Nexus:
Laval is situated in the expansive courtyard enclosed by the School of Architecture and French America Museum. An elevated plinth gently floats and shape-shifts to provide new spaces for the School of Architecture and leisure spaces for the public. Below the plinth, micro courtyards are created as a result of new circulation routes and a multi-purpose exhibition space. Above, loose programming fosters a diversity of activities - tree covered benches, moveable furniture, and an expansive grass lawn provides students and public with new areas to discover and congregate. Finally, to reach the upper level, the plinth folds down to reveal large stairs that extends to create space for an auditorium. Edges and threshold, which typically define a definitive boundary, are blurred through the use of operable facades.
Activating the Courtyard:
The space of the courtyard is the nexus between the school and the city. Yet, for a space that should be so intimately linked to the surrounding buildings, it manages to behave more as an urban wasteland, cut off from the city and the building that define its boundaries. A lack of hierarchy in defining building entrances, coupled with an unchanging hardscape, makes the courtyard an uninviting and uninspiring space. However, the hidden potential of the courtyard becomes evident when considering the players - on the one hand, the public can easily access the space, possibly using it for leisure activities; on the other hand, the school of architecture can utilize the space to advertise its work and disseminate knowledge of the broader architectural discipline. By activating the courtyard, it becomes the ideal meeting place for the school of architecture and the public.
The Intervention:
Rather than contributing another building to the existing Seminary ensemble, this proposal provides new connectivity and suggests areas of activity that allow the school and the public to engage one another. The addition of a plinth, manipulated and shape-shifted, provides the foundation from which the intervention develops. It is the framework that organizes spaces and activities. Because the plinth is elevated, it immediately transforms the old courtyard below into a weather-protected area (ideal for a multi¬purpose space), while simultaneously creating new spaces above. Façade elements are transparent and operable, and allow the spaces defined by the plinth to expand and contract depending on need and circumstances.
(competitor's text)
14 scanned / 12 viewable
- Presentation Panel
- Presentation Panel
- Perspective
- Perspective
- Perspective
- Perspective
- Plan
- Plan
- Plan
- Section
- Section
- Schema
