2011 PHILLIPS TYSON KEEN
120 Vaughn Rd. Greer, SC 29651
(864) 979-6482
[tyson7@vt.edu]
TYSON KEEN PHILLIPS
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RECENT WORKS 1.1 Dynamic Interpretation 1.2 Embracing Diversity
COMPETITIONS 2.1 Enlightenment 2.2 Boxcar Pavilion
OTHER WORKS 3.1 Studies in Porosity 3.2 Building Layers 3.3 Material and Space
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RECENT WORKS
Water is... approachable from too many different directions to be categorized. It takes different forms - ice and steam, rain and puddle, even global crisis. To make an observatory - one to study water - is left largely up to interpretation. The results could emerge from any sure quality, therefore it would only be appropriate to focus on
WATER’S DYNAMICY.
1.1
DYNAMIC INTERPRETATION [a watershed observatory]
2010
“...everything on both sides of you -- right and left, up and down -- changes as you walk, and that either condenses the time or protracts it, making you anxious or relaxed, as you anticipate what will happen next or remember what just did...� Richard Serra
The sculptural ribbon surrounding each building occasionally slips past itself, allowing not only for entrance/exit but also providing limited views of the river and opposite bank.
At times, the ribbons surrounding the buildings may completely cut off all views of the horizon, providing views of only sky or mountaintops above. Being cut off from the desired views of the river and lake make them all the more precious when they are revealed.
A line can possess extraordinarily dynamic qualities, even more so when it exists in three dimensions. A folded ribbon, when viewed sculpturally, creates strong lines, and sharp angles, and though static, seems to embrace motion.
These sharp angles and hard lines can be translated into walls or plates, that begin to create more of an inhabitable space. Though the metal is quite heavy in actuality, its ultra-thin profile gives it an incredibly active energy. This accompanied with distinct sound reverberation and temperature retention ability creates the necessary highly dynamic space that reflects water.
Iteration is a huge part of the beginning of the design process. Models are largely representative or diagrammatic, often with many pieces that can be manipulated or one foldable, moldable piece. Recognition of the qualities of these sketch models can lead to a discovery of system or underlying ideas, and can push forward the production of the building.
Controlled method
Active results
Pushing, pulling, physically manipulating the model, really getting into it, being somewhat unconventional: it all works to create a three-dimensional space that is noticeably compelling.
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RECREATION
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EXHIBITION
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Although occasionally appearing random, the program of each of the three buildings is somewhat controlled. The research area walls are tilted to be stimulating and exciting, never truly defining any one space. The recreational facilities are all tilted inward, utilizing the shadows and cover to create more of a private feel. The exhibition area is tilted outward, allowing much more light into a space that opens up to the sky.
It is too commonly overlooked in architecture that there are many different kinds of people that enjoy many different activities. So why would we create for one specific kind of person? The lovers, the players, the thinkers and the dreamers find joy in a structure that focuses on
EMBRACING DIVERSITY.
1.2
ONE FOR ALL
[a water room for...] 2010
Consideration of the form involved experiencing the water with a sequence of senses. The view is blocked by a kink in the path, allowing for sound to arrive first. Sight is provided next, with a view of the horizon framed by the ramps and platform. Feeling and an emergent sensation arrive simultaneously, with the water at waist height and cool to the touch. The light bounces off of the surface of the water and reflects onto the bottom of the platform and into the room, creating a forever dynamic canvas.
One side of the platform supports is carved out. This allows access directly from the main room out to the platform. Out on the platform, occupants are placed beyond the tree line, where they are surrounded on all sides by water and can feel the wind traveling through the valley. They also are provided with long sight lines down the valley and along the river: a whole new perspective to their surroundings.
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Instance A A small amount of reflected natural light is cast onto the ceiling, giving its thick concrete form a sort of weightlessness.
Instance B A plane of light is cast directly onto the wall, lighting a staircase or emphasizing an upcoming wall and direction shift.
The key to the water room is in the details, like where the wall is cut away as somewhat of a hidden entrance onto the platform, or the access to the roof from the platform along the top of the other support. The river is known to flood twice a year, and when it does, most of the building is submerged, but the roof is directly accessible at that point. The room becomes immersed in time when the flooding and receding water lines are left as stains in the walls and stairs.
Standard Water Level
Flood Line
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COMPETITIONS
The wildfire museum is a look at a not-so-typical aspect of life in the western United States. Seeing as how wildfires are such a large part of culture there, further education about the history, culture and agriculture of the fires is integral. This museum should be a destination for those visiting the area.
2.1 ENLIGHTENMENT [a wildfire museum] 2010
The iconic building dares to make a statement. It is appropriate to its purpose as well as bold in its form. It is not cryptic, nor is it superfluous. It is a direct consequence of the program. The path of progression symbolizes the nature of a fire wrapping around a tree: exhibition, library, meeting space and tower wrap around the core fireplace and stack, ascending as you approach the final observation deck.
It was all the things that comprised a railroad, crowded into a small crescent of land next to the Jackson River, an archetypal example of the American Railroad. Top 18 of 260 Entries
2.2
BOXCAR PAVILION [a train station]
2011
A train station is assembled on site from the very same boxcars that would inhabit the train yard 50 years ago. It is representative of the very foundation of Clifton Forge: the dispersion of cargo. When closed, it shares no more of an outstanding appearance than a stack of cargo containers awaiting transition. When opened up, it becomes a habitable space purged in natural light with extensive views of the train yard and mountains beyond.
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Ground Floor
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Waiting space Office Ticket Counter Bar/coffee Restroom facilities Platform
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First Floor
Ridgeway St.
Downtown Clifton Forge
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CSX Rail Yard
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OTHER WORKS
Porosity is transcendence - through artifice and the phenomenal. Porosity is the light on a surface – changing with every movement of the sun, every season – a true connection of human existence with the spirit. Porosity is a filter – a film through with the lines drawn in the sand are blurred – a coexistence of disciplines.
3.1
STUDIES IN POROSITY [an urban lab observatory] 2011
The observation tower and boat storage shed is a study of the “usual suspects” of a tower broken down into the simplest of terms. It is steel moment bracing and 4’ by 8’ plywood panels as a skin, and a concrete core in the tower of an elevator for added rigidity. The structure is exposed to the interior of the spaces, and one full facade of the tower is removed for a direct connection with the surrounding lake.
3.2
BUILDING LAYERS
[an observation tower] 2010
The 20� by 20� cube is a combined self study of light, construction methods, material qualities, and space. It is constructed using one reusable mold for each face, forty eight threaded bolts with twenty four right angles, and just over three hundred pounds of concrete. The faces float free of one another, allowing light and views to the inside, creating a spacial, interior canvas. It currently resides outside, changing with the rain, snow, ice and sun.
3.3
MATERIAL AND SPACE [a cube]
2009
120 Vaughn Rd. Greer, SC 29651
(864) 979-6482
[tyson7@vt.edu]