Studio Portfolio - Spring 2010

North CaroliNa DaNCe theater

An architectural proposal for:

230 N. TryonCharlotte, NC

Patrick WillettSchool of architectureUniversity of North Carolina at Charlotte2010

table of ContentsIntroduction—4

Vision—6Place—7Use—20Form—22

The Feelings of Space—22Sketches—24

Initial Design—32Orthographic Drawings—44

Appendix—68Building Code Analysis—68

Bibliography—69Key Quotes—69

Laban Center Precedent—71

Readings:

Thinking Architecture by Peter Zumthor

Eyes of the Skin by Juhani Pallasmaa

The Architecture of Happiness by Alain De Botton In his book, Alain De Botton very eloquently draws attention and discusses the often neglected connection that we have to our environments. He begins the book with a beautiful description of an house unoccupied by people but telling of their lives. Throughout the book he asks questions about beauty, architectural style, elegance, and what effect the built environment has not does not have over our psychology.

In Praise of Shadows by Jun’ichiro Tanizaki

What is a Designer: Things, Places, Messages & Models and Constructs by Norman Potter Potter began as a cabinetmaker, teacher, and then author. His writings on design are conversational but terse and they blur the typical boundaries of architects and those in product-based design. In his first book, Models and Constructs, I think he lays the groundwork for the title and main question of

This book is a revised and expanded version of the first semester document I did detailing my fifth year studio building proposal. The purpose of fifth year at the School of Architecture at UNC Charlotte is to bring together all of the skills and experience from an undergraduate degree to work on one project. The comprehensive fifth year studio stretches across a summer and two semesters and requires a set of readings that guide the student, a written proposal, a summarizing project document, and a complete set of building drawings and models. This document covers everything from readings to initial research and concept sketches to final drawings from both semesters, though, it omits much of the progress work. The additions to the first document include the second semester construction drawing, detailing of the building proposal, and material produced in other classes but in conjunction with studio. In the beginning stages of the first book I sought an integrated, comprehensive set of all of the progress work of the semester. After I completed the first iteration, though, I realized the flow of the building narrative kept getting set off course by detours to show the reader each and every thing produced during the semester. I finally decided to heavily edit this book to create a simple, consistent story and when I began revising the first book I kept this theme. The undocumented process and products from both semester have been included in accompanying digital documentation. I have divided the book into three main sections inspired by the writings of Peter Zumthor: place, use, and form. The Place section contains major site information, the Use section contains program research, and the Form section contains sketches and development of the building. The three divisions are only in place to describe the project as clearly as possible, though, they do not describe the project linearly in time. Frequently I would move between site work, very specific form work and then back to program and precedent research all in the same day.

. . .

Each student is given the choice of several projects that the School of Architecture has put together or if they have an interest in a specific building type they may propose their own project. Some students chose cultural centers, others a glass blowing studio near Asheville, one proposed a high-rise office tower, and another proposed a stadium. I chose a school and headquarters for the North Carolina Dance Theater at the corner of 6th and Tryon streets in the uptown area of Charlotte, NC. I am interested in the design of dance facilities because

Introduction

Vision 5

of having a sister and close friends that attended dance school, dance competitions, and activities like ice skating. At the beginning of the first semester I had great hopes for this project. My previous semester ended in a simple design that I enjoyed working on and inhabiting through my drawings. I had hoped that this dance project would soon be the best project I have been involved in and through my hands, would be beautifully illustrated at every point in the process. The former passed by early in the semester, though, as I struggled to grasp the project. I always want my designs to be as holistic as I understand architecture to be so I worried about the increasing number of problems I was discovering in my plans and lack of solutions. Piles of trace paper and sketches on my desk tripled as I went after inspiration with a sign pen and an army of freshly sharpened golden yellow Ticonderoga’s. When I lacked inspiration I looked to my models and drawings to speak to me about the design and it is those representations that I feel were the most successful, most beautiful part of my work during the semester. The second semester had its share of issues as well. I began by continuing my goal to hand draw all drawings but eventually made the transition to computer based drafting to expedite the process. Because of the labor and time-intensive requirement of hand drawings I was not meeting any of my own deadlines and was falling behind the general class deadlines. When a jury asked me, “I thought you wanted a hand drawn process. What happened?”, I answered and was surprisingly met with positive comments. They were more interested in seeing me make rational decisions on the issues I confronted, than dogmatically proceeding with my initial process.

Patrick WillettCharlotte, NCMay 2010

his second. What is a Designer is a slim volume without any images and despite the projects illustrated in his second book, he stresses in both books the importance of thinking and coming to decisions on ones own. What is a Designer also includes a practical reference section of books for further reading & advice.

Atmospheres by Peter Zumthor In his previous book, Thinking Architecture, Zumthor diligently lays out his simple philosophy of architecture. In very carefully chosen words he reminds all those involved in design and architecture of the importance of experience and perception. Atmospheres is a transcript of a lecture he gave and so reads much like a more conversational companion to Thinking Architecture, providing points upon which Zumthor addresses in his designs.

