J ESS I E G EM M E R

Thes i sArchitecture is the bridge between the material and the spiritual.

HowA physical space can be made sacred, without any association

with faith or religion, by architectural form that conveys the

qualities of dreams, memories, and fantasy.

F A N T A S Y

This is my clearest dream

This is where i would like to be found

This is my past

M E M O R Y

D R E A M

T H E S I S

There is a reveal; an entrance from a

universal presence into a specific space.

This change of pressure is imperative.

Highlighted in the totality you see a

point of observation, the point from

which to realize the whole, a reason to

move forward. There is place from which

to observe the world beyond. It is an

island, a temple, a palace; expressing

the individual scale as well as the site.

A R C H I T E C T U R A L TRANSLATION

T H E S I S

M EMO R I A L F O R A P R I L S I X T E E N T H

V i r g i n i a T e c h

B l a c k s b u r g , V i r g i n i a

On April 16, 2007 a student at Virginia Tech shot and

killed 32 fellow students and professors in a rampage that

started at West Ambler Johnson dormitory and ended at Norris

Hall.

It was the largest massacre on any school campus in

the United States.

It’s important to remember that day and the people

who died, but it is more important to heal. There should

be a place on campus, a private place of quiet beauty, for

families to grieve. However, in fifty years, when the sting

of loss has faded, there should be a place that conveys a

sense of healing to all visitors regardless of specific

memory. Virginia Tech deserves to have an exquisite place

on campus, made in the spirit of the community that drew

together after the tragedy.

T H E S I S

N

Site PlanResponse to Site Conditions.

The memorial’s geometry

references Norris Hall and

West Ambler Johnston Hall,

the sites of the shootings on

April !6th.

The memorial entrance is

in line with the path from

War Memorial.

The memorial is placed on

ground level so the existing

elm’s roots are not disturbed.

The memorial must be hidden

from the sight, sound, and

smell of the cars driving

around the site. This is

accomplished by placing it

inside a nine foot grade

change that rises from the

boundary of the roads.

The memorial must allow for

students walking to class to

pass through the site rather

than forcing them to make

their way around it.

T H E S I S

From outside, the memorial is almost invisible - a

three foot wall at the top of a gentle hill, its edges

blurred by the silver trees that drape over the boundaries

and fill the void carved into the ground. Inside, the power

of their symbolism rises to meet the power of their natural

beauty. Thirty-two European Weeping Birches stand as pale

columns around a polished stone floor, forming a temple

filled with the sound of wind and the lacework of sunlight

through leaves. They are always standing vigil.

The hardest decision was to include a thirty-third

tree, to represent the shooter who also died that day. There

were thirty-two victims of a specific crime, but the Virginia

Tech community lost thirty-three students. The birches frame

a hundred foot elm that exists on the site - dark and rough

in contrast to the smooth angels surrounding it. The elm

stood before the shooting and will remain long after the

survivors; its weight anchors the space and without it the

memorial would be an empty token. Its symbolism will change

depending on the visitor - it can be a sign of steadfast

spirit breaking through tagedy, a dark interjection through

harmony kept outside the sacred space by white sentinels.

T H E S I S

Thirty Two Trees

The ancient elm remains, dark, rising like an echo.

They Are Angels Standing Guard

The Thirty-third Tree

M EM O R I A L D E S I G N

R e s p o n s e t o T r a g e d y

Memorial PlanResponse to Site Conditions.

The entrance leads directly to the elm, isolated in its

own room. Visitors pass the elm and enter into the second

room, a polished stone floor that reflects the 32 birches that

surround it. The outer boundary of the memorial is formed

by layered stone walls that form a ledge for leaves to gather

and for intrepid visitors to perch in the treetops, hidden

from view. The angled wall that ends in the ledge leads to the

parapet on the outside ground. That wall is three feet tall at

the height top of the grade change.

The exterior is clad in dolomite, or “hokie stone”, a

rough cut stone that clads 90% of the buildings on the Virginia

Tech campus. The appearance is that of a ruin, a foundation of

a destroyed building. The trees inside grow as if nature were

taking back the land where the building once stood. Inside, the

symmetry and number is apparent, but outside the creation would

remain a mystery.

Past the 32 trees is a sweeping staircase, flanked by

hills as the ground rises to meet the walls that form the final

edge of the space. After reflecting in the cathedral made of

trees, visitors sit and look down through the branches and

leaves to the room. Upon leaving, they are faced with a view of

a campus park, the duckpond, and enter a place of natural beauty

and leisure.

The power of the memorial is not held in the memory of

the event. The subtle appearance from campus, the organized

geometry inside, the reference to tragedy through the symbolism

of the ruin, and the likeness of a temple made through the

columnar trunks and polished stone all create a space that is

evocative and powerful regardless of context.

