Deanna Valcour's Architecture Portfolio (2017)

A R C H I T E C T U R E

PORTFOLIO D E A N N A

V A L C O U R

Deanna Valcour Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, Troy, NY Bachelor of Architecture, anticipated Fall 2018 MS in Architectural Sciences (Concentration in Lighting), anticipated Fall 2018

01 THE SINGULARITY IS NEAR[ING]

05 TESSELLATED LANDSCAPES

09 EN[LIGHT]ENMENT

17 NAVIGATING THE NIGHT

19 PASSIVE REDESIGN

20 OTHER WORK

TABLE OF CONTENTS 13 THE LEARNING GROUND

THE SINGULARITY IS NEAR[ING]: PAVILION Concept Design: Spring 2014 critic: Adam Dayem

This project is a proposal for a pavilion in Troy, NY that is set in the future described by futurist Ray Kurzweil. In the future Kurzweil describes in his book “The Singularity is Near,” the world is described as a place where everyone has the ability to morph their surroundings to their liking.

This pavilion is set in a time between modern times and this future era; technology has not quite reached the point described in Kurzweil’s future, but our ability to create artificial reality has developed enough where extremely realistic environments and experiences can be reproduced on command.

The interior of this pavilion is poulated by chambers that allow visitors to experience this technology.

This technology has the potential to become extremely popular because it takes the idea of “escaping reality” to a completely new experiential level. This increased popularity 1

in this type of technology would later contribute to its universal use in Kurzweil’s future.

a this page: a. interior render b. form development opposite: b. exterior render c. grid transformations b

c

d 2

a

3

b

d opposite: a. pavilion section b. pavilion plan this page: c. exploded axon: showing skin and material elements d. generative model e. detail model

c

e

4

TESSELLATED LANDSCAPES: ARTIST RESIDENCY Concept Design: Spring 2014 critic: Lonn Combs

In artist residencies with community elements, there is always a carefully crafted relationship between the artist and the public. In this proposal for an artist’s residency at the OMI sculpture park in Ghent, NY, an emphasis was placed on the direct interaction between residents and the public. The public zone of the park visitors and the private zones of the residents are overlapped; the residential area for the artists is linked to their studios via a gallery for showcasing work to the public. An entrance for the public also leads to a hall which allows for the public to catch glimpses of the studios adjoining the hall.

This residency was derived from a tessellation of the surrounding landscape. Focal points were created from the extreme high and low altitudes of the immediate landscape; from here lines emanating from these points formed the lines of the tessellation.

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a

b

c

d

opposite: a. landscape tessellation b. tessellation model c. skylight logic d. study models

this page: e. site plan

e

6

1b

1c

1a

3

1d

2

4 1e

1a

1f

1e 1b

1g

1h

1f

1c 1g

1h

1d 2

3

1: Studios 2: Public Restroom 3: Cafe/Dining Commons 4: Gallery

1: Resident Bedrooms 2: Resident Commons 3: Loft

Scale: 1/16”=1’-0

Scale: 1/16”=1’-0

a

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b

c

opposite: a. plan: level 1 b. plan: level 2 c. section

this page: d. residency model

d

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EN[LIGHT]ENMENT: STUDENT HOUSING Building Design: Spring 2015

collaborative design with Allison Turner, critic: Zbigniew Oksiuta This is a proposal for student housing on the RPI campus in Troy, NY. In observing the site, which was located on a slope overlooking the city of Troy, it was observed that it is currently a place many students go to enjoy the view. During research it was found that when given a specific avenue for the purpose of enjoying a view, it becomes an intentional, shared activity.

With this knowledge we wanted to create a similar experience of using this view to bring people together in this design.

Furthermore, this intention could be extended to the people of Troy to bring together the residents of Troy to the Rensselaer campus as well. The view is a means to bring people together but in order to really foster interaction and bridge the social gap between Troy and RPI, there is a need to give back to the community.

this page: a. site plan

opposite: b. exterior render: living units c. interior render d. unit development e. observation deck render 1 f. observation deck render 2

a 9

b

c

d

e

f 10

a

b

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c

opposite: a. double floored living unit b. single floor living unit c. unit aggregate d

this page: d. aerial view of site e. site section

e

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THE LEARNING GROUND: MUSEUM Building Design: Fall 2016

collaborative design with Sarah Bertis, critics: Erik Churchill & Bryan Kim This project is a deviation from traditional building program arrangements where discrete program elements are located adjacent to each other. In this project, different program blocks are pulled away from each other and become object-like volumes linked by connective planes. The planes are pulled away from the volumes creating gaps which allow each of the volumes to read as continuous elements vertically through the building.

Two of the five program blocks contain private program and are closed to the public. The other three program blocks are open to the public and are meant to be spaces that foster interaction between the private users of the building and public visitors. In the space that is created by pulling apart these program blocks there is a public science museum whose aim is to educate the public about contemporary scientific research.

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In this project, the building is a space meant to encourage scientific exploration. The earliest discoveries are made through play, and this project strives to rekindle that excitement for learning by creating a vibrant, lively environment.

this page: a. urban plan (Chelsea, NY) b. concept diagram opposite: c. program diagrams d. exterior aerial render e. interior render f. High Line level render a

b

c

e e

d

f 14

D.1

D.2

D.3

D.4

D.5

D.6

Office

D.14

Mech.

