Portfolio, Bill Sergison

BILL SERGISON Portfolio: 2015 - 2018

THE DARK MATTER OF ARCHITECTURE Circulation spaces in architecture are a funny thing.

They are almost always the difficulty in a morphological starting point, as designers try to lay out cores and minimize the corridors between them as much as possible, but paradoxically they stitch a whole building together. Circulatory environments are perceived solely as subtractions from the overall efficiency of a building; banal distributors of program. And yet, they make everything work. They are a connective tissue. They are the dark matter of architecture.

Radical changes in contemporary domesticities and workplaces continue to evolve in a rapidly mobile world. Ownership is down and the shared economy is up.

Contemporary office design has taken advantage of this trend with the increase in co-working spaces, and the rising trend of “hotdesking�. Similarly, people are living in an increasingly de-territorialized world where the home is less about the detached dwelling, and more about the city block; so perhaps it is not too radical to consider a shift towards more associative housing environments, especially when one considers the global talent migration of young professionals who travel the world, living in more temporary conditions in the pursuit of new jobs and education. They may have no societal ties to a place but they are seeking greater associations and a greater sense of community with like minded individuals.

While the idea of more communal housing is nothing new, the diagram to support this trend remains fundamentally unchanged. Perhaps the starting point to begin to think differently about the housing offers that may support these changing trends is a fundamental shift in the circulatory diagram of residential buildings. Housing typologies have remained stagnant for years, they are due for some change.

This project is approached as a series of three typological primers, or starting points, for how one might think about a housing typology differently if they were to see circulation as something that is value generating, rather than an overall subtraction from efficiency. Each primer was investigated across scales, zooming into the design of a unit, out to a buildup or aggregate in an urban area, and back and forth in between; a method based on the discourse of Aldo Rossi.

Status: Academic Research Project, 2016 Role: Independent Thesis Awards/ Honors: CUA Friends of Architecture Award for Distinguished Thesis, Paranjpe Memorial Prize for thesis project presentation, ARCC King Medal for Excellence in Architectural Design Research

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In many ways, the theoretical starting point for The Dark Matter of Architecture comes from Robin Evans’ essay, Figures Doors and Passages. The essay has an argument centered around two diagrams, the matrix of rooms, stemming from the Paladian Villa, where dedicated circulation space doesn’t exist, and one simply circulates through a series of programmed rooms to get to their desired location, and the corridor. Evans suggests that once the corridor emerged the question of convenience becomes separated from the question of the aesthetic of space.

Further, as circulation spaces become more mutual, it serves to equilibrate a series of spaces in relation to the corridor but the corridor itself has no character or quality or hierarchy. Thus one could argue that it is the corridor diagram that breeds the anonymity and isolation that is so often associated with multi unit housing projects where buildings exist with hundreds of units, and yet no one knows their neighbors. But as one begins to look at a number of other building typologies, circulation can be seen as a valuable tool; as seen in the ramps of the Kunsthal or New York’s Guggenheim; or in the free section of Villa VPRO.

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1. The matrix of rooms 2. The corridor

TYPICAL

TYPICAL

VARIATION MAXIMIZE THE CORRIDOR! Or rather, simply minimize

VARIATION

the domestic unit, and allow the remainder be consumed by corridor. The exercise represents a study of the proportion of functionality juxtaposed against the MAXIMIZE THE CORRIDOR! rather, simply minimize proportions of space.

Once a space of Or pure circulation, serving only to equilibrate series of spaces in relation the domestic unit,a and allow the remainder be consumed to itself, a 15’ wideThe corridor ceases to be a sole by corridor. exercise represents a study of the place of movement.

It of canfunctionality be programmed, juxtaposed it can take on proportion against the identity, it can flow into more private, but communal proportions of space. Once a space of pure circulation, spaces; thresholds and transparencies to and from can serving only to equilibrate a series of spaces in relation begin to be transformed.

Possibilities emerge...

to itself, a 15’ wide corridor ceases to be a sole place of movement. It can be programmed, it can take on identity, it can flow into more private, but communal spaces; thresholds and transparencies to and from can begin to be transformed. Possibilities emerge...

MAXIMIZE

Maximize the corridor! Or rather, simply minimize the domestic unit, and allow the remainder to be consumed by corridor.

The exercise represents a study of the proportion of functionality juxtaposed against the proportions of space. Once a space of pure circulation, serving only to equilibrate a series of spaces in relation to itself, a 15’ wide corridor ceases to be a sole place of movement. It can be programmed, it can take on identity, it can flow into more private, but communal spaces; thresholds and transparencies to and from can begin to be transformed.

Possibilities emerge...

