Riff Reverie

39 OTHER WORKS | RIFF REVERIE Core I P03 | Harvard GSD | Fall 2023 Ground Floor Plan Sectioon B-B' Instructor: Sean Canty Taking a significant building typology of the Boston housing stock, the triple-decker, this project refl ects upon the relationship between the norm and exception by taking the ordinary triple-decker as a generative approach to designing a creative artists residency. Vault, as an edit-spatial exception to the organizational norm of the triple-decker, introduces an institution into the domestic. Historically used in churches and tombs, the vault is commonly associated with masonry construction and conveys spirituality. Adopted in a new context of the 2-by wood framing construction, the repetition of vault as a typology brings unfamiliarity to the familiar, celebrating a universal spirituality that manifests itself in a Riff Reverie. Alluding to the improvisatory nature of jazz, the riff harmonizes the improvised and the planned, bringing views, objects, people, and activities together in a dynamic way. The spiritual connotation of vaults brings the riff into a state of reverie, in which imaginative spirits are pleasantly engaged in their emotion and creative capacity. The vault’s recursion and metamorphosis into various spatial moments such as porch, hallway, stairs, gathering space, and railing blur the boundary between formal and structural, establishing a cohesive rhythm of movement. It intertwines the logical grid of an ordinary triple decker with the whimsical riffi ng of vaults, creating a sanctuary where artists can retreat to their thoughts and dreams. Interior Perspective_Private Interior Perspective_Public