Natural Systems Studio

Student: Matt Gilman
Natural Systems Studio: BLA Segment II; MLA Segment I
Instructors: Shaun O’Rourke, Kevin Benham and Juli Reimensscheinder
Date: Fall 2011

This advanced architecture and landscape architecture vertical studio looked at the hydrological, cultural, ecological, and historical systems of the Malden River and the surrounding degraded urban context in an effort to look specifically at ways in which the edge of the river has been formed by a variety of commercial endeavors throughout history.

The charge of the studio was to develop a hybrid form of architecture and landscape that ameliorates existing environmental conditions while simultaneously resolving issues of accessibility on the site and the surrounding urban fabric. There were a range of innovative design ideas generated that all work to engage the public and the river with the ultimate goal of increasing the water quality within the highly urbanized river.

Concept:

The project creates new and enhanced avian habitat by increasing the size and connectivity of habitat patches along the Malden River. The result will be to attract existing species in greater number, attract new species, and make them a draw to the public.

The paths along the habitats proposed will not impede the bird habitats, by carefully controlling the level of human access, determined by each habitat type. The habitat typologies will also govern the placement and style of bird blinds to increase the public’s enjoyment of the site and the viewing of wildlife.

Natural Systems Studio

Student: Edward Adams
Natural Systems Studio: BLA Segment II; MLA Segment I
Instructors: Shaun O’Rourke, Kevin Benham and Juli Reimensscheinder
Date: Fall 2011

This advanced architecture and landscape architecture vertical studio looked at the hydrological, cultural, ecological, and historical systems of the Malden River and the surrounding degraded urban context in an effort to look specifically at ways in which the edge of the river has been formed by a variety of commercial endeavors throughout history.

The charge of the studio was to develop a hybrid form of architecture and landscape that ameliorates existing environmental conditions while simultaneously resolving issues of accessibility on the site and the surrounding urban fabric. There were a range of innovative design ideas generated that all work to engage the public and the river with the ultimate goal of increasing the water quality within the highly urbanized river.

Concept:
Remediating the Malden: Planting based on Phytoremediation

Phytoremediation will act as a catalyst for change by cleaning up the site and renewing accessibility. According to the historical layout of industrial companies that once lined the shores and known contaminants, different types of plants will remediate specific areas depending on the toxins.

A network of trails, roads, and bridges will connect the river to surrounding communities, and a public research/visitor center and maintenance facility will be opened. People will be able to walk, run, bike, play, and learn as they witness the rejuvenation of the Malden River. 

Axonometric

Perspective

Phytoremediation

Plant Palette

Section

Lyceum Competition Studio

Student: Reed Harmon

Lyceum Competition Studio
Instructors: Maria Bellalta, Head of School of Landscape Architecture and Blas Betancourt

Date: Fall 2011

Human beings have a history of landscape alteration: pyramids, aqueducts, and deforestation.  Modern lifestyles are made possible by industries throughout the world, but we take them for granted. The natural world is transformed by industry, particularly those that extract raw materials and resources from the land.

The charge was to design a building complex for an institution devoted primarily for visual, literary, landscape and performing artists.  The design concepts were to engage the site in a significant way, commensurate with the size, scale and emotional impact of the quarry.  The project program was comprised of four program elements:  an Educational Pavilion, Artists Studios, Artists Residences, and a Public Memorial.

Concept:
The project is designed as a series of moments that frame the sublime character of the site. Before entering the welcoming pavilion, visitors encounter a concrete block shed, the overturned base of a wooden derrick and an existing granite wall. The pavilion is hung from the side of a cliff. As they proceed through the the building, the opposing glass walls offer a view of the quarry on one side and a close-up of the granite cliff on the other. They gradually descend into the quarry that leads to the studios.

The studios are placed on a rock outcropping about 30 feet above the water level of the quarry. From the studios, a visitor may scramble over boulders to reach the water, take in some art in the outdoor exhibition space, or continue on the path toward the memorial.

Lyceum Competition Studio

Student: Cory Mills

Lyceum Competition Studio
Instructors: Maria Bellalta, Head of School of Landscape Architecture and Blas Betancourt

Date: Fall 2011

Human beings have a history of landscape alteration: pyramids, aqueducts, and deforestation.  Modern lifestyles are made possible by industries throughout the world, but we take them for granted. The natural world is transformed by industry, particularly those that extract raw materials and resources from the land.

The charge was to design a building complex for an institution devoted primarily for visual, literary, landscape and performing artists.  The design concepts were to engage the site in a significant way, commensurate with the size, scale and emotional impact of the quarry.  The project program was comprised of four program elements:  an Educational Pavilion, Artists Studios, Artists Residences, and a Public Memorial.

