We believe that the urban compound is inherently vertical.  While Austin is a predominantly horizontal city, we see CodeNEXT as a step in the direction towards greater urban density and increased vertical growth.  We chose to explore the dual (dueling) natures of a compound in the city: united and distinct elements; legibility and obscurity; structural density and expansive space; continuity and interruption.  We began by organizing program types into like categories and allowing those to take form as distinct volumes.  Stacking those volumes on top of each other, the L-shaped tower takes shape.  Shifting the public moments creates a more dynamic form, and increases legibility of the component parts.  These are also the points at which the screen, the compound’s binding element, breaks to introduce points of entry or visual interaction between those within and without.  The compound’s many layers allow for nested interiorities, translating the traditional compound typology verticallly.