DAVID MOSTROM

This terminal design thesis is a counterproposal to Mckenna Hall, the postmodern conference center on the campus of the University of Notre Dame. The design utilizes the language of the Collegiate Gothic for the conference center to better serve the character and unity of the campus. The English model of cloisters and courtyards is used to define space and make an urban gesture onto the overscaled Debartolo Quad. The main elevation on Notre Dame Avenue follows the rich tradition of Collegiate Gothic architecture stemming from the campuses of Oxford and Cambridge, filtered through the early to mid 20th century American idiom. 

This design is for a proposed neo-Grec museum for Historic Madison Inc., which is dedicated largely to the Greek Revival furniture and decorative arts of the period in Madison, Indiana. The proposal is for a formal museum space to supplement the system of house museums run by the foundation. The design is rooted in the Neoclassical tradition of the 19th century, with precedent from the German classicism of Schinkel. The front zone of the building is dedicated to service, while the north zone is the domain of the gallery spaces which are arranged off a central rotunda. 

The design of the plan was created in the traditional Beaux-Arts method. The symmetrical formal plan was the nucleus and generator of the design, which then prompted the spatial volumes. This project is for a proposed 'International Institute of Democracy' in Paris, France. The program dictated the design of a 125,000 s.f. civic building that would house the many functions of the institute. The direct precedent for the design was the Bibliotheque Sainte-Genevieve and its American counterpart the Boston Public Library. 

These are examples of detail interior drawings from a variety of conditions and stages of construction. Some are based on total design ideas, while others are geared toward problem solving. They all represent an interest in merging aesthetics with in-the-field solutions.

These designs explore various schematic ideas for a modern French estate. The elevation studies and plan parti seek to play with composition and spatial organization centered around entertaining. One of the principle generators of the plan was the introduction of a primary entrance hall and a large entertainment room with multiple seating areas. The facade elevations are based on French hotel and chateau inspirations with a mansard roof and limestone details.

This is a hand-drafted and photoshop-rendered elevation study designed in the neo-classical style (via the German influence) of 19th century Athens. The facade of the multi-use building plays with the notion of the superimposition of the orders, the arrangement of bays, and the proportional relationship of the registers. 

This design is part of a proposed urban renewal project for a neglected and underutilized area of Bath, UK. The new scheme for the site includes a series of terrace houses as well as a museum of science and industry. The terrace houses combine local symmetries and Georgian details typical of the vernacular of the period. 

This design was completed in Rome for a proposed infill project in the historic fabric of the city on the Via Guilia. It is an apartment building dedicated to short-term cultural tourism.  It is modeled after the Roman rusticated palazzo type. The plan is organized around a central courtyard which subtly shifts in alignment to regularize the plan on an irregular site in Rome. The plan features a variety of amenities for the modern conference goer including seminar rooms, breakout rooms, smaller boardrooms, and spaces such as lounges, a cafe, a bar, and a reading room. 

These plates are examples of hand-drafted traditional watercolor renderings. They display the medium of watercolor used to reveal form, light, and shadow. 

For this project, an academic building for a foundation was to be designed on a site in Chicago in Lincoln Park. The design was to incorporate sufficient classroom and office space as well as a large formal gathering room for events. One of the parameters of the project was that it be in dialog with both the vernacular Georgian buildings to the north and the neoclassical Academy of Sciences to the south. To accomplish this, the design is formed around an internal courtyard surrounded by glazed arcaded galleries that link the vernacular academic building with the classical event space. 

These designs are a part of a series of weekly charrette exercises of gardens exploring different hypothetical topographical and formal conditions on the same site in South Bend, Indiana. 

These sketches are of different sites around the city of Rome. They explore various aspects of the Orders and the classical language of architecture. Composition, ratio and proportion, symmetry, and plan and poché are documented in the sketches. 

These photographs display an effort to capture light and shadow, while composing an image. They were taken on a Canon Rebel T4i. 

These are a few examples of charcoal still life studies, a lithograph landscape, and a three-dimensional work based on an object.