slee-portfolio

INDEX

OF

URBAN MONASTIC UNDERGRADUATE

PROJECTS PA R T O N E

COMPLEX : THESIS

PA R T T W O

1 CBF COMPETITION 2 HOUSING IN RIVA SAN VITALE 3 ARTIST COMMUNITY 4 HOUSE FOR A HERMIT 5 VSAIA COMPETITION 6 SECOND YEAR COMPETITION 7 POP-UP PERFORMANCE VENUE 8 CASE STUDY : FINNISH EMBASSY 9 SMALL TOWN STUDY 10 TRAVEL DRAWINGS + SKETCHES 11 PAINTING AND GRAPHIC WORK

P A R T UNDERGRADUATE

O

N E THESIS

THE SUBLIMATION OF A THESIS S T A T E M E N T The insertion of a complex into a dense, urban fabric allows for a dialogue on several scales, including: PERSON TO SURFACE WALL TO GROUND COMPLEX TO CITY The reinterpretation of the space between buildings as “ROOM,� a place inhabited by the public with no sense of individual ownership, is the identification of the establishment of a meaningful artifact within a city.

The monastery as a means to study this condition is suitable due to the inherently communal aspects of its type as well as the opportunity for a dialogue with the urban community.

The urban monastic complex is a study of the composition of architectural pieces within a community; the dialogue between the surfaces and edges that establish distinct exterior rooms in addition to interior ones is the means to establishing a meaningful artifact in the city.

It is the break effected in space that allows the world to be constituted, because it reveals the fixed point, the central axis for all future orientation.

The sacred manifests itself in any hierophany.

In the homogeneous and infinite expanse, in which no point of reference is possible and hence no orientation can be espablished, the hierophany reveals an absolute fixed point, a center.

excerpts, MIRCEA ELIADE: THE SACRED AND THE PROFANE, SACRED SPACE AND MAKING THE WORLD SACRED

URBAN MONASTIC C O M P L E X A

THESIS

PROPOSAL

BETHESDA , MARYLAND

F I F T H Y E A R / P ROJECT ONGOING A community of buildings with multiple “centers” within. The centers are both nodes between which there is a constant movement and places at which events may occur, where people may gather. These nodes can be seen as “hierophanies,” as defined by Eliade.

These centers manifest in the monastic complex in both interior and exterior spaces, as courtyards or rooms in a plaza, in a singular prayer room or in a church, in a dining room.

downtown bethesda, maryland

SITE : WITHIN

A A

CLOISTER CLOISTER

Shielded from the street, the monastery only gives a slice of face to the pedestrian. From the beginning of the visitor’s experience, the monastery is a series of discoveries. For the monks, it is a contained world that allows them to be enveloped by the larger community which they serve.

The proposed monastery will replace a parking garage nestled in the heart of downtown Bethesda, Maryland.

Surrounded on four sides by mixed-use buildings, restaurants, and stores, the site extends two arms and opens on two streets which run parallel.

LE THORONET, 12th-13th C. Cistercian abbey. Provence, France SĂŠnanque Abbey + Silvacane Abbey The Three Sisters of Provence

LA TOURETTE, 1957 Dominican monastery. Le Corbusier. Lyon, France Inspired by Le Thoronet

The Corbusian monastery is a wonderful example of monastic architecture; its connection to the ground and the sky, and its existence as a series of sacred events and discoveries continually delights visitors.

Le Thoronet, considered by many to be the pinnacle of Cistercian monastic architecture, is an engaging complex filled with light.

Within the cloistered courtyard, light is modulated remarkably by the deep arcade, within which one can sit, read, watch. It makes the powerful move of allowing one to inhabit the wall above the gallery and observe activities within the garden.

P R O G R A M R E S E A R C H LE THORONET, 12th-13th C. Cistercian abbey. Provence, France

Sénanque Abbey + Silvacane Abbey The Three Sisters of Provence _ THE ABBEY CHURCH _ THE BELL TOWER _ THE SACRISTY contains sacred vestments, etc. ; connected to church _ THE MONK’S BUILDING barrack-style dormitories, abbot with separate cell _ ARMARIUM library, opens into cloister, secular books _ CHAPTER HOUSE daily meeting house _ HALL OF MONKS workshops used to make clothing, training, scriptorium _ CLOISTER + GALLERY lavabo _ ”NORTH WING” traditionally contained refectory, kitchen, calefactory _ BUILDING FOR LAY BROTHERS with a dining room and dormitory _THE CELLAR east gallery - wine cellar with presses