The Imaginary Mountain: The Significance of Contour in Alvar Aalto’s Sketches by Mark A. Hewitt

Vision

My vision for the building is that it become an elegant but neutral stage for dance. From the beginning my aim was not for the building to represent dance through its form but be a stage for dance. When a designer is asked about dance the conversation will likely turn to a dancers movement and how the product could represent that movement. Architects take a dancer’s movement and abstract it into sweeping gestures in concrete or steel that seem to jump into the street or into the sky. I am not convinced, though, that our representation of dance is so confined to dances broad or complex movements. What is it about dancers that captivates designers? Does our fascination come from their bounding from point to point in concert with one another or maybe a lifting movement into the air? Is it a certain type of dance: ballet, contemporary, or tap? Is it a certain choreography? Is it movement at all? But what if it a dancers graceful presence when moving in any time of dance, to any rhythm, and to any point? I am interested in making the stage or platform for the dancer; a permanent plinth for temporary activities. A platform is specific but generic. It is specific because it has certain properties that we can feel and measure: weight, surface texture, and structural capacity. It is generic because many activities can take place on it. Stage sets can be built, dancers can run, walk, and sit on it, musicians can fill a hall with their music from many points on the stage. Now a stage can be built many different ways in fact it seems much of its construction depends on the size, acoustic, and performance requirements. It can be well detailed or hastily put together. And of course, the building can represent dance. I hope its finer parts do represent the aspects of dance that I sense most all great buildings house: elegance, control, grace, beauty, distinct presence, and economy of means.

Place 7

Place

Charlotte, NC is one of the fastest growing cities in the country and has a multitude of exciting building projects that are in their first stages of development or are steadily being crafted. The uptown area of Charlotte will soon gain a new LEED Gold office tower designed by Perkins and Will, a UNC-Charlotte, graduate school designed by Kieran Timberlake, and new museums by Mario Botta and Machado & Silvetti; all within walking distance of the proposed North Carolina Dance Theater (NCDT). While the urban fabric surrounding the new building is generally older I have considered the new building in the context of a city that is building contemporary structures. Charlotte also has joined the league of cities that incorporate subways and above-ground trains with its Lightrail. It is now possible to travel from as far south as I-485 to 9th street uptown. In the future, the Lightrail will extend to several more places including the airport and UNC Charlotte. The city blocks surrounding the site have abundant urban space. Across Tryon St. from the site are sidewalk chairs and tables for a cafe next to the Dunhill hotel. Just a couple doors down Tryon from the cafe buildings peel back to form open space on the North and South sides of the street. Also, across Sixth st. from the NCDT building site is open space in front of the Public Library. On a breezy, hot, and humid summer day downtown people frequently gather in many of the shaded urban spaces near the NCDT building.

City Map

This spreadCity map. Original size: 22 x 30”

The site is marked with a yellow box.

Place 9

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8This spreadSite map.Original scale: 1:50Original size: 22 x 30”

This site map was my first presentation drawing of the project and was a lot of fun to craft. I am not always confident that the designs I make would be beautiful if built but I can make drawings that speak to me about beauty and simplicity in the building they represent. In this piece I tried to describe the context and site conditions in an elegant way. My hope was that the passion and effort I placed into making it would pour into the rest of the drawings I made.

0 Open public space1 Building site2 Mint Museum of Craft and Design3 Small businesses4 Dunhill Hotel and small businesses5 Discovery Place6 Spirit Square7 Charlotte Public Library8 Hearst Tower parking deck

Site Map

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Place 11

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Site Plan & SectionsThis spreadSite plan and sectionsOriginal scale: 1/32” = 1’Original size: 22 x 30”

In the final presentation this drawing was the first to introduce the building form. The previous two site drawings identified the building’s place in the state, city, and block.

Place 13

Site Panoramas

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Tryon St. Spirit Square

Public LibrarySpirit Square Tryon St.

Place 15

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Discovery PlacePublic Library Tryon St.

Tryon St.

Below is a set of frames leading up to the site for the building. The frames trace a route south down Tryon St. to the corner of the site and are marked in the site map on the previous page. Many routes can be taken to the building but Tryon St. is the most traveled street on the site map

and it offers the best view to consider the corner design from. After stitching together the set of panoramas I realized that the deciduous trees along Tryon St. would play a vital role in the character of light coming in through the second floor windows. This lead me to

think about the ways in which the design of the building could take advantage of the trees shade in the summer and openness in the winter. The yellow line indicates in each of the panoramas the position of the building site.

This spreadEarly site model. View looking south.

A friend and classmate, Joel Yow, and I decided to build a city model that could accommodate both our sites. His fifth year project site is just a couple blocks east of the proposed Dance Theater. The white massing is an illustration of the Dance Theater building.

City Model

Place 17

Building Site

N. Tryon St.

6th. st.

5th. st.

