concept process series

This initial concept development strategy explored and expanded upon a notion of gradient space and the  semiotic relationship between space and geometry.  

Umwelt: Architecture, Habitat, and Environment

The capability for modeling and understanding our environment through technological means has reached an apex such that it is now possible for humans to have an instrumental understanding of the feedback effects that their means and methods of habitation have on ecosystems and other organisms.  This is evident in current debates around climate modeling and the political, economic, and cultural responses it elicits.  Architecturally, the implications of this technological capability lies in the formation of buildings that respond to varied and localized conditions at a range of scales and are able to respond to the needs of other organisms which share our habitable territory.

This project will be explored through the design of a NOAA Marine Environment Institute at the Pier 70 Redevelopment in San Francisco.  This facility is an environmental biology research laboratory devoted to the study of marine life in it’s interactions with the human environment.  To satisfy the importance of the technological intention as it pertains to the Institute’s mission the building itself will be a test bed for the kind of built environment that results from deploying technology as a component of nature.  Sited on a heavily constructed site that consists of fill and infrastructures for ship building over the last century, the facility must utilize its own building as an extensive measure of control and repair on the site.  The constructedness of the site will also be used to create habitat areas for native marine life as well as containing pools for marine animal rescue and research undertaken by the institute.

Thesis Abstract PDF here