DEVON TOMASELLI SELECTED WORKS • 2017-2019
T h e C u r ve d N o r t h Wa l l A v i e w o f t h e N o r t h W a l l whi c h h ous es m a jority of t h e c o n se r vat o r y’s work a n d em b ra ce s t h e e x po se d con crete s tructure as i t reve al s t h e p a s s in g of tim e
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Project: Architecture & the Passing of Time Studio: VA Tech Master Thesis Type: Community & Cultural Location: Washington, DC Panel: Jim Jones, Elizabeth Grant, Kay Edge Environments are ever changing and ever chaotic. Technological innovation, political reform, social evolution, warfare, the list goes on an on. Our world is the product of this constant change and in this age, its is a constant change that is constantly connected. Yet, simultaneously, humans have never been so disconnected or emotionally distraught. With architecture as the instrument, this body of work aims to discover how architecture could connect humans once more, to themselves, to each other, and to our planet. The passing of time remains continuous and is a basic factor of life on this earth. It is our connector. Daylighting serves as the measurement to observe this passing. The programs of an art conservatory and gallery space will be the opposing platforms to contrast the ways in which time passes for the individual.
In responding our surroundings, what can we reveal about “place?�
In responding to our surroundings, what can we discover?
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“Artificial light in all art galleries render the work placeless...this is because the local light spectrum is never permitted to play across its surface.” -Kenneth
“Fennestration having an innate capacity to inscribe architecture with the character of a region and hence to express the place in which the work is situated.” - Kenneth Frampton
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“The traditional art object in the gallery demands the physically distanced, passive contemplation of the viewer, for whom meaning is anchored to the artist. Placed in a hermetic enclosure and protected against decay from hear, light, and time, the artwork is seen but rarely touched.” Jonathan Hill
“The architecture of MoMA is merely what you bump up against when you back up to see some art” Sylvia Lavin
“The architecture of MoMA is merely what you bump up against when you back up to see some art” Sylvia Lavin
“The architecture of MoMA is merely what you bump up against when you back up to see some art” Sylvia Lavin
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“The architecture of MoMA is merely what you bump up against when you back up to see some art” Sylvia Lavin
“Until recently, the received precepts of modern curation practice favored the exclusive use of artificial light in all art galleries. It has perhaps been insufficiently recognized how the encapsulation tends to reduce the artwork to a commodity, since such an environment must conspire to render the work placeless...this is because the local light spectrum is never permitted to play across its surface: here, then, we see how the loss of aura also arises from a relatively static application of universal technology.” -Kenneth Frampton
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“Architecture isn’t just about creating new buildings, sometimes it’s about returning what is already there.” -John pawson
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P R E C E D E N T S T U D I E S & A N A LYS I S V I S I T S
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G a l l e r y E n t r y Wa l l T h e G a l l e r y ’ s P r i m a r y E n t r y Wa l l is used to host the conservatory’s work and funnel circulation
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C U PPIN G LIGHT
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Look again, how do the differences in the way this wall is cut, change the way light slips through?
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Horizontal Ligh Cup vs Vertical Light Cup How does the shape of the north wall effect the way it collects shade and accept light? Are both straight and curved walls necessary to heighten the quality and contrast of light and dark?
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Ground Floor Gallery Main Entrance Employee Entrance Employee Storage Closet Mechanical Room Elevator N
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Basement Wa t e r C l o s e t 01 Wa t e r C l o s e t 0 2 M e c h a n i c a l R o o m 01 Employee Breakroom Gallery Event Space Mechanical Room 02 Mechanical Room 03 N
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Third Floor Conservator Office Painting Deliver y Room Photography Lab X-Ray Room Painting Corridor Mechanical Room N
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Second Floor Painting Conservator y Painting Deliver y Room Chemical Lab Painting Corridor Terrace Mechanical Room N
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Light Passing through the Northwest Atrium Light, as is relates to time, plays an integral role in experiencing art. A direct and high contrast light can create a layer of added experience to viewing art... one that can only be replicated in the exact same location at the exact same time, in the exact same position, once a year.
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Atrium Axis A view of the conservatory as seen from the gallery atrium
3. ATRIUM AXIS A view of the conservatory as seen from the gallery atrium
2. Northwest Atrium A view of t h e g a ller y a trium w h e re t h e wes tern a p er ture in trod uces a h i g h con tra s t lig h t
3. Conservatory Main Entry A view approaching the c o n s e r va t o r y f ro m t h e We s t
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Project: Colgate Elementary School - Master Plan Studio: Design Collective, Inc. Type: Master Plan Location: Baltimore, MD Team: Brian Reetz and Mike Green
Design Collective, located in Baltimore, MD, is a cross-disciplinary firm that employees just under 70 designers that practice interior design, architecture, urban planning, and landscape architecture. As an architectural intern with a background in environmental design, I was often asked to contribute to the efforts of the in-house landscape team. This master plan was completed for a client presentation. In addition to evolving the CAD plan into a rendered plan, the major DD update included the water retention vegetation. This is depicted to the east of the school and the playground surface to the south. The design team had learned that for Maryland code, the grade of the land was just too steep to control the water run off, an inevitable occurrence during the state’s rainy summers. I assisted in sizing the retention vegetation and obtaining the proper square footages ratios. I also sourced a safe playground material that would help retain water while flooding...it also came in an array of fun colors!