Public Library

Spirit Square

Discovery Place

Hearst

Tower

Parking Garage

This spreadSite model with shadows

The city model was also built to analyze direct sunlight that reached each site during the day. The images on this page are samples taken from the analysis. The conclusion: the Dance Theater site is not shaded from direct sunlight by surrounding buildings from 8am to 10:30am on the equinox, from 8am to 1pm on the summer solstice, and from 8:30am to 9:30am on the winter solstice.

Shadow Study

9AM, March 21

Place 19

Building Site

Public Library

N. Tryon St.

6th. st.

5th. St.

Spirit Square

Discovery Place

Hearst Tower

Parking Garage

12pm, March 21

RightProgram spreadsheet. It consists of program information that was given to students at the beginning of the semester and also my own additions.

Use

The North Carolina Dance Theatre was formed in 1970, is the “oldest professional ballet company” in North Carolina, and calls Charlotte its home. It employs two dozen professional dancers and during late 2009 will give 21 total performances of four principle shows in Charlotte. The NCDT School of Dance was formed in 1993 and annually serves over 600 students in ballet, jazz, and modern dance. Currently, the school has three locations including Spirit Square just a block northeast of the proposed site and is noted on the site map. The proposed building at 230 N Tryon St. is an addition to the organization’s growing presence in Charlotte and will present new practice and performance opportunities for the school and ballet company close to their current facilities.

ProgramThe program for this new facility includes an entrance lobby, dance shop, administration spaces for the company and director, studios for practice and performance, appropriate storage and mechanical spaces, and auxiliary spaces for the dancers. The program also requires a set of studios in close proximity to one another to be able to function as one blackbox theater with seating for 200 people. Typically the NCDT gives performances in the Belk Theater (2100 seats), Booth Playhouse (434 seats), and by early 2010 the Knight Theater (1150 seats). These other performance venues used by the NCDT are also used for other productions like the Charlotte Symphony Orchestra for example and are much larger than the blackbox in the new building. The Knight Theater specifically is a large performance theater connected to the new Bechtler Museum just several blocks down from the proposed NCDT building and is scheduled to be finished in early 2010. The Knight Theater at the Bechtler will have a fly tower, proscenium, stage, orchestra pit, and a large south facing plaza. The blackbox studio/theater will not have the resources of the other performance venues so it would not compete with them nor would it require large public transition spaces. It would only be used by the NCDT as a practice and experimental production space.

Use 21

Space Height (ft)

Area (ft2)

Quantity Total Area (ft2)

Notes

Loading Dock 1 Provide adequate space to back-in a 53’ trailer.

Cooling Tower 200 1 200 Cooling towers need to be located in an exterior space to facilitate the rejection of heat to the atmosphere via evaporation of water. They are commonly located on the roof or on grade.

Public spaces

Lobby 18 2000 1 2000 Provide access to parking lot, amphitheater and public walkways. Provide access to admin. spaces. Provide access to studio spaces.

Public Toilets 200 2 400 Provide access to and from lobby. Verify area is adequate to meet code requirements.

Box Office 100 1 100 Locate near entry. Provide ext. and/or int. counter access to public. Provide access to admin. area.

Dance Place 150 1 150 Provide direct access to and from lobby. Provide controlled access to & from receptionist’s area. Space is an outlet for dance supplies & gifts.

Receptionist’s Area 150 1 150 Provide counter access to and from lobby and have visual control over public toilets. Provide control over access to waiting area. Provide access to and from administrative area.

Administration and Support Spaces

Waiting Area 300 1 300 Provide seating for 10 people.

Staff Entrance 200 1 200 Provide direct access to staff parking. Isolate from waiting area.

Director’s Office 300 1 300 Provide access to and from conference/function, waiting area, staff offices and staff entrance.

Staff Offices 150 8 1200 Provide access to conference/function, waiting area and staff entrance.

Workstations 64 10 640 Provide access to conference/function, waiting area and staff entrance.

Work Room 225 1 225 Copy, fax and mail

Conference/Function 800 1 800 Provide a flexible layout so space can be used for a wide range of functions. Provide access to offices.

Kitchen/Break 225 1 225 Kitchen/break room serves the entire facility, Provide direct access to and from conference/function.

Staff Toilets 120 2 240 Provide access to and from offices.

Dance Studios and auxiliary spaces

Large Studios 24 3000 2 6000 Provide a removable partition between the studios to permit the creation of a 60’ x 100’ “black box” experimental theater with movable seating for 200 people.

Small Studios 18 1200 3 3600 Provide controlled access from lobby. Provide direct access to and from dancers’ lounge, and provide access to and from locker rooms and toilets.

Control Room 300 1 300 Provide direct access to and from studios, and provide visual overview of each studio.

Dancers’ Lounge 300 1 300 Lounge is shared by school and company. Provide direct access to and from studios & dancers’ toilets.

Wardrobe 12 3000 1 3000 Provide access to and from studios and loading dock.

Storage 18 1000 1 1000 Provide access to and from studios and loading dock.

Production Work Rm. 225 1 225 Provide access to loading dock, studios and production work equip.

