CAD 3D Final Project

(click to enlarge)
This project intends to use Saarinen's MIT Chapel as a way to explore additive and subtractive concept modeling in CAD. I began by reviewing my notes from my two visits to the MIT Chapel:

http://proceedtobuild.blogspot.com/2009/10/mit-chapel-visit.html
http://proceedtobuild.blogspot.com/2009/11/cambridge-architecture.html

Some generative ideas synthesized from my analysis:
-Cylinder intersected by a rectilinear volume
-Light from above focused onto a specific form in the center of the volume
-Reflecting pools used to transmit light
-A sense of "turning inward"
-Exploration is required to find the entrance
-An island; isolation in an urban environment

With these ideas as a guidepost, geometry is created.


The geometric forms are extruded and subtracted to find space within.


A cubic volume is subtracted from both shapes to form an entrance and interior.



Different qualities of light are studied.




For a second iteration, masses are added to a field to simulate an urban environment. A wall, garden, pathway, and reflecting pool is added to the field.




The main cylinder is opened by subtracting an array of solid rectangles from the sides. A cylinder subtracted from the top provides an aperture for sunlight to illuminate the interior.




Subtracting the cubic volumes from the interior and exterior of the cylinder creates openings to the garden area. The interior geometry and aperture can be seen.





Various viewpoints and lighting conditions are explored to reveal how the building might be seen by neighbors and passers by.







Going forward, I'd like to clarify the relationship between the walls and the cylinder. The interior volume is still a bit small; venturing inside and looking around still feels a bit strange and claustrophobic because the scale is wrong. The garden also needs some resolutions.