LA TOURETTE, 1957 Dominican monastery. Le Corbusier. Lyon, France Influenced by Le Thoronet _ CHAPEL _ SACRISTY, HIGH ALTAR, LOWER CHURCH _ CELLS FOR MONKS (100), VISITORS, LAY BROTHERS _ STUDY HALL _ LECTURE HALLS, READING ROOMS _ LIBRARY _ ATRIUM _ ORATORY _ CHAPTER ROOM _ ROOM FOR LAY BROTHERS

INHABITANT

:

TRAPPIST

MONKS

The monastery will be the home to monks of the Cistercian Order, specifically the Order of Cistercians of the Strict Observance (colloquially known as Trappists). They are a Roman Catholic order of contemplative monks who live in observance of the Rule of St. Benedict. Trappist monks produce goods for sale to provide income for the monastery, ranging from cheese, bread, and chocolate to alcoholic beverages, famously beer--which will be the main product of the monks in this monastery.

“For then are they monks in truth, if they live by the work of their hands.”

48th chapter, Rule of St. Benedict

P R O G R A M S Y N T H E S I S

_ ABBEY CHURCH + BELLTOWER _ WORKSHOPS / BREWERY _ PUBLIC COURT _ DORMITORY _ REFECTORY _ CLOISTER _ CHAPTER HALL _ GARDEN _ TASTING ROOM / CAFE

I N I T I A L C O N F I G U R AT I O N S T U D I E S

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DIVISION OF COURTYARD SPACE

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MONASTERY. MD

ARRANGEMENT OF BUILDINGS AROUND COURTS

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URBAN BETHESDA,

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Z

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BELLTOWER

BUILDING

ELEMENTS

CHAPTER HALL REFECTORY

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CLOISTER

CELLS

C H U R C H

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BREWERY

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CAFE/BIERGARTEN

CELLS

TASTING ROOM

EARLY PLAN

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REWORKING - tasting room and cafe become events within the wall; ground interventions begin to appear.

Typological architectural elements are used in an exploration of the complex, and have been useful in providing a direction and a set of rules which guide the making of the pieces within the monastery.

Identified are a core set of elements represented in the making of the monastic complex.

TOWER AS INDICATOR OF PLACE DOME AS SIGNIFIER OF SPACE ARCH AS CELEBRATION OF OPENING COLUMN AS ESTABLISHMENT OF RHYTHM (ARCADE AS CELEBRATION OF MOVEMENT BETWEEN OPENINGS!)

WALL AS ORGANIC EDGE STAIRS AS SHIFT IN VANTAGE VAULT AS ARTICULATION OF HIEROPHANY GROUND AS MARKING OF STATE

DOMED CHURCH / SIGNIFIER OF SPACE BELL TOWER / INDICATOR OF PLACE

...In the Hotel de Beauvais, as at the Palazzo Borghese, the built solid is allowed to assume comparatively minor significance. Indeed, in these last cases, the built solid scarcely divulges itself; and, while unbuilt space (courtyard) assumes the directive role, becomes the predominant idea...the isolation of identifiable space reduces (or elevates) the status of building to infill.... A buiding itself may become a type of poche, for certain purposes a solid assisting the legibility of adjacent spaces.

...It seems that the general usefulness of poche in a revived and overhauled sense, comes by its ability, as a solid, to engage or be engaged by adjacent voids, to act as both figure and ground as neccessity or circumstance may require...

COLIN ROWE, COLLAGE CITY (78,79)

MASS

-

VOID

-

PLINTH

The complex can be divided into three parts:

The church on a plinth is a separate entity, as it is the most sacred space, and is held on elevated ground above the main monastic complex. The monastic complex as well as the public court and tasting room andd cafe are considered one set-this is broken into what is the solid (“inahbitable poche”) and the void, which is broken into exterior “rooms” within the courtyard.

FIGURE

GROUND,

BETHESDA

Main plazas highlighted in yellow.

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The city is a collection of places that become integrated into its perception. though the urban fabric is largely composed of restaurants, shops, offices, etc., it is undeniable that the outdoor public space is just as essential to the character of the city.

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FIGURE GROUND, PROPOSED COMPLEX Outdoor “rooms” highlighted in red.

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EXPLORATION THROUGH

OF

DESIGN DRAWING

The following set of sketches and drawings are made moving throughout the monastery, organized chronologically from old to new as the scheme evolved.

C U R R E N T P L A N

E S

D T

G U

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Y

This diagram identifies and categorizes the different edges experienced by the pedestrian in the complex. Red faces indicate edges that one moves past, requiring a tactile facade that is broken into human scale, the turquoise faces are holding edges, delineating “rooms� within the set of buildings, and the orange faces line cuts into buildings and ground. The yellow face of the tasting room as well as the church act as destinations, the termination of the entry axes.

The blue edges indicate the cloister, a private, quiet space.