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Project: Glade Springs Downtown Revival - Developer Pitch Studio: Community Design Assistant Center Type: Community Development & Residential Location: Glade Springs, VA Team: Shruti Singh The town of Glade Springs located in Southwest Virginia plans to undergo a downtown revival. It is a former coal mining town, and in order to foster this revival, Glade Springs requires an economic shift. Shruti and I composed visual collages to promote community discussion and idea development to eventually propose to investors and developers. Due to its proximity to the reservoir, Glade Springs is a haven for ecological tourists. The downtown revival aims to foster ecological attraction as a potential economic influx and convert the historic downtown structure to house ecological tourists and the local businesses that are native to the area. EXISTING DOWNTOWN & HISTORIC STRUCTURE
CONVERTED DOWNTOWN & HISTORIC STRUCTURE
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Project: Layered Learning- An Extension to Cowgill Hall Studio: VA Tech Fall 2017 Studio Type: Academic Location: Blacksburg, VA Instructor: Heiner Schnoedt
Learning is a layered process. It is the result of auditory, visual, emotional, communal and many more complicated yet humane experiences. At this moment, Cowgill Hall, VA Tech’s architecture school, separates the various programs and institutions that constitute these humane experiences that make up architectural learning. Education is a form of learning. If you will, it is a path one may take within the world of learning. But, if done well, working toward an education is more of an exploration...one that can extend well into the professional practice. Without a doubt we are becoming more and more savvy with our approach to education as it relates to learning. Curriculums change and new teaching methods are adopted and implemented in an effort to “improve” the learning process. So, why not learning spaces? This work attempts to challenge the way we approach architecture as an education. It aims to spatially address the complex and layered needs of a learning process and create a new language in a “typical” educational institution.
Cowgill Hall Cowgill South Cowgill North
East Elevation
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Challenge the meaning of a librar y. Does is really need to be just a quiet space filled with stacks? Or, can it be a place to harbor a variety of learning scenarios, communal and individual?
Study Pods Mezzanine Library Stacks
Wo o d S h o p
Library Faculty Offices
Ceramics Lab
Metal Shop
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COMPOSITE LIGHTWEIGHT CONCRETE FIRE PROOF STEEL FRAMING G Y P. F I N I S H , PA I N T E D TO MATC H INSUL ATION STRUCTURE BEYOND ROLLER SHADE LIGHT FIXTURE A I R C AV I T Y F O R V E N T I L AT I O N
CHANNEL GLASS EXTERIOR
WOOD FLOOR FINISH FLUSH TO GROUND CONCRETE FLOOR FINISH C U T O U T F O R G L A S S PA N E L
LIGHTWEIGHT CONCRETE STEEL SECTION IN CORNER OF BUILDING FLANGES & WEB INSUL ATED
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Third Floor
Second Floor
Ground Floor
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Project: A New Mixed-Use Building for Downtown Blacksburg Studio: VA Tech Spring 2018 Studio Type: Mixed-Use Location: Blacksburg, VA Instructor: Heiner Schnoedt
eing a part of the facade can be a taxing job. Structural, visual, protective, and oftentimes environmental, a facade can wear many hats. But, what if facade had another obligation not to the building, not to the building’s users, or even the community as a beautification asset. What if the facade had a duty to provide a bit of an education to those around it. It could actively display how the structure works, it could reveal the program and uses inside, and it could even reflect construction advances in the profession. It could provide a human connection to those affected by the building. Perhaps facade could play an even more integral role perceptions of construction and become more sensitive to concentrated areas of development.
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AN ISOL ATED AND VEHICLE-FOCUSED DOWNTOWN WITH A L ACK OF NODES AND S PAT I A L VA R I E T Y
DESIGN A STRUCTURE THAT PROVIDES O P P O RT U N I T Y A N D PAT H S F O R PEDESTRIANS WHILE CONNECTING MAIN DOWNTOWN TO RESIDENTIAL DOWNTOWN
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S TRUCTURE AS FAC ADE,
FAC ADE REVEALING PROGR AM
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L I V E - WO R K A PA RT M E N T S
O N E - B E D RO O M A PA RT M E N T S
COMMUNIT Y BALCONY
T WO - B E D RO O M A PA RT M E N T S
O P E N WO R K S PAC E M E Z Z A N I N E
P R I VAT E O F I C E S PAC E
IKEA
RECEPTION
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STORY STUDY
STORY OFFICE
O U T D O O R S PAC E
SECOND FLOOR
BATHROOM
CLOSET
LIVING AREA
KITCHEN
BEDROOM AREA
FIRST FLOOR
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LIVE-WORK UNIT
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T h a n k Yo u !
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