Naves over the Willamette
A boathouse proposal exploring flotation, spatial gradients, and naval architectural language
Project Name: Naves over the Willamette
Type: Academic Graduate Project
Course: Intro Graduate Design Studio
Date: 2025
Location: Portland, OR
Type: Boathouse, Masterplanning
Individual project
Project Description
Naves over the Willamette is a boathouse proposal centered on the experience of flotation.
The project traces the rower’s transition from land-heavy, grounded, and anchored-to water, where mass gives way to buoyancy and lightness. Architecture becomes the mediator of this passage, guiding the body through a gradual loss of weight and a shift in spatial perception.
This gradient is expressed through both programmatic and formal decisions: from solid, enclosed volumes at the upper levels to progressively open and translucent structures as the building approaches the river.
Drawing from naval traditions and the etymological roots of the nave, the project integrates modular systems, rhythmic structural repetition, and material weathering to ground the architecture within the culture of rowing and the landscape of the Willamette River
Floor plans
Renders
