Morphological Typology   Fall '12

This body of work was achieved in an online studio setting directed by John Abela. The idea of the project was to create an office building that incorporates a morphological typology. The inverted “V” shape was the classification I chose for my building.

 

The site is located in a corner park in Detroit’s Greek Town District at the intersection of Beaubien and Macomb St. Additionally; the park features a transit system that intersects through the site at an elevation of 12 feet. The design challenge of working around the transit system allowed the form of the building to achieve its shape and for the expansion of square footage in the vertical direction.

 

The design parameters called for replacing the park within the design gestures of the morphological study. Due to the site conditions, the building and park could have an impact on the surrounding neighborhoods by enhancing the quality of the urban fabric. The intentional typology of the design strengthens the visual access to the Detroit River from various locations in downtown. The build’s form is not square and does not blend in with the surrounding buildings. It tries to catch the attention of the city-goers that ride the people mover daily. The creative building profile strives to influence and spark life into an area of a city that lacks luster. Implementing this concept would help promote the activity anchors of the Theater District in the northern portion of the area and link it with activity centers in the southern portion of the CBD (Renaissance Center, Hart Plaza, Cobo Center) by strong pedestrian pathways with special street furniture and other amenities.

 

Designing this building would not have been successful without building concept models. I was able to understand and solve design issues throughout the semester by model making. Building a scale figure model made this project successful because I was able to work through the problems of form, function, and material choices. The form was created through a series of paper modeling exercises and wooden dowels assisted in the development of the structure. Model making has become part of my learning process that will resonate with me throughout any design practice.