Production Equip. 150 1 150 Provide access to production work room.

Family Locker Rms. 400 2 800 Provide controlled access to and from lobby. Provide access to and from studios.

Company Locker Rm. 300 2 600 Provide controlled access to and from lobby, and access to staff ent.

Showers 200 2 400 Provide direct access to and from locker rooms and dancer’s toilets.

Dancers’ Toilets 200 2 400 Provide direct access to and from showers and locker rooms. Verify area is adequate to meet code req.

Mechanical

Janitor’s Closet 25 3 75 Provide a minimum of one per floor.

Transformer Vault or Room

12 100 1 100 Transformers are a source of noise, heat, fires and explosions; consequently, they are isolated from the rest of the building by placing them in vaults and rooms, or on exterior transformer pads. Vaults are located below grade outside the building and often have grates at grade to permit free air movement. They are also located along an exterior wall to permit ventilation of the room.

Electrical Room 50 1 50 Electrical rooms are typically located adjacent to transformer vaults and rooms.

Electrical Closet 15 2 30 Typically there is at least one electrical closet per floor. Provide additional closets as needed to have no electrical device more than 100’ from an electrical closet.

Communication Room

25 1 25 Locate close to administrative spaces. The communications room houses a telephone panel, security panel and computer network equipment.

Boiler, Chiller, & Pump Room

12 240 1 240 Boiler, chiller and pump rooms are typically located in sub-basements, basements or in penthouses. Ideally, they are located along exterior walls so the equipment can be changed out.

Fan Room 12 240 1 240 Fan rooms are located along exterior walls, areawells or below roof decks to permit intake of make-up air and discharge of exhaust air. Louvers are required if they are located along an exterior wall or areawell. Fan room to contain a filter rack, fans) dehumidifier, ducts, air side economizer and energy recovery ventilator.

Plumbing Room 120 1 120 Plumbing room contains tankless water heater, solar water heater, circulation pump, water conditioner and greywater treatment system.

Totals

Total conditioned floor area

24785

Circulation (20% of floor area)

4957

Total floor area 29742

The lobby space is located on the ground floor of the building and it is here that I will enter and spend a couple minutes writing. I enjoy visiting the building once a week and taking notes. Every time I visit I get a new sense of how the building is used by people. If I can make drawings and notes of the things that I’ve missed or would have been good to include I can use them in my current projects. The lobby space is the hub of the building. There is a parents lounge which doubles as a public lounge and a massive stair that leads up to the studios on the third floor. There is a blackbox theater embedded in the building and public restrooms to the right of the entrance. I haven’t been to any performances yet but the theater staff and choreographers I’ve kept in touch with are pleased with the space, though, they keep mentioning the problem they have with some of their students gazing out the windows onto Sixth Street instead of listening. I understand their position but I’m happier to let light and the city into the building than to keep a couple students focused. When I’ve visited during the summer the lobby has been full of people but as I wait at the Discovery Place corner in the chilly morning air there are only a handful of parents mulling about the lounge facing onto sixth street. To be fair it’s early so it’s likely that only one class is going on. As I enter I find a place on the bench next to the window and pull out my pen and notebook. The benches are an essential place to visually connect with the exterior street life and bound the edge of the lounge. The bench itself is made of a dense solid maple, extends to within an inch and a half of the interior mullions, is 17” wide, and has a half inch chamfered edge on the top and bottom of the interior side to prevent small children from scraping themselves on it. My goals for the lobby space were for it to be a good waiting space and a good space to mill about after a performance. I had hoped that parents might find it a good place to have a cup of coffee, lean against a column, and patiently wait while their child was taking classes. From the beginning of the project I began the design of the lobby with the idea of a permanent bench next to the window wall and I was excited to get to detail it in the final design. Benches are another architectural element that always impress and engage my curiosity. I cannot sit on a good bench in a park or a chair at a cafe without wanting to draw it. The bench I was able to include in the lobby space extends from the acid etched concrete egress stair enclosure to the street corner and to the edge of the other egress stair. It is also broken up by the building entrance and the column structure along the facade.

FormThe Feelings of Space

Studio Sense EssayTwo of the authors that I chose for my summer reading list, Juhani Pallasmaa and Peter Zumthor, are writers and architects that begin and end their designs with a distinct focus on the body. In his book Eyes of the Skin, Pallasmaa says in Eyes of the Skin:

“The authenticity of architectural experience is grounded in the tectonic language of building and the comprehensibility of the act of construction to the senses. We touch, listen and measure the world with our entire bodily existence…”

He writes about our ocular centric culture, its effect on our creation and perception of architecture, and the importance of materiality. In Peter Zumthor’s books he approaches the same issues that Pallasmaa does but as a description of the actions he takes when designing. For Zumthor, architecture is principally a corporeal body full of texture and presence like that of a dancer or actor that Benedikt describes in For an Architecture of Reality. Zumthor has authored several books including Thinking Architecture and Atmospheres. His book Atmospheres is a transcript of a lecture that he did June 1, 2003 in Germany to over 400 people. The cadence of the narrative is casual and the tone is conversational. In the book he lays out nine sections that describe in retrospect the things that concern him during a design. In his book Atmospheres he says:

