VICTORIA LOWELL

MArch 2014, BSA 2013v i c t o r i a l o w e l l @ g m a i l . c o m

Table of Contents

Engaging Place: Through the Frame of Dissonance 1Benin West Africa 2

Green Living: Residential and Commercial Modular Units 3 Charles River Boathouse 4

Watercolor Renderings and Original Artwork 5

Engaging Place: Through the Frame of DissonanceMaster of Architecture Thesis - 2014

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Engaging Place: Through the Frame of DissonanceThesis - Fall 2013 through Spring 2014Primary Advisor: Martha Foss, AIA

Abstract:

As is characteristic of growing modern cities, traditionally pedestrian and urban spaces have been redeveloped to accommodate the growing demand for infrastructure in the form of highways and railways. A dissonance manifests where these infrastructures cause an interruption within the city.

In Boston, the convergence of Storrow Drive, the Esplanade, and the city, is an example of a site containing this type of dissonance, manifest through their inharmonious interaction. How can architecture act as a means to heighten the experience of the site through engaging the dissonance existing within this urban condition?

In a society where dissonant elements become an increasingly common urban condition and recede into the passive subconscious mind, this architectural thesis investigates how the dissonance can be engaged to facilitate a conversation and interaction, engaging with the active conscious mind. Architecture becomes the medium that responds to facilitate a conversation between incongruous and dissonant elements, bringing a heightened awareness to the site and the qualities and scales existing simultaneously within the site.

Urban Plan

Concept Models and Sketches

A

B

Site PlanScale: 1” = 64’

Site Plan

Site Section A

Design Plan

Originating with the research that prefaced the design phase, this architectural thesis works at an urban scale, and at a human scale. Through a person interacting with the architecture on multiple scale, the site is understood through the dissonance, creating a heightened awareness of the site and the conditions existing within the site.

The dissonance is engaged and understood through two bridges situated within the site.

This first bridge is understood differently depending on the approach. It appears as landscape when seen from the Esplanade, and as infrastructure when seen from the city. The bridge creates a large urban connection, but the small moments happening within the urban jester, are what act as an armature for understanding and viewing the dissonance that Storrow Drive creates below.

C

D

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Site Section B

Design Plan

The second bridge similarly acts as park and as infrastructure, but it allows for more complex interactions with the site and with Storrow Drive below. This bridge splits into two, allowing for a faster uninterrupted path, or the lower path, which provides a series of moments for viewing and experiencing the site. Through interacting with these moments that work at a human scale, people can gain an understanding of the site. By choosing the upper uninterrupted bridge, people can make the conscious decision to look out, and see the site around them. They can look towards the horizon, or look down and see a network of tunnels and activity framed by the lower path not taken.

Section C

Section D

Section E

Benin West AfricaSpecial Topics Studio - Fall 2013

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Benin West AfricaSpecial Topics Studio - Fall 2013Professor John Ellis

Between Land and Water: A New Gatewayinto the Village

When Ganvié was settled over three hundred years ago, it was said to have been settled by a king who transformed into an egret searching for a place where his people could escape enslavement. From his bird’s eye view, he spotted what would become Ganvié. He returned to his people, who traveled to the series of islands in Lac Nokoué on the backs of crocodiles. Their enemies feared crossing the water, and the people of Ganvié were free at last to live and prosper.

The relationship between land and water began with the creation myth, and continues its dialogue in present day Ganvié. The constantly shifting water level, from both seasonal rainfall and tidal forces, dictates Ganvié’s appearance and existence. This design embraces the elemental forces that control its survival, informing the building’s anamorphic appearance. The building appears and disappears, changing, while maintaining consistency through a series of stationary and floating platforms. Just like the village, the building’s appearance is dependent on the water level and external forces of the place.

Concept Sketches

31 2 4

1 2

1. Bridge of Land and Water - Creates and strengthens connection between existing social inlets while enhancing the beauty and purpose of the existing bridge.- Serves the practical purpose of hanging agriculture gardens that do not obstruct the already present circulation paths.

2. Traditional Craft - Provides a platform for education of traditional building craft and materials.

3. Market Center of Ganvié - Houses a place for market gatherings on the outskirts of the existing market place. - Creates places for community gathering, education, and daily rituals.

4. Wetland Treatment- Water treatment, compost, and electricity work together to form a functional and practical station. - Allows for education and advancement.

4

3

The design embodies the ethereal, but fluctuating realities of Ganvié. Simultaneously, it is partially derived from a series of vignettes of significant social nodes throughout Ganvié, and synthesized to represent the character woven throughout the settlement. The design engages the threshold between Ganvié and Lac Nokoué, acting as a place of departure or a place of arrival and refuge after a long day on the Lake.

