alexandra priorS e l e c t e d W o r k s

c o n t e n t s

04 Overlapping Culture08 Social Vital ity12 Shelf Life16 Bay Housing18 Hospice: 20 Built Projects

Schleswig, Germany4th Year - Stefan Worbes

Theater Schleswig explores the over-lap of German and Danish culture in the North German city of Schleswig through the context of a new theater complex. Two overlapping rectangles of theater and multipurpose use were stretched to provide access from the city center to the lake shore and then sectioned and scaled down to create a variety of overlaps. The long rectangles of the multipurpose zone draw the public from the city center into the domain of the theater through expansive views of the Schlei lake-shore. The series of overlapping rectangles that composes the building form and floor plan becomes an overlap of cul-ture, an overlap of uses, and an overlap of vernacular and modern materials.

Overlapping Culture [Theater Schleswig]

5 30

Section B

Site Plan0 30

10 60

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Multipurpose

Theater zone

5 30

Two rectangles overlapping (theater and multipurpose)

The culture of Schleswig is an overlapping of German and Danish culture

Stretched to bridge the gap between the Schlei and the Lollfuß

Many overlapping rectangles added at a variety of scales

Circulation

The pathways of the multipurpose zone are designed to emphasize the view of the Schlei, magnetically drawing the public through a straight path ending in a stunning view.. These paths which exist both on the lower and upper floor also allows the public to experience a taste of the theater in their daily lives without needing to buy a ticket.

This space can be used in good weather as a promotional space for the theater to perform free outdoor performances. This would help to liven the atmosphere of the Lollfuß.

View of the amphitheater on Lollfuß entrance.

view from lower pathway to Schlei

Overlap

Along with overlapping materials and form, the program uses similarly overlap with the theater zone of the building also existing within the multipurpose zone thereby allowing the casual passerby to experience small aspects of the theater world due to visual proximity.

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06

5 30

First Floor Plan

5 30

Ground Floor Plan

0 15

5 30

Jacksonville, Florida3rd year - Professor Margarida Yin

Nursing Home design has long been plagued by the legacy of the institutional model: double loaded corridors, hospital style appearance, multiple residents per room. This design seeks to change that pattern, instilling a new sense of home and community into what was once seen as a strictly medical facility.

The Site: Jacksonville, Florida is a hot, humid climate requiring both the use of passive and mechanical techniques to achieve a thermally comfortable atmosphere. Key strategies include extensive ventilation through raised floors and operable windows and extensive shading systems around the building.

SOCIAL INTERACTION creates life and vitality. This will recreate the nursing home as a place full of life. To achieve this, resident rooms are scattered amongst the amenities of the nursing home, providing an urban spacial arrangement that encourages interaction.

Social Vitality [redefining the nursing home]

Alexandra Prior

The connection with the outdoors is crucial in the life of a nursing home resident. Simply being able to enter their room from an outdoor setting rather than an indoor corridor brings an inviting atmosphere to the resident. A continuous line of sight to the pond in the Southeast portion of the site brings the relaxation and healing qualities of water. The outdoors includes two main healing gardens: the sensory healing garden surrounding the pond area and the meditation garden in the North for mental healing.

Second Floor Plan

1

4

therapy

care

gameroom

First Floor Plan

2

3

spa

care

1

2

4

3

PhotovoltaicPanels

FoldableWood Louvres

A progression of levels of social interaction and exposure allow all residents to experience the vitality of human interaction without being pushed past their comfort zone. Resident rooms provide the most intimate space. Next the resident can chose to enter the common patio attached to their room. Outside of these patios lie various common social spaces intermixed with support areas, resident rooms, and therapy rooms. This arrangement causes the intermixing of various peoples and promotes social interaction. The most public of all spaces are the outdoor gathering plazas.

Unit Plan

1 Resident room2 Common Patio3 Vertical Interaction4 Public Space

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Water Cistern

Cross VentilationPV Panelswater catchment

Section B

prevailing winds

sun angle

wintersummer

The regional vernacular of the Florida cracker house inspires the use of raised floors to increase ventilation and provide comfort. This is coupled with the use of shaded porches.

The dogtrot style home is another vernacular trait utilized in this design both to create more ventilated space and to open up the space to the outdoors to better integrate with the environment.

Vernacular Inspiration

Dog Trot Home

Florida Cracker House

Sustainable Features

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010

30

70

N

Berkeley, CA5th year - Professor Karen Lange

Shelf Life [Thesis in Progress]

The physical book is increasingly being heralded as facing imminent death at the hands of the digital. However, the destruction of physical books is not a far off future but rather a present reality in the workings of space constrained libraries and book stores who rid themselves of lesser used books to make room for new titles. This thesis seeks to present the destruction practices of libraries as a public spectacle weighed with personal choice and responsibility.

This idea comprises 4 steps:

1. A space of adoration for the physical book including a book tower and large reading room.2. A space of destruction wherein infrequently read books are pulped into generic paper products.3. The organization of books based on how frequently they have been read or checked out rather than alphabetically.4. The gradual visible movement of books from adoration to destruction. If a book is not removed from a shelf, it shifts closer to the pulping floor, instilling a sense of personal responsibility on behalf of the library goer.