“To me it’s a kind of anatomy we are talking about. Really, I mean the word ‘body’ quite literally. It’s like our own bodies with their anatomy

Form 23

Circular concrete columns carrying the full load of the glass curtain wall and half of the studios (or offices on the upper floor) come down just one foot to the inside of the glass and just two inches off the benches on either side. I finish making my notes, say a quick greeting to the receptionist behind the desk in the middle of the space, and place a hand on the door to leave. As I do I place my hand on the stainless steel bar and push out. I’m reminded of Pallassmaa’s writing about door handles being the handshake of the building. The doors are intentionally tall and heavy to give some weight to the act of moving exterior to interior or interior to exterior. They are composed of tall panes of tempered glass to which a polished stainless steel pull bar has been affixed. The door handles aren’t handles at all but vertical bars meet your hand in a casual and simple way as you enter and exit. I’ve always been impressed by large doors that signaled a new type of space you were entering. Some like those of heavy wooden church doors silence all noise as you enter. As I look through these, though, I see the street, people passing by to work, and hear a bus brake for a stoplight.

and things we can’t see and skin covering us–that’s what architecture means to me and that’s how I try to think about it.” (emphasis added)

Zumthor’s definition of the body of architecture has been a central guiding idea for my project, though, it is hard to execute.

Building NarrativeThe text on the left is a narrative description of the lobby space and the entrance structure, light gathering properties, anticipated inhabitation, and materiality of select components. To better imagine the building I wrote the descriptions as if I were the architect and I was visiting the building to record these notes. To develop the text I relied on my watercolors and interior sketches that I took throughout the semester.

Sketches

this pageConcept SketchOriginal size: 8.5 x 11”

This sketch describes the basic organizing idea behind the building. Unlike most concept sketches this was not done at the beginning of the project but at the end as a kind of summation of ideas. I do not believe a process that places the concept sketch before the information gathering and sketching phase to be helpful. Concept sketches must rise after the designer has a thorough understanding of the project. If they do not then they are less likely to solve the problems in the project and more likely to solve their own problems.

Form 25

This pageProgram adjacency sketches, 29 August 2009Original size: 8.5 x 11”

These sketches begin to establish guidelines for spatial organization. In my initial designs I deviate slightly from these diagrams but they proved very helpful overall. For example, my initial decision to place the lobby and dance store directly on Tryon St. was permanent.

RightSpatial program diagramming, 8 September 2009Original size: 8.5 x 11”

This sketch explores program relationships from the previous sketch. It also combines several drawings into one. The bubble diagram at the top is a longitudinal section cut through the middle of the building, the plan in the bottom right illustrates this scheme’s street-studio relationship and is turned to orient north up, and the detailed section at the lower center is through the studios and onto the sidewalk.

RightSection program bubble sketches, 17 September 2009Original size: 8.5 x 11”

In these program sketches I was trying to get a sense of how each of the spaces could be positioned in section given their programmatic relationships but largely outside of the volumetric requirements for each space.

Form 27

AboveThinking on the program, 7 September 2009Original size: 8.5 x 11”

In this sketch I was beginning to loosely but proportionally sketch out the volume of the largest program pieces. This sketch moves away from the previous bubble diagrams and into a definite box-like form.

LeftNotes for first site visit, 26 August 2009Original size: 8.5 x 11”

These are my first notes on the kind of information that I needed to note and think about while on my first site visit. My notes show that I was thinking about site issues, design decisions, and program organization.

RightBuilding Massing Sketch, 25 September 2009Original size: 8.5 x 11”

In this combination of massing and plan sketches I begin to think about the way the lobby emanates light at night and how the building meets the exterior and interior urban walls.

AboveNotes on facade forces, October 2009Original size: 8.5 x 11”

In this sketch I am thinking through each of the forces that the building’s facades must respond to. These considerations have the potential to shape the facade.

Form 29

This PAGEWatercolor sectional sketches. Original size: 4 x 6”

These were helpful in thinking about the distribution and light gathering properties of the façade.

This spreadBuilding massing models. Original scale: 1:50

As I made programmatic sketches I began making massing models out of green floral foam. The foam was easy to manipulate and allowed me to quickly model new iterations as my sketches changed. I tried changing the appearance and texture of the green foam models so that I could use them in a critique but I couldn’t successfully manipulate them. Each of the massing models shared an emphasis on building all of the program up to the street and leaving some courtyard space to the inside of the site. My hand is holding the model final model of the set so as to give it a better sense of scale.

Initial Models

Form 31

Initial Design

AbovePerspective of kitchen and office area on the northeast side, 2 October 2009Original size: 4 x 6”

This image was the first that used a combination of watercolor and drawing to explore ideas. I have used watercolor in other projects but never as a design tool. At this point in the design that this sketch was made I was unsure of the plan and section of the building but this sketch and the “Perspective looking down office hall to the south” asked questions about the color and shape that light took, the height of the ceiling, and the termination of this minor axis.

