My name is Sarah Carpenter and I am a fourth-year student of architecture studying at Wentworth Institute of Technology in Boston, MA. This portfolio is a collection of my student projects ranging from conceptual projects to precedent studies. The selection conveys my passion for architecture with attention to the effects on the individual and community.
During my recent studies at Wentworth Institute of Technology, I researched the prevalence of trauma and its influence on how people experience spaces. This quickly became a passion for how architecture can incorporate trauma-informed design principles.
I am continuously drawn to the effect of architecture on human behavior and the mental and physical well-being of the subject.
I am determined to advance my knowledge within this field and to encourage intentional design for the emotional and sensory needs of the occupants. This is how I plan on creating a lasting impact that will point the future of architecture toward inclusive and positive environments.
Architecture is more than just the knowledge of a building but an opportunity to impact and connect the individual, society, and environment through space and structure.
I am confident that I will make an impact by designing inclusive spaces and experiences that empower individuals, break down barriers, and cultivate healing through universal and trauma-informed design principles.
01
Growing Within Fragments
Affordable Living for Domestic Violence
Survivors and Artists
02
Dwelling Under the Sky
Helsinki Architecture and Design Museum
03
Integrating the Community
O’Bryant High School - Adaptive and Urban Intervention
04
Tectonic Frequencies
Cogan Center for Music
05
06
Purpose and Community
A Wooden Boat Building School
Visual & Process Studies
Discursive Images and Process Studies
Growing Within Fragments
Affordable Living for Domestic Violence Survivors and Artists
Fall 2023 | Professor Piermarini
PROJECT STATEMENT
The area of Dorchester, MA is a vibrant community in need of some assistance. Through deep community research, I discovered two concerning trends: a lack of resources for domestic violence survivors and the displacement of artists due to rising rents in the greater area of Boston. Inspired by these important challenges,
I envisioned a unique affordable housing community where survivors of domestic violence can linger and grow alongside artists, supported by art therapy, community interaction, and mental health resources.
My mission was to foster a place where creative production and art orientation act as a healing process for both artists and victims of domestic violence.
An open studio space where artists of any medium can gather to collaborate and share their process. They are also able to share their art exploration as a healing process for domestic abuse victims who can benefit from a physical medium of therapy. The building provides an atmosphere safety, growth, therapy, and collaboration.
Section Perspective - Experiencing Art Through Wayfinding | RHINO, Adobe Photoshop
Wayfinding
- Stimulation and interaction
- Navigation stimulates and repairs the hippocampus (part of the brain) which was damaged by trauma exposure
- Increased movement results in coincidental interactions
- Reinforces routines to grow towards reestablishing life activities
Neutral but contrasting colored floors and furniture as a visual cue to spatial change
Garden space provide residents with access to biophilia comfort and acts as an extra filter from sound and sight. This provides a way to be outside without feeling exposed
Sliding panels provide ability for the user to define their own environment and level of privacy in an operable environment Planter boxes extend below to provide sun
Vertical boards provide sun shading and facade cohesiveness
Dwelling Under the Sky
Helsinki Architecture and Design Museum
2024 | Prof. Trumbour
PROJECT STATEMENT
By emphasizing thresholds through layers of an ecosystem, the new home for the Helsinki Architecture and Design Museum begins to follow the organizational patterns of a canopy: a place of both refuge and opportunity while evoking natural systems.
The most important organizational strategy we implemented was mapping the surrounding site lines to connect to the context reflected in the interior and exterior layout. The facade is pulled apart using nearby roof angles and is organized to create visual connections to the context determined by the program.
By pulling apart the layers of the building, the spatial experience changes to one that can be focused on the human scale. Arcades, skylights, and sun-shading designs create thresholds that soften the changes of sky, land, and sea.
I had the opportunity to collaborate with my classmate, Megan Leger, on this project. All of the following work was produced by me unless noted otherwise.
Summer
Gridlines Reflected on Site
In order to create a more cohesive integration with the surrounding context, planes and edges were taken from buildings and ground conditions and mapped on the site.
Planes and Edges Extruded Extended to Site
Public Pedestrian Infrastructure
Supporting the community through expanded green-space | RHINO, Adobe Photoshop, Adobe Illustrator
Landscape Strategies
In order to incorporate our massing with the landscaping, we identified street views and pedestrian walkways that would need to be maintained while integrating primary gathering nodes.
Mapping Street Views and Pedestrian Walkways
Connect to Quay and direct views towards bay
Skylights follow site lines while allowing for interior daylighting Gathering Nodes
Seaside space allow for harvesting wind energy
Clear Entry Condition
Promote accessibility and recreational areas
Respond to site organizational lines to reflect the context
Landscape Organizational Objectives
Landscape acts as filter from noise and poor air quality
Perspective 04 - Learning and Discovery Space | RHINO, Adobe Photoshop
Perspective 02 - Seaside Landscape | RHINO, Adobe Photoshop, ClimateStudio (shadows) Gaps in the facade system highlights views of the bay while creating a sheltered feeling
Full Coverage Panel System
Arcade
Arcade Elevations made using RHINO, Adobe Photoshop, Adobe Illustrator
Section Perspective on Public Pathway
Third Floor Plan
Second Floor Plan Foundation Plan | RHINO, Adobe Photoshop
Section Model - 1/2” = 1’-0” | Collaborated with Megan Leger
Made using RHINO, Laser cutter, Hand-modeling tools
Reorienting the Approach
O’Bryant High School - Adaptive Intervention & Urbanism Project
Fall 2024 | Professors Carol Burns & Mark Pasnik
PROJECT STATEMENT
The O’Bryant High School, located in Roxbury, MA, is in need of an intervention. The studio class was invited to interview students and staff to prioritize important features and necessary updates.
