2B | TWISTED LIVING

INSTRUCTOR: AARON GENSLER
ARCH 283

aRMOR AND THE STUDENT BODY

At the beginning of this studio, we were tasked with creating armor for daily life. We were to construct a layer that engages with a contemporary issue that we, students at Woodbury face. These devices would be responsive to the world around while we consider that the site is of our own person; and with that careful consideration should be made on how the armor interacts with the body.

This design process paired with research of Giancomo Favilla initially gave me insight on two-way perspectives and how the use of specific materials can communicate messages and imply a difference in perception between two people or someone and their surroundings.

dormitory | woodbury university

The dorm space that I have created is that of my own, although works of architects such as Herzog & de Meuron and BIG definitely played a role in my inspiration towards this project.

The main tone to be portrayed by my concept is that the circulating plates are being held up by nothing except the buildings scattered between them. Nearly all of the structure in this building exist within the program themselves

Smooth ramps that lead one into building and to its bottommost floor are wide and shallow. This directly contrasts with the stark and vertically orthogonal structure that is both layered and twisted in order to form the spaces between the thick concrete floorplates.

Paired with mainly flat glass, the select curves within the circulation adds refreshing transparency to the building’s function. The circulation is vertical in every sense except for on the floorplates themselves. This was to highlight the views of the inner Burbank and the crested mountains that sur­round the Valley, something I believe Woodbury has little to offer as it stands. The horizontal circulation within this building mainly exists on the 3 slabs.

Here in this building, unprogrammed interactions amongst students can occur on a widespread scale. Students can often find more privacy in locations around the floorplates than their own dorms. With not a lot of dorms and a great deal of study and event space, my concept revolves mostly around student’s lives outside of their actual dorms when they are on campus.