Architecture_Portfolio_Kuck_A

Aaron Kuck Architecture | Design

Aaron Chance Kuck Columbus, Ohio 419-204-7033 kuck.24@osu.edu

Spectacle: Energy Research & Innovation Center The Ohio State University Spring 2020 This proposal for the Energy Research and Innovation Center at Ohio State is guided by the theme “science as spectacle” to inspire excitement and inspiration by increasing the visibility of experimentation. The building is organized by a datum of sheer walls that create a series of labs differentiated by purpose but following a generalized scheme streamlined for Innovation, Production, and Testing.

The stepped form of the north facade reads as dematerialized ziggurat while the shear walls allow for the stepped office and working spaces under which a large event space was situated. The large south glazing utilizes the concrete floor of the event hall as thermal mass to facilitate heating the facility while radiant heat and cooling is directed through the poured concrete shear walls.

Passers-by can gaze into the laboratories from garden located in the center of the block while walking along the photovoltaic forest. More than just decoration, the forest serves as a testing ground for improved solar generation.

The canal and integrated wave generator allow for a specialty lab researching coastal energy harvesting technology.

Another laboratory within the primary structure utilizes a wind tunnel.

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Above: The sidewalk and canal cutting diagonal across the site serve to draw people into the garden from the 18th Street laboratory corridor.

Right: A view toward the entrance across the bridge and oor plans to the remaining building levels.

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Left: An homage to science as spectacle. The openness and visibility of projects to observation is meant to re-invigorate an interest in science and innovation.

Below: The primary facilities are leveraged over the large event space.

As seen below, I continued my investigation into primitive typologies in this project by allowing the north side of the building to terrace like a step pyramid or ziggurat. The form shifts as required to dierentiate labs and to meet program requirements. The landscaping provides both points of respite and functional outdoor testing areas to the Energy Research and Innovation Center.

GLEN ECHO RAVINE INTERMEDIATE SCHOOL Clintonville, Ohio Fall 2019 This project utilizes both ancient and modern building techniques to negotiate the challenging topography, creating a school that bridges the natural world and urban landscape.

Massive piers constructed in the Roman style utilize modern techniques where needed to hold aloft modular classrooms and provide poche for mechanical services.

Reinforcing the project-based teaching pedagogy, each classroom stands as an individual unit with workspace for projects and an en-suite restroom. Rather than desks the students and teacher utilize custom adaptable seating for a more comfortable learning environment.

The classrooms are connected by a series of elevated catwalks that penetrate the piers and span interior gathering spaces. In addition to a gym and library, there are specialty classrooms for the arts, sciences, and music, all of which look out over the ravine.

Left: The masonry piers comprise a datum by which the school is organized. On the ďŹ rst level, the piers divide the buildings supporting functions with the gym being the northernmost indoor space and the specialty classrooms adjacent to the south parking lot.

Right: The second oor classrooms are modular units cantilevered from the masonry piers. Identical, the classrooms promote the egalitarian nature of project-based education. The teacher’s desk is eliminated and they utilize the same custom desks as the students.

Left: The pier walls are constructed in the Roman style, with layered rubble and concrete comprising the core.

By utilizing this technique, construction waste from this and other sites in the Columbus area can be reused, sequestering carbon and limiting that which would be created in manufacturing additional concrete.

MASONRY TIE

REINFORCED CONCRETE UTILIZING RUBBLE-FILL IN ROMAN OPUS CAEMENTICIUM STYLE.

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KOLUMBA BRICK: ACTUAL DIMENSION 20 3/4” x 4 1/4” x 1 1/2”

TYPE M MORTAR, JOINT DIMENSION 3/4”

This Page: The pier walls recall the architecture of mills common to the state’s early industry. Overlooking the ravine, the tree line surrounds and penetrates the school reinforcing the atmosphere of historical ruin. The modern modular classroom and curtain walls of the larger spaces create compelling contrast to the piers.

SIDEWALK, 4”

FOOTING: STEEL REINFORCED CONCRETE

GRAVEL

DRAINAGE PIPE

SCALE 3/4”= 1’

Live/Work Project Franklinton, Ohio Fall 2019 This live/work project commands a corner in the East Franklinton neighborhood. The massing is driven by the dual nature of the house and its occupants which include a shared studio and gallery attendant who lives in the secondary residence. To accentuate this duality, a vernacular gabled house was split and reassembled; the massing was subtracted to create a shared courtyard, semi-enclosed entry, and semi-public plaza. This subtraction was oriented toward Leveque Tower in downtown Columbus and results in a compelling roof-line.

The primary material used for the construction is CLT/ SIPs clad in cement board on the exterior and left exposed within the residence. Mullions and other fixtures of the house are brushed aluminum/nickel depending on location. The primary living spaces are well lit with south-facing double height windows that carry the outdoors into the residences. North facing windows include a large clerestory intended to provide a constant softer light inside the home and painting studio.

Overall, the project is conceived as monolithic form that accommodates a variety of needs and experiences--from the studios and residences of the occupants to the firstfloor gallery space that is open to the public. The building’s design both adopts and extends the materiality and traditional architectural forms of the neighborhood while adding spaces that enrich its current arts scene.