RightPerspective looking down office hall to the south, 2 October 2009Original size: 4 x 6”

This sketch is looks south down a main hall on the fourth (administration) floor. It raised questions early on in the design of how the elevator core would be lit, the presence of the ceiling, and the intersection of curtain wall and opaque interior wall. Like its sister sketch that looks down the northeast side of the fourth floor it sparked by interest in watercolor as a serious way to design during the rest of the process.

Form 33

AboveWatercolor perspective of part of lobby space, 8 October 2009Original size: 4 x 6”

This watercolor perspective is taken looking down the curtain wall next to Sixth St. to the back wall drawing your eye into the blackbox theater. The large cube on the right side of the perspective is the stair volume. I began thinking about the stair volume as a rather opaque thing in this sketch but decided to later reverse the condition and make the blackbox the only opaque entity on the ground floor.

This is a diagram of the spaces that were identified as “light” spaces and “dark” spaces in the early stages of design. In the final design the spaces that need light have been pushed up to the street wall. The spaces that do not need light or view have been recessed to the interior of the building.

The building is composed of two main sections: studios and the blackbox theater. The dance studios, lobby, administration and changing rooms are all a part of an economical post-tension slab, column, and core structure. The blackbox theater uses a separate steel skeleton. The reason both have been separated is so that transfer beams on the first floor can be avoided and so that a inner light courtyard can be created.

DarkPublic

light & Dark Public & Private

LightPrivate

Diagrams

Form 35

this spreadTurned oblique spatial diagrams.Original size: 8.5 x 11”Original scale: 1:50

The diagrams on these pages outline four constant issues from my first building sketches through the final design of the fall semester. While the form of the building did change in subtle ways during the spring semester, these diagrams were still relevant for illustrating the building.

There are two distinct circulation paths: one for the dancer/company member, the other for the general public. The path for a company member begins at a discrete entrance on 6th st. and traces up through their own locker rooms and up the elevator to studios or the administration floor. The public is divided into two groups: those that attend a performance and those that attend dance school or have brought their children to the dance school. The performance visitors proceed through the front lobby and into the theater. Parents bringing their children have a lounge in the lobby and children can use the stairs or the elevators to go to their classes.

Company

Circulation Paths

General Public

Materials Taxonomy

Photos by (top to bottom): KPF, Ryan Fujita, Michael Conners, and the author

AboveSketch exploded axon of select building parts.

This diagram is meant to call out the main materials of the design. The images used are representative of the material but not specifically the material in the NCDT building. The solid red lines identify each of the parts and the dotted lines represent how the drawing was exploded.

Form 37

Glass Curtain Wall

Concrete Structure

Reclaimed Brick

Dirty Purple Wall

The principle structure is composed of concrete columns and post-tension slabs. The black box structure is steel but most of it will be concealed while the concrete will be exposed and polished.

The building envelope consists primarily of a glass curtain wall. Also, a row of benches line the edge of the curtain wall on the first floor and is represented by the pulled off to the side.

The brick from the Carolina Theater that was previously on the site is used as the floor for the first floor lobby. The reclaimed brick has a natural textual variety, is durable, and echoes the history of the site.

This wall was inspired partly by concrete dye experiments in another class and the texture of the walls at the Chapel of St. Ignatius designed by Steven Holl. The wall will be lit from above so as to call out the texture of the plaster. The bold deep purple color of the wall is meant to be playful against a building that is ordered and rigid. The purple wall is the lobby interior face of the core wall that encloses the elevators.

The letters pulled from the face of the wall represent the building name in brushed metal mounted an inch from the face of the purple wall.

Watercolor AxonThis spreadWatercolor axon.Original size: 9 x 12” I used this axon for building development and the final fall semester design by drawing and painting only one part at a time and scrubbing and erasing the parts that changed.

Form 39

Watercolor PerspectiveThis spreadWatercolor perspective through lobby space.Original board size: 22 x 30”

This perspective built on an original postcard size sketch done early in the fall semester. The perspective is taken from the parents lounge and looking along Tryon St. The curtain wall is located to the right. The final design of the spring semester resembled the physical massing and austerity that this image evokes.

Form 41

Interior PerspectiveThis spreadInterior perspective taken from the middle of the lobby near the entrance on the bottom floor.Original board size: 22 x 30”

Form 43

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MECHANICAL AREA

STORAGEM. COMPANYLOCKER ROOMAND BATHROOM

W. COMPANYLOCKER ROOMAND BATHROOM

MECHANICAL

Orthographic Drawings

PLAN 0

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STORAGEM. COMPANYLOCKER ROOMAND BATHROOM

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Form 63

This spreadFinal spring semester model.