The study of the edge as a generative analysis is conducive to the thoughtful shaping of the public court spaces.

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IDENTIFICATION OF A CRITICAL

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a

D

strategy

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in

E

design

The wall of the brewery acts as a critical edge because it is both an entrance and an exit to the complex. The movement along this wall is the first or last face that is encountered by the visitor. This calls for the articulation of the wall in texture and pattern so that the building offers a warm welcome and a fond farewell.

The face of the building should address tactility and the scale of the person. It will begin the expression of parts that is so crucial to the experience of the monastery. As the brewery will be predominantly used by the monks in their productiton, this building is unique in that its program is a private place for the monks to work, yet serves the function as a threshold to the public.

THE

BREWERY

The brewery is to have a glazed-and-screened facade. The screen will then be broken up into panels that are shifted and pulled apart and allow for views into the brewery to reveal the process of brewing. These reveals allow for a dialogue between building and court, public and monk, mass and void as well as a tactile, changing surface to move along.

The ground level of the brewery is cut to allow access through the buidling; the cuts provide a covered means of circulation.

CELL

SCHEMES

The cell is the private dwelling place of the monk. It is where the monk begins and ends his day. As the most private place in the complex, the cell is the space in which the monk is able to communicate intimately with God. The cell is one of the primary generators of form for the complex - the others being the Church and Chapter Hall, which address the public scale and community of brothers respectively.

On the scale of the individual monk, it is crucial to have a space designated for singular prayer, study and reflection. The exercise of finding the configuration is rooted in this need.

BELLTOWER + CHURCH

The church and belltower are held apart.

Two iconic forms within the complex, a sacred courtyard is indicated, activated by the tension between them.

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Patterning the sky - The vaults of Ste. Chapelle nod airily to the night sky. The backlit perforated drop ceiling is an attempt at the same, an articulation of the heavens above, free and floating.

As a project in progress, there are still many explorations to be made within the monastery; the floor of the complex and the interiors of many of the pieces are among these explorations. A variety of drawings across several mediums are still needed to adequately express the qualities of the complex as a compelling urban artifact.

ADS + BEER LABELS PRODUCED FOR THE MONASTERY AS

A

PART

OF

AN

INDEPENDENT

STUDY

IN

SCREENPRINTING

P A R STUDIO

T TWO PROJECTS

C H E S A P E A K E BAY FOUNDATION COMPETITION spring fourth year / finalist (8/150+) PROGRAM : A building for the Chesapeake Bay Foundation in Chesapeake, VA. The building is located on a protected site near the bay, therefore it should have a minimal footprint as well as interact with the land. The building is to house offices as well as a meeting area, educational space, and outdoor educational venues.

..but when a building is a ruin and free of servitude, the spirit emerges telling of the marvel that a building was made. Louis I. Kahn

The form of the complex emerged from the need to be elevated beyond the floodplane and from a desire for a minimal footprint. The clustering of the towers and columns create an interior and exterior play; the boxes begin to intersect and space between the towers are activated as outdoor classroom or meeting areas.

The spaces are divided; the west half is reserved for exhibitions and meetings, while the east couple provide space for office work and education. Circulation between the rooms in the complex is broken intentionally, so that there is always the need to interact with the land.

The piers for the kayaks and the work boats respond to the form of the towers, extending to the water. Within wall, storage for boats and equipment can be found.

The complex offers the opportunity to continually be changed, added to, and repurposed. It has a desire to exist within the time and beyond it.

STUDENT HOUSING IN RIVA SAN VITALE fall fourth year / study abroad project PROGRAM : The Center for European Studies in Architecture, located in Riva San Vitale, Switzerland is looking to expand its on-campus housing for students studying abroad in lieu of renting apartments in the town. The site is located above a garden to the side of the existing Villa, in which the bulk of current students live. Requirements for the new housing are rooms for 20 students and apartments for two faculty members.

faculty

student

Each student apartment houses five students, with shared rooms and one and a half baths, while the faculty apartmenets are two-bedroom, one and a half baths.

With considerable size restraints, the focus within the apartments is to keep the interior spaces relatively open to each other.

The concrete-shelled apartments feature a facade of alternating glazed and wood panels, with operable modules. For extra shading and privacy, the apartments are equipped with curtains. The stepped configuration of the apartments allows for the breaking up of the front face of the row; it also serves to provide each apartment with a front yard of sorts. Within a sunken courtyard, the apartments are given a front yard as well as a back deck.

ARTIST

COMMUNITY spring third year

PROGRAM : Housing for visiting artists and their students on a site right off campus at Virginia Tech. In addition to apartments for the students and artists, a gallery for a collection of works donated to the school including the work of Ozenfant, Moore, Calder, and Giacometti should be included in the complex, with space for rotating exhibitions for the work of the visiting artists and their students. There must also be a library for approximately 3500 volumes with spaces for the students to study.