Space

Office

Mech.

Space

Server Room

Meeting Room

Office Mech.

Space

Mech.

Space

Loading Dock

Conference Room

Meeting Room

D.13 Storage DN DN

Waiting Room DN

Cafeteria Kitchen DN

Office

DN

UP

UP

DN

Private Lobby

DW

Lab Support

DN

Event Hall

D.12

Private Cafeteria

Library Open Laboratory

Exhibition Design Studio

UP UP

UP

DN

DN

DN

Employee Breakroom DN

DN

Mech.

Closet

Open Laboratory

Closet

Exhibition Storage

Exhibition Hall

Archive

Mech.

Closet

UP

Lecture Room

D.11 D.15

Mech.

Closet

Lab Support

DN

Mech.

Closet

Storage

UP

Research Laboratory

Mech. Space

Lab Support Breakout Space

Box Office

Mech.

Closet

Mech. Space

Lab Support

Office Learning Laboratory

Archivist Office

Lab Support

Classroom Breakout Space

Research Laboratory

Curator Office

D.10

DN

Auditorium Lobby

Box Office Gallery

DN

D.7

DN

Coat Check

Food Prep.

Bookstore

Cafe UP

DW

Stock Room

Blackbox Storage UP

D.8 UP

Back of House

UP UP

Control Room

Blackbox Studio

Auditorium

D.9

b

c

ADMIN

LABORATORY

CLASSROOM

BLACKBOX

ATRIUM

CYPRESS WOOD

TERRACOTTA

COPPER

CONCRETE

ALUMINUM

CHARRED

GLAZED

PATINA

PIGMENTED

POWDER COAT

12”

36”

FINISH

MATERIAL

COLOR

a

DIMENSION

4”

CLASSROOM

3”

72”

48”

72”

72”

24”

48”

OPERATION

RESEARCH LABORATORY

ADMINISTRATIVE

BLACKBOX

PUBLIC

15

d

e

Girts

Rigid Insulation

Wooden Drop Ceiling

Cold form steel framing

Engineered Hardwood Floor

Structural cold form steel studs

g

Charred wood cladding

Glass Mullion Curtain Wall

h

f

opposite: a. first floor plan b. second floor plan c. third floor plan d. use diagram e. facade material matrix

i this page: f. wall section g. transverse section h. facade connection diagram i. volume facade connection diagram 16

NAVIGATING & NEGOTIATING THE NIGHT: PERFORMANCE Performance Design: Spring 2016

collaborative project with the PIP Studio & Bill Seaman, ctritic: Ted Krueger Navigating & Negotiating the Night is an interactive new media performance that was created by the PIP studio, an interdisciplinary studio that works to put on a performance in collaboration with a visiting artist. In this performance, the audience is invited to craft a unique soundscape and environement through their collaboration with other audience members.

During the performance objects are moved across a glass-topped table which contains an infrared camera to read the placement of the objects on the table’s surface.

The movement of these objects manipulated a virtual architectural landscape, which was projected onto screens. This virtual landscape was populated with night-related imagery, and the landscape would change in response to how the objects were moved in relation to each other. Musicians were 17

positioned throughout the space under shrouds and improvised in response to the audience’s movement of objects across the table.

In addition to designing all aspects of the elements included in the performance, the studio also coordinated the production of the performance and advertised for the performance itself. The exhibition opened to the public on May 17th at the Goodman Studio in the Curtis R. Priem Experimental Media and Performing Arts Center.

a

this page: a. performance poster b. audience interacting with table opposite: c. model of performance space d. final performance space e. musician’s shroud f. musician performing under shroud g. audience interacting with table b

c

e

d

f

g 18

PASSIVE SOLAR BUILDING: RPI VISITOR’S CENTER Case Study: Fall 2015

collaborative project with Sarah Bertis, Sarah Farnham, Zachary Pearson and Cody Seipp The Visitor’s Center on the RPI campus was conceived as a demonstration of passive solar design in a commercial building.

Currently, it has been converted into the RPI campus’s Public Safety building and has since not been performing to meet the current user’s needs. The mission of this semester-long research project was to identify how the building was not performing by collecting data using instruments and through observation and to design solutions for raising the building’s performance.

These findings were published in a paper titled Restorative Passive Solar Redesign in Upstate New York and was accepted to the PLEA 2016 conference.

Immediate Solutions

Thermostat control

Fix broken windows - potentially replace with operable windows

a Reopen the stack vent

Reorganize space - more open

Movable insulation/shading - prevent nighttime heat loss and reduce solar gain

c

b

ST.

ST.

ST.

MECH.

this page: a. heat map section: current b. heat map section: solution c. proposed immediate solutions d. building plan e. thermal photography 19

d

e

OTHER WORK

d

b

this page: a. portrait, mixed media b. self portrait, graphite pencil c. dot value, felt tip pen d. batik e. building rendering, colored pencil

a

c

e

Deanna Valcour

Rensselaer Poly technic Institute 4 th Year Architecture Student deanna.valcour@gmail.com 508.244.8037