i n a rc h i t e c t u re J a re d Va n l a n d i n g h a m
“Surely the fact that certain early [childhood] memories retain their personal identifiability and emotional force throughout our lives provides convincing proof of the importance and authenticity of these experiences, just as our dreams and daydreams reveal the most real and spontaneous contents of our minds.� Juhani Pallasmaa
contents
intent
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a rc h i t e c t u re illumination
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lac o s t e l o c a l h i s t o r y m u s e u m
transformation
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fragmentation
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perception
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empowerment
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identity
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depiction
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res e a rc h l a b o r a t o r y
rad i o h e a d re c o rd i n g s t u d i o
ca n c e r w e l l n e s s c e n t e r
me r i d a m i l l e r f l a g s h i p f a s h i o n b o u t i q u e
ec h o b o u t i q u e h o t e l
in tent I understand life as a story. I believe that humans comprehend themselves and all other things through narrative. The level to which we have articulated this talent sets us apart from all other life. Building, construction - these are things which had existed long before we were aware of ourselves. It is architecture that is our own, a uniquely human act. Thus architecture is narrative - the narrative that shapes, molds, and mends the human experience. Experiences manifest themselves in many ways, and the architectural narrative is the culmination of these experiences. The architect is a designer of experience.  Great care must be taken in the composition of events in time, those that dictate how people interact and respond to one another and to their built and unbuilt environment. There is but one other element unique to humankind: purpose. For us, purpose is our struggle. I believe in architecture as an answer to that struggle. I intend to explore that which gives us purpose.
a rc h i t e c t u re
illumination
Studio II
A long abandoned stone quarry just a few moments’ walk away from the tiny french village of Lacoste is chosen as site for a local history museum. The museum desires to commemorate the village and the quarry itself. Privately leased but still easily accessible to the public, the quarry embodies quite a unique spirit. Across many of its stone walls can be found graffiti of all kinds. These walls exist as a living record of the quarry’s immediate past, where markings of contemporary making can be found adjacent to those of close to two centuries old. It is apparent that this fractured stone wields creative power - that somehow it is yearning for interpretation, for expression, on its behalf.
30’ - highest point collection of sculpture area of high annual overgrowth concentration of graffiti 0’ - lowest point entrance - 10’
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Lacoste Village
The quarry left untouched provides a special circumstance for its visitor - that of seclusion and thus security. Whereas undoubtedly some of the graffiti found here is offensive, the majority evoke a celebration of free expression. Expression and interpretation are intrinsic to the phenomenon of site. A museum here is a museum for the exhibition of modes of expression and the act of an individual’s interpretation in response to those expressions. The museum visitor is confronted with whether to accept or deny this architectural subjection of the quarry. In reaction the visitor has identified principles of his or her own interpretation of site, and the act of interpretation is forever perpetuated.
humility
acceptance
realization
descent
ascent
ascent realization ac ceptance humility descent
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transformation
Fundamentals I
From the identity of a grid may be created a space. The repitition of this space yields sequence. A beginning and an end, vital to any successful sequence, is then positioned. Further coordination is enabled in the establishment of relation between sequence in plan and sequence in section. The final touch lies in the expression of these relations via exteriority, the elevation. A reversal of thought process, this method of transformation speaks to the fundamentals upon which architecture was born, and the ideal assessment upon which it moves into the future.
Initial Grid
Serial Spaces: Column Systems
Serial Spaces: Wall Systems
Final Grid
Base Plan
Section
fragmentation
Fundamentals II
An architecture of fragmentation defines a recording studio designed for the music group Radiohead, one that dislocates user from site. Just as a fragmentation of light “in red, blue, and green� is utilized to create a representation in videotape, the fragmentation of program is utilized to create a representation and articulation of artistic process in architecture.
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1. Control Room 2. Tracking Room 3. Lounge 4. Waiting Room
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p e rc e p t i o n Studio I
Cancer patients and their care givers are increasingly examining non-western practices to aid in physical and mental recovery. The purpose of a Cancer Wellness Center is to provide this complement to the medicine of western tradition. These non-western practices harness the power of meditation, physical activity, intimate discussion, and most importantly, group interaction, to rebuild a patient’s inner peace destroyed by the illness. The paradoxical nature of these spaces focuses on both the individual and the group concurrently. They are not merely spaces to receive treatment, but rather spaces to feel - and heal.
