Thesis: Re-Imaging the Deconstructed City

LANGLEY PIERPONT

Re-Imaging the Deconstructed City Work Samples taken from honors thesis project Spring 2020

SOURCES OF INSPIRATION Tschumi’s Parc de la Villette Ledoux’s Les Barrieres Aldo Van Eyck’s Playground John Hejduk’s Vladivostok Doug Aitken’s Mirage Warren Techentin Architecture - La Cage Aux Folles Sanitas Studio - Khao Mo Fujimoto’s Serpentine Pavilion Alvaro Sizaleca Viera’s Swimming Pools Arkhitekton - Gotha 2 Carmody Groarke’s Elit Proun Bar

Icons of each point inspired by John Hejduk’s Vladivostok

PROJECT BACKGROUND I’ve been working on a project that responds to the conditions of disjunction that I found to exist in Boston. The city is organized in an organic fashion, expanding radially as the population grows with little overall urban planning influences. This created a city composed of neighborhoods that are isolated in large by race, age, income, and culture. This semester I sought to re-examine the severed connections between the neighborhoods in Boston and establish new relationships between areas

that were not originally designed to work in unity. My project implements a series of fifteen architectural moments, designed as a deconstructed residential building across a rectilinear grid to provide a cohesive interpretation of the city. This building is structured analogically using cues throughout architectural history. Throughout the semester I focused on developing five of the fifteen points-- the greenhouse, the boudoir, the caldarium, the loft, and the maashaus.

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THE LOFT [FANEUIL HALL] Loft (lôft) n. the sky; the sphere of the air.

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PRODUCED BY AN AUTODESK STUDENT VERSION

Faneuil Hall is a town hall and marketplace located in The North End that held political relevance to the city during the American Revolution and is still active today as the city’s government center. I placed a loft at this point because the ground plane of Faneuil Hall is already successfully utilized through protests, entertainment related performances, historical tours, and more, and I didn’t want to interfere with any of the current program. Thus, the loft structure would lift off the ground and add to the area in a three-dimensional way--providing a point of observation over the area.

I wanted to create something that brought the people in the structure closer to the sky--both literally and figuratively. The design consists of a single box shape, framed in rebar, that is reiterated, moved, and scaled in size and proportion. The boxes are overlapped onto each other to climb up the side of the building in a way that is reminiscent of a tree trunk growing upwards toward the sky. Most of the boxes are clad in a reflective mirror surface, some are left empty, and some are glass on five sides and mirrored on the bottom to reflect the sky, so that even as you are looking down you are seeing what is above you. A handrail exists to guide people along a path that provides access to the top of the building, similar to standard steps--however the railing is only a suggestion rather than a barrier, and exploration of the entire structure is encouraged. On the roof of the building the boxes are compiled to create areas to sit, relax, eat, and look out over the area. The structure as a whole provides a dimension to Faneuil Hall that allows people to overlook the activities below from a new perspective.

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Bottom right: Top view diagram of distribution of boxes facing Faneuil Hall.

Bottom left: Side view diagram of boxes scaling Quincy Market.

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THE CALDARIUM [CONSTITUTION BEACH] Caldarium (kal-dair-ee-uhm) n. A room originating in Roman bath complexes that housed hot pools sunk into the floor of the room.

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PRODUCED BY AN AUTODESK STUDENT VERSION

Constitution Beach is a man made beach located in East Boston that directly faces the takeoff and landing strips at Logan Airport across the bay. At this point on the grid I placed a caldarium. Placing a room containing a body of water by the beach creates a strange and funny juxtaposition where natural and irregular water of the beach is directly in contrast to the tame, controlled pools. I also placed the pools here because most of the year the water in the Atlantic is too cold to swim in and heated pools provide an opportunity for people to swim at the beach when it would otherwise be underutilized.

I wanted to create something that maximized the offshore views. The base of the design is a rectangular pool sunk partly into the rocks that surround it, positioned so that its longitudinal walls run parallel to the runways of the airport. The ‘back’ walls furthest from the water and the left walls are mirrored surfaces whereas the floor of the pools and the front and right walls are glass. The placement of the mirrors reflects the ocean back out onto itself and the glass allows the reflection to be visible from the outside of the structure, so that if you are standing on the beach you see the untamed water that is behind you as well as the organized pools in front of you. The rectangular pool is reiterated, moving towards the water and following the slope of the sand. The 5 original pools intersect each other to create 15 smaller pools that change in shape and size defined by the outline of the larger pools. As a result of the cladding of the original shape, these pools are all mirrors, some all glass, some random combinations of mirror and glass, and some original back/left mirror walls. The mirrored caldarium highlights the iconic aspect of the planes flying into the city while providing an additional activity for beachgoers.

