Elizabeth Dame Architecture Portfolio

ElizabethDame

Assembly Square

�e Tower

Performing Arts School

Copley Square Analysis

Professional Work

Photography

�e main goals of this design were to create a multifunctional landscape, connections to and an interdependence on the greater region, and the creation of an identity for Assembly Square. �e site is so large that by subdividing it into smaller districts, each can claim a unique identity within the larger whole. �e Hall of Music in particular provides special program, helping de�ne Assembly Square’s character and drawing people in from the surrounding region. �e freshwater park is to remain peacefully isolated, while a salt water marsh will be restored on the other edge of the river. Boardwalks there act as berms against �ooding and the marsh �lters the Mystic River naturally. �e o�ce district provides an economic backbone; corpora-tions should want to have a base here, to invest in this place. �e residential district avoids the traditional neighborhood pattern of Somerville: paved paved paved, with parks as separate pockets within that hardscape. Instead, the open park space Somerville lacks has been integrated with the dense infrastructure of a neighbor-hood designed for pedestrians. Looking forward, the green park bands will trickle out into Somerville, creating a larger network of park space with Assembly Square as its center and its source.

AssemblySquare

BOSTON

EVERETT

MALDEN

MEDFORD

SOMERVILLE

CAMBRIDGE

REVERE

THE NETWORK OF EXTENSIONS

Node Connection

Circulation Bandscreated from View Corridors

Districts Transportation

Auto

Mixed

Pedestrian

View Corridors

Elevated Public Program at Inter-sections Node Connection


Node Connection


Pedestrian Access Points

SecondaryCirculation GridPedestrian Access

Points

SecondaryCirculation Grid

DistrictCirculation

Auto

PrimaryPedestrian

Secondary Pedestrian

District Plan1’ = 1/64”

N

DistrictCirculation

Auto

PrimaryPedestrian

Secondary Pedestrian

Districts Transportation View Corridors

Public Program at

IntersectionsNode

Connection

Circulation from View Corridors

Secondary Circulation


District Circulation

Integrated System

AutoMixedPedestrian

Auto

Primary Ped.

Secondary Ped.

O�ce Districtcreating a welcome wall of program

between the mixed use Assembly Square and the regional infrastruc-ture, as well as serving as Assembly

Square’s economic foundation

Pedestrian Access Pointsenhanced and made

welcoming by the active ground plane connecting the district’s en-

trances to the rest of the site as well as strengthening Assembly Square’s

connectivity to Somerville

Residential Districtwith retail and public program

intermixed within the circulation bands of the central community space

Assembly Square Hall of MusicComprised of:-Two Concert Halls, with capacities300-650 and 1,000-1,500-Music School-Interactive Children’s Museum of Music

Salt Water Riverside to be re-stored as a salt marsh, with a circula-

tion band housing restaurants and retail extending into this watery

landscape to connect the residential district to the northern river bank

park. �is band also serves as a berm against �ooding, and leads to a �ex-

ible outdoor concert hall with seated capacity of 3,000 on the water’s edge

with covered plaza below.

Fresh Water Riverside to remain as a natural public park, unpro-grammed save for simple pedestrian paths and docks on the water

Salt Water Riverside


O�ce District

Residential District Assembly Square Hall of Music

Fresh WaterRiverside


















District PlanN

100’ 200’50’0’

District PlanN

100’ 200’50’0’

Green Ground Plane with Sunken Program

On Grade Circulation

Community Infrastructure Beneath

Elevated Park Space

Making Assembly Square a Destination Point

Current Movement of People Proposed Movement of People

Towns/Suburbs

Towns/Suburbs

Towns/Suburbs

Boston

Worcester

Towns/Suburbs

Towns/Suburbs

Towns/Suburbs

Assembly SquareAssembly Square

Boston

Worcester

T

Mec

hani

cs H

all

Palla

dium

Cas

a de

Mus

ica

Cas

a de

Mus

ica

Ups

tairs

Mid

dle

East

Isab

ella

Gar

dner

; Brig

hton

Mus

ic H

all

Asse

mbl

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uare

- Sm

all C

once

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all

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uare

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rge

Con

cert

Hal

l

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nsta

irs M

iddl

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st

Para

dise

Roc

k

Berk

eles

s Art

s Per

form

ing

Cen

ter

Hou

se o

f Blu

es

Orp

heum

; Bos

ton

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ouse

Wan

g �

eate

r

Bank

of A

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ica

Pavi

lion

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n Ph

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Oslo

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Assembly SquareBostonWorcesterPrecedents

