Overgrowth

Gabriel Esquivel Studio_305/406_Spring 2009 Texas A&M University College of Architecture

Overgrowth/College Station, Texas

introduction/Project calling for the redesign of Easterwood Airport, an existing airport in College Station, Texas. Redesign includes doubling the existing size of the airport, adding another gate to the terminal and profoundly changing the overall ambience of the flying experience. The studio theme was Turbulence. I will refer to this project as Overgrowth.

concept/the existing building led the user through a disjointed and stale experience that only adds to the angst of flying. After concluding that the existing aesthetics and spatial proportions were inadequate but the overall programming was sufficient, the existing architecture was stripped down to its bare essentials (as shown above in [existing, stripped, stripped in plan]). From there, the programmatic elements were allowed to grow out of their restrictive boxes into free forms in an organic manner. I will refer to the programmatic elements as the Organs of the architecture. The parameters for the growth were the amount of walkable space needed measured in feet²) as well as space needed for affect (measured in feet³).

Overgrowth attempts to personalize the spaces where the flying experience can feel the most hectic (baggage check, ticketing, lobby, security, etc.) while the secure spaces provide a sense of openness and freedom (gates, sky bar, restaurant).

research/Ideas and concepts explored in this project were that of translucent skin, structural striations to said skin (both concepts are detailed in previous posts), vegetative growth on man-made architectural ruins, contrasting and appropriately exposing the old orthogonal existing building with the new organic architecture, and using a system of skins that work in layers to add to the affect, as well as the structural, programmatic qualities of the architecture.

anatomy/Overgrowth uses an anatomical metaphor. Organ + Skin + Bone = Body. Organs are the various elements of the program (baggage check, baggage claim, rental space, offices, security, flight lounges, etc.). Organs consist of space which walls (both existing orthogonal and new organic) wrap themselves around producing one skin. Windows are then punched into this layer of skin in order to provide optimized daylighting even in the hottest of summer days. Image showing exposed Organs is labeled [organs]. Next, the Skin referred to in the equation above is a yellow-tinted performative glass skin that envelopes the program and shades the drop off area. Yellow was chosen for its calming and cheerful qualities. Bone is the structure that allows the organic skin to take its shape and hold it safely.

affect/Overgrowth takes on two different personalities, one in the day, another at night. In the daylight the Skin produces a slight yellow glow on the white walls of the Organs. There is an interior Wild Garden that can be viewed from the ticketing area, certain flight lounges, the restaurant, and the sky bar. The Wild Garden integrates itself with the baggage claim and administrative offices. Users experience the twisting of the organic forms as they grow out from the existing program and settle onto the surrounding topography.

At night however, the two layers of skin exude a different affect. Programmatic elements are given alternating blue and red lighting effects. The Sky Bar, filled with bean bags and bar stools floating above the Wild Garden, transforms into a highly personal space and glows with red. The Restaurant, alternately, glows with blue to create a cool and relaxed space for dining. Refer to images [drop off_night, driveway_night, elev_front_night] for examples of lighting effects. On the exterior, the reds and blues of the interior combine with the yellow skin to create a large palette of colors that appear change and dance along the organic Skin as cars drive by along the nearby highway.