Portfolio, 2001-2008 by Aaron Plewke

AARON PLEWKE UNIVERSITY OF FLORIDA SCHOOL OF ARCHITECTURE BACHELOR OF DESIGN 2005 SUMMA CUM LAUDE

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PROJECTS VIGNETTES

REGGIO EMILIA SCHOOL VENICE, ITALY

ARCHITRAVE ISSUE #10 - TO DWELL

DESIGN FUNDAMENTALS LOWER DIVISION STUDIO WORK

UNRAVELING THE STRADAPARCO PESCARA, ITALY

NYCITYRACKS MANHATTAN AND QUEENS, NEW YORK

CENTRAL LIBRARY ADDITION AND RENOVATION GROSSE POINTE FARMS, MICHIGAN

INHABITING THE FLORIDA LANDSCAPE MARION COUNTY, FLORIDA

SPOLETO FESTIVAL HEADQUARTERS CHARLESTON, SOUTH CAROLINA

READING THE CITY THROUGH COLLAGE HONG KONG, CHINA

HOGAN STREET PARK JACKSONVILLE, FLORIDA

MARITIME MUSEUM PARK JACKSONVILLE, FLORIDA

ARCHINECT.COM FEATURE ARTICLES

VISUAL NOTES THE NETHERLANDS AND SPAIN

AARON PLEWKE CURRICULUM VITAE

UNRAVELING THE STRADAPARCO PESCARA, ITALY

The inter-institutional design charrette with the Pescara School of Architecture focused on the Stradaparco, a former train thoroughfare since decommissioned and dedicated to pedestrian activities. As a public space, the Stradaparco is relentlessly linear, encouraging movement while failing to accomodate moments for rest and repose. The Pescarese respond in kind, using it for cycling, running and so on. As a stage for public life, the Stradaparco falls short. If one imagines the Stradaparco as a string, it is in tension with no moments of release. By releasing the tension on the string and unraveling it at strategic locations, spaces of pause emerge, creating rest and repose within this system of movement. Our project team unraveled a site at one end of the Stradaparco, adjacent to a defunct rail bridge. By collecting the paths moving into the site, creating distinct terraces for each, and allowing the lower terraces to swell into spaces for gathering, our proposal demonstrates that pauses can exist within the relentless linearity of the Stradaparco.

REGGIO EMILIA SCHOOL VENICE, ITALY Project Type: Academic Vicenza Institute of Architecture ARC 4322 - Design Studio 7 Fall 2004 Critics: Nina Hofer and Robert McCarter Tags: Early Childhood Education Learning Environments Environment as 3rd Teacher Urban Space

REGGIO EMILIA SCHOOL VENICE, ITALY

From early on I suspected that the so importantsounding task "Know Thyself" is a ruse of a cabal of priests. They are trying to seduce man from activity in the outside world, to distract him with impossible demands; they seek to draw him into a false inner contemplation. Man only knows himself insofar as he knows the world---the world which he only comes to know in himself and himself only in it. -Goethe In the Conscience of the Eyes (where the above quote was discovered), Richard Sennet asserts a notion that is upheld by the Reggio Emilia educational approach(1); the environment can be an able teacher(2). Writing from New York, he argues that the separation of inner and outer life has led to the demise of the modern city.

According to Sennet, "the city ought to be a school for learning to live a centered life". Instead, shopping and tourism dominate the public realm, and a shared fear of exposure has everyone accepting the disengaging results(3). The threat of social interaction is mitigated by an insipid spatial reality. The potential that city spaces have to enhance life and community discourse is trivialized accordingly.

