[ARC 503, Fall 2007 | Prof. Kenneth Hobgood, AIA] For this project, the Sikorsky Helicopter Company acquired the Mobil Building in mid-town Manhattan, adjacent to the iconic Chrysler Building. They wanted to bring their own vision and taste to the building to incorporate new public spaces as well as new corporate spaces. My idea called for both a horizontal intervention to the existing building, as well as a large vertical addition to the northwest side of the building. I wanted to activate the experience for both the inhabitants of the new spaces as well as for the people on the street. Looking to other forms of large scale imagery as icons, I created a large screen with images of Sikorsky helicopters that engaged the addition by hovering away from the facade as well as slicing through it at the most public point. For the viewer on the street, the screen is viewed in its entirety clearly showing the helicopters that symbolize the company. For the inhabitant in the building, the images are pixelated creating a much different experience. The relationship of the scale of city and its buildings is tangibly experienced.

[ARC 503, Spring 2007 | Prof. Roger Clark, FAIA] Located just southeast of Raleigh, Smithfield was once a bustling place with a thriving downtown that served the rural resident tobacco farmers, and was also home to one famous Hollywood star: Ava Gardner. Ava grew up the daughter of a poor farming family, but rose to international stardom as a sex symbol and movie star by chance happenings and being in the right places at the right times. Since 1990, Smithfield’s downtown has been home to the Ava Gardner Museum. A concept for a new museum to be located in the empty lot next to the existing space was called for. Looking to create a museum that reflected Ava’s complicated life that was often directed by interwoven paths and the way those paths crossed, this museum became a series of exhibit and film viewing spaces differentiated by light quality, changing ceiling heights and materials. They all came together at a hovering theater, which would serve as the heart of the museum, much like the silver screen was the heart and soul of Ava Gardner.

[ARC 503, Fall 2006 | Prof. Ellen Weinstein, AIA] Designed as a quiet place of introspection, the Brooklyn Crematorium allows the visitor a peaceful escape from the noise of the city to come and grieve. Acting as a city within the city, the complex houses three inward focused chapels nestled into the site and above the street level to provide the quietest setting for funeral services. Streets of columbarium occupy the majority of the site in the form of two levels of arranged walls with an open grid system that act as niches for urns to occupy as time passes by. This visible and tangible passage of time is meant to enhance the user’s experience as he or she moves through the streets of columbarium. These streets are arranged to mimic the circulation pattern of the city below while the chapels follow the rhythm of the brownstones that line so many of the Brooklyn neighborhood streets.

[ARC 500, Spring 2006 | Prof. Gail Borden, AIA] Umstead Park is located between Raleigh, Durham, and Chapel Hill North Carolina where it receives visitors from all locations looking for a place to escape from the traffic and congestion of their everyday lives. Because of this prime location, it too can become congested and cluttered. In order to try and reduce the addition of any new clutter that would be created by a new structure, this multi-use facility became a subterranean park of its own. To be used for North Carolina State Ranger training, research and administration, permanent and temporary ranger residences, as well as public uses such as a gallery, visitor center, and auditorium, this facility needed a way to address both public and private sectors of the park visitors. By hovering the few public spaces above grade the majority of the program was allowed to integrate into the natural gentle slope of the site, keeping the landscape clear of additional visual and physical distractions. Large voids pierced the below grade portion of the facility and functioned as light wells to bring light and open air courtyards to the occupants of these spaces.

[ARC 403, Fall 2005 | Prof. Wayne Place] It has been noted that the standard mobile classrooms now used by most school systems fall short of providing an ideal learning environment. Usually a tan box with perhaps two or three small windows, these units have been mass produced and placed onto countless schoolyards across the country. Often dark and noisy, students and teachers in these classrooms can be left to feel isolated from the main school building and their peers, and feel at a disadvantage for having classes in these mobile units. With all of this in mind, the main goal of this project was to utilize either mobile or prefabricated construction, while at the same time providing students with a bright and inviting space to learn. The Wall Classroom's main goal is to provide a more permanent sense of place. The classrooms themselves are simple boxes with entire faces of north/south glazing to take advantage of natural day lighting capabilities. Louvers held along the bottom third of the glass walls slide up to provide shade and allow for classroom darkening when necessary. Each unit looks out onto its own courtyard that functions as an outdoor classroom when needed. Each classroom is structurally and visually tied into a prefabricated concrete wall. These function in several different capacities. They house mechanical and electrical systems that make the classrooms function while keeping the exterior spaces free of visual clutter from displeasing power lines and free of noise from heat and air conditioning units. The concrete walls also house bathrooms and lockers. Perhaps most importantly, these concrete walls ground each classroom and provide spaces and corridors similar to what would be found inside the main school buildings. They provide a place for students to mingle and gather much like they would inside the hallways of a more permanent building.

[ARC 403, Fall 2005 | Prof. Wayne Place] This private home rests high on a dune on the coast of North Carolina's Outer Banks. It is a retreat for an urban couple seeking rest and relaxation. The experience of spectacular views and cool ocean breezes are maximized in the spaces created by two boxes celebrating the difference between public and private spaces. Distinct functions and sensibilities act together to create a refuge of comfort and and quiet on the site, where one box rises above the tree canopy and another nestles within it. This dwelling allows visitors an opportunity to appreciate the natural beauty and unspoiled qualities of the site, while also experiencing every condition it offers.