T H E S I S

Side Stair:

walkers

Side Sta

ir:

walkers

Tree to War Memorial:

Entrance

Tree

to

West

Amb

ler

John

ston

:

Room

Section Line

Tree to Norris: Room

Stone Plinths:

Norris

Stone

Plinth

s:

Drillf

ield

Exit:

Duckpo

nd

Tree to Existing

April 16th Memorial:

Entrance

Temple FloorStairs to a place of beauty beyond

T H E S I S

War Memorial

Entrance

Section through Drillfield.

Section through Memorial.

April 16th Memorial.

Exit

T H E S I S

SummerLooking at exit from inside the trees.

AutumnLooking at entrance from drillfield.

WinterLooking at entrance from inside the trees.

R E N D E R I N G S

se a s o n s

T H E S I S

T O W E R H O T E L

I was the project manager and the lead designer for a 320 foot

hotel in downtown Manhattan.

It is one block from Ground

Zero and directly across from

the queuing lot for visitors to

the 9/11 memorial.

The corner directly looking at the memoiral pools is a curtain

wall, inflecting in color and

pattern to echo the transition

between city and sky reflected

in the new towers as well as

the effect of the memorial pool

waterfalls.

It is waterfall frozen over the memorial it overlooks. The walls

not in view of the pools are stone

and serious in reference to the

financial district they face.

The facade materials reflect the

tension between areas of a city.

The most important aspect of

the design is respect.

P R O F E S S I O N A L : D F D S

c o n c e p t d i a g r a m m a t e r i a l t e n s i o n b e t w e e n p o d i u m a n d t o w e ro r i g i n a l c o n c e p t

S BAR252 SF

MENS147 SF

STORAGE60 SF

WOMENS100 SFADA

96 SF

CONF135 SF

SEATING1500 SF

TERRACE721 SF

KITCHEN451 SF

ELEVATOR CORE335 SF

OFFICE55 SF

LOADINGBERTH

THAMES ST

GREENWICH ST

MARKET40 SF

FRONT DESK

LOUNGE

LOBBY687 SF

RETAIL2643 SF

The lowest six floors of the project are

designed to be a separate building of the human

scale. It is made to look like a solid piece of

rock, carved away to expose the program within.

The shape and distribution of program was

decided by zoning, as was the 7 foot setback of

rooms on the 2-5 floor. We designed a delicate

screen made of woven metal to hold the street wall,

dissolving over the lobby to draw visitors down

Thames St from the more obvious retail entrance on

Thames.

P O D I U M D E S I G N

P R O F E S S I O N A L : D F D S

A M E N I T Y F L O O R

Ciculation Axon

S E C T I O N

Floor 1: EntranceGift Shop

Ticket CounterCoffee Shop Bathrooms

Offi ceCustomer Service

Floor 12: LobbyRestaurant

Lounge Bar

Bathrooms

Floor 22: ExhibitFeatured Designer

Floor 33: ViewSkybar

Japanese Garden

A structure of hollow bones. Exhibits floating like paper birds.

Winding a route through the air.

This building does not scrape the sky, it floats on the horizon:

A paper lantern

A C A D E M I C : F A S H I O N M U S E U M F O R T O K Y O

structure skin circluation

sectionconcept

plans

A C A D E M I C : F A S H I O N M U S E U M F O R T O K Y O

daytime

roof garden

exhibit nighttime plans

organ over pool plan perspective

A C A D E M I C : C H A P E L O F T H E A N N U N C I A T I O N

unfolded interior elevations

circulation and program

This chapel tells the story of the Annunciation. It is intimate

and personal while inspiring reverence. The paths through and along

the walls vertically separate the parts of a Catholic service allowing

it to fit on a tiny site in a historic district.

1 Baptismal Pool2 Entrance3 Organ4 Choir5 Pews

6 Elevator7 Spiral Stairs

8 Priest’s Walk

9 Pulpit

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8

7 5

4

3

1

6

2

A C A D E M I C : C H A P E L O F T H E A N N U N C I A T I O N

Below Ground:1 Baptismal Pool2 Priests’ Office3 Closet4 Bathrooms

Third Level:1 Choir2 Spiral Stair up to Priest’s Walk3 Stair to Congregation

Ground Level:1 Street Entrance2 Elevator Entrance3 Spiral Stair down to office/bathrooms or up to bell tower4 Stair to baptismal pool5 Stair to Organ

Fourth Level:1 Stair to Priest’sWalk2 Congregation3 Path from Elevator to Congregation

Fifth Level:1 Priest’s Walk2 Pulpit

Second Level:1 Organ

2 Stair to Choir

M A T E R I A L S

Walls: steel construction with weathered grey wood siding - vertical for circulation and horizontal for program.

Walkways, stairs, and handrails: cantileved from the walls and paneled with red wood.

Floor: insulated and filled with one foot of water for baptism and to reflect the light of the sky.

Roof: glazed with 3’x6’ glass panels with thin aluminum mullions.

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2

3

4

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2

3

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view from bell tower

view from organ

view from pulpit