Doron Serban

MASTER OF ARCHITECTURE 2008

Syracuse University School of Architecture

BACHELOR OF ARTS; Music 2001

Minor of Arts; History
University of California, Riverside

CONTACT INFO:
3632 Trintel Ct.
Walnut Creek, CA 94598
925.482.5256
doronserban@gmail.com
CONTENTS

2 Curriculum Vitae

DESIGN
6 COUNTERPOINT: An Architecture of Air
Thesis | Fall 2007

26 N_PRK
Graduate Studio | Fall 2005

VISIONS
32 GHOST DESIGN LAB
Freelance | 2007

34 LANDESGARTENSCHAU 2010
Freelance | 2008

36 QUEENS PLAZA BICYCLE AND PEDESTRIAN IMPROVEMENT PROJECT W/WRT

Freelance | 2008

RESEARCH
40 COMMUNICATIONS
Graduate lab | Spring 2005

44 TYPOLOGY
Graduate seminar | Spring 2008

46 BUILDING THINKING MAKING

Graduate Studio | Fall 2004

48 POLYTOPES
Thesis Prep | Spring 2007
EDUCATION
MASTER OF ARCHITECTURE 2008
Syracuse University School of Architecture
Thesis Awards Jury: COUNTERPOINT: an Architecture of Air

BACHELOR OF ARTS; Music 2001

Minor of Arts; History
University of California, Riverside

PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE
ILLUSTRATOR 7.2005 - 5.2008
Autodesk, Inc. San Rafael, CA
Technical Publishing Department: Layout and graphics for “New Features” cue-cards for AutoCAD 2009, 3D archi-
tectural content for the Building Your World (AutoCAD 2007); Content creation for the “New Features Workshop”
(AutoCAD 2007, AutoCAD 2008); Sample drawings and illustrations for AutoCAD (2007-2010), sample content for
Autodesk Impression

ARCHITECTURAL VISUALIZER 6.2006 – Current

Freelance Syracuse, NY
3D modeling, lighting, texturing, rendering (photoreal, npr), animations, compositing, imaging solutions, portfolio de-
sign, music composition, music tracking; projects include visualization for international competition entries, renderings
for publication, renderings for built-work award submissions, animations for design proposals

MUSIC PRODUCTION SERVICES 8.2002 – 6.2006

Freelance Oakland, CA
Film scoring, commercial projects, live tracking, sound design, compositions, visuals including cover designs, animations, liner graphics

JAZZ PIANIST 3.2000 – Current

Freelance Northern/Southern CA
Experienced in solo jazz piano, small ensembles, big band

DESIGN / BUILD: GHOST ARCHITECTURAL LABORATORY 6.2007 – 7.2007

Independent Study Nova Scotia, Canada
Design/build of a barn on the MacKay-Lyons farm.

VOLUNTEER
Habitat for Humanity 5.2005 – 6.2005
Laborer Buffalo, NY
Assisted with construction of 5 single-family residences

 CURRICULUM VITAE
ACADEMIC EXPERIENCE
TEACHING ASSISTANT
Syracuse University School of Architecture 1.2007 - Current
Instruction in AutoCAD (2D/3D), 3ds Max 8/2009, Rendering concepts and application, parametric modeling, animation,
Microsoft office, lighting, Next Limit Real Flow, Adobe Creative Suite

DESIGN CRITIC
Syracuse University School of Architecture 3.2008
Media II (Prof. Sprecher)

Syracuse University School of Architecture 2.2008

Architectural Design II (Prof. Tirone)

PUBLICATIONS
Syracuse University School of Architecture 1.2006 – 5.2006
Grad Sessions – Conversations With Greg Lynn
Flash site development, animations, and disc mastering of the design process for the SLavin House (Greg Lynn)

Building Your World: Conceptual Design and Visualization with AutoCAD, 2006
Illustrations
Autodesk, Inc.