Concert HallCapacity

Lobby for both School and Concert Hall

Parking School Common SpaceClassrooms

Individual Practice Rooms

Small Concert HallCapacity: 300 - 650

Practice RoomBack of House

Edge of In�nityViewing Platform

RestaurantEntrance to Museum Descent

Train

Intermission/Bar SpaceContinuous Ramp of the wrapping

Children’s Museum of Music

Large Concert HallCapacity: 1,000 - 1,500

Back of House Restaurant Band - Boardwalk through Salt Marsh

Open Air AmphitheaterAmidst the Restored Salt Marsh

Capacity: 3000 - 5000

Mystic RiverFly SpaceLobby for both School and Concert Hall







Train






Capacity: 3000 - 5000

Mystic RiverFly Space

A study of concert halls in the Boston region shows a distinct lack of several capacity levels. Performers who may not be able to �ll a 2,000 seat hall but are popular enough to need more than a 1,000 seating capacity do not have an ideal space in this region. Assembly Square could �ll this programmatic need, reinforc-ing it as a new destination for entertainment and culture. Taking it a step further, Assembly Square might also o�er a smaller sized concert hall and a larger open air water-front arena to �ll other gaps in the region’s perfor-mance center roster.

A key point of study were precedents such as the Casa da Música Concert Hall in Porto, Portugal by Rem Koolhaas. Its two performance spaces have �exible seating, able to accommo-date one number for a seated audience and a larger number for a standing audience.

Mec

hani

cs H

all

Palla

dium

Cas

a de

Mus

ica

Cas

a de

Mus

ica

Ups

tairs

Mid

dle

East

Isab

ella

Gar

dner

; Brig

hton

Mus

ic H

all

Asse

mbl

y Sq

uare

- Sm

all C

once

rt H

all

Asse

mbl

y Sq

uare

- La

rge

Con

cert

Hal

l

Dow

nsta

irs M

iddl

e Ea

st

Para

dise

Roc

k

Berk

eles

s Art

s Per

form

ing

Cen

ter

Hou

se o

f Blu

es

Orp

heum

; Bos

ton

Ope

ra H

ouse

Wan

g �

eate

r

Bank

of A

mer

ica

Pavi

lion

Berli

n Ph

ilhar

mon

ic

Oslo

Ope

ra H

ouse

Asse

mbl

y Sq

uare

- O

utdo

or A

mph

ithea

ter

Assembly SquareBostonWorcesterPrecedents

Concert HallCapacity

Lobby for both School and Concert Hall







Train






Capacity: 3000 - 5000

Mystic RiverFly SpaceLobby for both School and Concert Hall







Train






Capacity: 3000 - 5000

Mystic RiverFly Space

Inspired by the Oslo Opera House, the massing of the Hall of Music orchestrates an experiential ascent to an “edge of in�nity,” rewarded by sweeping views of the salt marsh and amphitheater, Boston’s skyline, and of course Assembly Square itself. �is change in elevation was required to bridge the train tracks, but that necessity was translated into a design direction.

�e Da Vinci stair design was the basis for the circulation of the Children’s Museum of Music. Although instead of stairs, a continuous ramp will wrap around the large concert hall, its double helix culminating on the roof of the concert hall before wrapping back down again. While the classrooms and other programs of the music school serve as the sound insulation for the small concert hall, this interactive children’s museum thus serves the large concert hall.

Footprint�e Tower

Footprint�e Tower

FootprintBerliners

FootprintSuburbia

�e TowerIn contemplating the small corner lot of Potsdammer Straße and Alvenslebenstraße in Berlin, Germany for a proposed apartment complex, I was faced with how to provide pleasant outdoor space for the residents without generating the same small staccato balconies of current Berlin buildings. �e Tower o�ers a smart alternative to sprawl, providing generous loggias as private outdoor space within the city through the structural facade system. �is shell serves as the building framework, and allows privacy and sweeping views simultaneously. Within the shell, an outer ring of loggia space allows for an inner living core of glass. �e height o� the street level paired with the pushed inward façade allows each apartment to become essentially a glass house elevated above Berlin. �e large openings are visually de�ned from the street level by several small cores housing bathrooms, closets, and kitchens. �e combinations are extremely �exible for provid-ing both multi-story and single-story units with monumental picture windows and a sense of expansive vertical space.

