Graham Foundation for Advanced Studies in the Fine ArtsChicago

Princeton Architectural PressNew York

Paul Lewis, Marc Tsurumaki, David J. Lewis

Lewis.Tsurumaki.LewisOpportunistic Architecture

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Printed and bound in China

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No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner without

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Every reasonable attempt has been made to identify owners of copyright.

Errors or omissions will be corrected in subsequent editions.

Photo credits:

Michael Moran: 13, 25, 27, 28 left, 32 right, 33–34, 35 top right, 46–49, 51 top right, 52–57,

58 bottom left, 63, 76, 78 right, 79, 80 right, 81, 83–87, 131, 133 top, 134, 135 bottom, 158–59,

160–66, 167 top right

Rudolph Janu: 29–31, 34 top right

Elliott Kaufman: 112 bottom, 114 bottom, 115 bottom

Hye-Young Chung: 137

Maya Galbis: 58 top left, 132, 167 bottom

dbox: 152 top left, 154 bottom, 157 bottom right

LTL would like to thank Hilary Zaic, Maya Galbis, Elizabeth Hodges, Alex Terzich, Beatie Blakemore,

Jason Dannenbring, Tamicka Marcy, and Kathryn van Voorhees for their work on this book.

Editor: Dorothy Ball

Design: LTL with Jan Haux

Special thanks to: Nettie Aljian, Sara Bader, Nicola Bednarek, Janet Behning, Becca Casbon, Penny (Yuen

Pik) Chu, Russell Fernandez, Pete Fitzpatrick, Wendy Fuller, Clare Jacobson, John King, Nancy Eklund Later,

Linda Lee, Laurie Manfra, Katharine Myers, Lauren Nelson Packard, Jennifer Thompson, Arnoud Verhaeghe,

Paul Wagner, Joseph Weston, and Deb Wood of Princeton Architectural Press —Kevin C. Lippert, publisher

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication DataLewis, Paul, 1966– Lewis.Tsurumaki.Lewis : opportunistic architecture / Paul Lewis, Marc Tsurumaki, David J. Lewis. — 1st ed. p. cm. — (New voices in architecture) ISBN-13: 978-1-56898-710-1 (alk. paper) ISBN-10: 1-56898-710-2 (alk. paper) 1. Lewis.Tsurumaki.Lewis—Themes, motives. 2. Architecture, Modern—21st century. I. Tsurumaki, Marc, 1965– II. Lewis, David J., 1966– III. Title. NA737.L454L47 2007 720.92’2—dc22

2007002186

Graham Foundation / Princeton Architectural Press series

New Voices in Architecture

presents first monographs on emerging designers from around the world

Introduction

Arthouse

Bornhuetter Hall

Building 82%

Dash Dogs

Display Devices

Fluff Bakery

Four Exhibitions

Geltner Loft

The Great Egyptian Museum

Ini Ani Coffee Shop

Lozoo Restaurant

MSK Lobby Wall

Nazareth House

New Suburbanism

Parallel Lines Collection

Parking Sections

Park Tower

Tides Restaurant

Tourbus Hotel

Upside House

Vegas 888 Spa and Skin

Wooster House

Xing Restaurant

Tactics for an Opportunistic Architecture

Catalyzing Constraints

Invention Sprawl

Paradoxical Pleasures

Alchemical Assemblies

Over Drawing

Project Credits

Timeline

Staff

Acknowledgments

Contents

6

14

24

36

44

50

52

60

64

68

76

82

88

94

100

110

112

118

130

136

148

152

158

160

168

170

172

174

176

178

184

190

192

24 Lewis.Tsurumaki.Lewis

This project for the College of Wooster

began in 2001 with an extensive feasibil-

ity study of the residential campus plan

that culminated in recommendations for

substantial changes in the density and

configuration of several student halls. Con-

trary to the prevailing trend at residential

colleges toward apartment-style living,

extensive discussions with students, resi-

dential-life staff, and the college’s admin-

istration led to the unanticipated conclu-

sion that a double-loaded corridor typology

actually encourages the greatest degree of

socialization and the most positive student

experiences. Urban where the apartment

type is suburban, the spatial format of

the corridor building facilitates exchange

among students and provides opportuni-

ties for diverse levels of interaction. At a

time when students arrive on campus with

an increasing array of insulating personal

technologies—iPods, computers, Game

Boys—this seemingly outmoded housing

type offers a social mixing chamber for the

cultivation of a collective collegial identity.

The success of the double-loaded

corridor as a catalyst for college social life

is predicated on several important condi-

tions: 1) the scale of the hall unit—the

total number of rooms served by a single

corridor—should be neither too small nor

too large, as this results either in isolation

or institutional anonymity, 2) the corridor

should be wide enough to function as an

ad-hoc social space and connect to or

incorporate other collective spaces, and

3) the corridor should be integrated with

the main circulation paths through the

building.