Intersight: Journal of the School of Architecture and Planning v8.05, 2005

Associate Editor
Buffalo Book

Design Documentation of Woodframe Project Index Buildings, 2003

Illustrations
CUREE Pub. NO W-29

SKILLS
LANGUAGES
French & Hebrew: fluent

SOFTWARE
3ds Max , Mental Ray, AutoCAD (2D/3D), Rhinoceros, RhinoScript, Autodesk Impression, Maya Real Flow, Cinema 4D, Adobe Illustrator,
Adobe Photoshop, Adobe InDesign, Adobe Premiere, Adobe After Effects, Sony Vegas, Sony Sound Forge, Cakewalk Sonar

FABRICATION
CNC Milling, 3D Printing, Laser Cutting

 COUNTERPOINT

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a sdf afd a
AN ARCHITECTURE
safd jafds askfsahfdsauhfewa OFfeah
;ofauhfa AIR | BRUSSELS, BELGIUM
fewa hfea ‘ofewahfeaufeahfea feauhfea
ufewahfea feahfeahfeahuh feahfceufah fea
u fahfau fafahfa feauhfeahfewafewa few-
Aaron Sprecher
Scott Ruff
aihfauf afhfeahufeahfeaiufea fa jufdhfda
ADVISORS
ueahrea ueafIt, quat. At, volortisim aci blam
quismod ipisit wiscin utat, quissequam alit
Michael Pelken
ad ming eriliquam,
Alexanderconsect etuerit alis alit,
Eisenschmidt
commy nosJURY essequat, vel dolorem qui etum
exer seniam, quis accumsandre minciliqui
bla feu feuguer iustie eummolorem dolor-
perat luptat vullaor sis nullutat.
Unt dio et, cons nosto endiamconse vul-
landiatis alit, consequ ipisci tet illa feu feuis
ex elismod Edgard Vareseamcommy
olenim iureet posits his nos
Poeme nos Electronique (for the Philips Pavilion at the 1958
nos at, vulla commy nulla aute magna at of sonic masses moving against each other. As
World Expo) as the spatialization
augue magnit, such,vero
it transcends
commy niam, the aural.
sustioItod is a music beyond notes. This responsive architec-
mod ming exerat, quip eummodit, quat. Ud by means of a passage from that song. It is the
ture is an atmospheric description
tat. Henisl expression of an architecture
doluptatet, quismod olorem zzril-of air; a pavilion exploring the spatial potentialities,
and the tectonics involved
laorem quam, susto do cons ea con vel dole- in fabricating these experiences at multiple scales.
nissed del iril dolorero et, quisciduis aut nibh
endrem in In investigating
estrud magnibhthe contrapuntal
esse erilis nullathrough the polyphony of music and architecture,
cons acipissed dolore minci blaorper logic,
mathematics as a formal si. a computation, became the language of transla-
Andit, sim nonsecte feu faciliq uatisis eu- and music seek to make concrete desire. An
tion between the two. Architecture
giam dolorabstraction via mathematical
ipit veratueril ut utpat nullum logic provides the possibility for a newness, manifest
alis adipsus cidunt ulputet augiamet lobore(the arts), a hypothesis (mathematics), and the
out the synthesis of a question
evaluation
tatisim alissed dolortieofestionsecte
the experience duis(theam feedback loop).
nos diatum eummy nostie tet irit nismolore
essim zzritThe polytope, odolobo
dolenismodo constructed out of a reading of The Philips Pavilion’s architect, Ian-
rperiuscilit
nis Xenakis, serves as
alisl ut et, quat autpati scilit irit dolorperthe framework
aci- for this investigation. The Digital domain
propagates an environment
lis eum iliquis cidunt ent wiscipisi. where music is more than sound, where architec-
ture transcends form. If virtual space shifts music, vis-a-vis notation, from the
representational to the analytical, intelligence, combining logical and intuitive deci-
sion processes, materializes. A polytope is composed through the interaction
of architectural and musical thoughts and means. Counterpoint, as a polyphony
of individual threads, investigates the morphology of invariants (traditional archi-
tectural and musical constructs) and an amalgam of musical and architectural
encounters.

