Plan, Unplanned
Graduate | Undergraduate
Studio | Elective
1st | 2nd | 3rd Year, 1st | 2nd Semester (Fall 2021)
Instructor: Brennan Buck
I had recently become quite interested in chess, and was spending nearly every moment of my free time trying to learn and improve. Chess is very structured, with each piece having its own specific purpose and action, but also very open, with trillions of possible combinations after only five moves each. The studio brief: Plan Unplanned, proposed that we could choose an image of our choice and develop the architectural potential in it. Instead of finding an existing drawing, I created my own, based off an existing chess game, charting each player's moves.
The chess game, "The Opera Game," is one of the most famous chess games, played by an American named Paul Morphy against a German noble at an opera in 1858. I charted regular moves, checks and captures, then pulled out elements I could see planimetric potential in, and moved on from there. The game, in chess notation, is on the right.
The resulting building is a small community reform synagogue and daycare center located in Westville, CT, backing a large piece of forested property owned by Yale.
The main sanctuary (containing the ark) is circular and located in the center such that were the building to be reproduced elsewhere, the sanctuary can be rotated in order for the ark to face East/Northeast (toward Jerusalem), a typical requirement for the design of synagogues.
