Skye Spencer Architecture Portfolio

Architecture Portfolio

TABLE OF CONTENTS

1. The Green Democracy Center

Explores methods of shaping spatial democracy in the heart of Washington, D.C. Deeply investigates section and verticality to propose a civic institution within the urban fabric of the nation’s capital.

2. The Exhibitions

Investigates multi-family housing in Richmond, Virginia and focuses on configuring spaces for both individual and communal living.

3. Forest of Gateways

Experiments with the dynamics between center and edge via an urban project in downtown Charlottesville, Virginia.

4. Photographic Exploration

Investigates how the natural environment and architectural structures coexist with both harmony and tension. Examines the evolving relationship between the natural world and built structures with these guiding questions: What effect do nature and time have on materials? How can a built environment “frame” a conversation about climate change?

The Green Democracy Center

Contemporary Commons

For decades, environmental advocacy was led by groups such as the Sierra Club, but today’s political climate poses a great crisis. Reduced environmental regulations are accelerating the destruction of vulnerable natural environments and weakening longstanding protections. There needs to be a more immediate and intimate engagement between the community and ecological practices.

Architecture has the potential to redefine activism and reshape how communities engage with ecological awareness. The G.D.C., is a hybridization of advanced technology and nature, creating a dynamic approach to environmental technology, with multiple levels of programming integrated throughout the building.

Advanced technology and nature are often seen as opposing forces. However, uniting them creates a relationship where they grow together. Trees hang from the scaffolding beams, displaying their root systems, trunks, and branches. The living scaffolding embraces the coexistence of the biological growth of hanging trees and advanced technological display methods. This structure illustrates G.D.C.’s mission to connect digital tools with the essential lives of trees, to deepen public awareness and involvement in protecting urban trees. The screens function, evolve, and transform like a living, breathing organism.

A hybrid building where living trees and digital screens operate as intertwined agents of environmental education and civic action, displays a unique visual learning technique for the rights of trees. By merging ecosystem intelligence with

digital intelligence, the G.D.C. introduces a new model of ecological advocacy for protecting trees.

The G.D.C. expresses the rights of trees through the lens of a futuristic toolkit. The G.D.C. reframes the question: “Who speaks for the trees?” Here, the trees speak for themselves through responsive media that express their needs, stresses, and contributions to the city. Residents, students, activists, and policymakers enter a new form of civic dialogue in which the forest becomes an active political participant rather than a silent bystander.

Model Photos

1:1/32nd Scale

The Exhibitions

This structure draws inspiration from museum display cases, transforming the frames into life-size studios that showcase the creative process in real-time. Reaching its full potential as an art center, these studios support local emerging artists. Their work can gain the attention of the VMFA visitors and be exhibited in both their glass studios and the centralized public gallery. The dwellers can gain inspiration from the neighboring VMFA in an affordable fashion by conveniently strolling across the street. There is a continuous horizontal flow of movement mechanisms to foster social interaction between dwellers. Communal living is encouraged in the open kitchens and seating areas on the ground floor, along with the large open-air spaces that form in between lofted units, encouraging the exchange of ideas. This exposure to creativity cultivates the thriving art hub, both within and beyond the structure.

Richmond, Virginia Site Analysis

Forest of Gateways

Feelings of relief and a sense of tranquility are two defining emotional reactions one experiences while immersed in nature. As there has previously been conflict in Market Street Park, Charlottesville, Virginia, my goal is to heighten positive experiences when entering this design to build a stronger community through peaceful exchanges. Inspired by the ecological service of trees, I have provided shade and dappled light using sustainably sourced local wood. Those who enter the market space and kitchen are offered a protective shield from the sun. Visitors are immediately relieved from the day’s heat when moving through the threshold of reduced temperature and light. As their bodies cool, the calming aesthetics of curves are intended to slow their heart rates. This allows for a more peaceful coexistence, helping to foster a stronger sense of community.

Taking Santiago Calatrava’s dynamic fluidity of linear objects and the intervals of the Sunset Hammock Pavilion, I curved the arms of the pavilion’s body. Park users are met with a serene, shaded environment within the gateway thresholds, with the option to enjoy soaking up Vitamin D in the center while still protected by the perimeter.

Motivated by the Downtown Mall’s choreography of visitors, the pathways dictate the user’s non-linear movements. Shaping the pathways, the curved walls, and the implied walls encourages people’s relaxed experience. A wave of cool air embodied by the undulations of the wood can be enjoyed while engaging in the pavilion. Moving along intervals of sunlight peeking through wooden gateways of differentiating heights offers an additional calming effect as they encourage a transformative experience. Focusing on the emotional wellbeing of all park users, I constructed a space for peaceful interactions and serene moments within a bustling urban setting.

Photography Exploration

Reflections Textures

Structural Composition Dynamic Geometry