.com 240 620 1303 sc-lee.com
projects Iconic Autobiography
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Work - - - Live
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Living and Working. Demra, Bangladesh Yale School of Architecture, Ongoing
Center for Advancement in Studies of Space
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Institution Headquarters. New York, NY Yale School of Architecture, 2013
A City of One’s Own
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Cooperative Housing. Newark, NJ Yale School of Architecture, 2013
Urban Monastic Complex Undergraduate Thesis. Bethesda, MD B.Arch Virginia Tech, 2012
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iconic autobiography 2009 fall - present
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Work - - - Live
A Garment Factory and Workers’ Housing Demra, Bangladesh Spring 2014 (ongoing), Yale School of Architecture Critic: David Adjaye
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living and working in the garment factory (hypo-)thesis
The project is based on four notions: (1) that domestic labor should be manifest in both complexes to alleviate the stress placed on the workers, (2) housing should promote community and strengthen individual and collective identities of the workers, (3) the workplace and living space should be separated to encourage the garment laborer’s aspiration to become the middle class, and (4) management should arise from the workforce, thus creating the need for workers’ housing as well as education and training space.
the workers In the garment industry, the workforce is comprised of between 80 and 90 percent women. This raises several issues traditionally related to gender, including the stresses on workers of childcare and housework. Factorycentered day care centers would provide working mothers with affordable, reliable, and close child care support. The subsequent alleviation of domestic stress would result in increased productivity and comfort as well as decreased absenteeism due to childcare problems.
by Islamic arcades and screens as well as Bangladeshi verandas, the thickening of the wall is the primary transformation through which spaces are generated. This thickening and then punching of the wall creates verandalike spaces which are absorbed into the building. The influences of the wall, the veranda, and the screen all speak to bracketing and containing of space as well as deepening thresholds, which is where place begins to become established.
Housing becomes essential for these women, as many landlords in the city refuse to rent rooms to women looking to live alone, as many migrant workers do. These women workers are forced to live either with family, which might cause long and vulnerable commutes, or in squatter developments. The notion to have housing and factory separate, but to establish them nearby and control the distance of the commute is a way to solve the problems of unsafe walks to work as well as provide dignified housing.
community The most striking observation when visiting Bangladesh was the strong sense of community. In rural Bangladesh, agricultural villages depend on cooperation to sustain themselves. The houses, built up in clusters and facing into courtyards which shared gas and water were an inspiration for housing. Individual living, although private, becomes a part of a larger narrative of working together.
the wall Architecturally, the building is comprised of two elements: the courtyard and the wall which bounds it. Influenced Siosepol Bridge, Iran / House with Veranda / Women walking to work in Bangladesh images from Google 4
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study: brickyards in bangladesh 8
study: landscape, wall, veranda 9
regional plan of Dhaka, Bangladesh This map shows the siting of the project in Demra, a suburb south and west of Dhaka, along a tributary of the river. The low-lying land is less densely built up than in urban Dhaka, but makes flooding a consideration in design of the factory and housing.
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Demra, Bangladesh A pair of buildings facing each other make up the factory (north) and the housing (south). The factory is sited on the more rural side in a floodplain, allowing access to water and space, while the housing is embedded in a residential neighborhood a short walk away. The third component will be the bridge between the two buildings. These buildings are intended to engage with the context, and form a dialogue between the workers, owners, and neighbors.
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factory
250 m
housing
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left: factory floor plan below: ground floor plan
factory floor plans The ground floor of the factory complex is porous, mostly comprised of a deep colonnade which serves as a conceptually continuous covered walk around the gardens. The factory floors above are arranged as a cycle, connected by the same deep porches as circulation between production lines.
