Concept and Narative / Systems and Frameworks

The Assembly

Silicon Valley

Program

Cultural/Workspace/Leisure

Status

Competition

Practice Area

Architecture and Design

Area

100,000 sq ft

CONTEXT

The Assembly was developed as a competition proposal for a civic framework in Silicon Valley. Conceived as an incubator for design, culture, and ecology, the project explores how architecture can support collective forms of making, growing, and exchange. The commission asked how a public building could embody the region’s ethos of innovation while remaining open, adaptable, and grounded in material and spatial clarity.

physical model study on plinth showing modular frame configuration as structural system prototype

A modular framework developed as a study in structural logic and repetition. The grid operates as both infrastructure and spatial scaffold, establishing a system through which program and form can evolve.

diagram showing component modules and their structural and spatial relationships within the system

tabletop model showing individual modules for production, gathering, and cultivation within the overall system

single floor plan drawing showing spatial organisation of modular frame and circulation core

“A structural framework that transforms repetition into civic intelligence, where making, growing, and gathering coexist within a shared architectural language.”

set of physical model studies showing formal variations and stacking logic within the modular system

DESIGN INTENT

The design is structured through a modular system that integrates architecture, program, and infrastructure. Each cuboid frame acts as both structure and envelope, capable of accommodating distinct spatial conditions. Layers of activity from fabrication workshops to communal gardens are stacked and interlinked through a shared architectural language. This creates a framework that is simultaneously ordered and adaptable, inviting participation and transformation over time.

axonometric drawing showing floor arrangement and vertical stacking logic within the modular grid

The architecture is conceived as a responsive framework. Modular frames stack vertically to accommodate distinct layers of activity from fabrication to communal work and urban farming, each calibrated through a shared spatial language.

overall axonometric drawing showing volumetric composition and integration of program, structure, and landscape

full tower model showing the vertical composition of modular frames forming a coherent civic structure

suite of modular floor plans showing programmatic variation across civic, production, and farming levels

interior maker space with fabrication equipment and communal work areas arranged beneath the modular ceiling grid

RESOLUTION AND OUTCOME

The final proposal translates the modular system into a civic landmark that merges structure, landscape, and inhabitation. Colour defines programmatic zones, planting softens the grid, and open circulation fosters exchange between users and the city. The result is an architecture that holds clarity and variation within a single framework, a spatial and cultural assembly for a new public life.

side elevation showing vertical stacking of modular units with interlocking terraces and planted thresholds

The final scheme translates the modular system into an architectural form. Colour, planting, and circulation articulate the frame, producing a civic building that merges structure, landscape, and inhabitation.