Architectonics / Spring 2021
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Lower East Side Community Center
Professor James Lowder

Spatial Morph examines a topological organization regulated by program and accessibility through the rigidity of ribbon forms found in a precedent study, transformed to three dimensions. Walls seem to become floors and then walls again, wrapping and distorting to separate and connect spaces. Timber members and circulation spines running vertically and horizontally then penetrate a surrounding glass envelope. The effect is a single surface presenting spaces of intrigue and exploration, rationalized by core and service systems. It simultaneously conforms and rebels, connects and disconnects, condenses and dissolves space.
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Seemingly homogenous in its formal distribution, varying rigidities create unexpected but disciplined spaces in SANAA’s Glass Museum. Conceptually “soft” transparent rooms flow between rigid opaque rooms through rounded corners, and act as planimetric circulation. The use of glass also allows light to penetrate in layers through the building. Sketches and prototypes show the evolution of the museum into the Spatial Morph project, from dissection to reassembly and synthesis.