Art School CampusArchitecture 320|Spring 2013

The Art School Campus is the major project of Architecture 230. My first task was to set up a basic layout for the campus additions to the already existing context. Each plan is assigned a word to use as the basis for its design strategy. My plan’s word was centralized. The central component is a courtyard with paths that connects to every building on the campus. From there, the centralized plan type is reinforced by placing all public areas close to the courtyard and more private spaces, such as the practice rooms and classrooms, in the higher levels of buildings or further from the central courtyard. The tectonics of the campus is several very simple systems with the majority of the systems being related overlapping components, with those overlapping components sometimes represent planes, and other times frame, depending on the use of the building. This is seen most noticeably in the library and auditorium. While the library is entirely planes, the auditorium features a planar roof, but the supports are frame. The final tectonic, mass, while only seen on the north end of the campus in the reading room, plays a pivotal role in balancing the generally shorter and simpler north end of campus from the extremely tall and complex nature of the south end of campus. This balance serves to keep attention away from one side of campus or another, but rather into the courtyard and the buildings immediately surrounding it, further confirming the centralized plan type.

Extending the Fragment

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On Plan:1 Study Room2 Library3 Discussion Classrooms4 Auditorium5 Labs & ClassroomsOn West Facing Section6 Cafeteria7 Offices8 Practice Rooms

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Plan

North Facing Section

West Facing Section

In conjunction with Architecture 281, Virtual Modeling, I created a plan, two sections, and a rendering which were used in the final pin-up and critique of the semester. The orange and light greys of the plan and section represent paths (with the orange being the more important paths) and the darker greys are existing context. The final step to this project was to create a section of the auditorium, showing the tectonics of the space on a more detailed level. I chose the east wall of my auditorium which, although has no entrances or exits, had the highest level of tectonics in the window and wall details. It also best shows the skylights over the seating area.

Rendering, Plan, & Auditorium

Mass The first of three tectonic systems used in my project is mass. I use mass as a weight which helped balance the north end of the site from the tall existing context located on the south end of the site. The mass was then carved away in a nod to the large opening in the existing context which was connected visually with a strong pathway bisecting the large central courtyard. While mass was the least used tectonic system, it served a pivotal role in connection many different pieces and techniques of the project.

Plane The next tectonic system used in my project was plane. In the majority of cases, planes were represented through repetition of alternating parts which were all located in close proximity to each other. This tectonic system was repeated in nearly every building in the project. This is most evident in the library and classroom spaces located just south of the mass The only point on the project where plane is represented by an actual frame would be the floor of the offices and practice rooms located on the west end of the courtyard.

Frame The final tectonic system in use is frame. While the planar system found in the library and classrooms are systems usually associated with frame, the tectonic system for frame is most notably located in the classroom building located on the south end of the site. This frame system is created by taking two systems of parallel planes and overlapping them. This internal structure is then wrapped by smaller components which create a façade around the structure. Frame can also be found surrounding one section of the mass and in the auditorium.