 COUNTERPOINT
Julia Czerniak
Phu Dong
STUDIO PROFESSORS


 Sonic Artifact

Poeme Electronique stereo

recording

Analysis
Sonic Mass Map (x,y,z) = (Time, 0, z)
software: Sound Forge, Excel
Elements Sonic Range Map (x,y,z) = (Time, Mid Point, 0)

Kill Point Map determinent for vertical / horizontal shifts

Point cloud in Rhino

Application Data Set

Points as Structure Points as Space ARCHITECTURAL SOUND

Lofted Cross Sections Voronoi Tesselation

Edgard Varese aspired to create sound as a spatial
construct,. The first mode of inquiry looked at an
abstraction to mathematical logics, an
investigation commenced to develop said work spatially.
Analysis The 480” piece is comprised of four
segments: Exposition (0’), Development (2’),
Programme Possibility
Recapitulation (4’) and Coda (6’). The protocol for
Aesthetics
Potentials “sonic mass” is a means of understanding the
Aleotoric
compositional merits of Varese, his aspirations, and a
way of taking a data set from one art, and establishing
it as the generator for another.
protocol
Sonic mass produces a number that computes
multiple variables that Varese utilizes to attain a
spatiality of sound. Rather than a visualization of the
piece, it is a careful analysis of how sound, time, and
the analysis of aural phenomenon can generate an
equation. It is derived to calculate maximum sound

 COUNTERPOINT
 detail of mapping at initial condition (above), mapping across 8 seconds (below right)

waves, the frequency range said waves occupy at any given time (total range) and a
variable that uses N factorial to account for the accumulation of sounds over time.
Using this data for a test on the first 20 seconds of the piece, time was mapped
linearly, allowing for sonic mass to be created in time.

Moving into 3 dimensions, the total range was used to create the “spread” of the
sounds at any given point. Systems were inserted during the analysis. One such
system became the kill point. Understood as a bottom level for a frequency, it
allowed to analyze where sounds could be minimal enough to warrant non-use.
That point, relative to the overall range informed a ground plane manipulation.
Lastly, the kill points relation to the following point determined whether the center
line for the following point would be “in line” shifted right (greater than previous)
or shifted left (less than).


 animation of 2” radius aperture conflict (above)
axonometric and cross section of 2” radius Conflict (below)

opposite:
analysis of a 2” radius aperture resulting in form
derivation

PHASE 1: EMPIRICAL ESSAYS

The first series of essays test how air behaves when confronted with an
interface. Using Realflow, gusts of air were propelled through a series of
apertures and analyzed for shifts in density, pressure, turbulence, and
emergent form.

Derivatives became a major element of the design process. Care was

given to not create a hegemony for either the quantitative tools found
within RealFlow, nor through the qualitative capabilities embedded
in the resultant animations - as evolving surfaces- when exported to
visualization tools (3ds Max).

10 COUNTERPOINT
11
 Three essays emerged from these experiments: the
aperture, the funnel and the bubble. The logic framing these essays
incorporates a feedback loop whereby form can be generated and sub-
sequently tested through itself, potentially informing and re-informing.

The aperture conflict tests the perpendicular condition. Derived from

a series of controls, including speed, the number of apertures, various
depths and radii of apertures, these initial moves would greatly influence
subsequent tests. A frame from the experiment of a 5 mph gust hitting
a 6 inch deep wall with a 2 inch radius aperture created a sufficiently
interesting exchange -judged with intuitive and mathematic modes of
inquiry and informed the derivative: the form for the funnel. These experi-
ments repeated until a proficiency in both software as a tool, and as a
generator, as well as a general design methodology was developed to
apply these essays at a real-world scale.

axonometrics of funnel and bubble conflicts (top & above),

animation of funnel conflict (below)

opposite:
analysis of a 2” radius aperture deriving form
derivation

12 COUNTERPOINT
13
resultant form from angle derivations of balloon conflict
(above)
animation (bottom)

opposite:
density reading of balloon conflict (left)
pressures reading of balloon conflict (center)
initial form generation of conflict (right)

14 COUNTERPOINT
15
16 COUNTERPOINT
 September conflict in motion (above)

opposite:
(clockwise from left) time-lapse of pressures at October Conflict,
Perspective of September conflict in motion,
PHASE 2: SITE SPECIFICITY October wind rose at site.

The second phase focused on applying said conflicts, as a lexicon, to the original site of the 1958
World Expo. The Brussels site was located to create a didactic relationship between the original Philips
Pavilion and this architectural response to the music which formed the tripartite. The pavilion season (April -
August) was mapped through wind roses, and a site priori adjacent to the original Philips location
was claimed.

The strongest current on site informed the first conflict. An architecturally-appropriate expres-
sion of the funnel morphology as an insertion into the landscape begins a new dialogue. The model
when brought back into Realflow, creates a new reading when activated at a much larger scale.