Residential and Business Circulation CoreCommercial Stair

Structural Shell and Core

Loggia Shell

Glass Living Core

Service Cores Dividing Space and De�ning Loggias

�e Basics

Footprint�e Tower

FootprintBerliners

FootprintSuburbia

Loggia Shell

Glass Living Core

Service CoresDividing Space and De�ning Loggias

Residential and Business Circulation Core

Structural Shell and Core

North West South East

1 Level Apt. 2 Level Apt. 3 Level Apt.

1/2 Level O�ce Full Level O�ce Commercial Resident Lobby

Potsdamm

erstraße

Full Level O�ce - 2Full Level O�ce - 3

Alvenslebenstraße 2 3

20m10m5m0m 2m

N

Macro ..... Micro

Cores

Spatial Logic

Halved Shifted Pinwheel

20m10m5m0m 2m

N

Unit A Unit B Unit A Unit B Unit C Unit B

Typical Apartments

Potsdamm

erstraße

Roof Level - 16Roof Plan

Alvenslebenstraße Roof Level Roof Plan

20m10m5m0m 2m

N

Because of the porosity of the structual shell and the glass living core walls, the shadow cast by the Tower is far less imposing than that of a normal opaque high rise.

Were the Tower the height of a“Berliner,” 5-6 stories, its shadow would blend in with those of the surrounding buildings. Yet the neighborhood would lose the opportu-nity to create an iconic identity within the city. �e architecture’s spinal cord-shaped shadow be-comes part of the novelty of the Tower, helping to shape the unique charac-ter of Potsdammer Straße.

Because of the porosity of the structual shell and the glass living core walls, the shadow cast by the Tower is far less imposing than that of a normal opaque high rise.

Were the Tower the height of a“Berliner,” 5-6 stories, its shadow would blend in with those of the surrounding buildings. Yet the neighborhood would lose the opportu-nity to create an iconic identity within the city. �e architecture’s spinal cord-shaped shadow be-comes part of the novelty of the Tower, helping to shape the unique charac-ter of Potsdammer Straße.

1

2

3

Performing Arts School�e school is presented as a public focal point yet remains private through its internalized courtyard. Only several stories tall, it sits within an air pocket amongst a landscape of taller buildings, unconventionally giving it importance by lack of height. �is way the taller buildings, including the residential towers, can fade and function as background, framing the school. �e shape and placement create three separate courtyards. �ose alongside the towers act more as wide avenues, as the commercial space on ground level implies more movement than gathering space. �e design consists of an outer ring of program, an inner ring of circulation, and the four disciplines’ main studios massed in the center accessible by bridging elements. Always keeping in mind that this is a perform-ing arts school, the tops of these large studios act as the common and �exible spaces; impromptu performance areas for the students of the school to exhibit their talents for their peers. �e ground level along Washington is all glass, revealing the Gallery and Library. �e top two stories are wrapped in a screen of vertical metal slats spaced closer or farther apart depending on the amount of light required by the program.

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2

3

1

2

3

�ree Courtyards by Program Push Back on Shawmut

Towers Defer to School as Backdrop School Uniting Site �rough Uniqueness of Material

�ree Courtyards by Program Push Back on Shawmut

Towers Defer to School as Backdrop School Uniting Site �rough Uniqueness of Material

1

2

3

�ick external wrappingInner circulation ringRing of void

External wrapping split into smaller studios and classrooms

Lifted o� the groundCreating public zone on ground level

Internal topography piled up from ground forming the main studios

Tops of the central studios serve as common and �exible spaceBridges across the circulation void connect the outer ring to the stepped platforms

Sectional Parti

U

D

U

D

D

U

Washington

East

Berk

eley

Shawmut

A

B C Plan 2

U D

U

U

D

D

Washington

East

Berk

eley

Shawmut

A

B C Plan 32 3

Copley Skyline

Clarendon

Dartmouth

Exeter

Boylston

N 0’ 100’ 250’ 500’

Huntington

2 Blocks Away 1 Block Away Corners CenterBoylston

Dartmouth

PositionandPerception

ONE YEAR TWO YEARS THREE YEARS FOUR YEARS FIVE YEARS SIX YEARS SEVEN YEARS EIGHT YEARS

1929 - New

York City - Em

pire State Building BEGIN

S

1931 - New

York City - Em

pire State Building CO

MPLET

ED

1945- Boston - Berkely Building BEGIN

S

1946- Boston - Berkely Building CO

MPLET

ED

1978 - Houston- JP M

organ Chase Tow

er BEGIN

S

1982 - Houston- JP M

organ Chase Tow

er CO

MPLET

ED

1987 - Los Angeles - US Bank Tow

er BEGIN

S

1989 - Los Angeles - US Bank Tow

er CO

MPLET

ED

2006 - New

York City - O

ne World Trade C

enter BEGIN

S

2013 - New

York City - O

ne World Trade C

enter CO

MPLET

ED

1968 - Boston - John Hancock Tow

er BEGIN

S

1976 - Boston - John Hancock Tow

er CO

MPLET

ED

1965 - Chicago - John H

ancock Center BEG

INS

1970 - Chicago - John H

ancock Center C

OM

PLETED

[email protected] Cherokee Street, Apt. 1Boston, MA 02120508 450 4115

Elizabeth Dame Architecture Portfolio

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