Left: Both residences have master bedrooms overlooking the plaza and courtyard.

Left: The primary living spaces on the second floor are served by large south-facing windows.

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Left: The first floor contains the gallery and sculpture studios. The plaza ties the palazzo to the landscape.

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Above: The central courtyard of the residence provides a commercial entrance to the gallery with a stairway to the private patio of the primary residence. Overlooking this is the balcony of the master suite.

West-Facing Section through Primary residence

Right: White brick veneer provides additional contrast where the traditional orthogonal form of the residence is violated brightening the courtyard and presenting a unique facade to the plaza.

North-Facing Section

East-Facing Section through Secondary Residence

Inside Out Spring 2018

The focus of this project was the formal relationship between an object and its container. This exploration occurred through the creation of containers for a random everyday object to fulfill three programs: Storage, Reveal, and Display. Modeling iterations were bound by a strict set of rules and dimensions to provoke creativity.

The tension, compression, and release of the stapler below inspired the course of this project. Seeking simplicity to counter the technical aspect of the object, my early forms were based on crystalline shapes and a sense of eruption from the ground. The most successful form was carried forth due to its embodiment of the dynamism I sought.

After two more generations, I arrived at a form that stood boldly upright but retained a tension born of its impression of opening or closing.

The final stage of this project was to take the most successful container and re-imagine it as a pavilion sited on a 20’ x 20’ footprint. I inverted the final container form to meet the siting requirement and to make best use of the volume. Inspired by the Bruder Klaus Field Chapel by Peter Zumthor, I introduced an oculus and fenestration so that light would penetrate the pavilion and illuminate the object enshrined within. The apertures allowing light were formed to focus the light on the displayed object.

Left: Rays of light are directed by apertures through the concrete. The interior volume ďŹ rst compresses the visitor before they encounter an open brightness of the display area.

In both plan and section one can see that the displayed object is established in hierarchy over the viewer to increase the sense of awe in the encounter.

Right: The height of the pavilion allows it to dominate the landscape and draws visitors toward it. The apertures provide a glimpse of the object enshrined within, increasing the curiosity of the viewer.

Left: These three forms evolved from the ďŹ rst generation of crystalline shapes and built on themes of tension in the opening and closing of form.

Right: The most engaging form that emerged from the earlier phase, it stands ďŹ rm but with an anticipation of movement

Vitra Warehouse and Museum Weil am Rhein, Germany Spring 2019 The goal of this project was to develop an addition to the Vitra campus which could accommodate the storage and display of designer goods. Manipulating the scale and orientation of the earlier pavilion project resulted in the outer shell of the building.

Themes of tension and duality were explored on the interior in competing courses of elevated galleries, joined by sky-walks and riďŹƒng on the form of a stereotypical gabled house. This referenced earlier work at Vitra by Herzog and de Meuron.

The circulation of the site ends at either the elevated terraces or the patio cafe.

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(Left ) Tension is created by the pulling apart or growth of the building. This defines the entrance to the building and exterior public spaces. The expansion below grade creates the entrance and service areas of the project.

(Above) The hauzs that serve as gallery spaces for domestic merchandise and furniture.

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Right: Looking back toward the entrance from the top of the event space. Logistical operations in the warehouse below are visible through the glass.

From this area, visitors ascend to the Hauzs.

Right: Skywalks connect the Hauzs. The Hauzs serve as gallery spaces for products or related exhibits. They are suspended from a datum of vertical steel supports. Despite being elevated both paths are handicap accessible.

Rest Area I-75 Wapakoneta, OH Fall 2018 The goal of this project was to replace an existing rest area located on Interstate 75 just north of Wapakoneta, Ohio. Wapakoneta is largely agricultural with a percentage of its population working in manufacturing. Neil Armstrong, the ďŹ rst man to step foot on the moon, was raised here and a museum in his honor is located along the interstate about six miles south.

In this project I captured attitudes and traditions of the region to meld them in a form at once recognizable but new. Mound building occurred in several cultures throughout history with several remaining in Ohio to this day. The mound is of all cultures but speciďŹ c to none. By melding this indigenous constructed form with the bunker of a NASA launch site I created a compelling way-station for travelers.

Dematerializing the mound resulted in a glass structure shrouded in louvered slats. Glu-lam supports recall the adjacent forest and provide suďŹƒcient structural support for the Corten steel louvers. The steel will rust gracefully in hues reminiscent of fall foliage or an abandoned shack.

Left and Right: The program of the rest area was not complicated with new functions. The restrooms include a handicapped accessible family restroom. Food vending is located along the adjacent wall with the water fountains.

A large area with tables is available for travelers to enjoy a snack.

Above: The jersey barriers are transformed to provide seating, display surfaces, and planters across the site and through the main structure.

The employee oďŹƒce and equipment shed is located at the northeast corner of the parking lot.

This smaller building replicates the exterior condition of the larger structure. The oďŹƒce here serves as a point of respite for state highway employees from ODOT and OSHP.