Skin and Bones was a project meant to house Norwich University's potential Solar Decathlon building. The only aspect of the project that was allowed to be changed and added to was the facade, the skin; the structure, bones, had to remain the same.



The facade Joan chose was a stone one. For the base concrete would be used, to give the structure some extra stability. The walls would be a black marble, while the south window would be translucent white Vermont marble. This white marble is an adaptation from Joan's favorite SOM building, Yale's Beinecke Library. The translucence of the marble allowed for an orange red glow to enter the building, due to the subsequent sun light, and allow for shadows to show through. The roof used thin slate that would be collected from the schools quarry. The shed also studied the relationship between scale, void, and filled. This is practiced with the window to wall ratios of the east and west walls and windows. In an elevation sense, you cannot see through the opposite windows at any time. The shed was also meant to feel organic, thus the materials chosen.