In a city such as Venice, however, a specific and intense spatiality has been craftily appropriated by shifting programmatic agendas. The vibrancy of public life exhibited by Venice, past and present, stands as proof supporting this statement. This adaptability exhibited by Venetian spatial conditions is universally programmatic while maintaining its identifiable character. Richness of space lends itself to richness of occupation. The environment of Venice demonstrates this competency to stimulate its occupants and promote their interaction. For the above reasons, the spaces of Venice are valid precedents to aid in design generation, avoiding the contemporary tendencies mentioned by Sennet, which lead to public spaces that orchestrate the flow of goods and services, not culture. This programmatic pliability and spatial fluidity demonstrated by Venice is a great match for the Reggio Emilia educational philosophy, which calls for flexibility and connectivity in the physical environments of its schools. The pedagogical position held by Reggio Emilia educators encourages overlapping types of occupation, multi-scalar spaces, and thoughtful materiality. Microenvironments at Reggio Schools(4) are often tactile, layered and explorative(5). These same terms could be used to describe the spaces of Venice.

REGGIO EMILIA SCHOOL VENICE, ITALY The specific character of Venice paired with the well-stated mission of Reggio educators creates a rich and complementary set of conditions for proposing an architecture. The above concept, taken from Goethe (via Sennet), further joins the educational approach with the place. This process exploits Venice, using the fullness of its spatial environment as a design generator, hopefully translating its vigor to the spatial organization of the Reggio School. Venice: Observations and Analysis Venice offers a series of unique typologies for investigation, recurrent spatial conditions that are specifically Venetian. These spaces have the ability to communicate with clarity and intensity, largely due to Veniceâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s distinctive physical setting and rich cultural heritage. The characteristics of these moments are precise and concentrated. One has a bodily understanding of the frequent bridge or the confining passageway. These features, and others like them, inform the experience of moving through Venice, acting as measures throughout the web-like field of winding canals and densely inhabited isles.

IUAV in Venice, Italy Entry Court by Carlo Scarpa

IUAV - Venice, Italy Entry Sequence - from campo to forecourt, from forecourt to inner court by way of either compressed passageway or a vertically expansive side court.

Of the various Venetian spatial types, the campo was of particular interest. This public space of exchange is encountered regularly along any given Venetian itinerary. The campi function as nodes within Venice‘s city image(6), swelling at intervals as one navigates the labyrinthine city’s narrow alley-canyons and vertically confining sotoporteghi. Their role in the public realm of Venice, acting as stages for community appearance(7), made them appropriate to investigate prior to conducting a Reggio School project.

2 3 1 4

1. Campo 2. Gallery 3. Music Studio

4. Nido d’infanzia 5. Internal Piazza 6. Classrooms

Historically, some campi were occupied according to a primary axis, often stretching between a church entrance and a ceremonial dock directly across the campo at the water’s edge. Although the lines of delineation are still apparent, they serve only as a memory of Venice’s former patterns. Primacy has since been re-oriented. The current occupation of the campo spaces offers a multiplicity of readings, imbuing their analysis with both the physical character of Venice and a measure of temporal specificity. This contemporary re-orienting of spatial primacy in the campo (from the Church axis to whatever new commercial or institutional entity has taken its place) brings the classical concepts of frontality and centrality into question. New groups of people have engaged Venice, and 7

REGGIO EMILIA SCHOOL VENICE, ITALY

they bring new agendas for occupation. Tourism is the best example of this phenomenon. In the current epoch, the rich spatiality of Venice accommodates new programs, many geared toward the satiation of consumer culture. The patterns generated by this new type of occupation re-consider the spaces of Venice, offering fresh interpretations of their potential. Design Methodology The initial analysis of Venice and the campo quickly transformed into design. To start things off, direct impositions of figure-ground relationships taken from analyzing the campi were placed onto the site. This initial step, transitioning from analysis of Venice to site analysis and schematic design, offered a wide set of information. By understanding the scale of occupation supported by each campo in the investigation, these campo/site superimpositions informed the scale of a potential exterior space of exchange on the site. Since the site had restricted access, this study also helped in grasping its actual size relative to a series of regularly visited spaces. Eventually, up to three simultaneous campo superimpositions were translated onto the site, each giving and taking from the others and from the site conditions. In addition, different circulatory strategies taken from the campi were tested against the local conditions. In this way, the ability of the campo

to simultaneously connect and separate was imbued into the scheme. The final site organization was largely determined during this initial design phase. When programmatic considerations were layered onto the process, the diagrammatic (approaching spatial) systems were already in place. In this way, program does not dominate, but acts as a complementary layer of information within a greater system. The spatial adjacencies within the Reggio School were enriched by translating the strategies of the campo.

