Robert Morgan
Portfolio
BELOW THE SURFACE
Spring 09 The Thesis Project
TRIBECA FILM FESTIVAL
Fall 09 Comprehensive
SALA CONERTI
Spring 08 Pre Pre-Comprehensive
BROOKLYN HOUSING
Fall 06 Studio III
CLOVER ST. SCHOOL
Spring 07 Studio IV Stu
STOPPAGE
Spring 06 Studio II Stu
AARNIO’S RETREAT
Fall 05 Studio I
HIGHLINE GALLERY
Fall 0Studio 5 I
FORM GENERATION
Fall 05 Elective
BELOW THE SURFACE
1 Machines and architecture are concealed inside a packaging that hides the mechanism and tectonics that should fashion them. The proposal seeks an architecture that is readily open to interrogation, ďŹ ddling, and having the mechanism typically hidden be exposed. An intrusion that calls for the removal of the surface to reveal the complexity of what's behind it. Space - an electronics peripheral workshop. Dynamic in that it's dismantling reveals the guts and the inter-working misaligned elements of the architecture. Elevating the program somewhere above the ground plane to carry on the obsession, desolate, taking place above the stratum where repetitive rituals of daily life take place. A desire for control, not pure functionality, implicates the occupant with its use. A mechanism with the occupant being the operator. An operable machine that turns the typically stationary into mobile space. Architecture is the rearrangement and reassembly of the materials of the world; placing the will of the occupant and his body in direct contact with the operational aspects of the architecture. The outer structure a descriptive index of alignment and symmetry, rational and hyperefďŹ cient- the engineer's handicap. The inside shell, a dynamically stiff space, highlights the contrast between the architect's intuitive design process and the engineer's obsession with efďŹ ciency and alignment.
WORKSHOP WORKSHO Open Field The occupant/client is an electrical engineer by trait, focusing on controls systems. One who is obsessed with alignment and control. Intent can be coded into the computer but for an obsession with control and alignment the occupant must be a part of the machine where his input along with the collection of subassemblies in this contrivance dictates the space. The manipulation is directed through controllers which manipulate the inputs to a system to obtain the desired effect on the output of the system. Control Engineering focuses on the modeling of a diverse range of dynamitic systems and the design of controllers that will cause these systems to behave in the desired manner. These devices manipulate, manage, and command the behavior of other devices and systems. Treating building as a verb, movement is a means by which the architecture can be manipulated and configured giving the inhabitant the ultimate level of control over the space and flexibility so that the inhabitants will be enforced over the author's creation. Criteria to be considered: operable, inoperable, manipulation, control, input, output, assemblies, subassemblies, building (verb), standardization (of lighting, structure, etc.), texture, color, lighting, exposure, concealing, patter, materiality, alignment, misalignment, stationary, modular, continuous, edge/corner condition, fragments, realignment, connections, programmed, automation, direct manipulation, natural, artificial, fixity, mobility, dynamic, static, kinetic, imaginary, artificial, permanent, temporary, joints, packaging, unique, repetitive, reusable, rhythm.
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TRIBECA FILM FESTIVAL
7 Eisenstein wrote that the thoughts and emotions of spectators can be directly controlled through the rhythmic patterns of film form. The vertical dimension of film is the blending of image and sound. The horizontal dimension of film is the spatial organization of actors, objects, and settings in front of a camera and in-frame. Its formal aspect, the montage, is the linkage of shots and sequences shown in rapid succession. To achieve the strong rhythmic pattern, Eisenstein used clearly defined individual shots. Eisenstein argued that the key to a successful montage is linkage, arguing that separate strips of film were building blocks that, when arranged in a series, could expand upon an idea.
THEATRE THEATR HEAT HEATR R Tribec c ca New York k, NY
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SALA CONCERTI
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The proposal for the Concert Hall dedicated to Antonio Vivaldi attempts to reinterpret the pathways, narrow streets, and alleys of Venice so as to use circulation to choreograph movement through the site. The pedestrian thoroughfares are used to link the program pieces together and mediate between public circulation and private program. Typical of Venetian architecture, servant spaces are located on the ground level and served spaces are placed above. The programmatic functions are translated to linear members to maximize the surface of contact with the outside in order to engage the Grand Canal and Fondamenta. The extroverted spaces are placed along the edges of the site to internalize the open space and wrap around the main function, the concert hall. The green screen walls delimit the site’s east and west boarders to separate the public and private worlds, with the concert hall being the core.