17
 What emerges is a four dimensional reading of an ambiguous architecture. The evocative nature
of renderings produce environments which blur the distinction between the real and the virtual.
The architecture becomes both the spatialized mapping of air interfacing with the landscapes, as
well as the “in situ” architectures evoking a Richard Serra reading of objects in the landscape. As
Derivatives for various months are grafted on to the first conflict, creating a new counterpoint of
individual conflicts which work in harmony.

The ambiguity in the architectures opens up a potential for destabilizing the definitive moment.
The architecture can be read as an image, an object, even an animation. It ceases to be real or
virtual, but begs to be both. The lack of any scalar signifiers, even in the material delineations
hints at many scales, from the minute to the monumental. The architecture ceases to be anything
other than itself. It is developed through a historical, analytical, and phenomenal sensitivity but truly
autonomous as a formal expression.

18 COUNTERPOINT
June Conflict in motion (above, below),
opposite: June Conflict detail

19
PHASE 3: PROGRAMMED

The essays were further developed into a

proposal for a programmed space., cel-
ebrating the planned 50th anniversary of
the original Philips Pavilion. Programmatic,
tectonic, topological and typological re-
quirements were analyzed through mul-
tiple conflicts to create a hybrid conflict.
To emphasize the ephemeral and ethereal
nature of air, the skin was developed as
the primary system. Rather than create a
mimetic architecture vis-a-vis the second
phase essays, an impossible surface is pro-
posed which requires an impossible struc-
ture. The built artifact questions the role the
grotesque in architecture.

The traditional separation of a pavilion from

the landscape via a plinth is interpreted to be
an autonomous horizontal creature situated
on a compound sloped landscape. The pavil-
ion’s ground plane impregnates itself into the
Eastern opening, but cantilevers on the
Western facade, signifying its independence
from the landscape. This is further articu-
lated with the braking down of the skin as
a continuous surface on the northern face,
blurring interiority and exteriority.

The proposal is thus both intrinsic to its con-

text in the design process, but is simultane-
ously read as an autonomous figure on the
landscape. It questions the role of process
and product, of whether the didactic reading
refers to the audience, or to its composer.

final model, 1/116” (right)

opposite:
East Entrance looking into Exhibition Pavilion

20 COUNTERPOINT
21
22 COUNTERPOINT
 -3’2”

+0’

-2’6”

Exhibition
TBD

Experiential
Wall

Forum

+0’

Projected
sound: PE

Exhibition
Philips Pav

exploded axonometric (above),

plan (top right),
interior (bottom right),

opposite:
opening of the Western facade

23
 A THOUGHT

“It is hard to write a beautiful song. It is harder to write several individually beautiful songs that, when sung simultaneously, sound as a more
beautiful polyphonic whole. The internal structures that create each of the voices, separately must contribute to the emergent structure of
the polyphony, which in turn must reinforce and comment on the structures of the individual voices. The way that is accomplished in detail
is...’counterpoint’” –John Rahm

West elevation with skin removed (top),

opposite:
final model on site, 1/16”

24 COUNTERPOINT
saduhfsa diuhf aef iuhfeaf ewafeahfdahufd fdsahfea uhfeafe

25
26 N.PRK
N.PRK
TAYLOR YARDS_PARK_NO PARK_UNPACK_UNPARK | GRADUATE STUDIO | FALL 2005

Julia Czerniak
Phu Dong
STUDIO PROFESSORS

“Dissonance is our way of life in America. We are something apart, yet an integral part “
-Duke Ellington

Taylor Yards is dissonance. What was once a train depot; what was once an industrial site; what
was once. It is in a constant state of change: seasonally, demographically, financially, politically.
75 years of (ab)use has left the site with an identity: the lack of one. Like Los Angeles itself, n.pRk
organizes through simultaneity. Where LA’s various entities remain autonomous while informing
the whole, n.pRk claims a series of independent experiences (entities), indifferent to each other,
informing each other; intrinsically forming a greater whole: a dissonance of experience.