The building represents Ganvié, and informs people coming and going of the nature of the settlement. However, beyond its representational and anamorphic qualities, the building also has a practical purpose. It informs people about tidal shift, inspiring a spirit of innovation. The building also has a series of lights submerged under one of the floating docks that light up through the current’s movement alongside them. The lights glow brighter when the current is stronger, thus acting as a warning when elemental forces are more dangerous. This turns the building into a beacon that visually educates the natives and visitors alike to the town’s ever present reliance on the forces of nature.

High-Tide Section

Mid-Tide Section

Slow drifting currentSilence echoes off waterBoats and voices merge

Soft spray of waterWind diverting course to shoreGather in refuge

Sound builds in rhythmFashioning of dignity and lifeCraft of livelihood

Bustling morningConverging voices and livesStill silent evenings

Solid land riseSoftened steps on dusty earthHard ground overhead

Low-Tide Section

Housing

Green Living: Residential and Commercial Modular UnitsCommunity Design Studio - Summer 2013

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Housing ParkPark

Stony Brook Station

Amor

y St

Sout

hwes

t Cor

ridorSmall

Medium

Large

Modular Construction

Private Garden

Public Circulation

Green Living Community Design Studio - Summer 2013Design Partner: Julie RahillyProfessor Andrew Ferentinos

This residential, commercial, and transportation hub is made up of a series of modular units. The complex is geared towards creating a sustainable community, through the centralization of retail, transportation, park, and housing, and through the modular construction which reduces each units embodied energy and provides façade treatments the work differently depending on orientation, optimizing passive design strategies. Each until is part of a larger system that benefits surrounding units. This support system works with the modular construction, but does not erase the identity of each unit. The people that call a housing modular “home,” are able to point to their unit and see their front door. This complex is designed with the American Dream as the footing, and a better more sustainable lifestyle as the force that drives it forward.

MediumResidents: 2 - 3Area: 1030 sqftUnits: 18

LargeResidents: 3 - 4Area: 1450 sqftUnits: 16

SmallResidents: 1 - 2Area: 750 sqftUnits: 23

Housing Plan, Floor 3Total Living Units: 57

Small

Medium

Large

Modular Construction

Private Garden

Public Circulation

Retail

Program4 Consignment Clothing5 Salon6 Bookstore7 Pharmacy8 Coffee Shop9 Cafeteria

Total Retail Units: 14

Transit1 Gathering Stair2 Street Performances3 Access to Stony Brook T

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MediumResidents: 2 - 3Area: 1030 sqftUnits: 18

LargeResidents: 3 - 4Area: 1450 sqftUnits: 16

SmallResidents: 1 - 2Area: 750 sqftUnits: 23

Housing Plan, Floor 3Total Living Units: 57Retail Plan, Floor 2

Community

Site Sections

Charles River BoathouseTectonics Studio - Fall 2011

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Charles River BoathouseTectonics Studio - Fall 2011Professor Ann Borst

The Charles River Boathouse is located in Cambridge, neighbor to Boston, MA. The boathouse is designed for competitive rowers and the spectators of regattas and rowing events that take place on the Charles River. This project design is driven by the functions that must exist in a building for competitive rowers, but also carefully considers the prime location of the boathouse and how the conditions on the site, and the necessary program functions, can exist together to inform a design.

Analyzing the specifics of the site allows for an enhanced function, while also providing the information for successful sustainable strategies to be incorporated into the experience of the building. This boathouse design reflects its purpose and shows its relationship with its context.

The Charles River Boathouse is located on a bend in the river. With careful attention to positioning of the building on the site, the design captures grand views both up and down the river. These views are crucial to the design. During the development of this project, the design considered different types of views that contribute to a heightened experience of competitive regattas. Playing with the contrast of expansive views and controlled narrow views, adds to the experience of watching a fast-paced regatta, the former being a more traditional and relaxed viewing platform, while the latter establishes a strong connection to speed and the power of the race. Understanding this relationship of a view to a race and the experience it creates, is a major contributor in the development of the design.

First floor plan

Study Model

Second floor plan

Views diagram

Views diagram

Model

Although the Charles River Boathouse gains many advantages with its location, the location also has conditions that are traditionally considered negative. The western sun in the afternoon creates an intense glare off the water, and unwanted heat in the summer months. Using passive design strategies such as cantilevers calculated to block and let in the sun at different times of day, the roof planes block sun in the summer months, and let in the sun in the winter months. This optimizes lighting as well as heating and cooling. The extended roof planes also capture the reflection off the water’s surface in the afternoon, turning a negative glare into a spectacular effect of light bouncing off the ceilings, mimicking the movement of the water.

Building Section Building section, light reflection diagram

Watercolor Renderings and Original ArtworkWatercolor Rendering Elective, Self Employed ̀Artist - 2004 to Present

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Watercolor Rendering and Original ArtworkWatercolor, Oil, and Acrylic - 2004 to Present

MArch 2014, BSA 2013Wentworth Institute of Technologyv i c t o r i a l o w e l l @ g m a i l . c o m(617) 721.3152