Original model scale: 1/16” = 1’0”

Building & Site Model

This spreadFinal spring semester model. Original model scale: 1/16” = 1’0”


Form 65

This spreadFinal spring semester model. Original model scale: 1/16” = 1’0”


Form 67

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Ground Floor

A-3

B64’

108’

40’

105’

116’

AppendixBuilding Code Analysis

OPEN

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88’

Typical Floor of 4

Key

Wall poche for drawing clarity

Two hour separation between A-3 and B occupanciesOccupancy classifications boundaryEgress path of travel to exit or egress stair

Egress stair

Room Number

Length of egress path of travel10’10

Building Spaces

Note: Some of the spaces listed below may not appear in the drawings.

1 Entrance2 Lobby3 Box Office4 Parents Lounge5 Company Locker Rooms6 Blackbox Theater/Studio7 Men’s Bathroom8 Women’s Bathroom9 Family Locker Rooms10 Lounge11 Wardrobe12 Light Storage13 Dance Studio14 Offices15 Director’s Office16 Workstations17 Kitchen/Break18 Conference

Appendix 69

Bibliography

Croft, Catherine. Concrete Architecture. London: Laurence King Publishing Ltd, 2004.

Detail Magazine, Architectural Details 2003. Oxford: Architectural Press, 2004.

“Building.” Laban. Available from http://www.laban.org/building.phtml. Internet; accessed 22 November 2009.

“Rudolf Laban.” Laban.org. Available from http://www.laban.org/php/news.php?id=20. Internet; accessed 09 December 2009.

Mack, Gerhard. Herzog and de Meuron 1978-1988: The Complete Works. Basel:Birkhäuser, 1997.

Mack, Gerhard. Herzog and de Meuron 1992-1996: The Complete Works. Basel:Birkhäuser, 2005.

Philip, Jodidio. Architecture Now! 3. Taschen, 2004.

Richards, Brent. New Glass Architecture. London: Laurence King Publishing Ltd, 2006.

Key Quotes

Architecture has its own realm. It has a special physical relationship with life. I do not think of it primarily as either a message or a symbol, but as an envelope and background for life which goes on in and around it, a sensitive container for the rhythm of footsteps on the floor, for the concentration of work, for the silence of sleep.Peter Zumthor, Thinking Architecture, p12

To me, the presence of certain buildings has something secret about it. They seem simply to be there. We do not pay any special attention to them. And yet it is virtually impossible to imagine the place where they stand without them... I have a passionate desire to design such buildings, buildings that, in time, grow naturally into being a part of the form and history of their place. Every new work of architecture intervenes in a specific historical situation. It is essential to the quality of the intervention that the new building should embrace qualities that can enter into a meaningful dialogue with the existing situation. For if the intervention is to find its place, it must make us see what already exists in a new light. We throw a stone into the water. Sand swirls up and settles again. The stir was necessary. The stone has found its place. But the pond is no longer the same.Peter Zumthor, Thinking Architecture, p17

We are less engaged in producing than we are in practicing. It’s a refrain that runs through the work of even the best draftsmen and draftswomen. We do it not because we’re good at it, but because there is some prospect that if we keep doing it, eventually we may be good.Peter Steinhart, The Undressed Art, p.10

Place, use and form. The form reflects the place, the place is just so, and the use reflects this and that.Peter Zumthor, Atmospheres, p.69

Belief in the significance of architecture is premised on the notion that we are, for better or for worse, different people in different places – and on the conviction that it is architecture’s task to render vivid to us who we might ideally be.Alain De Botton, The Architecture of Happiness, p.13

Perhaps you are wondering already why a toolrack should be taken so seriously.

Surely it needs no more ‘designing’ than comes naturally with a bit of common sense? Well of course design is that; perhaps a little more; but it is certainly an everyday activity responding to everyday demands.... It is only bad design that adds art. Considered design simply reaches through the available levels of meaning in the job starting with the base-line – utility – as a solid foundation, and ending harmoniously, let us hope, with pleasingly relevant decisions and the ‘levels’ – ideally – in perfect register.Norman Potter, Models and Constructs, p.23

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Appendix 71

Laban Center Precedent

I became interested in the Laban Center early in the semester because of its unique envelope properties, its breathtaking outside appearance and its program. While the spatial needs of the North Carolina Dance Theater are much less complex and the settings for both are very different, I was interested in bringing to my studio project some of the same playful qualities as the Laban Center. The Laban Center also includes sixteen performance spaces and the NCDT only five.

LabanThe Laban method of dance was pioneered by Rudolf Laban (1879-1958), a choreographer and dance theorist of the early twentieth century. Laban began studies in architecture at the Ecole des Beaux-Arts in France but later turned his attention to dance. Laban established the practice of dance analysis known as choreology and invented a way of mapping dance movements known as Labanotation. His writings on dance notation systems are still in practice today and his work on movement and efficiency in the workplace laid the groundwork for many researchers to follow him. Despite his dance notation systems Laban never wanted to be said as having a specific dance method, only a method of curiosity and questioning. The Laban Center began in 1948 as the Art of Movement Studio in Manchester, England. Five years later they moved to just outside London and to expand their facilities and just recently moved to their new building designed by Herzog and de Meuron. In addition the Laban Center has merged with the Trinity College of Music to form a massive music and dance school.

