Selected Work
2022 - Present
Zachary Isaac Stephens | zis6@cornell.edu
incremental zoning.
Stephanie Lee | Studio V
Systematic Mismatches
Questions of Rural Zoning
This project looked at the history of zoning within Trumansburg and questioned whether or not the foundational principles—which were based on the first NYC zoning ordinance—were best fit for the rural village of Trumansburg. We argued that because of the derivation of this zoning code aligning with Urban typologies, there was a ‘Systematic Mismatch’ within the design system. The project then became about rethinking how we zone buildings to fit the context more appropriately.
Paper Models
An Aesthetic for self-determination
Our system relied on expressing the primary issues with the previous zoning ordinance, control. There was control in every step of the process such that the system took priority over the people’s desires. With this, the loose paper aesthetic was made to question this sense of control, where an expressive and iterative process could express the desire for self-determination within architecture and planning, questioning these concepts at 3 different scales: the zone (1/64”), building (1/4”), and plan. (1/2”)
BOOK
scale of the zone.
1/64" = 1'-0"
NYC Subversion
Zoning Codes into a "GO" system.
The scale of the zone re-imagines how zoning could be implemented in Trumansburg. By analyzing the current data behind Trumansburg's development and comprehensive plan for the village, we decided on a mixed-use development scenario for the alternative zoning system. In this system, NYC zoning codes are adapted into a 'Go'-like framework that begins with four points—dictated by the desires of residents—that spread out uniformly according to the system. By creating an incremental zoning process, where people decide incrementally on the next building in a series of constructions, we hoped to achieve a people > system approach that opposed the previous over-bearing zoning system within Trumansburg.
Base Site Plan
Scale : 1/64" = 1'-0"
Commercial Site Plan
Scale : 1/32" = 1'-0"
scale of the building.
1/4" = 1'-0"
Buildings as Hollow Shells
Furniture and Casework
To bring the idea of a people > system approach to the design of the building, we imagined it as a type of 'hollow shell'—a wall to be spray-painted, a parking lot to be filled, a home to be littered with bits and pieces of people's desires, aptitudes, and aspirations. It speaks to architecture and the way we perceive buildings—not just as functional constructs defined by architects, but as spaces ultimately shaped by the people who influence the final result, maintenance, and ornamentation of architecture.
The building features a mixed-use development, with a commercial/recreational/retail zone on the bottom, delineated by corresponding colors of red, blue, or green, inspired by Trumansburg's color scheme and surrounding site elements. Above are the apartments, which take inspiration from Lacaton-Vassal, featuring a polycarbonate facade and subverting the NYC typology of subdivided rectangles
Agrarian Site Plan
Scale : 1/32" = 1'-0"
scale of the plan.
1/2" = 1'-0"
Curtains as Imprints
Moveable Walls
To adapt the people > system approach to the plan, we subverted the original grid system that dictated the building's walls into a series of curtains—curtain tracks that could be moved with the client to form dynamic systems that adapted to the way the person wanted to use them. The point was not necessarily flexibility, but to observe the consequences of such flexibility within the design, to explore different ways of thinking about plans—not as defined constructs of program, but as objects of misuse and interpretation.
The plan thus became less of an ordinary 'plan' and more of an idea or semblance of something beyond that. It was the idea that someone could move the curtains to create a space for photography, that they could be adjusted to provide maximal light for plants while keeping a room dark, or that they could be repositioned to create the perfect office space. Curtains were more than just flexibility; they became a visible imprint of the values and ideas of how a person used a space, beyond the pre-programmed views of a traditional plan.
presentation booklet