Tipsy House
Autumn 2019
Academic
GSD 1101_Core I: PROJECT
Harvard Graduate School of Design
Instructor: Sean Canty
Academic
GSD 1101_Core I: PROJECT
Harvard Graduate School of Design
Instructor: Sean Canty
This project explored the triple decker typology that dominates the Somerville, MA, neighborhood. In taking the seemingly fixed relationship of site and building, this project sought to rething site and building-to-building relationships as not fixed, stable preconditions. Students were tasked with considering the design of the space between buildings, and the corresponding effects of these relationships at both the scale of the urban fabric and the scale of the architectural object.
My project explored how architecture can respond to topography, or how geometry reconcile geometry lying perpendicular to a curve. Particularly how would that manifest with real-life constraints such as flat slabs, height clearances, etc. The project examined the perpendicular-to-curve in both plan (cul-de-sac) and elevation (slope). A series of dead ends and cul-de-sacs meet at the apex of a hill, creating two colliding houses as intersecting plots produce misshapen plots. The two houses share a similar plan but are expressed very differently. While one “normal” house is flat and orthogonal with a thick base, the “weird house” is oriented perpendicular to the slope. In the “weird” half, each floor is entered on center onto a ramp, which is angled at the same slope as the tilt of the house. The rooms flank the central ramp, creating a stepped condition of rooms. Programmatically there is also a shift, as the “normal” half follows the conventional triple-decker typology and includes residences, while the “weird” half includes art studios and programs with a more open plan. Additionally other elements map the difference of the normal half from the weird half. The stepping of the rooms of the “weird” house is expressed on its underbelly. The shifting of window positions is also shown through strangely extruded windows. |
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