It was found that the eastern side of the site was underutilized and isolated the building from the community. The intervention provides classrooms for 500 more students, two new entries, a cafeteria, student resources, community hall, student library, community plaza, and student plaza.
The public plaza gestures towards nearby Nubian Square, provides a community plaza, a safe drop-off zone, and invites the community to interact.
The brutalist facade, designed by Marcel Breuer in 1970, remains as an important experience. An analysis of the existing facade was conducted and a design was created to be restrained but formally assertive.
I had the opportunity to collaborate with my classmate, Megan Leger, on this project. All of the following work was produced by me unless noted otherwise.
View of Community Plaza Section Model | RHINO, Adobe Photoshop
Improving Student and Community Resources
After conducting site visits, doing community research, and communicating with students, an opportunity was found to create additions off the eastern side of the existing building. This portion of the site was underutilized and isolated the school from the vibrant community of Nubian Square.
Restoring Historical Street
Connecting Nubian Square to Entries
Landscape Strategies - Spatial Conditions
After talking to students, they expressed the need for outdoor gathering spaces where they could socialize before and after school. There was also a need for community gathering spaces that could be utilized when not being used by the school.
There was a discussion about the relationship of prospect & performance were students could hold outside events while still providing places of refuge and curiosity where students can feel safe to have private conversations while supporting a sense of discovery.
Prospect & Performance
- Elevated views of opportunity, a place to observe
- A place to express and share activities
- Stimulation and interaction
Refuge & Curiosity
- Sheltered and secure while maintaining sight lines
- Sparking wayfinding through unique spatial conditions
- Movement results in coincidental interactions
View of Landscape Pod on Plaza | RHINO, Adobe Photoshop
View of Nighttime Activity on Plaza - Performance | RHINO, Adobe Photoshop
View of Student Plaza - Refuge, Performance | RHINO, Adobe Photoshop
View of Approach from Nubian Square | RHINO, Adobe Photoshop
East Elevation of Student Resource Intervention and Community Hall | RHINO, Adobe Photoshop, Adobe Illustrator
Vertical Proportion
Horizontal Organizational Lines
South Elevation of Student Intervention and Existing | RHINO, Adobe Photoshop, Adobe Illustrator
Tectonic
Frequencies
Cogan Performance Center
Spring 2023 | Professor Ellis
PROJECT STATEMENT
Inspired by Robert Cogan’s music, the design began by translating a piece of his music into a physical interpretation that reinstated a dynamic relationship between two frequencies of sound.
Additionally, inspired by Juha Leiviskas’s approach to music and architecture, my design captures tectonic frequencies and displacement between rhythms. Through modulation and using spatial depth, the building creates space to allow the exterior landscape to interact with the facade and interior.
The performance space is designed to be adaptable for both traditional and nontraditional performances, allowing for casual community gatherings to occur at the same time as productions.
The space imitates a wooden music box that can be opened by using the pivoting doors and windows to control the acoustics depending on the performance. Overall, the Cogan Center was an exciting project and I enjoyed discovering the similarities between music and architecture.
Adaptable Performance and Spectator Space | RHINO, Adobe Photoshop
South Section | RHINO, Adobe Photoshop
Interior Perspective - Performance Hall | RHINO, Adobe Photoshop
Students were encouraged to discover the relationships between purpose and community while engaging in the intricate craftsmanship of boat building. The use of structure systems becoming a dynamic relationship with other systems was encouraged.
After creating a site analysis and several study models I began my journey toward discovering a relationship between the movement of the sea and the rhythm and control of the boat-building process.
The building is broken into segments that provide an exterior procession towards the ocean. The sawtooth hyperbolic paraboloid roof creates motion in both horizontal and vertical planes that reverse every roof plane.
The sawtooth roof provides seaside sunshine while directing the interior perspective to be toward the ocean. Part of the second floor is removed to allow for contact between floors and allow sunlight to access the first floor.
Fall 2022 | Professor Ben Hait
Wooden Cladding
Structure and Envelope | RHINO, Adobe Photoshop
Interior Perspective | RHINO, Adobe Photoshop
North Elevation | RHINO, Adobe Photoshop
Visual & Process Studies
Discursive Images and Conceptual Design
Summer 2024 - Fall 2024
PROJECT STATEMENT
These projects were used to capture the concept of a project through visually stimulating graphics. The use of color, shadows, and people were intentionally placed to convey the message that the designer intended.
Some are used to convey emotions while others promote tectonic relationships. Often these images established concepts that were used throughout the project.
- Gathering Under the Sky
O’Bryant School Transect Study- Beneath the Surface Soil Study | Fall 2024 | RHINO, Adobe Photoshop, Adobe Illustrator
Existing Intervention Experience
Metropolitan Storage Warehouse - The Influence of Industrialization
Thank you for taking the time to review my design work. It is my hope that you enjoyed this compilation of my academic work while studying at Wentworth Institute of Technology. I am constantly learning and am happy to share with you what I have discovered.
carpenters1@wit.edu
www.linkedin.com/in/ sarah-carpenter3301
sarahcarpenter_design
Please do not hesitate to reach out to me with any questions. I am happy to discuss anything of interest. Happy discovering!
Sarah Carpenter, Fourth-year at Wentworth Institute of Technology