For example, the proposal aims to offer a multiplicity of "fronts" to its own exterior campo space. In the Venetian campo, the primary face no longer exists as a pre-ordained condition. It is now user-dependent. Learning from the campo, the programmatic organization of the Reggio School offers a variety of readings that may change for any given user over the life of his/her experience with the spaces of the school.

Ground Plan

The rather direct translation of analysis to design (with the guidance of a clear concept - the environment as the third teacher) gave the scheme the ability to function on numerous levels. The potential to uncover relationships abounds (between the school and itself, the school and its local context, between the school and any given campo in the city etc.). Working with campo-translations allowed the scheme to be of Venice while maintaining its critical appraisal of the place.

Roof Plan 9

REGGIO EMILIA SCHOOL VENICE, ITALY

6 9

1. Campo 2. Gallery 3. Music Studio

4. Atelier 5. Library 6. Courtyard

7. Classroom 8. Piazza 9. Nido dâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;infanzia

REGGIO EMILIA SCHOOL VENICE, ITALY

1. Campo 2. Gallery (open to below) 3. Bridge

4. Classroom 5. Piazza (open to below) 6. Roof Garden

ARCHITRAVE ISSUE #10 - TO DWELL Project Type: Academic University of Florida School of Architecture Extracurricular Fall 2003 Role: Editor-in-Chief Tags: Architecture and Media Journalism, Activism, Discourse

FUNDAMENTALS OF MAKING LOWER DIVISION INVESTIGATIONS Project Type: Academic University of Florida School of Architecture ARC 1302, 2303 and 2304 Design Studios 2, 3 and 4 Spring 2002, Fall 2002 and Spring 2003 Critics: Judi Shade, Bernard Voichysonk and Martin Gundersen

FUNDAMENTALS OF MAKING LOWER DIVISION INVESTIGATIONS

ARC 1301 Architectural Design 1 An introductory course interfacing communication skills with design thinking. Emphasis is on the awareness and understanding of basic organization ideas in design. ARC 1302 Architectural Design 2 An analysis course that uses the study of architectural precedent as a foundation for the development of communication and design skills. ARC 2303 Architectural Design 3 Studio course explores the influence of history and culture on design decision-making. ARC 2304 Architectural Design 4 Context is explored as a generator of architectural design ideas. Contemporary cultural influences also are examined and incorporated in the design process.

ANALYTICAL CONSTRUCT ARC 1302 - Design Studio 2 Spring 2002 Critic: Judi Shade

SPATIAL CONSTRUCTS ARC 2303 - Design Studio 3 Fall 2002 Critic: Bernard Voichysonk

Matrix/Unit - Model: Piano Wire, Bristol Paper

Rhythm/Measure - Photostatic Collage: Concrete, Matte Board, Model Shadow

Tower/Landscape - Model: Matte Board

TOWER ON THE MESA, NORTHERN ARIZONA ARC 2304 - Design Studio 4 Spring 2003 Critic: Martin Gundersen Vertical Itinerary - Collage (6’ x 2’): Butcher Paper, Conte Crayon, Chalk, Spray Paint, Marker

INTERVENTION ON BROUGHTON STREET - SAVANNAH, GEORGIA ARC 2304 - Design Studio 4 Spring 2003 Critic: Martin Gundersen

SEEING THE CITY THROUGH COLLAGE HONG KONG, CHINA Project Type: Academic UF SoA Hong Kong / China Study Abroad Program ARC 4323 - Design Studio 8 Summer 2004 Critics: Robert MacLeod and Nancy Sanders Tags: Figure, Ground, Collage Urban Space Analysis Constructed Ground Plane

