The Hero Shot

Above is the hero shot I made for our skyscraper poster. Our poster's were 3'x4' portrait, and this was the largest image. I'm very proud of how it came out thanks in part for my group members helping me find its focus. The skyscraper and immediate site was modeled in sketchup and then rendered in Sketchup Podium. I put this image in photoshop, played around with the image levels, blended textures, and then added the sea, sky and foreground ships.

Scenes From Our Home Presentation

Stockholm Skyscraper: The Site

Whether they be within "U" shaped buildings, or outside iconic corner structures; plaza spaces are completely ingrained in the makeup of Stockholm architecture. This identity as well as the nature by which our skyscraper cuts into the land is the impetus by which I was most able to realize the concepts of grafting and fracture.

- Where one goes to be in suspended transition.

- Bus stops are spaced generously in between primary traffic flow.

- Dematerialization- shedding down to the bones. Clean lines break the plaza spaces into public and private zones that lead to the entrances.

- A sculptural marker is placed at the edge of each plaza stating the building’s grafted presence.

Stockholm Skyscraper: The Office

Equality in Swedish culture is very important. I expressed this through a continuous, divider-free desk arrangement that runs diagonally to the perimeter. A subtle separation is established without walls that cut off collaboration. The spaces includes a print room, kitchen, workspace, lounge area, and library.

Beat the Bunker

-Tall skyscrapers may elicit feelings of intense enclosure or claustrophobia. Tall exposed ceilings, partition walls, and clerestory windows break from the monotony of typical corporate spaces.

- A high exposed ceiling , clerestory windows, partition walls, and drop lights draw in light and provide unique spatial volumes.

- Desks of natural materials (MDF, Bamboo)

- Light and transparent storage.

In-Plant

-Trees and shrubs planted into the raised floor are enhanced with radiating floor motifs. Nature’s presence provides a place of reflection and mental rest.

Identifying Space

- Architectural bays express subtle separations of space.

- Clerestory windows prevent blind corners.

One and Only

- Non-linear desk layout provides an opportunity for project teams to align on multiple axes.

Touch the sky

-Banisters run the perimeter along the windows of each floor.

Never Cornered

-Rooms are dissolved into spaces to enhance the collective mindshare. Rooms with walls are accented with angles, and curved corners.

Express Collaboration

- Tall rounded storage units at the cap of each aisle function as collaboration surfaces for quick exchanges between project teammates.

Stockholm Skyscraper: The Sky Bar/Restaurant

This sky restaurant is located in the higher floors of the skyscraper. To play up the sensation of being high up, I made this floor cantilever over the lower floor with seating along a leaning rail that lines the edge. It is very open with clear sight lines to all areas.

The park/plaza identity of the outer-site and offices is also brought into this floor with the geometric pathways and full size trees that reach up from below.

Generating The Site

Generating the Building

Generating The Concept: GRAFTING

Grafting is about the symbiotic relationship between two plants that are fused for each other’s benefit. Our building seeks to become one with its site and the city. Interior spaces are intended to blur the line between what is inside and what is outside. Spaces are organized to generate the equality Sweden is known for.

Just as the skyscraper invades the land, the land invades the interiors. Where the land meets the interiors a mark is made revealing the force by which the two joined.

Skyscraper Precedent Analysis Diagrams

Above are my precedent diagrams for our tertia mock firm design competition. I chose to create the diagrams based on the most important information I took from my skyscraper and workplace precedents.

The skyscraper was about generating structural elements that influence the internal organization. My workspace was significant in its ability to generate a spatial mindshare; dissolving boundaries through the use of partition walls, low profile cubicles, exposed columns and clerestory windows. A psychological connection is also made by bold timber beams that run the ceiling, and a wooden floor that carries light across its luster.

Sky Oar: Conceptual Skyscraper

The "Port Town" flavor of Stockholm, Sweden for which this skyscraper is destined served to define its form and organization. Because Stockholm is planned in a medieval manner, the town has many hearts, or organelles that define important centers. These different organelles, spaced about as they are, counterbalance each other, much the same way the oars of the port's ships work against each other to propel. Throughout Stockholm there are many plazas and places of rest; an organization that is brought into the different centers of the structure as well as the space that is formed beneath.