Group Discussion
Orientation
Field of Approach
Healing
Wellness Center
Intimate Discussion
Music
Intro
Breakdown
Release
Architecture has been called frozen music. A rather abstract thing, music has the ability to produce emotion and insight in people. Contemporary electronic music, notably the genre of trance, propels this ability to an even higher atmosphere. Structured in rhythm, this type of music reveals emotional scale through proximity in time. The topic of non-western methods of healing remains abstract to many Americans. Embodiment in architecture translates this abstraction. Embodiment allows the Cancer Wellness Center to reveal the rationale behind these unfamiliar methods of healing via proximity of the individual’s perspective in various scales of space - revealing an idea of holistic therapy.
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3 5
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7 5 3 5 6
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5 5 3
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1
Introduction
Breakdown
Release
Perception
Perception
Perception
1. Field of Approach
4. Main Stair
6. Main Stair
Practice
Practice
Practice
3. Intimate Discussion
5. Healing
7. Group Discussion
2. Orientation
empowerment
Studio III
The works of fashion designer Merida Miller are derived from inspirational silhouettes that are warped, skewed, fragmented, emphasized, and finally structured through the application and combination of dynamically proportioned parts and pieces. For her Exo-Cell shoe line the prevailing concept became one of exterior structure. Inspired by the study of Prokaryotic and Eukaryotic cells, the line employs rigid translucent plastic as a structural frame to support an organelle texture beneath. A flagship store for the designer becomes a machine in which proper consciousness is provided for the distribution of these cells.
changing room
testing zone
Merida’s designs are geared toward the individual who takes an active role in life - the conscious consumer. Varying degrees of consciousness are channeled through the architecture of the boutique, the highest of which presents the user with uninhibited engagement with merchandise.
Level 1
Level 2
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To convey an honest need for merchandise, the environment of the boutique focuses upon physical testing and tactile understanding of the product. The testing zone acts as the store’s center, and two sets of changing rooms work as highly active nodes. Merchandise is displayed in a fully accessible manner to the audience by allowing shoppers to choose their manner of perception.
Roof Garden
Design Studio
Administration
Level 2
Street Level
Level 1
South to North Section
Northern Elevation
a matrix of mo
ti on endlessl y reinterpreted through layering to provide new perspectives on the act at hand
identity
Studio IV
In urban Los Angeles, individualism reigns supreme - in tourism the same could be said. A disconnect occurs in both between scale and activity, segregating interaction into priveleged niches. As an urban intervention, the Echo hotel of Santa Monica praises Los Angeles’s individualism while encouraging communal interaction. The tourist intermingles with the local, along with other guests, creating an opportunity for conversation that strengthens their understanding of Los Angeles and their place within it. The success of Santa Monica as a unique entity of greater Los Angeles lies in its attention to scale, density, diversity, and materialality, all in relation to activity.
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The shopping disctrict known as the 3rd Street Promenade, located just a block away from the site of the Echo hotel, is a culmination of this success allowing visitors and locals alike to experience a lively dialogue with the architectural surroundings. A similar dialogue, though one of a non architectural nature, occurs within the beach culture fostered by the city’s proximity to the pacific ocean. A climate rich in sun and comfortable temperatures year-round ensure a desire for outside activity within this unique urban context. The site for the Echo hotel presents a prime opportunity to bridge the gap between inside and outside environments motivating further activity in dowtown Santa Monica.
Collectively the rooms signify a constant sense of the individual in relation to the community. Shared bathroom facilities and areas of gathering are given primary view access to the world outside to support this sense. Complementary group activities are located at ground level creating a comprehensive center of activity within the courtyard.
Upper Floors
Contemplation/Sleep Bathing Gathering
Street Level
Lobby Bar N
Cafe Retail
The hotel room acts as identifier of the individual’s place among the whole. View planes are focused primarily at the courtyard, center of hotel activity, and secondarily at green walls. A handful of rooms have view access to the city outside, but the majority remained focused inward - the room frames the act of contemplation and of sleep.
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depiction
King Tut Still Life
Pencil, 8.5” x 8.5”
Pen and Marker, Actual Size
Traveling sketchbook, Barcelona and Paris
Traveling sketchbook, Lyon and Marseilles
Pen and Marker, Actual Size
Dry Pastel, 30” x 30”
Impressionist Master Copy
Thank you, t o m y f a m i l y f o r f o re v e r s u p p o r t i n g m e , t o P ro f e s s o r B ro o k s f o r o p e n i n g m y m i nd, t o P ro f e s s o r M o n t g o m e r y f o r b e l i e v i n g in me, a n d t o P ro f e s s o r Wy n n e , f o r b r i n g i n g me back to reality.