Carolina Lubeck_Precedent and Parti

The parti of a design is an important tool to help understand the main concept behind the project. As Collin Rowe would say, ‘the parti is the lens that organizes the facts.’ Based on the site and the program, I found the Villa Fur house by BIG organizes the site with the topography and to create views to the adjacent lake. The parti starts by placing the pieces of the program in a grid together before angling the back side up and the front side down. Next, it pushed the pieces toward the unmoved center piece and stacked the program. The main source of entrance for this building is on the second(middle) floor. The front is composed of primarily windows while there are no windows on the back to help the building blend seamlessly into the topography. What I like about this project is the way they work with the topography. Our program requires an underground connection between sites that I believe has opportunity to be more than just a tunnel. As this site is to be a future expansion of the well-known San Antonio Riverwalk, I want to continue the ‘below-grade’ experience into our site. I found the use of transition between levels to be very fitting for our site. I believe it will make the building fit seamlessly into the site. While the Villa Fur is three stories, we do not have enough program to make three stories, but the entrance could be emphasized by being a little taller to keep continuity with the form. Within this form, I would like to include the interior exhibit space below-grade, a small two story café at and below grade to welcome everybody, an amphitheater that transitions from at grade to below grade, and multiuse space that is at grade.  By not including the third level form, the form can be aligned parallel to the street.