Herzog and de MeuronJacques Herzog and Pierre de Meuron were born just a few weeks apart in early 1950 in Basel, Switzerland. They first became friends as architecture students studying at the ETH Zurich, Switzerland, from 1970-1975. In addition both studied as assistants at the same time under the Italian neo-rationalist architect and designer Aldo Rossi for a year. Rossi’s ideas about the analogical city greatly influenced their early designs as a partnership. Three years after graduation in 1978 they formed their partnership and set up base in their hometown Basel, Switzerland. While our perception of Herzog and de Meuron is typically of new buildings in their first decade together nearly half of their work were renovations or modifications to existing buildings. This is partly because of

1 Stone HouseThe Stone House was designed early in H & DM’s career but illustrates the roots of their focus on elemental forms and almost Donald Judd type purity. It takes its name and its principle material from the terraced olive tree fields that cover the hills near the building. The house is clad in the same type of stone that the terraces are buttressed with and the unfinished concrete frame matches the pale blue gray stone.Photographer unknown

2 Apartment Building in BaselThis apartment building is an urban infill project on a very narrow site and it is a great place to see H & DM’s attitude towards the building surface. Just as in the Laban Center H & DM create a multi-layered facade that still has a taunt appearance. Photo by Margherita Spiluttini

3 Goetz GalleryThis gallery’s simple mass, diffuse light characteristics, and very few direct views influenced the Laban Center. The upper galleries are simple white boxes, devoid of any surface articulation or view windows that would compete for the viewers focus on the art. The exterior is just as plain and the mass of the building sits directly on the ground. Photo by Martin Lambie

4 Rudolf Laban

5 Laban dance studioView inside a dance studio with a ballet class in progress. Note the subtle turquoise window wall gradient from the left side of the photo to the right. The color gradient is caused by varying the color film applied to the back of the exterior polycarbonate and the rather even texture of the color is caused by the matt film applied to the inner curtain wall. Photographer unknown

6 Deptford Creek

Deptford Creek

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ing sits next to Deptford Creek, a tributary of the Thames. It is the largest structure of it’s kind in the area.

Appendix 73

Section A

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Building Spaces1 Entrance2 Foyer3 Café4 Therapy5 Office6 Staff room7 Studio8 Theater9 Light Well10 Workshop11 Lecture Hall12 Library13 Bar14 Teachers room15 Studio Theater

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A note on the drawingsAll of the drawings of the Laban Center on the following pages were redrawn from measured drawings of the project in the book Architectural Details 2003. I chose to redraw all of the images so that I had a deeper understanding of the project than I would have had I simply used the originals as illustrations. Drawing each line made me question which ones were essential and which ones I could leave out and still tell an accurate story of the facade and building structure. Hand sketching was also quicker than crafting a hard line drawing. Some of the drawings have also been augmented with colored bands to recall the colors of the buildings polycarbonate skin. Also, hand drawing the Laban Center was in step with fifth year process and representation.

OppositeSatellite image from Google Maps.

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ing sits next to Deptford Creek, a tributary of the Thames. It is the largest structure of it’s kind in the area.

this spreadSketch watercolor axon. The circled numbers indicate the sequence taken when building the Laban Center facade from the first elements (1) to the last elements (9).

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Double glazing: 10mm toughened glass, 16mm cavity, laminate safety glass with matt film

Triple-layer transparent polycarbonate hollow cellular slabs with colored rear face

Axon a

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77mm cement topping, underfloor heating

20mm elastic bearers

2x9mm plywood sheeting

5mm vinyl flooring

300mm structural concrete slab

Double glazing: 10mm toughened glass, 16mm cavity, laminate safety glass with matt film

Steel grating, aluminum panel, see section on the next spread for details

Switzerland’s small area. The country’s area is over 3.5 times smaller than North Carolina’s and much of it is in mountain ranges so most work comes as modifications to the established urban fabric. For example, the apartment building on the next page contains medieval firewalls that Herzog and de Meuron painted white and used as structure for a set of concrete floor slabs.

Appendix 75

Copyright © 2011 Patrick WillettNo part of this book may be reproduced in any form without written permission of the author. If you’re just quoting some text or something like that then don’t worry about it. Bottom line: don’t steal anything in here and call it yours.

Introduction photograph taken during my final spring critique. Photograph by Thomas Gentry.

All photographs, drawings, text, and layout by Patrick Willett unless otherwise noted. All attempts have been made to credit others’ images but if I missed something I sincerely apologize.

This book was produced in Adobe Indesign and uses Hoefler and Frere-Jones’ Archer as its sole typeface. Archer’s delicate lines and ball terminals make it a joy to place next to technical drawings. The printed version of this book was printed using Lulu.

This portfolio is available online as well as other work from the author at:issuu.com/pwillett/docs/studioportfolio10

Studio Portfolio - Spring 2010

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