Perimeter Plan
Negotiating relationship between different building elements
Harvard Graduate School of Design. Fall 2012.
First Year Core Studio
Advisor: Ingeborg Rocker (Rocker Lange Architects)
Duration: 4 weeks
This is an architectural problem solved with three given conditions: a facade of fixed length, a choice of several type of staircases, and a fixed program area of 68,000 sq ft of a dormitory. The relationship between these three main architectural elements were experimented with paper models and inspired by a visual study of R.R. Richardson’s Austin Hall on campus.
A facade survey was done on R.R. Richardson’s Austin Hall on campus as initial inspiration. The bulged column of the building is read as the result of a “push” action, resulting in the lamination of two exterior surfaces and new spatial conditions . The idea of push and pull are further studied and becomes the foundation of the project. The stairs are imagined as agents of the “push” force; the facade therefore reacts like an elastic skin - at times in tension and at time recoils with the circulation. The dimension of the staircase and the tautness produced between the circulation and the envelope generates the plan. Questions of inteior and exterior conditions are especially of interest in moments where the facade pushes through the other side, wrapping an exterior space inside of interior spaces. Moreover, the relationship between the interior area and the total linear dimension of its perimeter forced the production of a plan that insures that the interior will have access to natural light.
Facade Length requirement
Stair options and paper study models
Final Plans
