Carpenter Center, Harvard University

This is Le Corbusier's only major building in North America. It was designed to house classes of the visual arts such as architecture, film, and painting to name a few. It’s concrete construction leaves a unique texture on the exterior of the building. It exposes the formwork used for the cast-in-place concrete, the columns also reveal the formwork lines from its pour.





A great curvilinear ramp bisects the structure and connects with the main stair and an exhibition space as well as allowing a connection to the street on the opposite side of the building. As one walks along the ramp you can witness the studio spaces and the work of the students. This is a major design technique Corbu incorporated into the building. He also stayed true to his 5 points as well as incorporating many design devices from his earlier works such as ondulatoires and brise soleils.





The plan above shows the unique angles of the windows and how they are oriented toward pedestrian pathways. This is how Corbu created a visual connection between those passing by or through the building with the studios and works of the students. The plan also shows the path cutting the building in two and connecting the two streets that flank the building on either side.

Tent City Housing

Tent City is located on the backside of the Prudential Mall and across the street from Back Bay Station. The term Tent City is mainly used to describe a variety of temporary housing facilities using tents, and in this complex resides a mixture of familiies from different incomes, thus properly named Tent City.



The complex itself spreads out over a large area extending from the large scale Boston skyline to the smaller communities of the Back Bay on the opposite end of the complex. The design characteristics therefore are site specific. Keeping with the smaller buildings in the Back Bay, this complex starts out at the same scale as these communities. The buildings then begin to gently slope up and rise in height until they culminate at its highest point next to the Prudential Mall. The apartments surround an inner greenspace that makes the space extremely enjoyable and quiet. The site receives a great amount of sunlight that allows the vegetation to flourish. However the most remarkable aspect of this space was how quiet the area is. The height of the apartments on the northeastern side act as a noise barrier. It is a huge difference from the loud and busy Boylston Street that runs along side this part of the complex.



The construction of Tent City seems to be a brick vaneer, noticed by weep holes on the exterior. Due to the unevenness of the brick construction and the vast amounts of sunlight flooding the complex, an interesting moment occurs on the facade of the buildings. The window sills cast their own shadows upon the brick wall, but the brick walls themselves cast some interesting shadows. The protruding bricks cast small shadows and give the facade a unique texture, different from what the brick itself exudes. The trees in the greenspace act as protection from the sunlight during the day. These trees are very important due to the face that there aren’t any other forms of sunshading upon the facade.

Adams Park, Roslindale Square

Roslindale Square is located where Washington Street, Poplar Street, and South Street meet. At this intersection lies a triangular shaped park, Adams Park, lined with trees. This space is a small getaway from the hustle and bustle of the square. The streets that surround the park are lined with small shops and stores.


The encompassing trees create a transition zone between the streets and the park. Inside the park one can sit down and relax while enjoying a nice sunny day. They are the first layer in this site, next is the bounding fence that encloses the park and lastly the shops and buildings facing the park that serve as the walls of the space.



The park has a slight slope to it, starting from the intersection of Poplar and South and gentley trickling down to Washington Street. At the top of Poplar and South are tiny shops that are not more than one story high. Lined with store front windows one can enjoy the quietness of the park and gaze out between the trees to do some window shopping. Down at Washington Street, however is a different occurance, where there are taller three and four story buildings. This keeps the scale to the site in balance.

Northeastern West Village Quad

Northeastern always seems to be in the process of updating or renovating their campus, and to this day they have done a great job in beautifying this urban site. The West Village Quad is not exactly symmetrical, instead the dormitories which make up the quad bend and curve giving the space a unique shape which differs from the more linear geometry of the city. These buildings also seperate the quad from the busy streets which gives a more secure feeling to those living in the dorms.

However, the space does not have the privacy you might expect. Instead the quad serves as a pathway for commuters on their way to and from the Ruggles T stop. The most direct path through the quad starts from Parker St., continues through the large arched opening and runs straight through the quad to the opposite side where the continuity of the brick buildings is broken by two glass buildings that flank each side of the path. If one is entering the quad from this side, you are able to witness a unique moment where the dormitories seem to continue through the reflection in these glass buildings.

ICA Boston

The ICA, also known as the Institute of Contemporary Art, is located in the inner harbor of Boston. At first glance you might think the building has been oriented incorrectly, but yet this has been done purposely. It's oriented so that all views overlook the harbor with the Boston skyline as their backdrop. It is quite an enjoyable space, inside and out. The overlying theme here is the wraping of the exterior deck into the building and back out as a massive cantilever. This exterior deck is the site being examined.

The deck is a great place to have a seat and enjoy the view of the harbor. The cantilever overhead encloses the space and frames the views out into the harbor. There is plenty of seating on the deck, mainly to accomodate for outside performances if need be, but they also serve as a great place to enjoy a meal right off the cafe located inside the building.

