The Penn State College of Engineering West Buildings consist of two different projects, West 1 and West 2, located on West Campus of University Park. I fabricated and coordinated the making of models of various scales for both building teams.
The Context:
To begin, I worked to get as much information from both teams as possible about the individual buildings. The first priority is to understand the design intent, and what the models should communicate to illustrate. We went through many questions: Is it many ideas at once? Is it a series, a narrative? Are they programmatically driven? Are they massing models? Can we illustrate the section of the building? I offered some suggestions about the quality of the models, which materials to use, and what models had success in the past.
The next step was to determine the scale as well as the scope of the site models. Because both buildings are in such close proximity, a site model which included both buildings at a massing level made a lot of sense. We chose 1/64”=1’ as the scale.
The West 2 team had further developed ideas about the programmatic stacking, the sectional qualities of the building, and thoughts about cores, entry, and had a clear idea of the site location. This was the driver for a larger scale model, 1/32”=1’ in scale. This model was still to be diagrammatic, with pieces to be removed and inserted to offer flexibility, and to use the model later as a tool for studies of a similar kind.
Because the Penn State team was to fly to State College with the models, both models had to be adapted to travel in a case which fits in a typical Airline carry-on compartment. This meant planning the model to be small enough to fit within the thickness of a purpose-built box. This meant that the 1/32” =1’ Scale model of West 2 had to be split and made in two pieces. Between choosing the site, the scale, and the dimensions limited by air travel, I met with the teams to finalize the scope of the model to ensure that it captured the desired context for the buildings.
There was a clear, and rapidly approaching deadline, just one week to complete two site models, a sectional model, and a series of massing models at both scales. I used the entirety of the model shop’s whiteboard to lay out a schedule, the deliverables, the daily goals to achieve those deliverables, and a list of the outstanding items – this was updated and altered daily, and became a constant meeting place for our team, including myself, Megha Murali, Tracy Eteh-Benissan, and Andrew Lafosse, Lu Zhang. It was here where we made sure our own personal assignments were on track, and a place for me to organize many disordered items, as well as a place to get a sense of how everyone was feeling about the work.
One of the greatest challenges of the model making process was making sure that each piece was moving forward in parallel with the development of the design. Because the team was updating and developing design decisions in many different mediums, we began the fabrication of the site models before the models of either West 1 or West 2. Once we received drawings, as well as further direction from the teams, it was possible to overlap the progress of these pieces.
The Fabrication:
The site at Penn State has a limited change in topography, which does not dictate the overall organization of the buildings. This allowed us to opt for the simplification of the model by making it level. Both bases were made from rigid foam insulation and laminated with 1/8” acrylic on all faces except the bottom, which is painted white. The acrylic was painted white on the inside face and then adhered to give the base a glossy white depth. The major elements of the site such as building perimeters, roadways, parking lots, sidewalks, and curbs were cut and etched into a 1/32” sheet of acrylic which becomes the topmost layer of the site. The 1/32” sheet was registered by an etch on the top of the base layer of acrylic, and the building perimeters etched onto this layer were the registers for the context buildings. The laser cutter allowed us to use acrylic sheets quickly and to great effect, making luminous models with glossy surfaces.
3D printing was also an integral part of the process as we utilized it to make the context buildings on the site. The printing allowed us to work while the printers made progress, and with some sanding, priming, and painting, they were ready for the model.
1/64”=1’ sketch models were made of each model technique while the design developed, and reflected an unfolding design narrative used to present the ideas to the client. These sketch models were refined in parallel to the building of the site models.
The “Site and Campus” model was a true massing model and illustrated the solid/void relationship of each building using ¼” walnut veneer and ¼” acrylic. The discrepancies in the nominal dimensions of the walnut veneer and the acrylic sheet forced us to resolve the representation of different floor to floor heights by both laminating a thinner sheet of walnut veneer on top of the plates, as well as ensuring the acrylic would align with the walnut seamlessly.
The “Social Geometry” model was made of a clear and a golden ¼” acrylic, laser cut and chemically welded together. The golden social spaces and corridors glow in the lights and enforce the design intent of an internally active, yet outwardly energetic building.
The programmatic model was also made of ¼”acrylic. The cut file was mirrored so that the acrylic could be cut and scored on the underside of each floor. Scoring the acrylic with the protective sheet still adhered allowed us to mask and spray the corresponding programmatic color on the underside of each piece. The color refracts in a pleasant way through the acrylic and offers insight about the programmatic organization of the building at a glance when stacked.
Updates with photos of the process sent to the team when possible helped to summarize the progress, uncover questions, and keep track of outstanding items.
The 1/32”=1’ model of West 2 was also built using laser cut acrylic, but since the scale was twice as large, the acrylic we used was ½” for the floor to floor volume and 1/32” acrylic for the floor plates. The undersides of these floors were also scored and painted, and a lofty volume was made from 1/8” acrylic to define the sloped roof. Walnut was used here to express the solidity of the building support cores, and a transparent shell was made to hint at the façade and roof. The model was built to assemble and disassemble by basement, mass, roof, and cores in order to help tell the story of the building in a presentation.
Near the end of the process, we decided to make a larger scale, 1/16”=1’ sectional model to illustrate a crucial junction between a high bay research space and the rest of the building – framing it as a conceptual opportunity. Made from basswood and acrylic, this model had several moving pieces which illustrated the flexibility of the space to house unique programs and its importance to the success of West 2.
After the models were assembled and glued up, we took them to the photo room to be documented. The documentation before a trip is critical in the event the models are damaged during transit. I was pleased with the quality of the models considering the intent of the design and the amount of time we had to complete them. I deeply appreciated the role of coordinating this effort and enjoyed working with two teams in this manner simultaneously.
