The Urban Cabinet: An Archive of Architecture
The site in Columbus, IN is a veritable museum of great architectural works. The project presents the dual provocation: how does one house a collection within an interior, and how does one join an established urban collection in a site? This design research was undertaken in the form of a proposal for an archive that enmeshes storage, display, and production. The program addresses Columbus’s need for storage for architectural materials, display that provides greater public access to that collection, and production in makerspaces and educational facilities that fuel ongoing creative activity. This multi-fold program defines and draws a public for an architecture that envisions a collective model of support, particularly given the complexities of the city’s historical corporate patronage.
Estrangement Exercise
Drawing on repeated grids and tectonic elements, the project took the form of a diorama to explore how we distinguish the visible from the hidden through playful interactions of rectilinear geometries and patterns paired with structural support. The “grids” created shelves, structural supports remained visible, and meshes applied further questioned what should and shouldn’t be seen. These ideas were expanded as the play of geometries generated recesses into the larger project and site, creating gallery spaces that allow for visibility without access, one-way views, or that require specific viewing angles. Inspired by Alexander Girard's collections in Columbus, the project is conceived of as an archive and exhibition for his work, with a playful design and whimsical representational to match it.
Washington University in St. Louis, Architectural Design I
Coordinator: Constance Vale.
Instructor: Jonathan Stitelman.
Coordinator: Constance Vale.
Instructor: Jonathan Stitelman.