PROJECT : Desiring the form of a complex, three buildings are arranged around a central courtyard garden. One building is dedicated to the library, one to the gallery, and one to housing. Wrapped in a screen of vertically tensioned steel cables, there is a potential for a green wall--creating something of texture and life to walk along in the transition between campus and downtown, while maintaining a consistent facade between the buildings. Multiple destinations come into play, an attempt to decentralize a typically central plan. Each building has its own centers, atriums and meeting places that relate to each other and to the courtyard, but with separate identities.

The courtyard and the buildings are accessed through the alleys of varying sizes between the buildings, which are percieved as cuts into the massive buildings. The shapes are derived from a rectangular prism, but the pieces are rotated so that upon approach, the visitor is presented with the three-quarter view of the corner and main entries.

Carrying the idea of the screen through the building, the stairs are suspended by cables, which also form the hand- and guard rails for the buildings. They signify the centers of the buildings, located in the atriums as the main sculptural piece.

HOUSE

FOR

A

HERMIT spring second year

PROGRAM: A house for a reclusive client.

PROJECT: The house is set in the deep woods, so that only the hermit and the few he chooses to invite can find it. The intent of the house is to play on visual perforation--moving through the trees is the visitor’s first experience with it, as the house moves in and out from between and behind the trees. The concrete walls of the house are punctured with large windows, mimicking the act of the trees of the forest--as one moves through the house, the forest disappears and reappears.

The house is a path, wrapping around itself and rising and falling to again afford the changing views of the forest. The path wraps around two courtyards, one open to the sky, and one open to the house itself--these offer a place for moments of pause and thought.

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VSAIA

COMPETITION spring 2010 / 48-hour competition

PROMPT: Create a place on Belle Isle, in Richmond. There are several existing structures on the island which can be inhabited.

The place should take into account site and time.

PROPOSAL: A tower so that one can climb up to look out on the wild island, over the water, and to the city. The stair, interspersed with platforms to sit and look, winds around a central space that is open to the sky so that one can also observe the sky.

spring 2009 / 5-day in house competition / hon. mention (10/100~) PROMPT: A room and a garden, sited on the hill in between the Art + Architecture library and the commuter parking lot. The room is to house a collection of chairs.

PROPOSAL: The path from the parking lot to the library finds itself with a knot in the middle. The knot is the path turning into itself to create space to exhibit chairs, a reading room looking to the sky, and a quiet study room. The path, cutting into the hill, is only seen at the entry. Atop the hill, a tree stands near the skylight into the room

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SECOND YEAR C O M P E T I T I O N

K E M STUDIO : POP-UP PERFORMANCE VENUE spring 2011 / 5-day interdisciplinary workshop / group project PROMPT: Design a mobile performance venue for multidisciplionary performance troupe Quixotic, based out of Kansas City.

PROPOSAL: Inspired by guerilla theater and flash experiences, the proposed venue was based on the following considerations: the need for it to be portable, quickly and easily deployed, intruiging to passerby while it is being set up, and encompassing the audience.

The proposed venue is comprised of three pieces: 1) The deployable geodesic dome 2) A pleated, expandable covering 3) A platform which serves as both stage and audience seating SYNTHESIS: The object will be a complete sensory experience that challenges the traditional hierarchy of “stage”--the audience’s participation (passive or active) is key to the performance.

The show is happening not only on the stage, but in the dome itself, above and around the audience. The intervention on the ground elevates the audience members and invites them to become a part of the show; the fold-up seating offers them a chance to set a part the stage.

CASE STUDY : THE FINNISH EMBASSY HEIKKINEN

+

KOMONEN

spring third year / building analysis / group project PROJECT : The goal of the project was to generate an analytical set of drawings documenting a building of our choice. My contribution to the project was making drawings analyzing joint details as the Finnish Embassy is a building in which the richness tends to be found in the interactions of materials.

SMALL

TOWN

STUDY

fall thesis year / drawings and model from class CLASS : An exploration of small towns in southwestern Virginia.

The towns studied are Shawsville, Simmonsville, and Snowville.

The class involved on-site drawing and analysis of the distinct characteristics of each town as well as general trends of what constitutes a settlement.

TRAVEL SKETCHES + ANALYTIC DRAWINGS fall fourth year study abroad riva san vitale + miscellaneous eutrope

PAINTING GRAPHIC

AND

OTHER WORK

works completed between 2004-2011

VIRGINIA EXERCISE

TECH

FOR

FACULTY

INDEPENDENT

LECTURE STUDY

IN

SERIES

2011

SCREENPRINTING