DISSONANCE_FREE JAZZ
The emancipation of dissonance proclaims that each entity achieves its own state of consonance.
Carried through free jazz, where structural systems are implied, loosely utilized or abandoned,
dissonance is used as a point of departure in organizing the site. With the Miles Davis Quintet as
a case study, “Flamenco Sketches” is mapped in relation to (tonal) form and (rhythmic) structure.
Each member of the quintet solos over the same series of five modes, while the duration each
soloist plays within said modes is dependent on his own logic. The same formal language is used
by each, but through personalization, it is expressed at different scales, Though no formal tonal
nor rhythmic melody exists, one can reverse engineer a theme, as each member “builds” upon the
previous soloists.

DISSONANCE_SOLO
n.pRk is organized through a series of entities or fixed points: The built complex; the sport courts at
the channel; the depressed athletic field; the dog park. All these entities carry their own epicenters.
The formulation of each entity, directed via the precedence of the prior formulation(s) informs an
improvisatory landscape; autonomous and intrinsically linked. The built complex’s torqued form
Reflections along the LA River (top, above)
Section across pool (below),

opposite:
Double Hinge Ideagram

27
 connects to Los Angeles and to Taylor Yards specifically. The chaotic
rotations of planes in the vertical and horizontal - overlapping, ignoring
and informing - reflect LA’s street grids. The site, a train depot at one
point in its seventy five year history re-emerges through a knuckle condi-
tion. Virtually every axial rotation within the park’s entities can be traced
to this loci.

DISSONANCE_HARMONY
Sounds from different entities permeate the site. Barking at the dog
park, tennis balls and basketballs at the sport courts, skateboard/in line
wheels at the pool and at the concrete spreading ground, swimmers and
divers all have different rhythmic and aural cadences but evoke an urban
harmony. Appropriation is a major component of n.pRk. The concrete
spreading grounds draw inspiration from LA’s skateboard culture of the
1970’s, and are designed to allow skaters a safe haven. The depressed
athletic field serves as a three tiered emergency flood basin. The steps
along the river bank, repeated at various scales throughout the site are a
point of interaction, and register water levels . The formed amphitheater
is the primary spreading ground for the site.

DISSONANCE_COUNTERPOINT
Trees are planted throughout the site to reinforce the Cypress street
directionality. In doing so, they create a dissonance with the dominant

28 N.PRK
 (from top to bottom):
section at public bathroom
section at half pipe
section at pool complex
Superimposition Ideagram

opposite:
plan (left,)
Dissonance mapping of pianist Keith Jarrett (bottom right)

street, San Fernando, which runs parallel to the site. The entities reflect the immediate as well
as the local. Following the five major green spaces surrounding Taylor Yards - Elysian Park, Cy-
press Park, Silver Lake Recreation Center, Elyria Canyon Park and Ernest Debs Reg Park – the
entities are developed with a common language and part of the local framework of the city, yet
autonomous through appropriation and environment, propagating multiple user-site & user-user
experiences.

DISSONANCE_TEMPO
The site can be experienced at different speeds. Direct routes between the entities are an
analogue to the mapping of the surrounding parks. Every entity accommodates an autono-
mous interaction, and the user can roam through the park, losing oneself within this micro-
cosm of LA. Points within these circulation paths delineate speeds. Athletic stations at ev-
ery quarter mile throughout a majority of the paths (the active segment) balance the hidden
pleasures- paths that lead to meditative points. On a larger scale, vehicular paths do not loop
around the park. The two roads only serve as access points. Pedestrian bridges across the river
connect the communities, but n.pRk serves as a buffer. Rest stations work at multiple scales. In
the immediate, they form as park benches; for over-nighters (LA’s 80’000 homeless people) they
transform to sleeping platform.

29
30
ENVISIONING POTENTIALS | FREELANCE

ENVISIONING POTENTIALS | FREELANCE

31
 photos under construction (above top), shading/skinning studies (right, opposite)
32 VISIONS
GHOST 09
Nova Scotia
Brian MacKay-Lyons
ARCHITECT

skinning/lighting studies, competition

renderings
WORK COMMISSIONED

33
LANDESGARTENSCHAU 2010
Hemer, Germany
Michael Pelken + Markus Hermann
(energydesignlab)
ARCHITECT

competition renderings
WORK COMMISSIONED

Josh Cabot (additional 3D modeling)

PROJECT COLLABORATOR

34 VISIONS
35
36 VISIONS
QUEENS PLAZA BICYCLE
AND PEDESTRIAN
IMPROVEMENT PROJECT
Long Island City, NY
Marpillero Pollack Architects
ARCHITECT

animation
WORK COMMISSIONED

Bruce Davison (3D modeling)