Bornhuetter Hall

The generative brief for Bornhuetter Hall, a

new 47,500-square-foot residence hall with

185 beds, was partially derived through this re-

search. Sited on the northern edge of a liberal-

arts campus, Bornhuetter Hall encourages social

interaction by transforming the conventions of

the double-loaded corridor and enriches student

experience by providing a balance between

private spaces for study and public gathering

areas for communal life and discussion.

The spatial diagram for the building is

the product of resolving conflicting pressures.

The college requested a single building not to

exceed four floors. Therefore, each floor needed

to hold forty-six students, yet according to the

research, the ideal hall unit should be limited to

twenty-five to thirty students.

To solve this dilemma, the building was

split into two parts, connected by an exte-

rior courtyard. The existing site features—a

parking lot and a pine grove—determined

the different lengths of each portion of the

building. By extending the brick and glass skins

of the building around the courtyard, the two

residence halls appear to be a single building.

Within each wing, the hallways flare at their

ends and embrace lounges, a kitchenette, and

more intimate sitting areas. A collective outdoor

courtyard is created by this split, and this exte-

rior room functions as the public center of the

building. It is an unusual space, simultaneously

at the heart of the building and at the ends of

each wing, containing both social and private

spaces. It provides a sequence of entry into the

building and a passage from the campus to the

park beyond.

Ideal hall size, 25–30 students

Campus plan and existing residence halls

Exist

ing

pine g

rove

Existing

parking lot

Plan diagram

Wooster, Ohio

26

D O UBLE

M U LT I-PU RPO SE RO O M

M ECH .

ELEVA TO RM ECH .

D O U BLE

D O UBLE

D O UBLE

TRIPLE

D O UBLE

VEN D IN G

SERV ICE A CCESS

ELEVA TO R

M ECH A N ICA L

LA U N D RY

U T ILITY

002

003

006

001

015

013

CO RRID O R

ELEV . LO BBY

044

048052

031

033

034

035

036

053ELEV . LO BBY

032

STA IR 2

STA IR 3

STA IR 4

M ECH . CH A SE

STO RA G E

055

STO R.

D O UBLE

D O UBLE

D O UBLE

038

039

040

R.A . D O U BLE

037

W. BA TH RM049

043

D O UBLE

D O UBLE

041

042

VEST IBU LE

H A LL D IRECTO R'S

A PA RTM EN T

007

BA TH010

009

BED RO O M

M ECH . CH A SE

ELEVA TO R ELEVA TO R

PH O N E/DA TA CLO SET

M ECH .

CLO SET

KITCH EN

051

STO R.

050

LO U NG E

030

RECEIV IN G

014

LA U N D RY

013

CO M PU TER RO O M

004

054CO RRID O R

W.BA TH RM .

STA IR 1

U T ILITYRO O M

012

M ECH .

CH A SE

M ECH .

BA TH RO O M

045

H .B.

H .B.

ELECTRICA L

005

009A

DU

MPSTER

(N.I.C.)

010

008

K ITCH EN

007B

007A

D IN IN GRO O M

STU D Y

1102

1097

1096

1102

1101

1100

1098

1099

1096

1101

009B

007C

H A LL D IRECTO R'S

EN TRY CO U RTYD .

1098

1099

1100

H .B.

H .B.

H .B.

SLO PE

SLO PE

SLO PESLO PE

011

CLR. INT .

LOUNGE

UPPER ENTRY

COURTYARD

RA-SINGLE

DOUBLE

DOUBLE

DOUBLE

DOUBLE

DOUBLE

DOUBLE

ACCESSIBLEDOUBLE

DOUBLE

DOUBLE

DOUBLE

DOUBLE

DOUBLE

RA-SINGLE

ACCESSIBLEDOUBLE

DOUBLE

DOUBLE

DOUBLE

DOUBLE

DOUBLE

DOUBLE

DOUBLE

DOUBLE

DOUBLE

BATHROOM

DOUBLE

DOUBLE

DOUBLE

101

102

109

110

103

111

104

105

106

112

107

113

100

119

118

CORRIDOR

ELEV. LOBBY

130

140

141

142

143

144

145

131

132

133

134

136

137

138

139

135

151

150

CORRIDOR

LOUNGE

ELEV. LOBBY

115

STAIR 2

STAIR 1STAIR 3

STAIR 4

MECH. CHASEMECH. CHASE

ELEVATOR ELEVATOR

VESTIBULE

116

ENTRY NOOK

149

ENTRY NOOK

117

NOOK

148

MECH. CHASE

MECH.

CUST. CLO.

121

ELECT.PANELS

120

MECH.

CHASE

MECH.