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right: residential floor plan below: ground floor plan
housing floor plans
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In the housing, small groups of apartments share communal spaces such as kitchens and laundry as well as have isolated circulation to provide smaller communities. These circuits of housing are grouped by gender to provide security to the women who live in them. The ground floor and circulation follow the same language as the factory, with colonnades providing shading and ventilation.
factory program diagram
cut, sew, training
housing program diagram
men’s housing
cut and sew
wash and dye
women’s housing
families
storage community canteen offices and security
kitchens and laundry
childcare
prayer rooms childcare
livestock
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unit type plans : studio and two-bedroom 17
wall studies The expression of the elevation of the building came from a desire to provide insulation through thermal mass and shading as well as ventilate the spaces thoroughly. By turning the columns and then stretching them (top) to open and close the face of the building, the deep spaces and porches beyond become legible. Private spaces can be completely protected, with screens (left), and walkways can be completely open (bottom). 18
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Garment Factory, Dhaka. Personal photograph 2014 20
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CASIS
Center for Advancement in Studies of Space New York, NY Fall 2013, Yale School of Architecture Critic: Martin Finio
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project The brief of this project called for the development of a new headquarters for the Center for the Advancement of Science in Space in east midtown New York City. Due to the public nature of the research conducted on the International Space Station and the desperate need for external funding, the program for the building included not only offices for corporate administration, but also an extensive public program. The building was to house a variety of large space artifacts as well as flexible exhibition space, a payload control center, and educational spaces. The project is sited within a proposed redevelopment of a lot between 1st Ave. and the FDR. The site is faced by tall buildings on the west and south sides, with a park to the north and the river to the east.
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proposal The institution of CASIS is sustained through its relationship with research and the public. These constituents provide, respectively, widespread social exposure to perpetuate interest in funding and the unique information economy that directly feeds its interests. These two paradigms are represented in the headquarters by two courtyards around which related program is organized. The dialogue and interfacing of these two types of program (public meaning exhibition, education, and event, while research includes laboratory and workshop space and the payload control) are the main concern for the project. This twoness was always a point of study in the project, embodied in paired courtyards or intersecting formal languages throughout iterations of the project.
project CASIS is manifested within the building as two programs which are organized around two courtyards. These courtyards act as structural elements, as well as a way to penetrate the building and bring light into communal spaces. One court operates as the entry into the building, the other as a display for the large Destiny Module. These are oriented on the north side of the building, facing the proposed park area to encourage pedestrians to approach from the open side, as well as to capitalize on the best quality of light, unobstructed by the taller buildings. The northeastern corner is relieved by the puncturing of the courtyard to provide a directional vector facing the walk to the waterfront.
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constituent element diagram
x-axis Programmatically, the building is bifurcated into the public program (defined as exhibit, education, etc.) and the private (serving CASIS as a research institution). These are formally separated but visually relate back and forth through transparent divisions. Though these two types of program share a lobby and event space, the CASIS side is secured by means of a twosided elevator.
y-axis The envelope of the building is a perforated corten curtain wall. The perforations become more dense, allowing increased transparency in areas which require more lighting, such as offices or certain workshops. Conversely, the envelope darkens to allow for some dark workshops and exhibit space. This envelope maintains the objectness of the building, deliberately pierced by the two courtyards alone. It also provides a glimpse at the complex spaces beyond.
z-axis The structure of the building consists of perimeter columns, cores and a long shear wall which breaks up the span in addition to the lattice columns which enclose the two courtyards. The shear wall also acts as a spatial divider, separating more cellular, private rooms from the more transparent conglomerate beyond.
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study models & renderings
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These studies explored the structural and conceptual potential of a multiple courtyard/atrium scheme. 31
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perforated screen The corten facade of the institution is perforated based on an image of the Earth taken by the International Space Station. The perforations are arranged to give light to offices and public space, and to shade exhibit and gallery spaces.
