The Quad located at the Parker Street edge of the Northeastern Campus is a busy place, to say the least. Surrounded on all sides by dormitories, and just minutes away from the rest of Northeastern University's Behemoth of a campus, this area is constantly flooded with commuters walking to and from the Ruggles T station and students alike. The area is not quite symmetrical, yet at first glance it seems that it could be. However, the curving walls of the Parker Street dormitory create a unique moment in plan as the building protrudes into the quad, then quickly flows outward in the opposite direction.
The buildings surrounding the quad possess many similar motifs, including windows and shading devices. Some Unique moments also occur at corner conditions of the surrounding buildings, where common room windows look out onto the quad - large aluminum louvers act as shading devices, while the mullions in the windows are arranged in a way that almost reflects the Mondrian style cubism, or the golden section.
Some of the windows are also extruded out from several facades in relation to the sun's position.
A common element that all buildings surrounding the quad possess, is the brick trim/ornamentation on the parapet walls on top of the dorms. The ornamentation serves to emphasize the top of the structures, and also seems to relate somewhat to greek-style pediments, and their strong horizontal axes.
Perhaps one of the most intriguing architectural moments occurs in a skewed corridor that punctures through one of the dormitories. The corridor aligns with one of the walkways in the corridor, but the interesting element is the way in which the corridor is skewed - when approaching the building from Parker Street, the angle and tweak of the corridor creates an elongated perspective and also frames the quad beyond.
Aside from some specific moments, the rest of the quad seems somewhat typical of a college campus. The materiality in the buildings is constant throughout, and the architecture of each building reflects that of the next. Combined with the orientation and alignment of the pathways passing through the quad, this area seems similar to some renaissance piazzas, reflecting the perspective plan motif, and the concept of the view corridor. It is definitely an enjoyable space, and seems to compliment quite well, the rest of Northeastern's campus.
The Quad located at the Parker Street edge of the Northeastern Campus is a busy place, to say the least. Surrounded on all sides by dormitories, and just minutes away from the rest of Northeastern University's Behemoth of a campus, this area is constantly flooded with commuters walking to and from the Ruggles T station and students alike. The area is not quite symmetrical, yet at first glance it seems that it could be. However, the curving walls of the Parker Street dormitory create a unique moment in plan as the building protrudes into the quad, then quickly flows outward in the opposite direction. 
The buildings surrounding the quad possess many similar motifs, including windows and shading devices. Some Unique moments also occur at corner conditions of the surrounding buildings, where common room windows look out onto the quad - large aluminum louvers act as shading devices, while the mullions in the windows are arranged in a way that almost reflects the Mondrian style cubism, or the golden section. 
Some of the windows are also extruded out from several facades in relation to the sun's position. 
A common element that all buildings surrounding the quad possess, is the brick trim/ornamentation on the parapet walls on top of the dorms. The ornamentation serves to emphasize the top of the structures, and also seems to relate somewhat to greek-style pediments, and their strong horizontal axes. 
Perhaps one of the most intriguing architectural moments occurs in a skewed corridor that punctures through one of the dormitories. The corridor aligns with one of the walkways in the corridor, but the interesting element is the way in which the corridor is skewed - when approaching the building from Parker Street, the angle and tweak of the corridor creates an elongated perspective and also frames the quad beyond. 
Aside from some specific moments, the rest of the quad seems somewhat typical of a college campus. The materiality in the buildings is constant throughout, and the architecture of each building reflects that of the next. Combined with the orientation and alignment of the pathways passing through the quad, this area seems similar to some renaissance piazzas, reflecting the perspective plan motif, and the concept of the view corridor. It is definitely an enjoyable space, and seems to compliment quite well, the rest of Northeastern's campus.
1 comment:
Aksel,
Very good analysis in both cases the ICA and North Eastern Quad. The only observation is that you jump too fast from the plans and sections to the detail. Try to have an intermediate step. It could be an axon or a perspective drawing of the totality of the space.
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