LAWRENCEVILLE ROWHOUSE
This project involved the design of a rowhouse in the Pittsburgh neighborhood of Lawrenceville. In designing, we were required to consider and respond to local context of the site and neighboring buildings and the programmatic needs of the clients. My design proposal for the clients was organized around the idea that certain elements of a building should direct you to the most important spaces. This idea led to a focus on the main entry of the home, an angled wall in the living and dining area, and a rooftop garden featuring a covered walkway. Other aspects that were explored include the home’s relationship to the outdoors and creating a painting studio filled with light and a photography workspace for the clients.
The digital fabrication component of this project involved a module of a 3-dimensional hexagonal tile. My tiles were featured as a screen on the garden courtyard. The tile was designed and then modeled in Rhino and 3D printed. The initial inspiration for my tile design came from combining curves with a hexagonal grid. As the design evolved, the curves were refined and the vertical dimension was manipulated through the iterations to result in the final tile design. The precision and resolution of the 3D print resulted in a tile that closely resembled the digital model as designed in Rhino. The differences between the two included some expected inaccuracies in the printing of curves and a little missing material where the model was very thin.
The digital fabrication component of this project involved a module of a 3-dimensional hexagonal tile. My tiles were featured as a screen on the garden courtyard. The tile was designed and then modeled in Rhino and 3D printed. The initial inspiration for my tile design came from combining curves with a hexagonal grid. As the design evolved, the curves were refined and the vertical dimension was manipulated through the iterations to result in the final tile design. The precision and resolution of the 3D print resulted in a tile that closely resembled the digital model as designed in Rhino. The differences between the two included some expected inaccuracies in the printing of curves and a little missing material where the model was very thin.
This project was about creating a weekend retreat for a college president on the shores of Lake Erie by integrating the existing cube and planes (a previous design exercise) into a site with 8’ high hedge as the landscape. This project also required the incorporation of a program and needs of a client, such as the creation of a lecture space and private garden. The weekend retreat also emphasized the creation of spatial definition, alignment, and overlap. Elements such as gravel, a kitchen/bath block, water pools, and the hedge could be employed to help define space and make relationships to/projected from the cube house.
I was inspired by my own personal experience of living near Lake Erie. I wanted to allow the president and her guests access to the lake and to provide extensive views from the house and garden areas. I was also inspired by the spatial alignment of Tom Kundig’s Outpost, enforced by the use of voids (windows). My design approached the project specifications by creating a grid system that projects the interior three planes and cube voids into the landscape, creating spatial alignment and definition. I used the projections of the cube and the subsequent grid to create space contained by hedge, water, gravel, and the twi building structures. After I created spaces related to the cube and planes, I then edited the design by considering the experience of the client and/or her visitors. Thinking about the experiential aspect and human scale allowed me to edit out space/relationships that could only be sensed from a “bird’s eye view.”
The perspective that I brought was concern for providing guests with direction and defining spaces that are appropriate for their access. I sought to create guided paths (through the use of hedge, gravel, and water) along which guests would be directed to the lecture area and garden, and away from the personal area of the yard. This perspective helped me to make design decisions that reinforced my primary design concerns.
I was inspired by my own personal experience of living near Lake Erie. I wanted to allow the president and her guests access to the lake and to provide extensive views from the house and garden areas. I was also inspired by the spatial alignment of Tom Kundig’s Outpost, enforced by the use of voids (windows). My design approached the project specifications by creating a grid system that projects the interior three planes and cube voids into the landscape, creating spatial alignment and definition. I used the projections of the cube and the subsequent grid to create space contained by hedge, water, gravel, and the twi building structures. After I created spaces related to the cube and planes, I then edited the design by considering the experience of the client and/or her visitors. Thinking about the experiential aspect and human scale allowed me to edit out space/relationships that could only be sensed from a “bird’s eye view.”
The perspective that I brought was concern for providing guests with direction and defining spaces that are appropriate for their access. I sought to create guided paths (through the use of hedge, gravel, and water) along which guests would be directed to the lecture area and garden, and away from the personal area of the yard. This perspective helped me to make design decisions that reinforced my primary design concerns.