kaitlyn m fitzgeralde kaitlyn.m.fitzgerald@gmail.comp 585.729.7290

Master of Design Studies, Critical ConservationHarvard University Graduate School of Design, 2013

Bachelor of Architecture, Cum LaudeRensselaer Polytechnic Insistute, 2011

edu-scape | Undergraduate Thesis Studio | page 03

Asplund Library Mediator | Design Development Studio | page 09

Penland School of Crafts | Verical Design Studio | page 11

NASA Habitat Development Unit Module | Collaborative Design Studio | page 15

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edu-scapeKywagona, Uganda

Thesis Studio | 2011

The role of the library is constantly evolving to catch up to the fast paced society into which it has been inserted. It is important for the library to mediate issues of community, technology, content, and education simultaneously and seamlessly. The rapid pace at which technology is evolving has irreversibly altered the definition of what the library is. As written texts become rampantly available through online databases, personal file sharing servers, and other developing technologies the traditional idea of the library vanishes. To avoid complete obsolescence the library must discover ways to keep pace with emerging technologies; a majority of contemporary library systems have been digitized to supply information quickly and more efficiently. However, simply digitizing texts is not enough to maintain the level of community involvement that is required to make the library a feasible and sustainable public fixture. Libraries like the New York Public Library and Seattle Public Library have taken the lead in exploring alternative measures for attracting members of the community by engaging patrons in age-specific programs.

This means of retrofitting a library system to meet the ever changing needs of a diverse and shifting community is a plausible, though not ideal solution. To effectively mediate the factors of community,

context, and technology it is imperative to begin fresh. By adjusting the scope of investigation to 2048 the possibility is afforded for the creation of a completely reconceived system through which the operation of the library can be understood. This cannot be done in a region in which the contemporary, not future, idea of the library is understood and expected. By removing the investigation to the developing region of Uganda the potential for innovative research explodes with possibility. The region presents the opportunity for the development of a library network that can lead, not follow, technological and cultural revolutions. The inherent state of Uganda is that of turmoil due in large part to the instability of the surrounding regions, thus producing a constant flow of refugees into and out of the country. Coupled with the consistently high percentage of the internally displaced persons, the constant state of flux of the population provides a compelling arena in which to conduct research and experimentation. The migratory population provides a unique problem for the development of the library, because the [cultural] context if constantly changing the library must be able to adapt continually and evolve with the patrons [cultures] that pass through it. By understanding the inherent need of the library to remain in flux to achieve contextual [cultural] relevance, it can also be understood that the same must hold true for technical relevance.

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1

3

2

2 Secondary Network

1 Primary Network

3 Tertiary Network

Kyawagonya Village, Masaka District

etnocae

inancecae

tecnocae

ideocae

If the evolving public library is to be successful and remain as an integral piece of the community and national culture it is imperative that it is able to recognize and adapt to changing cultural conditions. The public library in 2011 is understood to be the last public space; this condition must be preserved when conceptualizing the public library of 2048. The public library must act as a transfer hub for cross-cultural exchange, including language, trade, religion, culture, and technologies. By blending the ethno-, techno-, and finance- scapes it becomes possible to envision the possibilities for the library of 2048.

The effective merger of the techno- finance- and ethno- scapes is essential to creating an effective library model. As the learning institution progresses and develops from the jump point of 2048 it will create a developed, distributed network of information such that the library will become a transfer hub, or switching station through which cultural information is passed through and rerouted into channels that will most efficiently distribute ideas.

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a port city b major trade hub

csite of potential learning center

dsecondary site of

potential learning center

e secondary trade hub

egions with soil conducive to brick production

egions with sufficient developing forestry industries

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�

3

4

From the port city the container moves onward to the ‘ceramic trade’ hub.

�he container arrives at the destination port containin� materia�s re�uired �or construction that are not avai�ab�e or not ab�e to be made �oca��y.

�s the container moves away �rom the ‘ceramic trade’ hub� it pro�resses to the nearest ‘�orestry trade’ hub.

�pon arrivin� at the desi�nated site �or the �uture �earnin� center� the container is unpac�ed and the �earnin� center is constructed throu�h �oca� bui�din� tectonics and those brou�ht to the re�ion by re�u�ees and immi�rants.

