Shifting Hybrids
Transformations for a New Hotel and Residential Building, TriBeCa, NYC
1st Prize E. Lewis Dales Fellowship
Published in Pressing Matter III
Published on suckerpunchdaily.com
Concept, 2013
A hybrid condition building, functioning as a continuously grafting and shifting system, this project delves into how such systemic thinking is translated into generative rules for lighting, furnishings, facade treatments, circulatory and programmatic organizations, and the changing topology of units.
The shifting of surfaces and volumes transforms into a system of spatial organization where plans and sections deliberately shift to introduce a third facade to the building and seamlessly turn corners. It also serves as a system for admitting natural light into the building, integrating public programs into private areas, and establishing connections with the urban context through terraces and pools suspended over Vestry Street.
The grafting of surfaces and volumes generates solid-cavity variations that prevent the facades from becoming flat curtain walls, fostering a more intricate relationship between the exterior and interior. This also evolves into a system of unit topology where each unit is customized to provide hotel visitors and residents with an appropriate living space during their stay.
A research paper related to this project is available upon request:
'A User-Responsive Part-to-Whole System since the Second Machine Age' (University of Pennsylvania, November 2013).