Undergraduate Architecture Portfolio

ALESSANDRO

SPROAT

Talking to A Brick Wall

Spring 2020, Johannes Berry

The Market Studio

Spring 2021, Sarah Blankenbaker

Above, Across, Around

Fall 2021, Abigail Chang

Architectural Technology

Spring 2021, Dan Wheeler

Together, Alone

Fall 2020, Clare Lester

Home with The Collective

Spring 2022, Alexander

Talking to a Brick Wall

Featured in UIC Year End Show

The focus of this studio was how the unit of the brick could aggregate into something bigger. From a found condition where brick and mortar met an ‘uncommon’ brick form was extracted. This small form was invert ed, turned upside down and joined together. With this doubled condition the new uncommon brick was arrayed horizontally and vertically to create large modu lar building blocks. Supporting wood framing was to be used in conjunction with the uncommon brick but the new formed modular blocks needed no support. Wood framing in shape and form to pay homage to the shape of the uncommon brick filled empty spaces and creat ed floors. In the end an open pavilion meant to be explored was created. The mixture of brick building blocks and hollow like wood framing created varying light qualities and looking holes.

For the Moment... A Big Box Store

This studio saught to understand shopping - the mundane kind that is required of work was done through the close study of America’s most common market form: the ways; the big box store is unique to few and inspiring to even fewer. By examining form, this studio developed new models of the type and the shopping experiences

For the Moment fundamentally separates the BOH from the FOH. Product displays are ability to purchase all the items within a single curated display. The FOH becomes dard big box store and allowing for a more immersive and enjoyable browsing experience. shipped to their house the same day from the attached product warehouse. Influenced physical product ‘For the Moment’ sought to bring those systems together in a new

all of us - and architecture’s ability to make these activities significant. The big box store. Understood as a generic type that is deployed in standardized examining and questioning conventions of the typology’s siting, program and building that occur within them.

are just that, displays. Arranged in life-style moments the customers have the becomes a product showroom removing the traditional product organization of a stan experience. Customers purchase displays or items from displays and those items are Influenced by the surge of online shopping and the disconnect shoppers have from the new way.

Above, Across, Around

Program: Bookstore

Preposition: Following

The studio aimed to distill architecture to a set of relationships in space, where an acute awareness to detail was not reserved solely for ex ceptional buildings, rather applied to our everyday environments. Begin ning through an investigation of prepositions, a part of speech that is inherently spatial and temporal, became a fundamental prompt to reflect on position, direction, movement and sequence.

The building is composed of a bright and narrow undulating pathway that spans the entirety of the space. Tigher and more narrow intersecting pathways cut the main path bringing in more light and additional circula tion. The main curve acts as both a visual and circulatory guide through while small displays of product grab patrons attention. The disecting pathways entice patrons to enter bringing them into adjecent spaces filled with books where the majority of bookshopping takes place.

The Bath house

This architectural technology course tasked every student to create a sim ple bath house. The objective; to test and demonstrate students abilities to create and understand architectural construction diagrams.

Students were all given the same parameters such as square footage, what amenities to include, minimum one window, a skylight, and closed off room for the water heater. Students were assigned primary building materials, exterior and interior cladding type and roof form. My project features:

- Cross Laminated Timber CLT

- Wood Siding

- Flat Roof Form

- GYP/Plaster Interior

SPROAT

HOUSE

ARCHITECTS

SPROAT

BATH

SPROAT

BATH HOUSE

SPROAT ARCHITECTS

BATH HOUSE

SPROAT ARCHITECTS

HOUSE

SPROAT ARCHITECTS

HOUSE

The Split Monastery

Using collective living and clustered spaces this studio focused on the Franciscan monks and their secluded lifestyles that they devote to. The site used for the project is that of the Montana valley and Custer Gallatin National Forest. The site nestles the monks into the side of the mountain and incorporates light thin atmosphere above ground provided by glass spaces and a thick strong tone underneath using stone. Using this the houses give the monk space to eat, study and rest below ground safely en closed in the lower half while above they may pray, meditate or look out over the beautiful Montana valley. The whole monastery continues to follow this ideology giving the resident monks and novices the below ground letting natural light in through sky lights while visitors and the farmers are above ground and are able to see what happens beneath without disturbing the work being done.

Church Plan, Section and Axon

Cell Axon

Cell Axon

At Home with The Collective

The studio’s objective was to develop new typologies of living that can chal lenge the fallacies of “home” and private ownership. We were asked to question the dominant narrative around heteronorma tive family structure, domestic work, financial models, and involved shareholders by reconfiguring unit layouts, the organization of building blocks, and the makeup of neighborhoods. The stu dio asked how new forms of collective housing could rethink established norms and conventions—aiming to expose alter natives to the current crisis. The hope was to produce housing typologies that are both productive rethinkings of city building and of collective living.

My project is located in the Englewood neighborhood of Chicago. A neighborhood that has seen a stark decline in popula tion over the past decade. The project seeks to bring together the residents of Englewood, new residents, and exist ing community programs/services all in the same building. The first floor gives space to these community outreach groups as well as retail while the upper floors house the varying apartment blocks. The large inner courtyard connects to the whole neighborhood through arched corri dors allowing residents and the communi ty to access the shared amenities within the common park grounds. The building is situated over the Chicago Metra line adding a new stop to the train line and further connecting this collec tive housing block with the rest of the city.

Neutelings, Wall, De Geyter, Habitat and the City, 1990

Collective Housing Studies

Preliminary research into 3 collective housing projects pre 20th century with a suggested focus on mid to late 1900’s. Given the above example we were tasked to draw chosen projects as oblique axonometric drawings. The following the drawings are my work the above is only an example.

Sven

Oblique Axon of Unit Block

Vignette Inside View

Physical Model from Final Presentation

Spray-painted

pieces hand

to present as extracted volumes