Elizabeth Tweedale (photoshop compositing)
PROJECT COLLABORATORS

37
ools, by introduc- Building Views:
t of the class was
COMMUNICATIONS
f seven Exercises
Using combination of two- and
CHURCH three-dimensional
OF THE LIGHT paraline | ANALYTICAL CONSTRUCTS Daniel Dadoyan
uilding Drawings, views, assemble a spatial se- PROFESSOR
the production of quence through the precedent.
Analysis of spatial logic is
h key examples of crucial
BUILDING VIEWS The medium is ink on a
30” x 40” sheet of Duralar. Any
PROGRAM Communications explores systems of architectural representation as
combination of scales ranging
Using a combination of two-
from 1/16”=1’ and three-
to ¼”=1’ is ac- intellectual and analytical tools, by introducing (precedent) analysis as
dimensionalceptable.paraline views, a speculative and creative mode of inquiry in architecture. Using Tadao
assemble a spatial sequence through Ando’s Church with the Light (Church of the Light)a a series of seven
Direct Analysis
the precedent. light is traced
of through
spatial
Exercises - Drawing Building, Building Views, Building Perspectives, Build-
the church.
logic is crucial Light projections
The medium is ink
ing Projections, Building Sections, Building Drawings, and Portfolio - aims
on a 30” x were orthographically
40” sheet of Duralar. mapped
Any
to produce a body of analytical work that not only explores uses of digital
combinationonto
of various
scaleswalls, then decon-
ranging from
1/16”=1’ tostructed
¼”=1’ to form a continuous
is acceptable. tools in the production of two-dimensional and three-dimensional, physi-
band of light traveling through cal constructions, but familiarizes key examples of 20th century archi-
the composition. The result tecture.
CONCEPT form became a play between
an axonometric
Direct light is traced and athrough
planned
the church.shadow.
Light The final rendering
projections are
was produced
orthographically mapped with onto Rapido-
walls,
graph pens on the front, with
thereafter deconstructed to form
a reverse-side spray paint
a continuous band of
underlay. Thelight traveling
result (detail
through thebelow) allows lightThe
composition. to bounce
resul-
off the to
tant form begins drawing
read to as produce
a play
between an axonometric and a planned
shadow. The final rendering, produced
with Rapidograph pens on the front,
incorporates a reverse-side spray paint
underlay. The result (detail below)
allows light to bounce off the drawing.

