Carlo Scarpa: Palazzo Stampalia Querini study

1/8" - 1' Constructed Drawing

Floor plan 

Section A

Section B

1/8" - 1' Axon

Elevation of gates

Begun in 1959, Carlo Scarpa's renovation of the first floor of the Palazzo Stampalia Querini in Venice, Italy is an ode to the canal. The gallery space that occupies the first floor is prone to flooding. Rather than try and prevent the natural rising and falling tides of the Venetian canals within the space, Scarpa invites the water in. Employing varying levels of foot paths, walls, and guard rails - the water is controlled. Similar to the way in which the tides fluctuate within the space, so too does a human. The teak bridge entrance brings a visitor about a foot below ground level. Once inside, a visitor is essentially floating through space; hovering between 4 feet - 1 foot below ground level. It isn't until they reach the garden in the rear that they are above grade.

Vessel Studies

light vessel detail

light vessel

light vessel gestural drawing

section through light vessel

water vessel

screen shot of water vessel demonstration

water vessel plan illustrating the flow of water

multiview water vessel drawings (plan and section) illustrating the flow of water

Light is a phenomena that is both infinite and ephemeral. I wanted to create something cosmic and sublime. I created a light vessel that allows one person to physically hold light. I then created a water vessel in the manner I created the light orb. However, this vessel is not meant to hold water. Rather, this vessel breaks the rules of what it means to be a vessel. The water poured into it drains through small holes at the bottom only allowing water to pool for a short amount of time before emptying out. 

Wallpaper Pattern

A wallpaper pattern designed specifically for the lobby of Parsons The New School for Design at 2 West 13th Street inspired by the narcissus flower study and my examination of the gerbera daisy's layers. I appropriated Caravaggio'a "Narcissus" painting, cropped it at the point in which the figure's hands meet the water, and mirrored the image. Multiplying this created the illusion of a flower. Wanting to exaggerate this trompe l'oeil, I found the silhouette of the narcissus flower within Caravaggio's painting and darkened it. Like pixels to a digital image, this rendered the pattern in a way that changes and becomes a series of multiple patterns as one approaches the lobby from 5th Avenue and 13th street.

Measured Flowers

experiential sketch of the gerbera daisy death

experiential drawings of gerbera daisy

Gerbera Daisy measured drawings

Narcissus measured drawings

Studies of a Gerbera Daisy and Narcissus flower. 

Hinge Studies

Above are examples of carved space created by a hinge movement. Better explored through axonometric projections, these represent a method of program finding through infinite space.

Plato's Cave

 2 PM Lighted Section on September 21st

We are, according to Plato, chained in a cave with limited vision and a disillusioned notion of reality. In his Allegory of the Cave, Plato explores this concept and imagines what it means to be in the dark and what it means to experience the light. It is believed that we must leave the cave and enter the light to become knowledgeable, that wisdom is found by venturing out into a new place. However, this knowledge - whatever is illuminated by the light - must be brought back into the darkness and taught to those still chained.
This project centered around creating a library space with a secondary museum program displaying three found artifacts (Mastodon bones, a primitive hut, and the remains of a human skeleton). Using Plato's Cave as a platform for program, specifically the notion that knowledge must be spread in the darkness, I created a building completely underground. Visitors to the library must descend into the Earth to find books and acquire knowledge. As the program descends farther into the Earth, the more personal the experience becomes. It is then, after studying that one exits through the gallery spaces by ascending towards ground level and into the light.