John Fraschilla
New York Music Academy
Red Hook, NY
Red Hook is a section of Brooklyn that has gone and is currently going through diverse changes. Red hook was first settled by the dutch in 1636 which was named Roode Hoek. hoek means “point” or “Corner”. The relationship that Red hook encounters with the water is essential for ships coming into New York to load and unload cargo due to the point it embraces with the water.
My analysis started to develop between the relationship of how the water and land Interacted. A Crane concept was established due to the connection it has with the land and water. The crane was also incorporated to be the structure of the music academy. The music elements would be inset within the crane while the halls would float off the grid of the crane and create a relationship with the
surrounding buildings.
Design Work
Artist Housing
Havana,Cuba
Havana, Cuba is a city that is overpopulated by Cubans striving to obtain more space to inhabit. To solve this problem, they often build what they call ‘barbacoas’, which are illegally-built mezzanine levels. This is possible due to very high ceilings in many older Havana houses.
My concept is to integrate this kind of built space into housing units, which would allow for greater self-expression and variety in these units. Each ‘barbacoa’ was created at a different level, while some of the other units stay close to the minimum Cuban house layout.
The program mainly focuses on living spaces for artists, limited but allowing for rearrangements. The ‘barbacoa’ acts as a sort of ‘parasite’, that can grow onto the typical Cuban layout, with abrupt changes in circulation, and units extending from a typical structural grid.
New York Natatorium
Hudson Square,NY
The intention was to create a swimming pool underneath the sidewalk of new york city that gave a grotto-like feel. The discovery of this underground pool was built up when i created planters that were surrounded by glass panels that allowed visitors to look down into the pool area below street level. I wanted visitiors of my building to feel like they have escaped from the city without actually getting away.
(Undercity)
