Revealing Burlington : Vermont architecture on the edge

Abstract

This project explores building in the most urban environment of a state that identifies with its ruralness. The site, located at the top of a steep bluff in Burlington at the edge between the city's downtown core and its waterfront, calls for a response to the urban forces that are present. Creating a connection between the city and the waterfront, and responding to the city grid, the shape of the land, and the adjacent park were central goals of the project. With these objectives in place, I looked to rural sources to establish a set of criteria for judging the architectural design moves. I began by looking at the rural typology of the barn for its simple and continuous membrane, use of materials that record the building's age, structure that is completely revealed and inhabited, the purely functional plan, and the way it addresses the landscape. The project later drew upon other aspects of 'Vermontness' such as the steeple as a marker in the landscape and the quarry's geometric cuts in the earth. The design uses these criteria together with the site specific urban objectives to create a project that both embodies the identity of the state of Vermont and reveals important aspects of the city and the site.