COPPER COMFORT

MY FIRST PROJECT AT THE AA BEGAN WITH A SIMPLE SURVEY—MEASURING, OBSERVING, DRAWING THE FIRST-YEAR STUDIO I WAS JUST BEGINNING TO INHABIT. WHAT STARTED AS A TECHNICAL EXERCISE QUICKLY SHIFTED INTO A SENSORY ONE: ON MY VERY FIRST DAY, I NOTICED HOW ONE SIDE OF THE ROOM WAS BATHED IN HEAT WHILE THE OTHER REMAINED COOL.

I BECAME FASCINATED BY THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN LIGHT, MATERIAL, AND TEMPERATURE. THROUGH A COMBINATION OF THERMAL CAMERA IMAGES, MATERIAL STUDIES, AND SUN-HOUR ANALYSIS USING GRASSHOPPER, I FOCUSED ON TWO WINDOWS—LOOKING CLOSELY AT THE SURROUNDING WOOD, BRICK, GLASS, AND COPPER HANDLES. I DISCOVERED THAT DIFFERENT MATERIALS ABSORBED AND RELEASED HEAT IN VASTLY DIFFERENT WAYS, LEADING TO A DYNAMIC, EVER-SHIFTING CLIMATE WITHIN A SINGLE ROOM.

THIS LED TO A HYPOTHETICAL RECONSTRUCTION: WHAT IF THE ENTIRE STUDIO WERE MADE ONLY OF THE TWO MOST THERMALLY EXTREME MATERIALS—COPPER AND GLASS? I REDESIGNED THE ROOM IN RHINO, INCLUDING A NEW SERIES OF WINDOWS THAT KEPT THE SAME LIGHT LEVELS BUT REFRAMED THEM INTO MORE EXPRESSIVE, INSPIRING SHAPES.

THE RESULTING SPACE BECAME UNINHABITABLE FOR MOST OF THE WEEK—EITHER SCORCHING OR FREEZING—EXCEPT FOR A SINGLE, PERFECT HOUR. GUIDED BY PHILIPPE RAHM’S WRITINGS ON TEMPERATURE AND COMFORT, THE PROJECT ASKS: CAN A SPACE BE DESIGNED AROUND A SINGLE MOMENT OF CLIMATIC PERFECTION? AND IF SO, WHAT KIND OF ATMOSPHERE—WHAT KIND OF ARCHITECTURE—ARISES FROM THAT EPHEMERAL BALANCE?