Thomas Keller

taught by design thesis 2020 thomas keller advisor: don jones

the cliffs reservior drive, fairmount park philadelphia, pa

the cliffs is located at the beginning of fairmount park off of 33rd street within the strawberry mansion neighborhood. the site is weaved closely in with popular community componets: smith playhouse, discovery center, sedgely woods disc golf course, strawberry mansion driving range, and athletic fields. placed in a meadow embedded within the woods the cliffs overlook nearby kelly drive and schuylkill river trail. this meadow features the ruins of an 18th century georgian country home. built in 1753 by wealthy merchant joshua fisher, the country house operated as a vacation home for his family for generations. the house eventually shuttered in the 1960s, having burned down later in the 1980s. what remains is a shell of stone and masonry thats taken on a second life for nature -both environmental and human.

I want to create a high school where the building helps teach key moments of design.

How detail and abstration can be used across architecture to give lessons in compostion. something where you notice different elements each time you visit. I want it to employ the latest standards in educational design, to create a learning space filled with nature and light -fit for collaboration and development of ones own voice

program

21st century classroom mockups

school primary program a) learning labs - 780sf (13) b) activity rooms - 600sf (6) c) collaboration spaces - varying sizes d) studio workspace - 2000sf (1) e) exterior class space - 1500sf (4) f) laboratories - 1200sf (3) total size - 55,700sf

community center primary program

green fisher house

a) cafeteria - 3500sf b) kitchen/mech - 2000sf c) arts center - 2000sf d) lounges - 500sf e) gymnatorium- 6000sf

a) fisher house - 700sf b) greenhouse - 1200sf c) test garden- 700sf d) canvas space - 700sf

total size - 24,200sf

total size - 3,300

(0)

(1)

(2)

(3)

(4)

(5)

site framework site design in the abstract

following bauhaus-era visual training methods, the diagram will employ simple geometric moves to explain the larger concept of the site. this is all in effort to use as a key and learning tool for the school’s design. the site diagram abstracted from this process will act as the overall parti for the design.

(0) is the site plan as it currently exists today.

(1) takes the corners of fisher house and pulls them across the site as guidelines.

(2) takes the footprint of fisher house and drags aross to frame and circulate.

(3) adds two buffer zones to help preserve the meadow, 300’ diameter rings.

(4) adds guidelines based on these buffer tangents and perpendicular sides.

(5) has the total framework.

(6) is the final abstracted composition.

(6)

(0)

(1)

(2)

(3)

(4)

(5)

mass framework building a massing from a site abstraction

now with the site abstraction, the building will rise from the gap spaces (yellow) of the site. the masses will start as solid blocks, each to be sculpted from additional framework later on.

(0) is the site abstraction in axon (1) adds the primary classroom branch - 3 levels w/ academic program with admininstration spaces (2) adds the secondary classroom branch - 2 levels w/ additional classrooms and lab spaces (3) adds the studio - 1 level w/ large project workspace (4) adds the community block - 2 levels w/ cafeteria, arts center, and gymnatorium (5) adds the observation tower - small class and deck space

perry world house - 1100 architects 2016 apparent use of contextual abstraction

lake wilderness elementary - tcf architecture 2017 use of motif (gable roof icon) across design - in varying scales and functions

nebraska center for professional studies - BVH 2019 central atrium space planning and activity

case studies

key concepts from relevant projects how to employ these elements across a design

scuola colognola ai colli - claudio lucchi & architetti 2020 building meeting landscape to form walkable roof surfaces

this equals that - jason fuford & tamara shopsin 2014 comparing two photos, alike in the abstract, for the audience to discover what elements are similar

visual training - walter peterhans / bauhaus 1930s using minimal geometry and stroke to create powerful compositions of proportions -unlocked through training of the eye

inuences

key ideas from relevant materials how to translate these concepts into architecture