Concept: 

The project deals with the contrast between the natural landscape and industry's stain on nature. This is expressed through a processional approach to the site by using key, framed views during a visitor's approach to, and throughout the rest of the site - providing brief glimpses of the site then ultimately, letting the site reveal itself.

Approach Perspective

Destination Perspective

Site Circulation

Site Map

Lyceum Competition Studio

Student: Angie Sarno

Lyceum Competition Studio
Instructors: Maria Bellalta, Head of School of Landscape Architecture and Blas Betancourt

Date: Fall 2011

Human beings have a history of landscape alteration: pyramids, aqueducts, and deforestation.  Modern lifestyles are made possible by industries throughout the world, but we take them for granted. The natural world is transformed by industry, particularly those that extract raw materials and resources from the land.

The charge was to design a building complex for an institution devoted primarily for visual, literary, landscape and performing artists.  The design concepts were to engage the site in a significant way, commensurate with the size, scale and emotional impact of the quarry.  The project program was comprised of four program elements:  an Educational Pavilion, Artists Studios, Artists Residences, and a Public Memorial.

Concept:

"Humanity has made great and terrible decisions, and our choices have left scars on the earth, scars that will survive us all. It is what we do moving forward that defines us, as a race, a species, as something that exists so small in something much more vast then what we are.

Joy comes from knowing the temporary is what makes life worth living for."

 

Click here to see the rest of Angie Sarno's work.

C1 Studio :: Mind the Gap

Name: Sophia Kim
C1 Studio: Mind the Gap

Instructor: Casey Hughes

Date: Fall 2010

What we are witnessing is a shift in the traditional relationship between reality and representation. We no longer progress from model to reality, but from model to model while acknowledging that both models are, in fact, real. As a result we may work in a very productive manner with the reality experienced as a conglomeration of models. Rather than seeing models and reality as polarizing modes, they now function at the same level. Models have become co-producers of reality. Models are real." - Olafur Eliasson

Models are useful in architecture because they help us to organize information (i.e., program, space, structure, material, etc.) in a tangible way. Models always require translation thus producing different understandings of the model's subject.  By definition models aren't literally what they represent. Rather than seeing this divergence as a deficiency it can be exploited to allow the model to transcend the literal exposing a projects underlying concepts and experience. Regardless of the degree of abstraction represented, the models themselves remain equally real thus creating the potential to convey abstract concepts viscerally.  A goal of this studio is to develop a theoretical understanding of models as a fundamental tool of design and to develop techniques of working with models that are both generative and representational.

Generative: Models tend to be generative when they are approached as "working models" that incorporate ideas discovered through process rather than the execution of a preconceived design. Representational: The aspects of representation that we'll focus on in the studio are the ability of an object to convey a projects central idea viscerally. The models we'll create are devices that allow us to communicate our ideas to others but more importantly they are a process by which we test and develop these ideas. A successful model produces a response that allows us to critiques the effectiveness of the design and thus informs its progression.

The studio will develop methods of understanding and representing space with the intention of elucidating its temporality and mutability. Rather that thinking of models as representing static conditions this studio proposes techniques of modeling that goes beyond the "fixed" elements conventionally represented to define space. Modeling the less tangible relationships within a project helps to develop a subtler understanding the conditions at play, which in turn informs the design.

Site

Site Documentation: Photomontage

Collage

Design Workshop Elective :: Computing Drawing Space

Student: Geoffrey Arthur

Title: Computing Drawing Space

Instructor name: Carl Lostritto

Date: Fall 2011

This course is a structured exploration of the roles of computation in the theorization, conception, representation and fabrication of architecture. Throughout the semester, students use the Python Programming language to create speculative gestures and engage in creative experimentation-two hallmarks of what has historically been the domain of drawing and sketching. At the conclusion of the course students will have demonstrated an understanding of programming concepts and an ability to employ programming techniques in an open-ended, functional manner within a design process.

Initially, students create iterations of drawings generated by writing 

Python code. While learning the structure and syntax that govern

what is for most students a foreign language, the class explores the

qualitative tendencies a generate methodology. 

As students refine their code for their drawing apparatus we pause

to explore a material analog: drawing with graphite, ink, or any

other medium on paper. These drawings are intended to be 

computational and algorithmic despite the fact that no [digital] 

computer was involved. Analysis of and discussion around these 

drawings was then invited to influence students' code. 

Before passing on their apparatus to a peer, students created graphic documentation to

explain/influence/communicate with future users. This documentation is both instruction

manual and explanatory diagram of the coded algorithms

A drawing made by Jay Underwood using Geoffrey Arthur's drawing apparatus.