Scupper obsession

Anyone who has spent any time with me knows that I am completely obsessed with scuppers.  In the architectural theory seminar I have been teaching at Northeastern University, I have pitched “scuppers” as a student topic several times – to no avail.  Happily, Amanda Lawrence, Christina Crawford, and Deborah Kully have agreed to add scuppers to the list of potential student topics for the expanded and improved version of the course being taught during the 2009-2010 academic year.  Scuppers were also one of the stormwater approach typologies we included as a research topic in the Yale urban design studio I coordinated this spring.

We are also integrating a large scupper into the visitor information facility we are designing on the Rose Kennedy Greenway for the National Park Service and Island Alliance.  In fact, both roofs of the double pavilion act as a kind of super-scupper that guides water to a yet-to-be-designed splash block on the lawn.

Le Corbusier’s mother-of-all scuppers at Ronchamp

Simple downspout and sexy splashblock courtesy of the Shakers (courtesy of Chris Genter)

Roberto Burle Marx and Gio Ponti, Villa Planchart, Caracas (courtesy of Chris Genter)

-Tim