TYPICAL

VARIATION DIVORCE MOVEMENT TO THE EXTERIOR! The concept of removing circulation to the perimeter of a building in itself is nothing new, but it can be radically reinterpreted.

Consider the circulatory system as a 3 dimensional construct and pull it further from the building facade.

This subtlety allows the domestication of entry ways, it can begin to distribute communal program vertically, and, most importantly, it begins to give orientation. In a larger urban construct, this can create lively, but domestic courtyards, or be used to front existing constructs, where particular frontages must be maintained.

DIVORCE

Divorce movement to the exterior! The concept of removing circulation to the perimeter of a building in itself is nothing new, but it can be radically reinterpreted.

Consider the circulatory system as a 3 dimensional construct and pull in further from the building facade. This subtlety allows the domestication of entry ways, it can begin to distribute communal program vertical, and, most importantly it begins to give orientation. As a part of a larger urban construct, this can create lively, but domestic courtyards, or be used to front existing constructions, where particular frontages must be maintained.

TYPICAL TYPICAL

VARIATION VARIATION FIGUREFIGURE GROUNDGROUND REVERSAL! The standard solutionsolution for REVERSAL! The standard for

multi-unit housinghousing followsfollows a simple establish multi-unit a formula: simple formula: establish maximum spatialspatial envelope, place vertical circulation maximum envelope, place vertical circulation cores, cores, minimize the corridors as much as as much possible, minimize the corridors as possible, and divide the yielded rentable floor space. and divide the yielded rentable floor Though space. Though economical, this method breeds isolation and anonymity economical, this method breeds isolation and anonymity while reducing social social functionality of circulatory while reducing functionality of circulatory environments.

Consider the reverse!

MultipleMultiple cores environments.

Consider the reverse! cores of residential programprogram can be surrounded by shared of residential can be surrounded by shared programs that one can circulate through. The abolition programs that one can circulate through. The abolition of the corridor breeds circulatory spaces charged with of the corridor breeds circulatory spaces charged with associative functionality! associative functionality!

REVERSE

Figure ground reversal! The standard solution for multi-unit housing follows a simple formula: establish a maximum spatial envelope, place vertical circulation cores, minimize the corridors as much as possible, and divide the yielded rentable floor space. Though economical, this method breeds isolation and anonymity while reducing social functionality of circulatory environments. Consider the reverse! Multiple cores of residential program can be surrounded by shared programs that one can circulate through.

The abolition of the corridor breeds circulatory spaces charged with associative functionality.

DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY HEADQUARTERS AT ST. ELIZABETHS The new headquarters for the department of homeland security at St. Elizabeth’s campus comprises 1.1 million SF of new government office space, woven into the fabric of a historic campus, which dates back to the 1850’s. The project presented the challenge of maintaining a the rigidity of a formal campus, while creating a new identity for homeland security, and the three potential agency tenants. The project was imagined as a series of three “C” shaped courtyard typologies, with recessed courtyards allowing daylight into program on below grade levels. This allowed the buildings to retain more program square footage while staying under a strict campus height limit, while the sectional variation of the courtyards maintains necessary security requirements.

As a project designer, my role began at the beginning of preliminary concepts. Working with a core design team of five employees, we developed several iterations of concepts for review by the various consulting parties involved in the decision making process. I led the construction of scale model of the entire campus which the team used as a base to present our various design schemes. As the project progressed, I was involved in both design and documentation of schemes throughout both the preliminary concepts and schematic design phase. My responsibilities included the facade studies, the creation of presentation graphics, building design models, and producing climate analysis studies for sustainability workshops.

Status: On hold during schematic design, 2017 Role: Project Designer, preliminary concepts - SD Firm: ZGF Location: St. Elizabeths Campus, Washington D.C.

Final presentation model of the “Dancing C’s� concept illustrating three courtyard buildings responding to a hillside to the west, a formal lawn to the north, and historic buildings to the east.

PAVILION SITE CONSTRAINTS | SLOPE MITIGATION

ZONE

GATE TWO

GATE TWO

Constraints: 76

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SOUTH LAWN

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EAGLE ZONE CUP

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SLOPE MITIGATION Opportunities: 60

ADAPTIVE REUSE

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PROGRAM & PHASING

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BUILDING CONNECTIVITY 67

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REDUCE SCALE NORTH RAVINE VIEWS

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nt of Homeland Security T ST. ELIZABETHS MASTER PLAN AMENDMENT #2

PTIVE REUSE

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General Services Administration and Department of Homeland Security 70 THE DHS HEADQUARTERS CONSOLIDATION AT ST. ELIZABETHS MASTER PLAN AMENDMENT #2

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PAVILION SITE OPPORTUNITIES | PROGRAM & PHASING

Plateau 1"=50'