UNRAVELING THE STRADAPARCO PESCARA, ITALY Project Type: Academic Vicenza Institute of Architecture ARC 4322 - Design Studio 7 Fall 2004 Inter-Institutional Design Charrette, conducted with students and faculty of the Pescara School of Architecture Critics: Giuseppe Barbieri (PSA), Nina Hofer (UF) and Carlo Pozzi (PSA) Collaborators: Michael Lindsey (UF GSoA), Michele Manigrasso (PSA), and Ashley Pollard (UF SoA) Tags: Planning, Urbanism Movement, Infrastructure Leisure, Public Space

UNRAVELING THE STRADAPARCO PESCARA, ITALY

The work on these pages was executed collaboratively.

UNRAVELING THE STRADAPARCO PESCARA, ITALY

The work on these pages was executed collaboratively.

STRADAPARCO SONG PESCARA, ITALY

Stradaparco Song, a master planning strategy for the city of Pescara, was executed independently in the wake of the collaborative charrette.

The Jacksonville Landing The Times-Union Performing Arts Center

St. Johns River

HOGAN STREET PARK JACKSONVILLE, FLORIDA Project Type: Personal Design Proposal created in collaboration with Public Space Jacksonville, an ad-hoc group consisting of Real Estate, Architecture and Legal Professionals focused on promoting quality design and development in Downtown Jacksonville. August 2006 Design Team: Meredith Klein and Aaron Plewke Tags: Urban Waterfront, Public Space Cultural Institution, Commercial Center Community Engagement, Activism

NYCITYRACKS MANHATTAN AND QUEENS Project Type: Personal Design Competition hosted by the NYC DOT and the Cooper-Hewitt National Design Museum June 2008 Collaboration with Meredith Klein and Thomas Kosbau Tags: New York City Urban Forms, Industrial Design, Bike Rack Bicycle Infrastructure Adaptive Reuse, Material Harvesting

NYCITYRACKS MANHATTAN AND QUEENS

Last year the MTA decommissioned 1,662 subway cars. The car shells – stripped of their motors, brakes, doors, seats, handrails and other components – were shipped to coastal cities to be sunk as artificial reefs. The materials and components removed from the subway cars were sold for scrap.¹ What does this have to do with bike racks? We propose creating a conceptual and material link between the city’s disparate bicycle and subway infrastructures by harvesting material for the next generation of CityRacks from decommissioned subway cars. The New York City Subway is one of our city’s most familiar cultural symbols. Our strategy of up-cycling² aims to celebrate an everyday element – the subway handrail – and thereby establish a new and iconic urban form: The NYC CityRack. In creating the NYC CityRack, stainless steel tubes (formerly used as handrails and seat supports) are harvested, bent into component shapes, reinforced with a fine aggregate concrete core and welded into a continuous form.

9th Avenue, Manhattan

NYCITYRACKS MANHATTAN AND QUEENS The NYC CityRack’s two-tiered design allows for maximum bike storage with a minimal footprint to keep crowded sidewalks free from obstruction. Each bike has at least two points of secure connection with the rack’s reinforced stainless steel frame. Additionally, this proposal takes advantage of a reclaimed material that is locally sourced and thereby reduces industrial waste and the environmental impact of shipping. The NYC CityRack serves as a symbol of the burgeoning environmental consciousness of the New York City lifestyle. 1. From a recent telephone conversation with Mike Zacchea, Director of the MTA’s Asset Recovery Unit. 2. William McDonough & Michael Braungart, Cradle to Cradle: Remaking the Way We Make Things (North Point Press, 2002).