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40 ft 0
main entry
grand stair
patio
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ground floor plan
workstation
freight
laboratories
bathrooms
second floor plan
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40 ft 0
payload control
circulation
temporary exhibits
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third floor plan
research
laboratories
media center
education center
LED cupolas
classrooms
fourth floor plan
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40 ft 0
offices
CASIS administration
curatorial
offices
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fifth floor plan
storage / custodial
mechanical
event space
basement plan
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40 ft 0
prefunction
auditorium
event prep
event space
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sub-basement plan
0
40 ft
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Photograph from the International Space Station, CASIS 52
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A City of One’s Own Cooperative Housing for Women
Newark, NJ Spring 2013, Yale School of Architecture Critic: Pier Vittorio Aureli
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1. Part One: Newark, New Jersey
Research and analysis
2. Part Two: A City of One’s Own
Thesis and conjecture
3. Project Images
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p ro j e c t “Renting a flat at a reasonable rate in cities like New York, London, or Amsterdam is nearly impossible. Having a space for work is equally impossible. This situation can be interpreted as the truest contradiction of what neoliberalism promised in the 1990’s: social mobility, and easy access to resources. The studio will assume a scenario in which new forms of welfare will be advanced in order to avoid that this situation becomes as a social catastrophe. This is why the studio will assume a rather moderate position: it will ask students to imagine what living and working space can be in a regime in which the space of homes is no longer a commodity, but a right for those living in the city. The studio starts from the consideration that the housing stock within the American City is not compatible with the forms of life engendered by the knowledge economy. Rather than attached houses or family apartments, those people affiliated to the knowledge economy seem to be more inclined towards living and working conditions based on principles of sharing.� [from the studio brief]
Bernard Levey and Family, Bernard Hoffman for TIME 1950 57
part one : newark, new jersey Collaborators: Daisy Ames and RJ Tripodi
Today the city of Newark, New Jersey is known primarily for its airport and proximity to New York City. In a constant state of flux, the city has seen extreme ups and downs economically, politically, and socially. Without legible urban form, the city grew organically as an agrarian settlement and continued to develop without strict planning. The uncertainty of its form seems to reflect the uncertainty of the city itself. The precarious nature of the city can arguably be traced in a series of paradigm shifts: from a sheltered theocratic city to an extremely prosperous industrial city to a by-the-book example of urban decline. These paradigm shifts are punctuated by extreme swings in labor and politics and framed by infrastructural development. The Pre-Industrial City From its settlement, Newark was born with confused intentions. The Puritans that founded the town left New Haven in the hopes of settling a theocratic, agrarian, and isolated community. Contrary to their aspirations, the town’s strategic location spurred the growth of the town as a major trade hub with a largely agricultural economy. Against its will, a sheltered Puritan town became a busy center of trade. The De-Industrialization of the City The adoption of new connectivity to New York, Jersey City, and to the south, had long lasting consequences. As Newark transitioned out of its industrial base and into a post-industrial city the city experienced a great loss of manufacturing jobs, and with it came a significant drop in population. Whites and black middle class residents left the city in search of opportunities in the suburbs while migrant workers and blacks coming from the South as well as immigrants from Europe took their place.
As the de-industrialization began, the city went through a series of shocks. Manufacturing jobs went into decline and Depression-era and war-related economic crises led to the frenzied building of public housing using federal funding, causing the development of slum conditions throughout the city. Added transport infrastructure as well as pro-suburban government initiatives caused a massive exodus of the upper- and middle-class tax base. The city’s demographics shifted towards minorities who arrived in search of new work but quickly grew frustrated with their inability to find employment. Political corruption and social conflict marked the steady fall of the once-hopeful metropolis. The Post-Industrial City Tensions over race and poor quality of life continued to build until the summer of 1967. Violent race riots broke out, leaving destruction in their wake. Followed by 1970 and 1971 teacher strikes which also became violent, the city was crying out for a change. In 1970, the city elected a black mayor, a trend that has continued through to the present. The issues tackled by the new black politicians attempted to revitalize the city through large downtown projects and housing reforms. In addition to the political change, infrastructural momentum of the city in the form of the port and airport caused a rise in employment by the service industry as well as revenue. This rebirth of the city has been slow and punctuated with difficulty and political corruption, but shows a positive trend.
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1872 map of Newark showing the development of early bridges and roads, as well as the planned development for the area which is now the airport.
1944 Map of Newark showing the major infrastructural developments at the time (hatching and roads) as well as locating housing projects which started to be built in this time.
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An abstraction of possible development patterns for Newark, showing one grid system which developed normal to the river’s edge intersecting with a relentlessly orthogonal grid extending through the rest of the city’s limits.
The patchwork tendency of Newark’s actual grids. The city is a built up collection of fragments and pieces, tracking its annexation through time.
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siting strategy Based on the analysis that our group carried out, my proposal identifies two areas of high vacancy within the city, both of which happen to occur in lowincome areas with sluggish economy. This sets up the project as two twin housing complexes which are connected by a new piece of green pedestrian infrastructure. This siting would triangulate the new projects with the downtown area and hopefully stimulate economy along the connections as well as within this larger enclosed area.