BATHROOM

147

H.B.

1105

1104

1103

1102

1104

1103

1102

1105

1095

1106

1096

1103

1102

1101

1100

1098

1099

1096

1104

1105

1106

1107

1097

1106

1108

1105

1104

1106

1101

10971097

1098

1099

1100

1101

1102

1103

1104

1100

1101

1102

1103

1096

1104

H.B.

H.B.M.S.

C.R.

C.R.

RA-SINGLE

DOUBLE

DOUBLE

DOUBLE

DOUBLE

DOUBLE

DOUBLE

DOUBLE

DOUBLE

DOUBLE

DOUBLE

DOUBLE

DOUBLE

RA-SINGLE

DOUBLE

DOUBLE

DOUBLE

DOUBLE

DOUBLE

DOUBLE

DOUBLE

DOUBLE

DOUBLE

LOUNGE

NOOK

NOOK

BATHROOM

DOUBLE

DOUBLE

DOUBLE

DOUBLE

301

302

309303

311

304

315

305

306

312

307

313

300

316

319

318

CORRIDOR

ELEV. LOBBY

340

330

341

342

343

344

345

346

331

332

333

334

336

337

338

339

335

350

CORRIDOR

ELEV. LOBBY

MECH. CHASE

MECH.

MECH. CHASEMECH. CHASE

STAIR 4

STAIR 2

STAIR 1

STAIR 3

DOUBLE

ELEVATOR349

STUDY NOOK

STUDY NOOK

317

CUST. CLO.

321

ELECT.PANELS

320

MECH.

CHASE

MECH.

BATHROOM

347

ELEVATOR

310

351

348

N

10 ft.

Lewis.Tsurumaki.Lewis

Ground-floor plan

First-floor plan

Second- and third-floor plan

N

10 ft.

27 Bornhuetter Hall

28

The hall is sited at the northern edge of the campus adjacent to a park with ballfields. The courtyard both provides the major collective space for the building and forms a link be-tween the campus and the landscape beyond. One can move through the building to the park—from outside to outside—without passing through a door.

The building is conceived as two copper-clad boxes wrapped by two veneers of brick. The brick skins unify the building, while the details at the corners, windows, and joints of the building explicate the interplay between the brick surfaces and the copper volume.

Lewis.Tsurumaki.Lewis

Wood-clad study nooks cantilever, like box seats, into the theatrical

space of the courtyard, producing a dynamic entrance to the building and

establishing private study areas in a collective setting. The daily activity of coming and going from the residence

hall becomes a public event.

The courtyard is sheathed in a screen of channel glass oriented to allow

for a dynamic and changing relation to the exterior. From the exterior of

the building, these glass columns produce a constantly shifting degree of transparency. The angled position

of the glass columns allows direct views between the courtyard and

the entry walkway, while obscuring the views to and from automobiles on the adjacent streets. The glass screen animates the variations of

sunlight and shadows during the day and provides a veil of privacy at night.

31

32

LTL’s design capitalizes on the oppor-tunities and paradoxes of conventional systems of construction. The brick facades are treated as independent planes sheathing internal volumes clad in copper—an approach that reflects the veneer nature of the cav-ity wall construction. The layering and interplay between the brick skins and the copper volume is most evident at the ends of the building. Copper awnings, installed on the public, campus sides of the building to provide shading and depth, are treated as extensions of the interior volume through the openings of the brick skin. At the front, the formal limestone frame at the entry is extended down to form a side entry and a seat, playfully linking the monu-mental and the prosaic.

Pre-cast concrete plank proved a cost-effective and rapid means to construct the floors. It also provided an opportunity to alleviate the potential blandness of the stacked corridors by introducing a gap between the planks cantilevered from the bearing walls of the rooms over the corridor. The resulting slot houses recessed hallway lighting, introducing vertical articulation into an otherwise flat ceiling. Carpet was continued up the wall of the hallways to encourage social loitering. Located on the ground floor, a larger multi-purpose room, wrapped in bamboo, connects directly to the park.

Lewis.Tsurumaki.Lewis

33 Bornhuetter Hall

34

Overlooking the interior courtyard, the study nooks are sized for indi-vidual or small-group study. In this way, the coming together of two or three students is also the moment of contact with the larger community of the residence hall. From within the perch of the study nooks, students can see the activity in adjacent nooks, the comings and goings in the courtyard below, and the campus and street activity beyond the channel-glass screen. The study nooks’ proximity to hall traffic and lounge activity means that students can both withdraw and engage in the community at the same time.

The communal lounges allow for contrasting views of the park and campus. On one side, an expansive glass wall opens to a serene park landscape of pines and grass while the study nooks provide more selec-tive, active vantage points toward the courtyard and campus.

Lewis.Tsurumaki.Lewis