9th Avenue, Manhattan

NYCITYRACKS MANHATTAN AND QUEENS

Long Island City, Queens

MARITIME MUSEUM PARK JACKSONVILLE, FLORIDA Project Type: Personal Ideas Competition hosted by the Jacksonville Chapter of the American Institute of Architects June 2006 Collaboration with Meredith Klein Tags: Urban Waterfront Cultural Institution, Public Space

CENTRAL LIBRARY ADDITION AND RENOVATION GROSSE POINTE FARMS, MICHIGAN Project Type: Personal Ideas Charette Organized by mapa on behalf of the Grosse Pointe Library Board of Directors February 2006 Collaboration with Meredith Klein Tags: Cultural Institution, Library Landmark, Mid-Century Modernism, Marcel Breuer, 1953 Preservation, Conservation Adaptive Reuse Addition, Renovation Regional Urbanism

CENTRAL LIBRARY ADDITION AND RENOVATION GROSSE POINTE FARMS, MICHIGAN

A library is not merely a repository for books. In contemporary society, with the proliferation of commercially driven environments, the library is one of the few remaining places where genuine community interaction takes place. This proposal accomodates the numerous activities and patterns of use that make the contemporary library a vibrant part of the public realm. The Grosse Pointe Central Library was designed by Marcel Breuer at the behest of W. Hawkins Ferry. This noteworthy patron of the arts contributed a great deal to the cultural heritage of the greater Detroit area. To Grosse Pointe Farms, Mr. Ferry contributed the Central Library. The existing library building is not only a local landmark, but part of a legacy that should not be hastily discarded.

Our proposal demonstrates that present and future programmatic requirements can be satisfied in a way that enhances the history of Grosse Pointe by adding to the cityâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s continually evolving cultural narrative.

LIBRARY ADDITION AND RENOVATION GROSSE POINTE FARMS, MICHIGAN

1. Terrace 2. Entry 3. Offices 4. Book Stacks 5. Lobby 6. Restrooms 7. Children’s Room 8. Parking 9. Service Drive 10. Courtyard 11. Elevator Folly 12. Open to Below 13. Periodicals 14. Reading Area 15. Digital Media 16, Balcony 17. Cafe 18. Conference Room 19. Multi-purpose Room 20. Roof Deck

EXISTING LIBRARY

8 2 10

CONNECTOR

2 4

ADDITION

LEVEL

13 5

LEVEL

EDITOR @ ARCHINECT.COM FEATURE ARTICLES Project Type: Personal Since January 2007 I have acted as an Editor for Archinect.com, creating feature articles and other original content. Tags: Civic Envolvement Virtual Community Architecture and Media Journalism, Activism, Discourse Web 2.0

INHABITING THE FLORIDA LANDSCAPE MARION COUNTY, FLORIDA Project Type: Academic University of Florida School of Architecture ARC 3320 - Design Studio 5 Fall 2003 Critic: Kim Tanzer Tags: Landscape, Climate, Environment Building as Detail within Landscape Place, Place-Making Site, Siting

INHABITING THE FLORIDA LANDSCAPE MARION COUNTY, FLORIDA

The site: A path of loose gravel scratches the surface of a fabricated mound. The way is long and relentless, Stretched between distant extremities, Providing only a single pause. The experience of air and light is full. Overly rich; Nothing to interrupt the unyeilding climate. The response: A sheltered passage collects the landscape, creating a measured transition between site and building. Relationships between context, intervention and occupant form in this space of interface. The experience of the climate is mediated. A distinct place emerges within the monotonous landscape. The immediate site is delineated. A larger field is divided into zones. A periphery is implied. Degrees of enclosure within the landscape manifest. Activity clusters around a center.