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1A|201

1A

|202

1A

|202

1A|201

circulation desk001

circulation workspace

002

public plaza/ampitheater

010

computing workstations

011

computing workstations

012

cafe seating

013

cafe kitchen

014

cafe seating

013

closed conference

015

closed conference

016reading / waiting

area017

administrative o�ces

022

administrative o�ces

024

administrative closed conference

025

storage

026

administrative open conference

023

men’s toilet room

018

women’s toilet room

019

women’s toilet room

020

men’s toilet room

021public

gallery / retail 003

publicgallery / retail

004

publicgallery / retail

005

publicgallery / retail

006

publicgallery / retail

007

publicgallery / retail

009

publicgallery / retail

008

Grade Level Plan1:200

1A|101

1A|501

2A

|501

N

closed conference

102

work room

101

work room

103

work room

104

work room

105

men’s toiletroom106

women’s toiletroom107 closed

conference108

work room114

children’s activity room

112

children’s story room113

men’s toiletroom110

women’s toiletroom109

1A|201

1A

|202

1A

|202

1A|201

Stack Level Plan1:200

1A|102

1A|501

2A

|501

N

1A|201

1A

|202

1A

|202

Roof Level Plan1:200

1A|104

1A|201 1

A|501

2A

|501

N

The library mediates between a public landscape and internal program while providing for an open flow to the existing library without disrupting the urban/landscape experience.

We propose to redistribute the flow through the intersection point between the landscape, urban area, and existing library in order to initiate a conversation between the urban landscape and the Asplund Library by acting as a mediator to provide a solution to the discontinuous existing relationship. We recognize that the system/method of enclosure will become a focus topic of investigation and discussion. The materiality will be one of the vehicles through which we explore continuity emphasizing the addition/mediator as a single element that unites the parts. The mediator exists as an open flow of information through physical and visual channels, a continuity of experience linking programmatic islands, via a landscape that generates an infinite loop between the public and learning spaces in order to tie together two polar opposites acting at the same scale discontinuous from one another. The stacks act as an information and social highway mediating the urban landscape.

D.1 | Wall section through typical gapD.2 | Entry Level PlanD.3 | Stack Level PlanD.4 | Roof Level Plan

Asplund Library MediatorStockholm, Sweden

Design Development Studio | F09

D.1 D.2 D.3 D.4

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The design proposal for the Penland School of Crafts Blacksmithing Studio seeks to achieve a harmony between the process of design and building. In order to achieve a continuity of pro-cess, each aspect of the design was considered in the realms of materiality, aesthetics, construc-tion, and sustainability. By taking a holistic ap-proach design decisions, like program distribu-tion and circulation, were able to be made by analyzing the systems that defined initial design choices. To maintain a continuity of the site, an organic facade was developed to represent the surrounding acreage. The facade was developed with the notion of representing the weaving of tree branches and was realized through the tech-nique of hyper-modern programming. The ma-terials are indigenous to the region in an effort to respond to issues of sustainability, and also to continue the stability established by the facade design.

One of the main focuses of the proposal was to maintain a collaborative studio and classroom environment. The climate of the Penland area permits outdoor activity throughout the sessions of the Penland School, in response to this oppor-tunity working and relaxing decks are incorporat-ed into the studio space to encourage students to engage in the surrounding environment. The Penland School of Crafts requires a unique stu-dio environment in order to maintain the level of craft that has been produced by its students over the last several decades. The Blacksmith-ing studio proposal embraces the atmosphere of the Penland School and encourages further exploration into the area of craft by its unique housing- creating a juxtaposition of hand craft and technology.

Penland School of CraftsPenland, North Carolina

Competition Studio | F08

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HDU ModuleHouston, Texas

NASA Collaboration | S10As part of a collaborative studio, I aided in the design and construction of a fully functioning medical unit for testing by NASA engineers. The project required the joint efforts of NASA engineers, the Rensselaer School of Architecture, and the School of Engineering (Biomedical Research and Design).

The HDU is designed to support a crew of four to six members on a six-month excursion. Due to high costs of travel, the crew will not be returned to earth should a medical emergency occur, rather the situation will need to be handled by the crew within the module. The crew members will be mainly composed of scientists perform-ing research on the effects of micro gravity on the human body and lunar research. Each crew member will receive paramedic training [forty hours over the duration of their training]. Its function will be similar to that of the International Space Station node and laboratory mod-ules. The intent of the medical workstation is to provide emergency and preventative medical care and treatment for the lunar crew. In addition, the space will serve as a research facility for human effects. The operating table must have 360 degree access but is not often used thus may be stored elsewhere in the slice, have variable uses, or deploy in some way in case of emergency. The efforts of the project culminated in not only speculative design and computer modeling, but rather into a full scale built prototype. The prototype features a mobile bed which can transition between work surface and emergency device. The module also features an adjustable lighting system which can be easily deployed to be used for both emergency and task lighting. The design incorporates storage and several surfaces on which the necessary daily medical testing and procedures can be carried out.

The HDU will be taken to the Arizona test facility in the summer of 2010 to be tested in a 14-day lunar mission

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