Support System

Spring 2020
Academic
GSD 1102_Core II: SITUATE
Harvard Graduate School of Design
​Instructor: Alfredo Thiermann

In this exercise, students were tasked to design and deploy a limited number of spatial bays to produce a coherent arrangement of contiguous covered spaces differentiated by size, proportion and other qualitative attributes. The definition of this "spatial bay" was left to up to the discretion of the student.

I opted to define a "bay" using the most minimal components possible. While I define a bay as one of my component parts (which includes a single cruciform column with a square roof), their arrangement can create a new definition of the term. As such, there are micro and macro bays that emerged within the project. 

Codependent Systems

The system uses only 3 different types, each with a cruciform column and square roof or just a column. Each type also follows their own grid, which is based off of the subdivision of the previous grid. All types are codependent on each other for structural support.

The three types showcasing their codependency

A single simple bay can be aggregated in numerable different ways to create different macrobays. The example here shows how through the arrangement of these macro bay types, a different rhythm in columns emerges, even with a homogenous roof condition.

Ground Floor Plan

2nd Floor Plan

Roof Plan

Section

Worm's Eye Axon

Aerial Axon