Shape Computation Lab

Balance | Federal Courthouse, Charlotte, NC

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01. Spatial relations and shape rules underlying the network pattern of the public ramps and coridors

02. A network pattern of the public ramps and coridors based on the courthouse circulation grammar

03. A network pattern of the public ramps and coridors based on the courthouse circulation grammar

04. A network pattern of the public ramps and coridors based on the courthouse circulation grammar

05. Axonometric view of the sectional tripartite structure of the courtroom pairs

06. Axonometric view of the sectional tripartite structure of the courtroom pairs denoting fucntional zones

07. Birds' eye view of the courthouse model overlooking the public garden in the back

08. Exterior view of the front facade of the courthouse looking towards the downtown

09. Exterior view of the back facade of the courthouse overlooking the public garden

10. Close view of the garden in the back with its landscape features, water and theatrical spaces

Kathy Siebeda and Donny Kim

ARCH 6032: f(x) Design Studio

Athanassios Economou, PhD

School of Architecture

College of Design

Georgia Institute of Technology

Spring 2005

Awards

ACSA Honorable Mention, 2005

Keywords

Shaping Justice studio; Courthouse design; Typology; Shape Grammars; Landhuggers

Law and adjudication are built along a balancing apparatus of absolute and relative values. The project for a Federal courthouse at Charlotte, NC uses this polarity to propose a parti for the project organized around two spatial patterns: the one on the public front of the courthouse is structured by an unfolding series of ramps and bridges over the volume of the open lobby to foreground an itinerant perception of the public space. The second to the back, overlooking the public garden, is structured by a series of modular spaces to emphasize the discrete nature of the courtroom spaces and their support. The courthouse becomes then a completely transparent building consisting of a front sectional volumetric area for the public to occupy, an interstitial zone in-between the interior space of the courthouse and the outside city, and the sloped public garden in the back.