High-Rise
Year: 2015
Studio: 3rd Year Fall Undergraduate Studio (SCI-Arc)
Instructor: David Freeland
Team: Sara Segura, Melissa Lee
Per the conventional layering of identical floor plans,
architect Louis Sullivan’s methodology reduced the tall
tower typology into a monotonous, potentially-infinite
form. His vision for high-rise buildings limits vertical
circulation to an enclosed elevator core for structural support and perpetuates “pancaked”
spatial experiences—particularly in office buildings.
The tall tower is reinvestigated as a series of composite of smaller, syncopated shapes with irregular rhythm. Through the articulation of a cavernous core and a louvered envelope, its verticality is interrupted, creating a series of smaller multiple-story interactive spaces. As such, this high-rise office tower in New York City brings
back the horizontality of the open office plan in a paradoxical morphological container.