Plateau 1"=50'

GATE TWO

GATE TWO

Constraints: 76

38 HISTORIC RESOURCES

St. E West Campus Plateau 1”=50’

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St. E West Campus Plateau 1”=50’

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SOUTH LAWN

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EAGLE ZONE CUP

SECURITY FENCE

CUP

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SLOPE MITIGATION

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Opportunities: 60

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PROGRAM & PHASING

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BUILDING CONNECTIVITY 67

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REDUCE SCALE NORTH RAVINE

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VIEWS

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nt of Homeland Security T ST. ELIZABETHS MASTER PLAN AMENDMENT #2

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BELOW GRADE VAULT

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General Services Administration and Department of Homeland Security 73 THE DHS HEADQUARTERS CONSOLIDATION AT ST. ELIZABETHS MASTER PLAN AMENDMENT #2

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PAVILION SITE OPPORTUNITIES | VIEWS

Plateau 1"=50'

St. E West Campus Plateau 1”=50’

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Plateau 1"=50'

SITE CONSTRAINTS Constraints: 1. Historic resources and the formality of the south lawn HISTORIC RESOURCES 2. Slope mitigation SOUTH LAWN 3. Existing building in need of preservation EAGLE ZONE 4. Program and phasing 5. Views corridors and scale reduction SECURITY FENCE

GATE TWO

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CUP

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35 PARKING

SLOPE MITIGATION

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St. E West Campus Plateau 1”=50’

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Opportunities: ADAPTIVE REUSE

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PROGRAM & PHASING 66

BUILDING CONNECTIVITY

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REDUCE SCALE NORTH RAVINE

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VIEWS

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68 BELOW GRADE VAULT 0ft

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100ft

GATE THREE

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General Services Administration and Department of Homeland Security THE DHS HEADQUARTERS CONSOLIDATION AT ST. ELIZABETHS MASTER PLAN AMENDMENT #2

Plateau

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GENERAL SERVICES ADMINISTRATION & DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY

St. Elizabeth’s West Campus

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1. Campus brick color and hue analysis 2. Existing campus buildings, analysis of materiality and datums 3. Initial sketches studying formal enclosures within the St. Elizabeths site 4. Parti sketch illustrating three programmatically separated buildings connected by a continuous walkway that moves through and around each new construction

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Process Models 1. Infill Scheme 2. Souther Development 3. Double Boomerang 4. Formal C’s 5. Dancing C’s Layback

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The design stitches three buildings, each representing a courtyard typology, among the existing historic buildings.

Short ends of each new building reveal themselves among the historic fabric.

Each of the 3 building structures employ a system of sunken courtyards which afford additional square footage while remaining hidden from the south lawn. They also form open courtyards that maintain necessary security enclosures.

Above is the middle building, with a sunken courtyard visibly connected to the south lawn beyond.

The northern most building terraces down a hillside, concealing 4 stories of program from the south lawn while simultaneously serving as a slope stabilization mechanism.

As a part of the larger campus plan this begins to unite the lower campus and the upper pavilion site, while beginning to formulate a plaza around what is known as the heart of the campus. The interior planning is oriented around a singular communicating stair, reinforcing the connection between lower and upper sites, while also distributing collaborative spaces within an open workspace.

As a full composition, the three buildings of the St. Elizabeths pavilion site are born from a series of site constraints; strategically opening itself up in some locations while yielding to the surrounding campus context in others.

IVY MOUNTAIN MUSCULOSKELETAL CENTER The Ivy Mountain Musculoskeletal Center (IMMSKC) is 200,000 SF healthcare facility on a new site for the University of Virginia Health System including: six operating rooms, pre and post operation rooms, an imaging suite, physical therapy suite, clinic rooms, and doctors’ offices. The project was conceived as a “tendon,” a nod to the building program, with two program bars connected by a sinuous circulation path which draws visitors towards a central atrium space, and ultimately outdoors to a garden space. The facade’s materiality is inspired by the architecture on grounds at UVA’s main campus, with dark brick resting on a solid stone base and dark copper paneling covering the penthouses.

My role, as a project designer, began at the project’s inception with the initial RFP. Working with our marketing team, I developed three concepts, with associated imagery and physical models, that were presented as a part of the initial interview. After winning the project, I have been a part of the design team from preliminary concepts through design development. My responsibilities have been split between both design and documentation tasks. Design tasks included design iterations for initial concepts, the production of design models, presentation graphics, climate analysis studies, and coordination with consultants. Documentation tasks included the production of a design narrative document, as well as sets for SD, DD, and demolition phases.

