Generic Specificity: The Neapolitan Ice Cream

In a study of the generic and the specific, this project experiments with the specific meeting of generic construction systems, particularly through the material tectonics of timber, concrete, and steel. The building is divided into three unique yet connected sections. In this new typology of workplace experience, each section is dedicated to a different kind of environment and spatial quality that performs with specific acoustic, dynamic, and functional needs of its inhabitant.

Site Location: Los Angeles

Harvard Graduate School of Design (2020)
Spring Semester
Status: Academic Project
Instructors: Sharon Johnston & Mark Lee

In this new typology of office experience, each section is dedicated to a different kind of office environment and each spatial quality has a different acoustic and visual performance.

The project was first inspired by the material tectonics and facade language of many of Los Angeles’ buildings. Different textures and tectonics exist side-by-side. Their mis-matched seams are highlighted, not hidden

The kind of performance and the programmatic agenda of each office environment is defined by the material tectonics of its respective section of the building. Each, for example, envisions the combination of individual privacy and office collaboration differently.

The range of sections also depict a range of warmth to coolness, going from timber (warmest) to concrete to steel (coolest). The grids differ in each: the timber section has a grid of 3 x 3 meters, the concrete 6 x 6 meters, and the steel 12 x 12 meters.

This reflects the structural and material capability of each material tectonic while also facilitating a different interior experience in each section of the building.

Studies of the Knoll typology of office furniture was essential to this project’s proposed furniture strategy. Specifically through the research and interviews conducted for the modern office workers.

One of the significant conclusions to Knoll’s research was the understanding that the modern office worksers appreciate softer boundaries between them and their co-workers, meaning that they like the idea that they can concentrate in their private booth, and that they have ownership over that booth. All the while knowing that they are a part of a larger collective and that their work and efforts are not done in isolation.

While boundaries between the three buildings are primarily set through different material tectonics, the project uses its furniture as a partial wall by various means such as half-height bookshelves, timber screens, sheer curtains, and glass curtain walls.

For example; the employment of furniture in the timber section provides soft boundaries that encourage collaborations and casual networking between users. Both the scale and typology of furniture employed, as well as the material tectonics of timber supports a domesticated and relaxed ambiance that encourage spontaneous teamwork between individuals.