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part two: a city of one’s own
A Proposal for Cooperative Housing in Newark
The project is housing for 4900 people in Newark, New Jersey. Twin housing complexes are located in the city, one in the troubled West Ward and one along the infrastructural spine which connects Newark to the larger metropolitan area. The housing projects integrate living spaces with communal programs such as kitchens and dining, laundry, and work space. The integration of these community spaces address the question of the place for domestic labor in the city and questions traditional notions of gender and urban space.
“What’s a nice girl like you doing in a place like this?” This question, tackled by Dolores Hayden’s book Redesigning the American Dream reveals the pervasive attitude in society that women are not inherently equal citizens in the city. It asserts that the city is a dangerous place for women to the point that it is a woman’s fault if she finds herself in a dangerous situation. Until the woman is an equal citizen in the city, she cannot be as valued to the workforce, and will not have access to the same security and mobility in employment. The two urban subjects in concern are the immaterial female worker and the working-class woman in Newark. The immaterial worker tends to participate in the creative field as a freelancer, artist, or software developer. She is often displaced and in search of affordable working space and connection to a larger network. The working-class woman of Newark is often a single mother, struggling to take care of her children and provide for them simultaneously. These subjects have obviously different narratives and different levels of access to social capital and education opportunities, but face several of the same problems, such as marginalization in the workplace, constant job precarity, and the frequent need to take on several jobs to make ends meet. The working-class woman is highly present in Newark as it stands—80% of family households in the city are headed by single women. The presence of the creative worker is made possible through the proximity of Newark to New York City and its ties to the larger metropolitan work network. These two types of women create needs, both economic and social which allow them to form a productive feedback of demand and fulfillment. For instance, the working class woman tends to need childcare support, which creates jobs which could be filled by the creative workers in between their spotty creative employment. The project attempts to redesign the handling of domestic labor in housing through its redistribution from a solely individual undertaking to communal and economic
functions. Through this insertion of domestic labor in to the communal and urban sphere, the ‘place for the socks’ is made visible. This distribution between the private, semi-private and public spheres allows for the individual to engage in domestic labor at different levels depending on the highly mercurial needs and available time of the subject. On several levels, the housing complexes are built around the idea of breaking down public space in scale from the city to the individual apartment. The garden represents space that is shared by a community yet is strongly identified with by an individual. In the courtyards within the housing as well as in the parks between the larger buildings of each complex, the project acts as a way to mark out shared space. Through its clarification of the importance of domestic labor in society, the project assigns to it a conceptual and physical place within housing. The act of making domestic labor visible is a political gesture that asks society to rethink traditional modes of private and public life. The project encourages cooperation between subjects and allows for a productive dialogue between classes. At the same time it facilitates the presence of the subjects within the wage economy through the redistribution of domestic services. Aggregating subjects allows for the variation of program supported by the projects, and a lively economy can be formed by the constant feedback between the needs of the residents and the types of capital they are able to produce. The simultaneity of these various functions and subjects allow for the potential of productive cooperative housing.
Jell-O, Jeff Wall 1995 62
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ground floor plan and section of west complex The west residential complex encloses a park between its two residential bar buildings. Sited in a dilapidated neighborhood, it aims to provide affordable housing as well as space for programs which could stimulate and support the surrounding areas. The plan above shows the possibility of the ground floor to provide a variety of spaces and a park which would provide public services.
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residential floor plan and section of east complex
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The railway which serves Newark and its airport is bracketed by the two strips of housing. The park is then split in half, and pathways through the trees and under the raised railways allow access across the park. The location of housing in this area addresses the non-replacement of units displaced by the numerous infrastructural projects and improvements which Newark has undergone since the 1960’s.
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ground floor condition The ground floor of the residential buildings serves multiple purposes. It allows access through the building as well as up to residential floors. The spaces on the ground floor serve as social and economic infrastructure, and accompanied by respective gardens and courtyards, provide residents as well as neighbors with education and childcare facilities, groceries and markets, and flexible work spaces.
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residential floor condition The residential floors are comprised of closed loops of 10 apartments, ranging from studios to 3-bedrooms to accommodate a variety of family types. Studio apartments face into the gardens and their floor-to-ceiling windows open completely to form an informal community between the residents living alone, while family apartments face out into the city. Each loop is locked into the floor by circulation and access to a shared room which alternates between shared laundry and kitchen, play area, or library and office space.
