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this seminar explored the relationship between private buildings and the public realm in the context of a specific, yet vital, element of that interface: the facade. in this case, students considered the facade and its role it plays in creating the liminal condition of publicness and privateness: a role in the architecture the creation of urban space and symbolic representation. this consideration was, like the nature of the facade itself, a meeting of the theoretical and practical rather than technological. therefore students examined facades in formal tectonic, semiological and phenomenological terms. the seminar emphasized critical readings, analysis, research and the iterative process.
seminar structure: discussions and exercises
the seminar alternated between reading discussions and exercises. a typical two-week schedule on a specific theme or topic would include a presentation by the instructor, a student-directed discussion of assigned readings and a workshop that would explore the topic's reciprocal analytic and synthetic implications. the workshops were, most often, concise studies that allowed the students to connect theory to design.
exercise: renaissance to post-modern
re-draw a renaissance facade and then, maintaining its fundamental nature, design a sympathetic "modern" facade. the intention is examine how traditional patterns might inform contemporary design.
facade re-drawn
facade transformed
facade re-drawn
facade transformed
exericse: reconstruction from photographs
in this exercise, students were only given two or three photographs of a facade and asked to produce facade drawings. afterwards they were asked to make or reconstruct the facade using white museum board. the intention was to both read a facade and then reconstruct/ recreate the architect's intentions or rules
facade transformed
facade re-drawn + analyzed
facade redrawn
facade reconstruction model
facade photograph
facade re-drawn + analyzed
facade reconstruction model
exercise: infill
in this exercise, students were asked to infill between to historic buildings in downtown baltimore. they could employ a range of design methods from simply reading the existing contexts to applying a precedent.
facade infill with precedent application
exercise: facade corrections
in this exercise, students were asked to augment an existing facade by adding, removing, duplicating and otherwise manipulating specific elements. the intention was to understand an existing facade and its inherent rules and to simply see how a facade might change with subtle alterations.
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