PORTFOLIOD E A N N A V A L C O U R

A R C H I T E C T U R E

TABLE OF CONTENTS

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EVANS HALLYALE UNIVERSITY

SCHOOL OF MANAGEMENT

TABLE OF CONTENTS

9...........................................................INTRODUCTION

11................................................................YALE HISTORY

15............................................................CONTRIBUTERS

FOSTER + PARTNERS

GRUZEN SAMPTON

DIMEO

OLIN

BURO HAPPOLD

23................................................................PHILOSOPHY

PROGRAM

INFLUENCES

PROFESSIONAL + INTELLECTUAL CONTEXT

37.............................................................PERFORMANCE

GEOGRAPHICAL + ENVIRONMENTAL CONTEXT

TECHNOLOGY + TECHNIQUE

STUDENT FEEDBACK

53..............................................................CONCLUSIONS

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1MASKING SKINS: UNDERWATER RESEARCH OUTPOSTConcept Design: Fall 2013

This project is a conceptual proposal for an underwater research facility. This facility was designed to be a research outpost for data collection about deep sea creatures. The pattern on the envelope of the outpost was developed specifically to attract the cachalot whale, a whale species which hunts for giant squid. This pattern was designed to imitate the characteristic giant eye of the squid in order to attract the whale, but also has diagonal black lines to break up the envelope to make it distinct from an actual squid upon closer investigation. This proposal was developed from a grid which had a series of transformations applied to it. This grid was translated into three dimensions; studies were done on this form to convey different concepts related to water such as buoyancy, fluidity, and sinking. These studies translated to the final form of the outpost.

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opposite: a. material elements exploded axonb. skin designc. interior renders

this page: d. longitudinal sectione. transverse section

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5THE SINGULARITY IS NEAR[ING]: PAVILIONConcept Design: Spring 2014

This project is a proposal for a pavilion in Troy, NY that is set in the future described by futurist Ray Kurzweil. In the future Kurzweil describes in his book The Singularity is Near, the world is described as a place where everyone has the ability to morph their surroundings to their liking. This pavilion is set in a time between modern times and this future era; technology has not quite reached the point described in Kurzweils future, but our ability to create artificial reality has developed enough where extremely realistic environments and experiences can be reproduced on command. This technology, like many new technological advancements, has quickly been given a monetary value and is sold as a commodity for people to enjoy. This pavilion is a place where this new technology can be enjoyed for the general public. This technology has the potential to become extremely

popular because it takes the idea of escaping reality to a completely new experiential level. This increased popularity in this type of technology would later contribute to its universal use in Kurzweils future.

opposite: b. exterior renderc. grid transformations

this page: a. boolean system: form development

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opposite: a. pavilion sectionb. pavilion plan

this page: c. exploded axon: showing skin and material elementsd. generative modele. detail model

9TESSELLATED LANDSCAPES: ARTIST RESIDENCYConcept Design: Fall 2014

In artist residencies housed in public locations, there is always a carefully crafted relationship between the artist and the public. In this proposal for an artists residency at the OMI sculpture park in Ghent, NY, an emphasis was placed on the direct interaction between residents and the public The public zone of the park visitors and the private zones of the residents are overlapped; the residential area for the artists is linked to their studios via a gallery for showcasing work to the public. An entrance for the public also leads to a hall which allows for the public to catch glimpses of the studios adjoining the hall. This residency was derived from a tessellation of the surrounding landscape. Focal points were created from the extreme high and low altitudes of the immediate landscape; from here lines emanating from these points formed the lines of the tessellation.

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EN[LIGHT]ENMENT: STUDENT HOUSINGBuilding Design: Spring 2015collaborative design with Allison Turner

This is a proposal for student housing on the RPI campus in Troy, NY. In observing the site, which was located on a slope overlooking the city of Troy, it was observed that it is currently a place many students go to enjoy the view. During research it was found that when given a specific avenue for the purpose of enjoying a view, it becomes an intentional, shared activity. With this knowledge we wanted to create a similar experience of using this view to bring people together in this design. Furthermore, this intention could be extended to the people of Troy to bring together the residents of Troy to the Rensselaer campus as well. The view is a means to bring people together but in order to really foster interaction and bridge the social gap between Troy and RPI, there is a need to give back to the community. RPIs motto asks, why not change the world? In order

to change the world contributions must be made at the local scale as well by sharing the schools knowledge and education with the community of Troy.

