Bits & Pieces
When a cup of coffee is bought from Starbucks, an experience is embedded in that coffee. This is the operative idea behind the “experience economy,” as described by Pine and Gilmore. Architecture is implicit within the experience. This thesis critiques this notion of experience by investigating architecture, architecturally. Building upon Rossi’s critique of a naïve functionalism, this thesis proposes to develop two typologies: the tower, and the slab. Rejecting ideas of site, program, and user the project looks at the purely architectural questions and problems associated with each type. How does a tower withstand lateral loads? How does a slab span long distances without columns? Inherent in each are autonomous architectural questions that are always asked, but not discussed. How does a building meet the ground? Turn a corner? Meet the sky? Meet the ground? The result of these questions coalesce as a series of details that are read as both pieces of each type as well as their initial whole.
Thesis Advisor: Marc Neveu
Woodbury University
Type: Tower
Type: Slab