ďŹ sher house contextual composition

rowhome contextual composition

process key sketches and studies carried through the course of the project

initial studies of using structure & motif for hierarchy across the school

framework massing options

development of the tower, ďŹ sher house as a green house and canvas

classroom corridor section

intial massing axon school longintudinal

classroom section

intial entry and framing

design review key drawings from the january 18th 2020 critique school - gym section

meadow 01 - schoolyard featuring a farming space, amphitheatre, water elements, and yard

landscape site plan initial study into the programming of the two separate meadows

landscape roof componet initial studies into how the building can meet the meadow

meadow 02 - ďŹ sher house largely overgrown/wild, weaving paths, arts center and sculpture yard

atrium

feedback

key points from the january 18th 2020 critique a) reformatting of the entrance into the school b) location of cafeteria c) combining the previously detached tower into the gym d) using elevation design to breakup mass blocks e) deprogramming some of the landscape -not as busy f) don’t completely whitewash ďŹ sher house

updated site axon

updated schoolyard axon

initial name of the school

updated ďŹ rst oor plan

tech review

key points from the march 16th 2020 critique

ĥěËŃɂŁËĠíě džDŽǰDŽDŽDŽɂ 7 7 ƲËçŨĒƂóǚŨóËçďĒİĉǚŨĹĹĨ

masonry overhang detail

åŏĊŨíɂ8ŃííĠɂzĥĥāā DžljǰDŽDŽDŽɂ 7 7 ƲËçŨĒƂóǚŨóËçďĒİĉǚŨĹĹĨ

north elevation

8íĥŏíŃğËě

west elevation

NJDŽDŽǦɂěĥĥŁ ƲËçŨĒƂóǚŨóËçďĒİĉǚŨĹĹĨ

entry perspective graphic

feedback

key points from the march 16th 2020 critique a) tower too massive b) programming of atrium space c) develop bridge connector piece d) develop classroom spaces e) further develop design language initial tower plan

SCHOOL - 29,080sf GYM/CENTER - 12,090sf 40,180sf FOOTPRINT TOTAL

site plan

site access

updated school logo

final review final drawings from the may 30th 2020 critique

site service

first floor site context axon

second floor

atrium section perspective

third floor

school-bridge-gym section

cafeteria-arts plan

gym plan

gym-cafeteria section

observation tower plan/elevation/axon

learning lab axon

collaboration corridor section perspective learning lab module axon

school longitudinal section

learning lab module plan

material “rules� across elevations

east elevation

site axon

west elevation

schoolyard

section through yard

section through amphitheatre

section through meadow path

fisher house meadow

fisher house sculpture yard & detail

fisher house elevations & plan

jury dan brown mark brodsky marie ruisard steve ziegler simon tickell

positive feedback from jury

negative feedback from jury

a) the tower is cool and weird b) thoughtful articulation for the facade materials c) blending of landscape and material d) thoughtful learning spaces and functions e) happy medium of preservation & reuse for fisher house

a) the tower is awkward and weird b) successfulness of “arbitrary” framework c) successfulness of “learning by design” d) choice of rendering materials

response I anticipated most of these comments from the jury. Theres always a few missing diagrams and drawings to fully convey the concepts in the project. The goal of the project was the provide abstract detail across scales and mediums to allow students and citizens to discover -to then begin to develop an eye for design/composition. I never really dove into what most of those connections and details were in my presentation, though they’re definitely within the project. A part of me almost felt that revealing the “answer key” to the building’s game would’ve ruined it.

Of course that sounds lame, and it sounds like I’m lying. But alas, “If only I had more time” reflection I wanted to create a project that fully captured the skills and passions I developed over these past 6 years at drexel. I wanted to make something that could help teach others about design. I wanted to make something that was weird and rough around the edges. I wanted to make something that a piece of myself could be clearly seen in it. I wanted something that would be the first step forward into who I’m going to be as a professional designer. in the end, I wanted something that was me, and I couldn’t be happier with the result.

feedback

key points from the may 30th 2020 critique