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section axonometric The constituent elements of the project are the apartment units stacked above the community infrastructure at ground level, with communal kitchens and living rooms locking the two long strips of housing together. Each pair of community rooms delineates between them a garden. Access into the gardens and through the complexes are on axis with these gardens.
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unit type axonometrics The housing complexes allow for a variety of unit types to accommodate for different types of living and families. Illustrated above are conditions for apartment layouts ranging from a studio apartment to 1-, 2-, and 3-bedroom apartments.
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A View from an Apartment, Jeff Wall 2004-5 82
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Urban Monastic Complex Trappist Monastery and Brewery Bethesda, Maryland B. Arch Virginia Tech 2012 Undergraduate Thesis Advisor: Hunter Pittman
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provocation Background and brief
thesis statement The urban monastery is a study of the composition of architectural pieces within a community. Consideration of the dialogue between the surfaces and edges that establish spatial distinction is the means to establishing a meaningful artefact in the city. The monastery is a suitable project in which to study this condition due to its inherently communal aspects as well as the opportunity for a dialogue with the urban community.
the monastery
cistercian architecture
The monastery acts as a haven for monks. It offers them a place to pray, reflect, and live as a part of a community. As a set of buildings, the monastery tends to be a collection of structures in a pastoral setting. This removal of the monks from the city is a way for them to find quietness, and a closeness to nature and to God.
Cistercian architecture is famously serene. It is rarely ornamented, as Benedict saw ornament as unnecessary lavishness. However, there is a richness to be found in the bare stone buildings. The ceilings and openings are generally articulated with arches and vaults, and light becomes the main articulator of surfaces. The modulation of light within an arcade, or garden, or through a high window is a beautiful way to express the form and space of a room without gilt.
It is easy to see a trend in the organization of monastic buildings : there is a tendency towards the arrangement of pieces around a central cloistered garden. What becomes compelling about this arrangement is the way that the courtyard acts less as a center than it does a reference point for the “center” of each of the surrounding buildings. In placing a monastery in an urban setting, many issues must be addressed. A convincing case must be made for this deviation from tradition. In the case of the monastery of the thesis, this was addressed through the programming of the monastery. By placing the monastery within an urban context, it addresses directly the community to which it is selling its goods to as well as placing it in direct proximity to the community which it will be serving. In addition to the functional needs, it also brings the monks into a dialogue with the city, so that they are able to interact with people; rather than living in a retreat and finding God in nature, this is an opportunity for them to find God in people.
trappist monks
public urban space The city is a collection of places that become integrated into its perception. Though the urban fabric is largely composed of restaurants, shops, and offices, it is undeniable that the outdoor public space with no discernible private ownership becomes the main identifier of the city. The street, corners, sidewalk, and plazas are the primary images evoked of a city, the associated images which give a city its character. In the city, where the main identifier is public space, the figure-ground convention is reversed so that the void, or the negative space becomes primary while the solid becomes an “inhabitable poche”. On these grounds, the methodology employed in design became a closer examination of the scale and texture of the surfaces which touch the void : designing outside-in rather than insideout.
A part of the Cistercian Order of monks, the Trappists live by the Rule of St. Benedict. In the 48th chapter of the Rule, it states, “for they are monks in truth if they live by the work of their hands.” In the execution of this statement, most Trappist monasteries produce goods to provide income for the community. The goods that they make often include bread, chocolate, cheese, beer, and commodities such as clothing or furniture.
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drawing Representation of architecture became the secondary exploration of the thesis project. The exploration of the potential for drawing to communicate far beyond the conventional information is the basis for the body of work in the following pages. Consideration of parallel projection, perspective, and axonometric in combination with color, texture, pattern, and medium was the vehicle through which the project was expressed. Drawing, painting, printmaking, and graphics were essential processes in the study. The final project was presented as a series of 10 watercolor tableaux and a site plan with sections.
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program public Brewery Biergarten Tasting room / cafe
private Cells for 21 monks Chapter hall Refectory Cloister gardens Church Belltower
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tasting room 94
cafe 95
brewery 96
brewery 97
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cell sketches 100
studies of cells, plans and sections 101
refectory and cloister 102
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refectory and cloister 105
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church 108
sketches 109
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the monastery 117
Thomas Merton, Jim Forest 1964 118
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