Status: Design Development, expected completion 2021 Role: Project Designer, RFP - DD Firm: ZGF Location: Charlottesville, Virginia

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1. Parti Sketch 2. Concept collage: central garden gently folds up to central atrium and main lobby of the IMMSKC 3. Concept collage: The building creates an anchor at the intersection of a main entry to corridor to UVA 4. Plan parti illustrating the concept of two main clinic bars broken apart by a central atrium with views towards the garden

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PARKING ENTRY

UPPER ENTRY

LOWER ENTRY

GARDEN OVERLOOK

OUTDOOR THERAPY ACCESS

GARDEN ACCESS

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1. Preliminary circulation diagram based on the “tendon” concept; waiting rooms and main corridors converge at a central atrium space 2. Program stack; two “work horse” bars of program are connected by a central public entry zone 3. Initial conceptual image of the tendon 4. Initial concept sketch illustrating two program bars connected by a central public zone

The main building structure creates a boundary between patient drop off/ parking, and the more central garden; an out door healing space that will be fronted by future phased buildings.

Waiting rooms for the main clinic modules are revealed through unique wall coverings beyond a shading scrim that faces the main vehicular drop off sequence. Therefore, the individuality of each clinic will be expressed and identified by patients before they enter the building; while each clinic is still seen as a part of a cohesive whole: the ivy mountain musculoskeletal center.

The architecture frames a view and access to the central garden, a combination of meadow and flowering landscapes.

By blending both building and landscape, a network of paths are created for outdoor rehabilitation, meetings, and access to future phase buildings.

BUILDING ON BROKEN URBANISM Heralded for its urbanism, a global triumph of event led planning, Barcelona is viewed as an achievement in the enactment of a grand idea, and a successful Olympic legacy. Yet along carrer del rec comtal, where the ancient gothic quarter meets Cerda’s masterful stokes of urban planning, the urban fabric is suddenly rendered very flawed. The odd angles of ancient streets collide, forming a series of voids that lack an engagement with the public realm. When building on this broken urbanism, a new courtyard typology is necessitated to restore street frontages, and connect a rear road that ends three meters above the site. Through the enactment of an urban bridge, a multi level courtyard is created. At the ground level, an existing pedestrian street frontage is reinforced through a subtle carving into the site. The “S” shape in the plan of the bridge creates a secondary, more private space at the center of the site. Here the more public programs are placed, where they are still accessible while maintaining a sense of privacy. The top of the bridge is a multiplication of the need for outdoor space. A view of the Arc de Triomph dictates the extremity of one edge of the bridge, while the two other points are formed to connect with existing frontages as well as the maintaining of perspective views.

A checkered facade for the residential program of the project is an expression of user individuality and ownership. Instead of a blank facade owned by no one, this is a rhythmic structure that can better resonate with both the inhabitants, and the surrounding neighborhood.

Status: Academic Project, 2013 Location: Barcelona, Spain

The view from the south east reveals a slight break in the urban condition. As the building form bends inward toward the center of the site, both residents and passers by are welcomed to a new plaza that works across multiple levels.

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1. Irregular Site 2. Establish Cores 3. Urban Bridge 4. Residential Program 5. Individuality through facade articulation

The project becomes an “urban zipper,� a rhythmic composition the blends together a fragmented piece of city fabric both sectionally, through the establishment of a two story plaza, and in plan, with a curvilinear form which builds on established facade systems.

First Floor Plan

South Elevation

MHUYSCA CULTURAL CENTER The Myuysca Cultural Center was designed as a part of a master plan for an impovershed town near Lake Guatavita, Colombia. The goal of the project was to learn about the culture of the local people, the Mhuysca, and use their culture to inspire design. This project was based upon the ceremonial access of the sun, a powerful figure in Mhuysca culture. A large glass roof provides shelter for a mostly open seating arrangement inside while shading elements on the roof allow light to penetrate only along the east - west axis, as the site is located on the equator. The form of the cultural center, a bowl formed around four fire pits at the center, was inspired by the local architecture of the Mhuysca, and was pierced by transparent elements at every intersection along the axis of the sun. At the center, a sculptural column opens up a vent for smoke while emphasizing the ceremonial nature of the flames and smoke created during the ceremonies within.

Status: Academic Project, 2016 Location: Lake Guatavita, Colombia

Site section showing the cultural center within the content of the surrounding mountains

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ROOF DESIGN 1. Circular form dictated by historic precedent 2. Solar axis 3. Radiating arcs formed around opposing poles 4. Radiating lines generate mullion locations 5. Solar shading protects performance areas

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Site Plan

The east west axis is emphasized by a series of vertical transparent elements. As one approaches the axis there is a clear procession of light and shadow, aligning to with sun as according to Mhuysca traditions.

Ground Floor Plan