5. Interior Matter
Valerie Itteilag
I studied Interior Architecture, Reuse, Material Driven Design at RCA. I am a spatial designer and researcher - big to small, furniture to interior and landscape design. I previously worked in the art world (museums, galleries, archaeological dig etc.), at a design firm Victoria Hagan (AD 100), and for an architect, Studio Giancarlo Valle (AD 100, Snøhetta, SHoP).
BA, Art History, Minor, Urban Design and Architecture Studies, New York University, NY, 2015
Intro to Architecture, GSAPP: Columbia School of Architecture, Planning & Preservation, NY, 2018 - Interior Design, Furniture Design, Parsons School of Design, NY, 2016
Distinction, Master’s Dissertation, 2019-2020
Phi Beta Kappa, Oldest US Academic Honour Society, Inducted 2015
Eileen Guggenheim Award for Scholarship in Art History (2014-15) - William and Pearl C. Helbein Scholarship for Leadership (2014-15) - Dean’s Undergraduate Research Grant for Post-Civil War Reconstruction of Downtown Beirut (2015)
Student Representative, MA Interior Design, 2018-2020
Model-making. casting. drawing. painting. clay sculpting. sewing. laser cutting. analogue and digital photography.
Hoping to work in Europe when able. Currently in the US, making masks and relocating a restaurant, a local institution, to a beautiful historic building (1931) in Washington, DC. Stay tuned...
I am incredibly proud of myself, my classmates, my tutors, and my program head, to continue on as best we can during these incredibly difficult and constantly changing past few months. I am very honoured to be graduating along with my peers in this program and incredibly proud to call them my close friends.
Sir George Gilbert Scott Drawings Archive at St. Pancras Water Point — A new public archive to preserve, display and share the drawings of the great Victorian architect Sir George Gilbert Scott. The archive is housed in Scott’s very own St. Pancras Water Point, a beautifully crafted building that provided water for steam trains during Britain’s rapid industrialisation. The building houses a lofted cast iron water tank wrapped within Scott’s ornate Gothic brickwork.
FLOOR 0
FLOOR 1
FLOOR 2 — The Water Point is crowned with a new Cross-Laminated-Timber (CLT) extension, contained within the cast iron water tank. CNCed grooves lead to the main window viewing St. Pancras Station.
FLOOR 2 — CNCed grooves in CLT walls (Swiss stone pine) lead to a view of St. Pancras Station.
PLAN - FLOOR 0
PLAN - FLOOR 1
PLAN - FLOOR 2
Material Catalogue Card — All materials have a unique catalogue card listing their properties. The punch holes show environmental, performance, and aesthetic criteria, on a scale of 0 to 2, with 2 being the highest. CLT (Cross-Laminated Timber) is an a contemporary innovative material: it’s made of timber and therefore, endlessly, renewable, it’s extremely strong and durable, yet lightweight, a carbon store, quick to build as parts are pre-fabricated, and most importantly, it can be used in place of steel and glass construction (non-renewable materials). The chosen manufacturer also uses environmentally friendly-adhesives. Swiss knotty pine was chosen for its high knot content and colouring.
Material Information — Material application by floor and transitional level (stairways). All materials are renewable or rapidly renewable.
Colour Division by Floor
A new public archive to preserve, display and share the drawings of the great Victorian architect Sir George Gilbert Scott. The archive is housed in Scott’s very own St. Pancras Water Point, a beautifully crafted building that provided water for steam trains during Britain’s rapid industrialisation. The building houses a lofted cast iron water tank wrapped within Scott’s ornate Gothic brickwork.
Sir George Gilbert Scott revived the work of previous masons and master builders in the attentive spirit with which they worked. This project continues this notion through the use of innovative contemporary materials and technologies that are lavished with care and craft.
The interior is stripped back to the original materials, the rich red brick and cast iron water tank restored and celebrated. All of natural origin, simple, elegant and muted in tone, the new finishes provide a counter-point that allows Scott’s hard industrial surfaces to stand out and sing.
The material selection visually divides the archive in three, transitioning from grounding dark tones at the bottom to bright, light and airy finishes at the top. This effect is designed to draw visitors up through the building to the main public area at the top, while providing a respectful atmosphere and suitable environment to house the drawing collection below.
The Water Point is crowned with a new Cross-Laminated-Timber (CLT) extension. CLT chosen for its excellent environmental characteristics as well as its status as being at the cutting edge of contemporary construction technology. The CLT extension creates a bright and welcoming space that orientates visitors towards a framed view of Sir George Gilbert Scott’s masterpiece St. Pancras Station.
A place to enjoy both the past and the present.