40 COMMUNICATIONS
 a tool to analyze
buildings and bu
Church with the Light| Communications| spring With the 05 introdu
netic Resonan
repetitive virt
BUILDING SECTIONS through the bod
utilized to rec
entire human ana
PROGRAM exercise, explor
Sectioning has been used as a toollent to to the MRI in
Building Sections:
analyze and to study buildings and build- will be explored.
ing details. With the introductionconstruct of the e
as an assembly
Sectioning
Magnetic has beenImaging,
Resonance used asrepeti-
tivea tool
virtual
Building
to sections
analyze and to Sections:
through study
each 1/8” thick,
the body
laser cut in 1/8
havebuildings and building
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to reconstruct
Sectioning has been theused as toget
Withhuman
the introduction ofthisMag-
entire anatomy.
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exercise,
to studyfor the met
netic Resonance
exploration buildingstoImaging,
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building inis of utmost i
repetitive virtualthe introduction sections of Mag-
architecture willWith be explored. Digitally
through the netic body have Resonance been Sectioning
Imaging, the
reconstruct the entire building asinterpretation an o
utilized to repetitive
reconstructvirtual the sections
assembly of sections, each 1/8” thick, ing, the sphere
entire human anatomy. In this
through the body have been
which will be laser cut into1/8”
utilized and inthe
acrylic,
reconstruct turn sect
exercise, exploration equiva-
and assembled entire human
together. anatomy. a combination
Consider- In this of
lent to the MRI in architecture
ation for the exercise,
method of explorationis“cutting”
assembly equiva-
of
wall a
will be explored. Digitally re- within the church
lent to the MRI in architecture
construct
utmost the entire building has a unique re
importance.
will be explored. Digitally re-
as an assembly construct of sections,
the entirethe building. Th
building
each 1/8” thick,
CONCEPT as an which will beof sections,
assembly is ingrained with
Thelaserrolecutofin mathematics
1/8”
each 1/8” acrylic,thick,and which
and wall.
the The
will be secon
assembled
universal hastogether.
laser
an cut Consider-
in 1/8” acrylic,
important partially
con- and cut via
ation for the wall, with a loo
sideration in method
assembled
the church. of together.
assem-Ando’s Consider-
ation for the method top,
of and the last
assem-
bly is of utmost
sketches revealimportance. three cubes, the cross,
bly is of utmost importance. est to
representing the Trinity, as the organiz- removable.
Sectioning the diagrammatic
ing principle. If one understands
Sectioning the diagrammatic perfec-
interpretation of the build-
tion to exist in bothinterpretation
the cube andofsphere the build-
ing, the sphere ing, was realized,
the sphere
(vis a vis pure geometries), the was realized,
sphere
and in turn sectioned.
and in turn Due to
sectioned. Due to
is realized through the sectioning of this
a combinationa of the 15 degree
combination of the 15 degree
diagrammatic
“cutting” wallrealization
and thewall
“cutting” ofsteps
the
and build-
the steps
ing.within
Due to a combination
the church,
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gree a unique hasrelationship
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The building.
first has
sphere The
sphere first sphere
a unique
isthe
is ingrainedto within
relationship ingrained within
the cutting
building. Thethe cutting
first
wall. The second sphere, is
wall. isThe
sphere second within
ingrained sphere, the iscutting
partially cut via the cutting
partially
wall. cut wall,
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sphere, the iscutting
partially
a loose base cut and
viawall, with a wall,
the cutting loose
top, and
with base
thea last and
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top,and
andthe
thelast
estlasttosphere,
the cross,
sphere, clos-is completely
closest to
theest to the
cross, cross, is completely
removable.
is completely removable.
removable.
41
BUILDING PERSPECTIVES
PROGRAM
Perspective entails a set of components echo of which performing a spe-
cific function in the geometric construction. The object is to determine the
relation of these components to the precedent, as well as the relation(s)
among seven perspective views to be conceived as a single drawing. The
medium is ink on a 30” x 40” sheet of Duralar.

CONCEPT
Using light as the subject, the interior-exterior relationship in the
church is examined. Tadao Ando has referred to the cross at the
rear of the church as God attempting to enter the building. Thus,
the first perspective is rendered as the sole exterior (omni-
scient) view, with the building autonomous to its context.
Only in the interior does one get a true understanding
of the architectural forces at play. Each view, in
clockwise motion, abstracts the geometries,
where the seventh perspective finds the
vanishing point, station point, horizon line
and picture plane on the same point:
a line. Light on the exterior is
unversed within the struc-
ture, reinforcing the posi-
tive/negative spatial
relationship found
within the
church.

42 COUNTERPOINT
s: BUILDING PROJECTIONS

e
- PROGRAM
- To construct the perspective views, the
- rules of two-dimensional perspective
e
construction were applied. The con-
a
m struction lines of perspective projec-
e tion define nonetheless a three-di-
d mensional space from which a flat
- perspective image is derived. Using
e
fine wire and solder, construct the
e
g projection lines emanating from the
- station points defined in the previous
n drawing, choosing three of the seven
s) perspective projections. Propose an
e alternative picture plane(s) that will
s.
literally intersect the projection sys-
d tems.
s
s CONCEPT
- Light through the grid created out of
el
soldered points informs a new archi-
h
e tecture vis-a-vis the Building Perspec-
s tives exercise, creating a multi-level
- form which interacts with the shad-
ht owed projections, The foam -core sur-
-
face references the church’s “glass
-
like” concrete finish, diffusing the light
e
al evenly. Photography introduces anoth-
d er layer of complexity (through simplic-
n. ity). The shooting angle creates spatial
hierarchies, further referenced in the
documentation.

43
44 TYPOLOGY
TYPOLOGY
CONSTRUCTING THE IMAGE | PHOTO ESSAY

Marissa Tirone
PROFESSOR

The study approaches the role of subject and object. The faces are asked
to pose in front of the camera, and to act naturally. Perversion of owner-
ship can be read as a social experiment, whereby initial resistance to
being included in the photo-essay is replaced with an innate desire to
control one own’s “face presented to the world.” Inevitably, each subject
“required” photo approval and became both subject and photographer/
director, refusing to settle on anything less than his or her idealized self.
That idealized self reflects the subject’s assumed personality. How each
subject defines the idealized self, is presented in a sterile, decontextual-
ized collage, where gestures, textures, or abstractions reveals an intensi-
fication of the role of representation.