VIVALDI CONCERT ONCERT HA HALL Venice, Italy
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Sala Concerti
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Sala Concerti
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BROOKLYN HOUSING PROJECT
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At the macro scale, densification becomes a way toward a more enlightened use of limited resources. Regarding housing, increased density is achieved through the introduction of new housing into existing infrastructure contexts. Since taxpayers typically pay for the expansion of infrastructure systems, housing built within existing contexts of infrastructure call for less public, or taxpayer, investment, while over the long run consuming fewer natural resources, thus benefiting the longer term prognosis for both national and global health. Porosity was the concept explored for the Brooklyn housing project. A subtractive process was used to carve out communal space for the residents to enjoy the various amenities added to the restrictive program, including a day care center and an inclusive public space. The notion of individuality, one that is rarely undertaken because of the repetition needed for efficiency in housing, was undertaken with the desire to create unique apartments each with a view and layout that does not repeat while retaining the benefits of repetition by using the same elements.
HOUS HOUSING SBrooklyn ING PRO PROJECT New York
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CLOVER STREET SCHOOL
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The proposal for the Clover Street School creates a public facade for the institution along Clover Street. The Clover Street Elevation displays the ascending process a student would make through the grade levels, with stacked seating from each house to the next. The space is meant to engage the faculty and the students as they approach the school, creating a public exhibit space where the students can see the city and be seen from the outside. As a path, it extends upward symbolizing a typical student’s progression. The school is arranged in a way that allows the three houses to become a part of a single organization, allowing shared use of this space during Move-Up day where the students are elevated up one level, also allowing for the event to be seen by the public. The design allows for the school to present itself as a public organization, visually connected to the exterior where the ceremony can be seen from the street, engaging the public and making a public exhibition of the ceremony.
SCHOOL Ironbound ronbound Newark, NJ
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HIGHLINE GALLERY
27 The initial concept for the gallery project was the extension of the highline, the idea of what the highline will become a public walkway. That then translated into a public staircase adjacent to the building, providing an additional entrance to the highline from the street level. The frame was done in such a way to provide maximum free space within. The open space this created was then subdivided into single display spaces using moveable partitioning walls, allowing the gallery to adapt to the next designer’s display. The partitioning walls were then extended to the outside on ground level to engage the public before they visit the inside of the building and underneath the highline. The stairs and all circulation were kept light and open by using transparent glass. The glass facade facing the highline and the street also eliminated the feel of a physical barrier between the inside and the outside.
GHAig Lh LlE ReY i n New York, NY
EERO AARNIO’S HOUSE
29 The Globe Chair was based on Aarnio's idea of what he described as a room-withina-room in that it is its own space, isolated from what is around it while at the same time being a part of that larger room. The overall design used this idea of a room within a room, a space within a larger whole. His globe chair creates this intimate feeling and private space while at the same time being a piece of furniture or a piece of the larger room, giving the freedom of designing each space individually, just what it needs to be and not a part of a larger oor plan but a part of a larger room. The three major components were the working area which includes the mourning ofďŹ ce space and studio, the hallway which serves for circulation as well as physically separate the private from public, and the kitchen and bathroom space which is entirely private. The overall layout of the spaces allows the house to server as a means of getting from the very top of the site down the steep slope allowing Aarnio to walk the rest of the site without the need of a set path since the house itself can be used to move down the steepest part of the site. The three walls, or the larger room, frame the view of the landscape. It takes the designer away from the street adjacent and opens the property itself to the view of the river.
RESIDENTIAL ESIDENTIA NEW YORK
FORM GENERATION
GENERAT EDESIG NERA A GTNIVE
“The outside is not a fixed limit but a moving matter animated by peristaltic movements, folds and foldings that together make up an inside: they are not something other than the outside, but precisely the inside of the outside.” Gilles Deleuze
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RES RESIDENTIAL ESIDENTIA SIW S ID DENTIAL ENTIAL E AL NEW Y YORK ORK
DIGITAL TECHTONICS
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rm Robert Morgan | (862)215-3086 | robrmm4@gmail.com | www.designedbyruby.com