Will Felcone Portfolio 2024

WILL FELCONE PORTFOLIO

This portfolio contains the design work of Will Felcone

Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, Bachelor of Architecture

August 2021 - May 2026

GPA: 3.84

wfelcone@gmail.com

908-510-8463

I am a dedicated third-year architecture student at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute. I am interested in architecture that serves the public. I am also interested in materiality, and the practical aspects of construction.

Over the past years my studio projects have been commended because of my attention to detail and time management skills. I am able to focus on my work and complete it on time.

I am seeking a summer 2024 internship to continue to develop professionally as I work towards my goal of becoming a licensed architect.

LIBRARY AT TWO SCALES

Multimedia

Library on the High Line in Chelsea, Manhattan

Professor Marcus Carter

The Library at Two Scales responds to its site at the corner of 10th Avenue and 20th Street in Chelsea, Manhattan. The building is connected to the High Line, creating two entrances: an entrance on 10th Avenue, and on the High Line. These entrances represent the different users of the building. Native New Yorkers are more likely to enter from 10th Avenue, and take advantage of the library’s computer labs, study rooms, and media collection. Those who enter from the High Line are more likely to be tourists: the building offers them an art gallery and cafe on the same level as the High Line.

The massing of the building draws from the two scales it inhabits. On the 10th Avenue side, it mirrors the flat, grid-arranged facades of neighboring buildings. On the High Line side, the massing is terraced as it relates to a slower, more-human scale.

The building is wrapped in a perforated copper facade. At night, light shines through the facade, turning the building into a lantern. During the day, the warm copper invites people into the building, and as it weathers it establishes itself as a fixture of the community.

Comprehensive Design Studio 1 Fall 2023

Windows and half-walls provide a view of the auditorium from the street.

First floor plan (left), third floor plan (right)

The plans display openness to the street and to the High Line

LIBRARY AT TWO SCALES

In section the building shows its terraced massing and how the facade opens to signify public space inside.

The sunlight shines through the facade into the reading room.

Fourth floor plan (left), fifth floor plan (right)

The plans display the reading room and terraces.

SIXTH

SECOND FLOOR

PERFORATED COPPER FACADE

FIRST

MECHANICAL

LIBRARY AT TWO SCALES

EXPOSED FOR VISUAL INTEREST

Wall

The terraces serve as a vertical extension of the High Line.

ARCHITECT AS CRAFTSMAN

Design and built shed and desk, refinish chair

Done with my father

In our time, architecture is taught at a different scale than it is practiced. Primarily design is done on the computer, and if there is physical design it takes the form of small-scale models. I sought to add to my experience with the construction of a shed. Despite being a small project, I still learned about things like framing, waterproofing, and roofing, in addition to how to use different types of tools. Construction in the real world gave me a greater appreciation for and knowledge of how it must be considered when one is designing. I have been able to incorporate what I learned into my projects.

Designing a desk and refinishing a chair also gave me an appreciation for materials. Materials can express themselves through the design. The top of the desk is oak, and as a natural material, its grain is expressed with a transparent finish. The legs of the desk are made of plywood, and since the grain is not the main property of that material, it can be painted white. I also thought about material as I was refinishing the chair: sanding its curves gave me an appreciation for how wood can be bent.

Personal Project

Summer 2022

Framing

After making a level foundation, we assembled a floor using pressure-treated 2x6, joist hangers, and galvanized nails. We then added an OSB floor and framed with 2x4s.

Sheathing, Roof, Trim, and Siding

We added OSB sheathing. We then added drip edges, adhesive flashing, and tar paper. On top of the tar paper we put asphalt shingles. I also installed some windows and we began installing fiber cement siding.

one looks around the wood grain, the light reflects back at different angles.

Oak grain detail

As

Plywood desk legs

The front of the desk is notched into the legs, which have voids in their layers filled with putty.

CONSTRUCTABILITY

Detail and enclosure examinations of case study buildings

Professors Michael Stradley; Philip Anzalone Individual work in group projects

A focus on the actual elements of construction is very important to me. I had the opportunity to do several studies of different buildings that would allow me to understand how they are put together, and let me understand the importance of building. In education we can afford to focus on design only. In the workplace, constructability and practicality may be the most important concern.

In two different classes I completed case studies of different buildings. First, I redrew a detail and made a 3D model of a wall section of RPI’s EMPAC. EMPAC is a theater on our campus which was designed by Grimshaw Architects. I had access to drawings of the building, and by looking at them i was able to determine things like structural elements and the location of insulation.