45
FOUNDATIONS
focuses on foundations, or “earth-
works,” as both form and con-
cept, and on the process and
spatial ramifications of casting through the
use of hydrocal. Craft and an “economy of
means” are of extreme importance.

FRAMEWORK
continues the investigation into
space making through tectonic
frameworks. Concentrating on
interpretations of light frame construction
technique as a means of translating spa-
tial logic of the foundation into framed
spaces.

SKIN
sheathes basswood frameworks with
acrylic/plastic materials, once again ex-
tending and refining the spatial logic es-
tablished on site. The project must utilize
3 skins: transparent, translucent, and
opaque.
BUILDING | THINKING | MAKING
ANALYTICAL CONSTRUCTS

Jean La Marche
STUDIO PROFESSOR

Based on Semper’s theory, a study of Kenneth

Frampton’s Studies in Tectonic Culture, sepa-
rates building into stereotomic (foundation), tec-
tonic (framework), and skin.. This study focuses
on casting/mold making (hydrocal), tectonic
construction (basswood), and skin/sheathing
(plastics/acrylics). Frampton argues that Sem-
per’s theories precede modernism and were a
harbinger of later arguments about structural
expression, the separation of structure and
cladding/skin, and economy of means. Through
the introduction of a simple program, the proj-
ect calls to mind potentials for the relationships
between spatial and material systems.
- Jean la Marche

47
 Architecture/Music

Posing of a question

Mathematics Abstraction

Testing possible hypotheses

Intuitive reapplication

Complexity
Emergence
Abstraction to systems (Sn)

Subsequent repetition
S1 S2 S3 S4 Sn

Organism

48 POLYTOPES
POLYTOPES
THESIS PREP | SOFTWARE EXPLORATION

Aaron Sprecher
Scott Ruff
THESIS PREP ADVISORS

Polytopes are the resultants of a method by which disparate elements can come together. The
fusion of numerous (polys) spaces or locations (topos) is a way to combine the aural and visual into
a new art, aimed at discovering a(nother) universal. Within a virtual environment, space can be
dynamic, fluid; opportunities for discovering new truths.

The protocol for developing these polytopes begins with a question. What might provoke this
question can be intrinsic. It can be extrinsic. It frames the context in which the question is asked.
Abstraction through mathematics and computation are a rational way to investigate hypotheses,
resulting in both logical and emergent possibilities. The logical framework, usually instigated as a
complex entity should be broken down. The breaking down of complexity into cellular structures
is necessary to gain a control over the processes. Without this control, chaotic behavior, as
unchecked intuition and emotion, reign supreme. It is in the breakdown of complexity that a new or-
ganism, separate in function, but mutually dependent, might form, giving birth to a new art-system.
This in turn, should incite a new series of questions or emotions, starting the cycle anew.

49
50 POLYTOPES
FOOTLOOSE

A direct dialog between architecture

and music is dangerous. The obvious
correlations-scale, colors of sound,
timbre-are coincidences at best, and
promote a superficial layering of the
two disciplines. To test whether this
is in fact fallacy, an experiment was
derived in which an audio signal could
effect a system, without becoming
self-evident. It functions in the same
way a wind system might act on
particles, derived with its own logic, but not
necessarily applicable to its host.

51
52 POLYTOPES
 CHASING AMY

What is the best way to control nature?

Should it be controlled, or is the goal to
record, or observe nature as an emergent
process? This experiment aimed to recreate
particle destructor
the natural, abet within an ordered system.
Lebbeus Woods argues that architecture
arises as a creative engagement with
conflict. The exception, however, is when

emmiter architecture must be introduced to create

conflict where none exists. A particle system
becomes the concretization of this system.
vortex min
Particles emit from a “random” point within

vortex max a plane (random seed

generator). A gravitational vortex conflicts
the expulsion of the particles, creating a
dialogue between attraction and repulsion.
Lofting said dialogue creates an emergence
condition, whereby minute (and not so
minute) changes among any of a number
of variables creates an immediate form
analysis.

53