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STASIS: PERFORMING ARTS CENTERBuilding Design: Fall 2015

The theater often dominates the space of the building it is housed in and becomes a separate object from the building itself. This logic can be taken and applied to other programmatic spaces as well; the theater still has a dominating presence in the building, but is balanced by the presence of other objects.In this project, a performing arts center in Madison, WI, these other objects that were taken into consideration were other major venues; the gallery, the black box theater, and the back of house. The back of house was included in this definition because it stands in opposition to the theater, creating balance; the theater, a space completely dedicated to the experience of the patron, is opposed by a volume of equal scale and importance that is dedicated completely to the experience of someone dedicated to the operation of the

performance.These objects are wrapped in other spaces which contain other, smaller scale program. In these spaces private and public program intermingle, whereas in the larger object-spaces the relationship of public vs. private is largely an interrupted one. The central volume which houses the back of house in particular exemplifies this relationship. It contains no public programming, and by placing it in the middle of the building it creates two zones of public space on either side of it.

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PASSIVE SOLAR BUILDING: RPI VISITORS CENTER

The Visitors Center was conceived as a demonstration of passive solar design in a commercial building. Currently, it has been converted into the RPI campuss Public Safety building and has since not been performing to meet the current users needs. The mission of this semester-long research project was to identify how the building was not performing by collecting data using instruments and through observation and to design solutions for raising the buildings performance.

Case Study: Fall 2015collaborative project with Sarah Bertis, Sarah Farnham, Zachary Pearson and Cody Seipp

this page:a. temperature fluctuation graphb. heat gradient diagramc. sunspace photod. thermal photography

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SARAH BERTIS, WENTAI CHEN, ALLISON THAYER, DEANNA VALCOUR

YALE SCHOOL O

F MANAGEMENT: FO

STER + P

ARTN

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FOSTER + PARTNERSYALE UNIVERSITY, NEW HAVEN, CT 2014

PUBLICATION: EVANS HALL, YALE SCHOOL OF MANAGEMENT

Figure 7: Program diagram

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We want a classic Norman Foster Building -Rick Levin 74 Ph.D

goal into the MBA curriculum. In the design of the building the Yale administration wanted to achieve the right environment for students to become strong leaders and to build strong global organizations.16 One of the guiding principles behind the design of the new building for the Yale School of management is the idea that interactions between students and faculty that occur outside of the formal classroom setting are just as important as classroom based learning. For this reason, the glazed faade around the courtyard follows the undulating profile of the oval classroom drums to define bays where students can gather together. Lord Norman Foster said about the project, Learning is not only about the classroom it is about the social spaces, grounds, cafes and the relationships that are formed.17

In the School of Management, this philosophy about social

The School of Management took the opportunity of relocating to have their new building reflect the philosophy of the growing school. Norman Fosters first approach to the design was a building that fit in with the traditional style seen in the academic buildings that were part of Yales old campus. However when former Yale President Rick Levin heard of this, he immediately halted Lord Foster in his tracks and said, We want a classic Norman Foster building. Levin felt that the high-tech architecture Foster is known for befitted his vision of the schools future. According to Levin, Professional management students want to learn in an environment similar to the one theyre going to be working in. He wanted the schools new building to have a more corporate feel and reflect the type of environment that would be found in a world-class corporation.15

The focus of the School of Management is towards learning about and establishing worldwide connections and integrating this

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This publication is the product of a semester-long case study of Evans Hall, the School of Management building at Yale University, which was designed by Foster + Partners. The case study included a thorough investigation of the construction systems within the building, interviewing both those involved in the building design and those who use the building, and the creation of further documentation demonstrating our findings. This documentation was compiled into a final book, where our group designed a cover,layout, and diagrams to represent our findings.

Case Study: Fall 2015collaborative project with Sarah Bertis, Allison Thayer, and Wentai Chen

this page:a. book coverb. chapter heading spreadc. program diagram spread

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Other Work

this page:a. portrait, mixed mediab. still life, pencilc. dot value, felt tip pend. batike. building drawing, colored pencil

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Deanna ValcourRensselaer Poly technic InstituteBachelor of Architecture, May 2018

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