Tyler DavisARCH 213 Architecture Design Studio - Fall 2015

Roger Williams University, School of ArchitectureLeonard yui, Greg Laramie, Andrea Adams, Mauricio Barreto, Ginette Castro, Noel Clarke

Connection of Person, Site & Design

Table of Contents 1 Conclusion

2 Assignment 1 - Digging & Mounding

4 Assignment 2 - Artful Intervention

6 Assignment 3 - Documenting Opportunities

8 Assignment 4 - Vertical Planes

10 Assignment 5 - Overhead Elements / Artist’s Studio

Overall, this studio created a strong understanding to the connection between site location, purpose/reason, and connections between both individual and group de-signs. Initially after first year studio, I saw myself focus-ing on solely the parti of the building while having paid very little attention to the site, site context and con-nections between different spaces. I came into many of these assignments unsure of how to start which showed me that I had a lot to learn regarding the specific issues that were focused on in this studio. Since the beginning of the semester, I feel as though I have excelled in my understanding between building and land. A building is not something that just gets placed on top of the exist-ing ground, however, manipulating or working with the existing conditions in a particular way may create a deep-er meaning, or connection to the initial parti that I have stated.

I feel as though my designs focused a lot on becoming one with the landscape, acting as either an extension of the existing context, or as a construct on it. I thought this idea of extending vs. constructing with the site con-text was very important within my works, and that in my final study I had successfully created spaces that spoke to both these topics. I feel as though my projects have created places of exploration, or understanding to the environment that exists around them, and that this ap-proach was inspired by having a permanent site that I was able to explore in a deeper way than I had been taught prior to this studio experience. I learned that there are so many advantages to site locations and their individual characteristics.

Knowing fully how important the incorporation of the site was in these projects, while still combining my ideas to create habitable spaces that people could and enjoy and understand, was very difficult for me to initially bring together at the start of each assignment. Although making the process more difficult for me in the beginning, I found the freedom of design in each assignment to be the most rewarding factor in the end. It allowed me to work on my deeper understandings into my designs, while allowing me to teach myself about the good things and bad things were done in each assignment. As a whole, I have learned to incorporate the needs of the people into the overall design of a space whether it be through the interior design elements, or through the exterior design and connections with the existing, or altered site.

Conclusion

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D i g g i n g & M o u n d i n g

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The word “connection” played a large role in the design-ing of this project. The question of how could I take two separate processes of digging vs. mounding and bring them together at separate time throughout the project was al-ways a factor throughout the design. I found the forms of water within the environment very interesting and used this as the parti of my design. The terraced, waterfall look allows for special connections throughout the entire de-sign. At no one time is there a singular space, as all of the spaces connect to the separate ends at the top or bottom of the block. In relationship to the site, I learned how dig-ging into a site and mounding on top of a site can combine to create strong connections between site ad designs.

A r t f u l I n t e r v e t i o n

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Attention to the specifics of the selected site at Colt State Park began to allow an in depth understanding of some of the details that the grassland, wetland, and woodland sites had to offer. Focusing solely on the grasslands, I observed that views seemed to be the most inspirational element to the exist-ing site. I looked to design a gathering space that dramatically emphasized these views by creating a journey through the existing site context. A pathway through the brush that suddenly leads to a break in the surrounding tree line, created a place allowing someone to reconnect with the views after walking through dense grasses and tree line. Using site elements to create a design created a strong experience for the design.

D o c u m e n t i n g O p p o r t u n i t i e s

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In this site analysis, we were to explore the site more in depth regarding a specific subject and create an under-stating of what opportunities were available on the grass-lands, wetlands, and woodlands. Studying foci, focal ele-ments, on the existing site allowed me to understand that there are both places of opportunity to build on a site along with places they are not buildable on the site. These drawings are used to show people where these buildable spots are located in each specific site. This was an interest-ing approach at understanding the existing site, teaching me how to focus more on my design connecting with, or re-flecting back to the landscape.

Vertical

Planes

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Although not fully related to the sites at Colt State Park, the design-ing of a facade that was more than just an outer shell was a very intri-cate and difficult process. Wanting to bring my design to connect with the natural elements that the site had to offer as a whole, I wanted to create a green design that connected the facade to the ground plane. I achieved this by wrapping greenery up the facade string from both the top and bottom to make it seem as though these elements were growing out of the existing landscape. While influence by a green design, the site context was also very important in the design, as the facades were created to reflect specific features of light and views, public or pri-vate. I wanted to create a design that reflected a journey or greater experience to what the site had to offer, much like the idea in “Artful Intervention.”

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SHELTERING: AN ARTISTS’ COLONYDANCER & WRITERSITE - GRASSLANDASSIGNMENT 05 - DESIGN STUDIO III TYLER DAVIS - FALL 15’

SECTION 1 - DANCER’S STUDIO SCALE: 1/8”=1’-0”

SOUTH ELEVATION - DANCER’S STUDIO SCALE: 1/8”=1’-0”

NORTH ELEVATION - DANCER’S STUDIO SCALE: 1/8”=1’-0”

SECTION 2 - WRITER’S STUDIO (PUBLIC) SCALE: 1/8”=1’-0”

SECTION 3 - WRITER’S STUDIO (PRIVATE) SCALE: 1/8”=1’-0”

SITE PLAN SCALE: 1/64”=1’-0”

FLOOR PLANS SCALE: 1/8”=1’-0”

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This final project was important in bringing the knowledge gained from each previous project together to create a de-sign that brought the people, site, and design together as one. Through nestling the design within the existing site context of the grasslands, I had created a journey through the woods that felt as though one was floating through the trees. By us-ing subtle digging and mounding techniques, I was able to cre-ate a strong connection and division between public and pri-vate in relation to the site. The overall location had been one of study from “Documenting Opportunities,” while the facade and roof material connect with the inspiring views and strong nature feel that the site had to offer. The studios, designed for a dancer and a writer, create experiences that connect them to the site while providing elements in the design that as-pire to create inspiration from the beautiful site details. The intricate design expressed creates a subtle, yet strong under-stand in the connection of person, site, and design.