fall 2014 portfolio

Foster Turcottfturcott@gmail.com

www.fosterturcott.com

Problems of representation were addressed beginning with a pro-cess of physical form making using a method of casting plaster into balloons.

These plaster objects were converted into digital forms and methods of orthographic representation were applied to their non orthogonal surfaces.

Sectional representation was investigated using cast forms with cav-ity structures within them.

This precedent study of St. Paul’s Cathedral sought to describe pro-portional relationships with the same parabolic curves that were used to design the interior structural cone of the dome.

The same tools of proportional analysis were applied to the previ-ous sectional model, in an attempt to discover patterns.

An abstract visualization of each proportional analysis was pro-duced to compare the form of St. Paul’s Cathedral and the sectional model.

A site analysis of a proposed row house project in Philadelphia draws on the visual language of adjacent abandoned buildings and vacant lots. These areas are mapped in the vicinity of the site.

Absence and presence serve as the conceptual fuel for the initial stages of design.

The absence of order in the voids created by vacant lots are further explored through this conceptual model and a series of photo mon-tages.

Serial models are produced to explore positive/negative spatial re-lationships that will serve as a primer for the row house design.

Certain formal traits of the previous plaster forms applied to the row house type are explored through diagrams.

The final design of the row house seeks to maintain the mirrored quality of the previous sectional plaster models, where the top half of house is mirrored as an extension into the ground.

Absence and void are incorporated into the design through a large articulated light-well that runs along the party wall into the under-ground half of the house.

This split oblique drawing of the row house shows above and below ground qualities of the design.

A paper massing model was made to show the underground exten-sion as a mirror of the above ground form.

A tectonic detail model was constructed at 1/4” = 1’ scale to describe the possible material and construction of the house.

Exterior site conditions of the proposed design are described through basic digital rendering techniques.