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Right: Plan view of stepped pools Bottom: Section of pools embedded in landscape

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THE GREENHOUSE [FIELD’S CORNER]

Greenhouse (grēn-hous) n. Keeper, preserver, defender; meaning a place for preserving or carefully keeping anything; in reference to the produce grown within.

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PRODUCED BY AN AUTODESK STUDENT VERSION

Field’s Corner is the commercial center of Dorchester, the largest and most culturally diverse neighborhood in Boston. I chose to place a greenhouse at this point to emphasize the symbolism of growth and protection of the young, which is a critical component of this community.

The structure is made entirely of glass with structural piping because one of the most prominent materials in greenhouses is glass that protects from the elements but allows light in. I created a 10’x10’x10’ glass cube bordered in white structural piping, copied the cube 6 times at different orientations, and compiled them onto each other so that the outer shell was an irregular polygon defined by parts of the cube protruding from their overlapping counterparts. Only the frame of the box sticks into the interior of the space so that it is possible to move between the boxes within the structure. The entire structure rests upon two points, allowing vegetation to grow on the ground under the structure. In this way it is still protected from the elements by the glass canopy above, but it has access to the rain and nutrients of the earth so that it can flourish with minimal supervision. A ladder-like set of steps is used to emphasize the structure’s distance above ground as it brings people inside the structure. The result is a visual anomaly in the bustling area, a personal reflection space hiding in plain sight--a safe room within the house to foster personal reflection and growth.

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Left: Section showing the interior structure.

Right: Roof diagram of composited cubes.

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THE MAASHAUS [JAMAICA POND]

Maashaus (mas-hous) n. German entry hall in Gothic or Renaissance houses; for serving beer or craft; a link to other parts of the house; held a staircase to the first floor and to the basement PRODUCED BY AN AUTODESK STUDENT VERSION

PRODUCED BY AN AUTODESK STUDENT VERSION

Jamaica Pond, located Jamaica Plain, is a part of The Emerald Necklace, a park system designed to wrap around the city by Frederick Law Olmstead. A variety of activities bring people to the park including concerts, boating, fishing, running, and biking.

I chose to place a Maashaus at this location because I wanted to create a physical presence for people visiting the park to come together and socialize in. The maashaus would provide a link between the street, comparable to the utilitarian basement in the analogy, and the private lakeside, the upper residential floors.

The design is centered around the idea of a communal bar that forces seperate groups of people to share an intimate space. I reiterated the shape of a rectangular bar at the site, changing the elevation and scale of the element in order to push the function of each bar. For example in various elevations, the bar takes on the roll of a chair, a stool, or a roof. I identified select bars that would keep the original function of a surface for people to gather around. Throughout the space the height of these bars stays consistent despite the terrain that dips down towards the water. This changes the way each table is accessed--on the street side of the space, the tables are only a little taller than a foot, and people gather on the ground or low surfaces. The height of the tables grows through the dinner table and hightop height until people have to stand against the table at the part of the space nearest the water. Although some of the tables stand alone within the structure, the larger social group is enforced through the communal table height. Thus ,the Maashaus exists to provide strangers with an opportunity to come together and be near one another--to engage in the community of the area.

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Right: Plan diagram of common tables Below: Elevation showing common table height

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THE BOUDOIR [THE ESPLANADE]

Boudoir (bu-dwa-r) n. A room where a lady may retire to be alone or to receive her intimate friends; literally “pouting room,” from bouder “to pout, sulk,”.

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PRODUCED BY AN AUTODESK STUDENT VERSION

The Esplanade is a linear park roughly three miles long that stretches along the Charles River in the Back Bay. Because the park is centered around a running and biking path, it invites a directional movement from one end of the space to the other. I chose to place the boudoir at this location because the space is missing a stopping point. Because the boudoir is focused on being an intimate and private area that a person visits when they want to be alone, I thought it would provide a program that runs perpendicular to the current activities of the park.

The design is centered around a rectangular pipe that is flowed along a warped triangle surface. There are three levels of pipes throughout the shape, each of which is assigned a different function. The smallest and most regular pipes step up to the structure in a bleecher like fashion and follow along the shape of the ground plane, allowing access to the other pipes. Made of a random combination of glass and mirrored surfaces, this level creates an irregular floor broken up by the location of the pipes.

The big white pipes, which are distorted to run parallel to the slopes of the outside curves of the structure, are the seats of the structure. A canvas ‘hammock’ hangs inside of the pipes, just large enough to fit one person. The pipes are arranged in the structure in singles, couples, and trios, so that although they force a radius of personal space, they also suit intimate groups of friends. The middle level of pipes create wire frame railings in order to provide direction of movement around the structure.

The structure sits elevated on the bank overlooking the river, providing a relaxing area to watch the sunset on the river, a setting for quiet conversations with close friends, or a peaceful place for personal reflection.

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Below: Elevation showing seating arrangement