1 meter

East Elevation

5 meters

N

1 meter

South - North Section

5 meters

1 meter

East-West Section

5 meters

WE

NS

S

Upper Frick Park, Pittsburgh

Professor Jen Gallagher

Third Year Fall 2008RETREAT FOR RELIGIOUS DEBATE

The necessity for the privatization of the retreat has led to it’s being depressed into the landscape.

This allows for an optimum environment for study and meditation above that which would be offered

by simply being elevated over the surrounding communities.

Not only are there specific locations for meditation and study, the building itself works to allow the

visitor to enter the appropriate state of mind in order to do said actions - that is to be relaxed and to

have mind free of negative thoughts.

A majority of religions utilize repetitive movements, sounds, actions, or images to aid in entering into

a state of readiness for meditation - a similar state I speculate would be appropriate for optimum

study and information retention. the repetitive forms which constitute the retreat are meant to aid in

the process of preparation.

The spine that moderates the organization of the building is also a generator of repetitive form with its repetition of stone block.

Having the building designed along modular pieces creates some limitations, however these limitations also create guidelines

for generating the boundaries of the retreat as well as the ways in which it approaches its surroundings.

The series of precedents explain the importance of privacy and seclusion in a religious environment, especially when meditation

is meant to be a key aspect of the program. In order to maximize the seclusion these monasteries are built into their respective

monasteries either horizontally or vertically. The precedents also stress an importance of an organizational and circulatory spine

which is explore through diagram.

When sight was lost, the world was changed. People became highly dependent

on each other, and gravitated towards more intimate and enclosed spaces.

In Homestead PA, a series of tunnels connecting buildings and infrastructure

made up a networked community of subterranean dwellers. These people,

the mole-people, lived in nest like burrows while foraging for remnants of the

past. When Cleo, the first child born with sight, was found, the prophecy was

fulfilled.

It had been promised that one would come forth and make a great sacrifice to

give light to the rest of the world. It wasn’t known that this was a literal issue

until Cleo was killed in an accident on the site of the Reaper construction. The

blood of Cleo streamed onto the body of the hulking machine in a simple arc,

a symbol that would be repeated and idolized. This symbol is the basis for all

construction in this post-apocalyptic situation.

The Reaper was created to alleviate the pains of reconstructing civilization

upon return to the surface. The Reaper wanders the region in search of build-

ings to devour, and to turn into material once again to be used in construction.

Waterfront, Pittsburgh

Professor Jonathan Golli

Third Year Spring 2009POST-APOCALYPTIC COMMUNITY

Currently the McConway & Torley industrial complex acts as an insulated box, positioned in the Lawrenceville

community as an inaccessible void separating the existing residential fabric with the Allegheny River. The layout of

the selected programmatic elements across the site works to allow pedestiran exploration. Instead of surrounding

the facility with a fence, there will be a highly porous envelope. New alleys, gaps in building walls, processional

corridors, and small plazas become the new threshold onto the McConway & Torley site.

The final result is a complex open to the community.

Lawrenceville

Urban Lab

John Folan & John Kline

Fall 2010 - Partner - Chris Bridgman

MCCONWAY & TORLEY SPORTS COMMUNITY

Residential Retail Recreation Parking Interior Public Public Plaza

Town House Style Apartments

Sports Retail

Restaurant

Sports Retail and Restaurant

Short Term Housing

Sports Retail

Restaurant

Live Work Lofts

Parking

Apartments

Outdoor 400 Meter Track

Indoor 200 Meter Track

Ice Box Skate Rink

Football Field

Field House and Stands

Connection SystemsConnection Syste

Residential Retail Recreation Parking Interior Public P

Plaza Connection Systems

The positioning of program within site is pivotal in the organization of the project. Each piece of program is being inserted into

an occupied site, the majority of the program is to be insterted within existing brick and steel structures.

The objective of the alteration, as an adaptive reuse project, was to utilize as much of the pre-existing site as possible. The

two buildings being added to the site are part of the indoor track building and a parking structure. Eliminating some buildings

on the site opened up a great deal of space for small plazas and connecting space between certain elements of the program.

Areas adjacent to restaraunts and stores were especially chosen to recieve plaza space so that outdoor dining and transitional

space could be achieved.

RESIDENTIALP

lum

Way

Hatfield Str

eet

Bla

ckbe

rry

Way

Butler Stre

et

Commut

er Rail

Allegheny River

McConway & Torley Sports Community

As an adaptive reuse project it was a natural move to utlize re-constitured materials as a means for linking the entire program

together. By utilizing brick claimed from buildings on the site set to be demolished, multiple variations in experience can be created.

By composing spaces using these experiences several plazas have been formed within void spaces between buildings being retained.