HOUSTON & VOIDS

THE X-BOX [2010]

The objective of this project is to address the inevitable density increase along the Bissonnet Street corridor from Montrose Boulevard at the extreme east to Kirby Drive at the extreme west, by developing a void type to study medium-scale, mixed-use models for housing, and ultimately to detail one comprehensive instance of its use on a specific site.

Approaching the void type through a strategy of surgical eliminations and knife edges produces a visually playful, undecidable effect. Expectations of a through, normative void are thwarted by the void opening sliding upward and inward to the center of the mass. These paired chevron-shaped absences make it possible to increase density on Bissonnet while mitigating the scale of the tower. 

Through a series of sliding, copying, mirroring, and stretching operations, the void weaves through the tower of the building. Where the void intersects the ground plane, it becomes an object manifested in a pavilion.In the center interior of the building, two chevron-shaped voids twist around one another like tightly pulled ropes. On the exterior the voids intersect the facade at knife edges, adding a second layer of visual tension.