Here is a view out from the exterior deck overlooking the harbor and skyline. On a nice day one can sit out here for hours experienceing the serenity of the waves crashing up on shore and these breathtaking views. One of the more intersesting aspects of the building deals with the curving and folding of the exterior deck into and out of the building. From outside the site examined you can follow the deck line up the building and back out as it creates a cantilevering platform where the art galleries are located.

Christian Science Center

The Christian Science Center is a remarkable site tucked into an urban setting. In this site sits an old Romanesque basilican church. It is flanked by a long reflecting pool that continues beyond the church and opens up to a view of some of Boston's highrise buildings. These sketches and photographs depict the site and the boundaries around the church.

Back Bay Fens

Over the years Boston has commishoned many man made parks in and around the city in an effort to beautify the landscape of an ever changing city. Not only do these parks serve as recreational grounds for the residents of Boston, but they also provide protection. Many of the parks have been lowered from street level to allow for rains large enough to bring about a flood. These parks along with bringing beauty and interaction to the city are also designated flood plains. These are sketches and photos of the Back Bay Fens, part of the Emerald Necklace and through this documentation you can clearly see the sloping hills and lowered fields.

Copley Square

Copley Square is located in the Back Bay of Boston, an area which used to be completely covered in water has been in-filled with earth from around the city and now is one of the busiest areas in Boston. The square is bounded by Boylston Street on the north, Clarendon Street on the east, St. James Street on the south, and Dartmouth Street on the west. Our site was contained between the Hancock Tower (the tallest building in Boston) and the Trinity Church. The two act as a gate to the square from the financial district. As you gaze down St. James you can make out the BPL sticking out from behind the church, as well as the Prudential Tower and many other buildings that serve as a backdrop. All the buildings in the square were built at different times and this is quite apparent in all the different styles of architecture, the most recent being the Hancock Tower.


The Hancock Tower itself is a great piece of work. It is angled so that it is parallel with Huntington Ave. This is for a couple reasons, one being that with its slender shape it keeps from covering the whole square with its shadow, it also creates more square footage within the building. The whole building is covered with glass panels about 10 to 12 feet tall. These glass panels have the reflective quality of a mirror which allows the building to blend in more than stick out. You don't seem to notice the building as much when you are looking at the reflection of another in it. It's really something spectacular, because there are so many buildings surrounding it, there is never an instance where you don't see the reflection of one of them. This sketch shows the reflection of the Trinity Church on the Hancock Tower and the in the photo are a couple buildings from the financial district.

Commonwealth Ave.

There aren't many places in Boston where you can sit in a green space with streets flanked on each side, but down near the public garden you can find just that. It's much more elegant than it sounds. The green space splits Commonweatlh Ave in two and contains an array of trees, statues, and park benches which emit a comfortable vibe. The buildings on each side create walls which help enlose the space and the treetops come together to form a roof above your head, it's like being inside outside. Streets that intersect the avenue act as windows out toward the rest of the city, and there is a spectacular view of the city just beyond the Washington statue that greets you right when you enter the garden.


Here is a perspective sketch and photo of the greenway which splits Comm. Ave. in two.

These othe sketches and photos show how the space acts as an outdoor room. This section taken at the beginning of the avenue shows how each side of the street has tall buildings that become the walls of the space, and the axon shown depicts the intersecting streets that show views of the rest of the city.

Louisburg Square

On Tuesday September 11, my class and I met at Beacon Hill in Boston, more specifically Louisburg Square. This is a gem in the middle of Boston and is considered the heart of Beacon Hill. Here lies the beginning of Boston. One way streets, adjoining buildings, cobblestone lined streets, and a grassy square surrounded by a wrought-iron fence gives this a real 17th Century feel.

My class was to photograph and sketch what we thought were the most important parts of this area. The following were my findings.

This is a photo taken on the eastern side of the square. It shows how each housing unit is adjoined to the next. It also shows the unique architecture of these units, how each one of them bulge outward toward the green space in the middle of the square. Together they create an interesting waving motion which in turn casts shadows on the facade of the building. The act of erecting buildings adjacent to eachother is also known as "infill" which was and still is a common characteristic of Boston architecture.


Here we have a shot through the wrought-iron fence in the center of the square. Through the courtyard you can see how prominent the shadows of the trees are. The branches of the trees in the square hang over the streets and sidewalks acting as a canopy and allow for much shade on sunny days. Also in this picture is Sen. Kerry's house

Here are a couple sketches of Louisberg Squre. This first one depicts a detail of the facade of the eastern side of the square.

These other two show the landscape of the site, how its sloping down toward the river and an up close detail of an old style street lamp.