Rachel Auerbach

Studio Winter 2008. New Construction. Museum, Industrial, and Commercial.

+ Bring the energy of innovation to the historical, industrial site.

+ Employ industrial materials and construction techniques at varying levels of refinement.

+ Design modular and adjustable construction systems to respond to challenging construction site and ongoing need for flexibility.

+ Program and develop an incubator to invent, prototype, test, and produce green building products.

+ Program and develop a Museum of Power and Light to share energy and innovation stories with the public.

+ Design to use a minimal amount of steel and to create microhydro potential.

+ Research nanogels and self-cleaning paints to provide easy to construct and maintain buildings.

Tools Hand Sketching Hand and Laser-cut Models SketchUp AutoCAD Adobe Illustrator

Phases PD SD

At the site of the first long-distance power transfer in the country, this complex signals a rebirth of industry. Bringing this historical site into the future, the museum of power and light shares the site’s history, and cutting edge industrial buildings house a program intent on solving pressing environmental problems.

Here, an invention, prototyping, testing, and small-scale production facility incubates innovative green products, while new partnerships and business models are developed. Between the research facilities, an outdoor workspace floats above the water; visitors pass through it to attend the museum.

A variety of steel structures explore the paradigms of power at the site, from the mechanical force of the turbine to the sophisticated energy of the photovoltaic. 

These structures and enclosures are modular and made of technologically advanced materials, including nanogels and self-cleaning paints in order to provide easily constructible and maintainable buildings at this challenging site.