The second building I looked at was the Museum of the Moving Image in New York, by Leeser Architecture. For that building I was assigned to look at the detail of a parapet. I also looked at the envelope of the building to see how it would react to the environment in different seasons.

Construction Systems, Materials and Enclosures

Fall 2022, Fall 2023

BATT INSULATION

ALUMINUM PANELS

GUTTER

RPI’s EMPAC (Grimshaw Architects) Redrawn 2D detail Original 3D detail

STEEL ROOF STRUCTURE

ALUMINUM ROOF STRUCTURE

INSULATED GLASS UNIT

RIGID INSULATION

CONCRETE MASONRY UNIT

DROPPED CEILING

CROSS SECTION EAST SCALE: 1/2"=1'

LEVEL 7000

Summer analysis

Vapor barrier

Thermal barrier, rigid and batt insulation.

High sun angle does not affect the parapet because there is no glazing.

Vapor barrier

New York has a humid climate. Humidity will attempt to go from the outside to the inside.

The temperature is hot, and the heat will attempt to move inside.

Winter analysis

Museum of the Moving Image

Hand-drawn parapet analysis

Redrawn 2D detail

Thermal barrier, rigid and batt insulation.

Low sun angle does not affect the parapet because there is no glazing.

Original 3D detail

New York has a humid climate, even in winter. Humidity will attempt to go from the outside to the inside.

The temperature is cold, and the heat will attempt to move outside.

(Leeser Architecture)

COMPOSITE ALUMINUM PANEL

FALL 2022, FALL 2023

CONT INSULATION AND VAPOR BARRIER RESIST TEMPERATURE AND MOISTURE DIFFERENTIAL

4" METAL STUD PARAPET

6" CMU BLOCK CURB

ROOFING MEMBRANE ON RIGID INSULATION

ALUMINUM COMPOSITE PANEL ALUMINUM FRAME

WOOD BACKING

BATT INSULATION

6"

STRUCTURAL STEEL BEAM

VERTICAL GALLERY

The relationship between art and the space in which it is viewed is very important. By nature of hanging on a wall, or sitting on a podium, objects are given the status of a relic. The relationship this gallery space has with the art is one of verticality. The two level-gallery space allows the viewer to look at the art from both above and below.

This project was an addition to the Thomas Cole National Historic Site, which comprises the grounds of landscape painter Thomas Cole’s house and studio.

The massing of the building was designed with the idea of “things within things”; as such, it takes the form of a few solids nestled in each other, with subtractions from them creating spaces. The exterior of the building is clad in a gray wood, and the interior with a light wood, examining the contrast between the interior and exterior of the volumes.

To relate to the environment, the building is submerged in the ground slightly, with a long path sloping down to the entrance of the building.

Architectural Design Studio 3 Fall 2022

Gallery on the Thomas Cole National Historic Site Professor Adam Dayem

The site is a hill which provides a view of the Catskill mountains. The rightmost building is Cole’s house, and the middle his studio.

Section A-A (left), Section B-B (right)

The sections show the volumes nested within each other.

First floor plan (left), Second floor plan (right) Open spaces occur in the intersection between volumes.

THE SUN APARTMENTS

Housing above commercial in Troy, NY

Professor David Bell

Partnered with Connor Henry

Fundamentally this project is about the sun. All the units have regular access to the sun as the massing slopes toward the south. This also provides large, exterior spaces, which are good for the social life of the residents. These spaces also allow room for plants, which filter the city air. Although the sun provides life it can also be harmful to it, and so there are strategies for mitigating it. A lattice rests upon the top of the building and hangs off the side. It is designed to reduce glare and solar heat gain when the sun is at its strongest. The lattice supports a dense growth of climbing plants, which further shade the terraces and allows the entire building to take on the form of a garden planter.

The residents socialize on the terraces and in the courtyard at the street level in the center of the building. The entrances of the courtyard are offset from each other, allowing visitors to circulate around a central space defined by plants. On the sides of the courtyards there are stores. To accentuate the horizontal, terraced form, the ground floor level is clad in horizontal stone tiles. To show clearly the difference between the commercial space and the residential space, the units are covered in a horizontal wood cladding.

Architectural Design Studio 4 Spring 2023

0

Second floor plan (top), first floor plan (bottom) Plans showing courtyard with staggered entrances and typical unit layouts. Plans by Connor Henry.

Courtyard view

Looking through the vegetated lattice into the courtyard.

Transverse section

Showing entrance to the courtyard and courtyard plants.

Circulation

Staggered openings provide opporunities for residents to interact with each other. The sun shines through a large window above.