So I just got back from our fancy graduation party downtown at this rooftop club. Since for the first time ever at GSAPP I have nothing to do tomorrow, I decided to post some stuff thats long due. During my winter break I worked for Mark Rakatansky, my summer teacher on a project he is developing for Queens College. It is a media center which is part of a bunch of on going projects at QC that he calls "recombinant campus". Its sort of a collection of DNA that he mutates according to the particularities of each specific site within the college / programmatic requirements / neighboring structure's tectonics etc etc. So in this case he his main concern was a spatial / volumetric negociation between an existing old-skool building, a horrible half-moon pavillion and and open theater he designed previously. On that open theater he had developed a tectonic shceme which consisted of small bundles of metal tubes which would create a responsive system that could congeal when punctual strenght was needed, and then break apart and weave, intertwine or spread when contigent conditions were encountered.

Unfortunately, I dont have the final renders we submitted to the client cause they where made extra-hot by the great Bill Arbizu and so, I dont have them here in my laptop, but I guess these working renders suffice. (BTW, I only helped on the development of the tectonic scheme, Mark had already come up with the volume)


Conceptual tectonic scheme // a bunch of tiny's reconfigure themselves into a bulky column, window mullions or trusses according to programmatic / spatial needs...







Trussing mullion/column bundles






Mutated tiny's reconfiguring as demanded




Staircase volume developing a "lip-tumor" in response to the preassure of the existing open theater (the volume aknowledging its surroundings)




More examples of tectonic/volumetric response in regards to site / program conditions














This is Mark's website in case anyone wants to get a hold of all the theoretical stuff that motivates all these things... http://www.mr-studio.com/ The site is pretty weak now, I dont even know if it will be running cause I heard they were revamping it but I think there are some essays there....


Aside from that I think I will be TAing for him on the new batch of AAD's these summer at GSAPP and working parallely on a house he is building now in Seoul for some top exec. So if i dont get shut down by the administration, I will be posting a lot of these "real" Columbia projects plus stolen images from the work of the summer AAD's from Mark's studio these coming summer....

(we are graduating on wednesday...I used to look 18, now I look 45)