Sargent's Wharf condominiums : a design exploration examining the interrelationship between the arts of development and design

Abstract

The thesis premise states: If architects hope to creatively build in todays society, they must be able to communicate in the construction and development industry's language. This means the designer must perceive, practice and present an integration of complex issues into a form that benefits the users, as an integral aspect of the development process, and not, as a mutually exclusive act in the creation of an inhabitable art form. The first meeting with Michael Giuliano was over lunch at Casa Blanca in Harvard Square. We established the thesis' structure as a sequence of design stages between working sessions with the development team. The team consisted of Barry Preston and Michael Giuliano, close friends and fellow New England developers who selected the Sargents' Wharf site, and Jack Myer, the team's local urban planning expert, architectural principal and thesis advisor. What follows is a three month documentation of the team's concerns and working methods for the planning of Sargents Wharf Condominiums.