A WOODEN DAYCARE

INTEGRATIVE DESIGN STUDIO, SPRING '19

Three passive modes of access - State Street, the Sixmile Creek toepath, and the separation between the existing building and the earth bearing wall - weave and accentuate the formal boundaries of three separate buildings, defining lines of vision upon entry. The private administrative complex peels away the earth bearing wall to replace the hillside, while the classroom spaces rest freely upon the extrusion of earth. The buildings are split between a crevice carved by a stepped terrace. Upon entering the artificial gorge, a threshold defined by the community center bridges the two buildings. Through the gateway condition, the classes become a transparent screen that sits upon the landscape, as a public display of performance. The community center serves as a pivot point for the two masses, dividing what is carved from what is raised.

Each classroom space is paired upon corresponding age groups and is united in direction under a common peaked roof. What is formal space can be extended beyond the boundaries of the classroom to an expanded space. This informal expansion creates a flow-through walkway that limits the ability to see without interruption, and forces the inhabitant to explore the additive shared spaces. The classroom is further expanded past the stepped terrace to areas of earth and play.

WOODEN SCREEN

A PERFORMATIVE SCREEN, SPRING '19

MATERIAL RESEARCH IN COLLABORATION WITH BENJAMIN GOLDSMITH

From the exterior façade to the interior cavities of the panel, harsh direct light is diffused through each porthole by a symmetric convex geometry. The form, derived from iterative tests, controls the diffusion and harsh definition of light through concave and convex patterns.

The final panel consists of two facades: a flat exterior façade molded by controlled openings to appear organic, and a plane of serrated edges that diffuse light through mass. The curvature and depth of these protrusions limit the amount of direct light that enters the cavities within the panel, forming diffused glows that remain consistent despite the various angles of the sun throughout the year.