Caterina Gnecco (stair)
Christian Hallgren (column)
Alexandria Marchioli (slab)

Julia Jamrozik

ARC 201
Fall 2019

BS Arch

This past fall, the sophomore studio engaged morphology and context through precedent investigations. Everyone began by studying Le Corbusier’s Dom-Ino, designed in 1914. This theoretical project’s ideas of “free plan” and “free façade” revolutionized architectural design for the industrial era, creating a structural and spatial model reliant on slab, column, and stair. 

The students were tasked with studying a built work that corresponded with and exploited one of the architectural elements from Dom-Ino: slab, column, or stair. Through critical analysis of precedent and Corbusier’s spatial and structural theories, students developed their own morphological systems based on one of these elements. The systems were then applied to the context of Artpark in Lewiston, New York, providing a set of residences for visiting artists. 

Alexandra Marchioli studied the slab through the Oslo Opera House in Oslo, Norway, by Snøhetta. She began to use the slab as a mode of spatial engagement. She explored how different slopes affect space through a series of paper studies, utilizing simple functions such as folding and cutting. By folding the slabs, she created a system of ramps that allowed for a continuous movement of space.

As the slab began to inform both structure and space, Marchioli used columns only where necessary as a secondary element to her system. She further defined different spaces by introducing a lightweight wire system that utilized a wrapping technique and tension to create enclosure.

Caterina Gnecco focused on the stair, studyng the Roy and Diana Vagelos Education Center by Dillar Scofidio and Renfro. Interested in how stairs could function as both circulation and social gathering spaces, Gnecco began to explore different spatial conditions both above and below stairs.

Gnecco’s design allowed the stair to become the sole structural component, taking on the roles of both column and slab. By manipulating the scale proportions of the riser and tread, the structure was able to perform differently according to programmatic and spatial needs. This system was adjusted to accommodate display spaces, circulation, and seating. It also provided gallery space, inviting visitors by extending into the landscape. 

Christian Hallgren studied Go Hasegawa’s Pilotis in the Forest, focusing on how the column influences spatial conditions. Hallgren drew strongly from both this precedent and Corbusier’s Dom-Ino, using columns to elevate space and keep the plan simple and open.

The structure touches the ground lightly, keeping the design intervention on the site to a minimum. The tall, slender columns and elevated spaces act to integrate the structure as part of the forest system.