Alexandra Prior

Haste St.

Telegraph Ave.

The site located in Berkeley, CA consists of two vacant lots in an intersection comprised of the two lots, a vacant former bookstore, and a music store. The two lots share a history as both lots formerly held buildings that were burnt down in separate fires. This project seeks to connect the fragility of the former buildings with the fragile status of the book in the modern world while also expressing the weight of the physical presence of the book.

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shreddisbind mix blend roll

FIRST FLOOR PLAN0

10

30

70

DN

DN

0

10

30

70THIRD FLOOR PLAN

SECOND FLOOR PLAN0

10

30

70

SAFE - Books which are most frequently read/checked out

IN DANGER - Books which have become neglected and are on the brink of pulping

Books begin travelling from top to bottom of the tower. They are then conveyed and elevated to the raised “book bar” where they travel across and down to the five stages of pulping.

Books travel across shelves through inlaid conveyors that slowly move unused books from a place of ado-ration in the tower to destruction on the pulping floor.

BOOK USE PROGRESSION

BOOK CIRCULATION

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PROGRAM

adoration

lobby

admin

observation

bindery demonstration

shop

Alexandra Prior15

Manipulation of the Bay Window

San Francisco, CA2nd year - Professor Kent Macdonald

Focusing on the tradition of the San Francisco bay window, this design seeks to reexamine all that the bay window entails in the context of an urban apartment setting. The facade is derived from the manipulation of the positive and negative volumes created by the folding motion of repeated bays across a surface. The bay is extended to become the entire facade and is used as a guiding force for the design of unit plans within the building. Units become the bay window themselves as they become focused around a primary, expansive view that overlooks the nearby Patricia’s Green and the vibrant activity it attracts.

The Bay [mixed-use housing]

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Elevations

N W S Section

Resident

Public

Resident

Public

Resident

Public

opposition to environment

following natural curvature

open to environment

Montana de Oro, CA3rd year - Professor Greg Wynn

The hospice as a place which embraces nature, both the natural beauty of the surrounding Montana de Oro and the process of death as a natural, accepted occurrence rather than an event to be forever feared. The design is focused on enjoying north views while welcoming south sun, a continuation of natural flora, and community views that reach out to grasp the land around while giving residents increased peace and space for reflection. Located in Montana de Oro state near the Los Osos Sea Pines golf course, the site looks out North onto Morro Rock and a body of water sheltered by the primary dune. To the west is the primary dune, the east a residential neighborhood, and to the south is the golf course. The soil is primarily sand based with a mild slope towards the north. The land overall is a piece of a beautiful and treasured state park that demands respect and care.

EAST ELEVATIONScale: 1/8” = 1’

SECTIONScale: 1/8” = 1’

Hospice [the nature of dying well]

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Natural Dune Landscape

Inspired Landscaped Outdoor Deck

Growing Medium

InsulationDrainage and Root Barrier

Membrane ProtectionRoofing Membrane

6x12 HSSFlashing

Gypsum Board

Glass

4x4 HSS

Wood Siding

Plywood

Shelf Angle

6x6 HSS

6x12 HSS

Concrete Footing

Wood DeckingSteel Studs

RESIDENT ROOM UNITScale 1/8” = 1’

Alexandra Prior

B u i l t P r o j e c t s

The piece AUTHORSHIP seeks to explore an unconventional method of storing/displaying the written word. The traditional bookshelf places emphasis on the book’s highly decorated spine and cover so that one may immediately recognize the title and author. This piece instead looks to obscure any immediate recognition of a particular title and places the author in the realm of obscurity. Instead the pages themselves become the focal point and allow a different angled appreciation for the form of a book.

AUTHORSHIP

PARASITE

Parasite was a first year project that consisted of created a structure that interacted with Cal Poly’s architecture building in a parasitic, site sensitive manner while promoting human interaction with the piece. This solution sought to interaction with a series of wooden posts and an exterior courtyard wall by hanging a series of wood and metal boxes from a cantilever atop the wall. These boxes could then be shifted up an down through handles threaded through the various wood posts, creating an interactive experience that responded to the surrounding structures.

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PLASTER CASE STUDY

PILLOW TALK

Pillow Talk was a collaboration on behalf of Karen Lange’s entire thesis studio. The goal of this installation was to create a space for the appreciation and reading of our thesis research. Each student had printed their quarter’s worth of research into a book which we then attached custom 3D printed book lights to and displayed along a wooden catwalk. A person visiting the installation was instructed to remove their shoes and enter the dimly lit room where they were to select a book and then step from the catwalk onto a sea of bean bag like pillows. The pillows were designed and fabricated by the studio and were made of bed sheets sewn together and filled with styrofoam pellets. The space created a sense of relaxation and welcomed visitors to slow down, lay down and truly delve into the words that filled each student’s thesis book.

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ALTERED BOOKS

As an initial exploration of my thesis research into

the nature of and societal perception of the physical

book, I began a series of experiments with alterations

to books. These different experiments sought to

alter the perception of what is the physical book and

explore its nature as an object versus its identity as a

text.

ALTERED BOOKS