INHABITING THE FLORIDA LANDSCAPE MARION COUNTY, FLORIDA

VISUAL NOTES THE NETHERLANDS AND SPAIN Project Type: Personal September 2006 Tags: Analytical Sketching Educatorium, Utrecht, OMA Library, Delft, Mecanoo Theater, Amsterdam, 3XNielsen Museum, Barcelona, Richard Meier and Partners

SPOLETO FESTIVAL HEADQUARTERS CHARLESTON, SOUTH CAROLINA Project Type: Academic University of Florida School of Architecture ARC 3321 - Design Studio 6 Spring 2004 Critic: Alfonso Perez-Mendez Tags: Cultural Institution, Mixed-Use Theater, Gallery, Courtyard Public Space Studio Art Space, Artist Dwelling Regional Urbanism Critical Regionalism

SPOLETO FESTIVAL HEADQUARTERS CHARLESTON, SOUTH CAROLINA

THE CAPTURED GAZE: Degrees of Inclusion in Savannah, GA Prior to addressing the project site in Charleston, an Urban Facade and Intervention study was undertaken in another of the regionâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s colonial settlements, James Oglethorpeâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Savannah. Commerce - Rhythmic Entrapment The linearity of Broughton Street is measured by the captivating depths of the pedestrian scale. The cadence of this East-West block is taken from the encoded ground plane. The experience of this commercial edge is determined by the continuous surface and the degrees of visual penetration allowed by each individual unit in the sequence. The insertion reveals the existing skeleton and transposes onto it a delicate membrane which permits deep views at the scale of the pedestrian and foreshadows interior spaces above.

Linkages - Filtered Exchange The North-South corridors of Savannah negotiate a relentless rhythm of squares, disturbing the flow of vehicles, but offering syncopated pauses to the pedestrian. The tree lined boulevard adds a degree of complexity to the tempo. Between this alteration of central nodes and linear edges are a series of fastening belts, the overlooked links of the urban fabric. The idiosyncratic character of the elements within defies simple categorization. The insertion fixes a folded plane to the existing framework, attempting to create pause within the motion of the beltway. The permeable face bridges the distance of interior and exterior. Dwelling: Prolonged Delay The East-West residential streets of Savannah are subject to a similar cadence as the commercial zones. The encoded ground plane pervades the historic center, creating this inescapable measure. The principal difference in rhythm between streets of commerce and dwelling is manifested in the singularity of the residential units, compared to the continuous commercial surface. Also, depth is not generally perceived at the pedestrian level. The insertion, heavy and opaque, carves away and floats a veil above the street at the entrance, allowing the recessed circulation space to receive the occupant and mask the passage within.

Dwelling

Linkages

Commerce

SPOLETO FESTIVAL HEADQUARTERS CHARLESTON, SOUTH CAROLINA

DESIGN STUDIO 6 Regional Urbanism After completing the preliminary Savannah Urban Facade analysis and design exercise, focus shifted to Charleston, South Carolina. An investigation of the city’s colonial settlement and the development of its current plan informed more localized site analyses. While gaining an understanding of the site’s specific constraints and opportunities through iterative analysis exercises, the studio explored topics including the role of typology in creating rhythm and variation in a city’s urban form, and how contemporary architecture can respond to an historic urban context.

With an understanding of place established, the studio engaged the specifics of program - a headquarters for Charlestonâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Spoleto Festival, to be sited on the northwest corner of King Street and Broad Street. Through its massing, the proposal is responsive to the scale of the adjacent retail strip (on Broad) and the neighboring residential area (on King). The distribution of program within the site is also informed, in part, by the projectâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s immediate context. Finally, a play between mass, void, transparency and opacity activates the facade of the headquarters building, revealing glimpses of movement within and suggesting what may lie beyond the skin.

SPOLETO FESTIVAL HEADQUARTERS CHARLESTON, SOUTH CAROLINA

1. 2. 3. 4.

Circulation Auditorium Waiting Area Gallery

5. Artist Quarters 6. Art Studios 7. Courtyard

Plan Studies

1 2

Axonometric Studies 69

SPOLETO FESTIVAL HEADQUARTERS CHARLESTON, SOUTH CAROLINA

BROAD

King Street Elevation

KING

Site Massing Studies

Broad Street Collage

Asilio Santâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;Elia by Giuseppe Terragni - Como, Italy