Alexandria Frost
University of Kansas Masters of Architecture
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Alexandria N. Frost
Masters of Architecture University of Kansas | School of Architecture and Design Phone: (402) 677-2439 Email: alexandriafrost1121@gmail.com Portfolio: http://issuu.com/alexandriafrost
Education
Work History
University of Kansas, Lawrence, KS Masters of Architectural Design Candidate 3.76 GPA (2011-current); Dean’s list
Treanor Architects Associate on Student Life team (April 2015- December 2015)
University of Newcastle, Newcastle, Australia Study Abroad Spring 2014 Marian Catholic High School, Omaha, NE High school degree with honors 4.0 GPA (2007-2011)
Proficiency Hand Crafting and Design Thinking Adobe, AutoDesk Revit, and AutoCAD Microsoft Word, Excel, and PowerPoint Google Sketchup Rhino
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Project involvement: Self- Oswald Hall, University of Kansas Kramer Village New Housing and Dining Hall, Kansas State University New Student Union, Pittsburgh State University Greek Housing Complex, South Dakota State University Woods House Renovation, Missouri State University South Housing Complex, Sam Houston State University Virginia Avenue Housing, University of Missouri Major responsibilities: Construction Administration: Responding to RFIs, Updating drawings based on construction changes, site visits, preparing As built drawings,coordinating model changes with consultants Construction Documents: Revit and AutoCad construction drawings Pre and Schematic Design: Creating and assembling presentation drawings, client meetings Documentation: Creating portfolio project books and project statistics spreadsheets for use throughout the studio
Huhot Mongolian Grill Waitress (2012-2014) Summer Kitchen CafĂŠ Waitress and Hostess (2009-2011) City of Omaha Parks and Recreation Department Cryer Pool Lifeguard and Head Swim Coach (2009)
Extracurricular 2015 AIA Central States Second Place Winner Member of the New Cities Housing Lab (https://newcities.ku.edu/) Involvement with Build Smart Prefabricated Panels (http://www.buildsmartna.com/) Engineers Without Borders Member USGBC member AIAS KU Board Member Volunteer with Historic Green Nebraska Humane Society Volunteer Gold and Silver Medal Winner in Nebraska Art Competition
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Solid Wood & Hand tools Exploration
Pg 6
Pg 19
Bent Ply Exploration
Long board 1 Pg 30
Stool 1 Pg 15
Pg 32 Long board 2
Chair 1 Pg 17
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Pg 47 Longbow 1 Pg 36
Natural Harvested Bamboo Exploration
‘Sidekick’ Push Pg 52 bike
Pg 60 ‘Fishtail’ Bamboo Paddle boards
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1. Solid Wood and Hand tools Exploration
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... Initial Exploration I began my exploration with solid wood by learning and practicing cutting joints with hand tools. I focused on wedged dowel joints, mortise and tendons, and lap joints. By practicing joints in different types of wood, I was able to further my hand tool skills while also learning how to handle different types of wood differently. I believe this initial practice was necessary because I was then able to cut and pair clean joints in my next solid wood projects
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... Materials & Equipment Stool 1: 2 12” x 10” x 3/4” Rough Sawn Poplar Board 8 36” x 2” x 3/4” Rough Sawn Poplar Board 4 12” x 2” x 3/4” Rough Sawn Poplar Board 1 Tightbond 2 Wood Glue 1 Pull Saw 1 Variety of Chisels 1 Power Drill and Forsner Bit 1 Rasp 1 Sand Paper 1 Polyurethane Wood Seal
Chair 1: 1 10’ x 12” x 1 1/2” Rough Sawn Soft Maple Board 1 10’ x 6” x 3/4” Rough Sawn Cherry Board 1 Tightbond 2 Wood Glue 1 Pull Saw 1 Variety of Chisels 1 Power Drill and Forsner Bit 1 Rasp 1 Hand Planer 1 Sand Paper 1 Polyurethane Wood Seal
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From left to right: Shaping and cutting dowel joints for ‘Stool 1’ legs ‘Chair 1’ in progress ‘Chair 1’ finished lap joint 12
... Budget Stool 1: $6.82 x10 Provided Provided
Poplar 1” x 10” Nominal Board Feet Glue and Finish Tools
$68.20 Total Cost
Chair 1: $2.75 x10 $3.50 x10 Provided Provided $62.50
Soft Maple 2” x 12” Rough Sawn Board Feet Cherry Wood 1” x 6” Rough Sawn Board Feet Glue and Finish Tools
Total Cost
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... Stool 1 This stool was my first project with hand tools and solid wood. This project came about because of the lack of stools in our university workshop. However, the scale of a stool seemed to be perfect for a first practice project. The goal of this project was to practice my skills and understand the process, time, and materials needed to work through a piece of furniture. My design for ‘Stool 1’ was meant to be slender, lightweight, and comfortable for my dimensions. ‘Stool 1’ is made of solid poplar and took about two weeks to complete. After completion, I wish I would have made the angle of the legs wider so that ‘Stool 1’ would be more stable when leaning to one side.
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From left to right: ‘Chair 1’ Completed Angled lap joints between seat and back leg of ‘Chair 1’ ‘Chair 1’ Completed 16
... Chair 1 After ‘Stool 1’ I wanted to make a more relaxed lounge chair. Therefore, my goals for ‘Chair 1’ were comfort and stability. I also wanted to explore using two contrasting woods in this project. I chose to use soft maple and cherry woods because I liked how the darker grain of the maple complimented the red cherry. I chose to keep ‘Chair 1’ mostly planer except for where curving felt better to the touch while sitting in the chair. This selective shaping emphasizes the relationship to the human body. ‘Chair 1’ is quite comfortable and I am very pleased with how it turned out visually as well as ergonomically.
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2. Bent Wood Exploration The goal of this project is to explore the process of bending and joining wood plys to achieve shapes that aren’t possible in solid wood. Specifically this exploration used vacuum bag technology. In my exploration, I focused primarily on bending and layering 1/16� solid wood veneers in order to understand the limitations and applications of different types of solid woods. My goal was to gain enough understanding of how different types of solid wood veneers bend, adhere, and break based on their curvature, thickness, and adhesive. In order to study this I began with a series of small experiments to test the limits of bending solid wood. I next began testing the applications of bending solid wood veneers by making a series of bent veneer long boards. Finally, in order to apply what I had learned about bending and laminating solid wood veneers, I studied and built a recurved longbow. Overall, I believe I met my goal by gaining enough understanding of the variables involved in bending solid wood in order to make informed decisions in future experiments and bending projects.
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Walnut 20
Maple
Cherry
... Initial Exploration In order to begin understanding the differences in how different types of wood bend, I began by trying to bend walnut, cherry, maple, and birch plywood over the same form. While each bent slightly differently, none of the test pieces could make the tight curve. This helped me understand that I would need to start with less severe curves and test the limits of curvature. After further exploring these limits, I moved my test samples to a larger scale by making a series of long boards out of different materials, and different levels of curvature in order to see how each material would perform in initial bending as well as in strength and flexibility after constructed.
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Longbow form and unassembled laminations 22
... Materials & Equipment Long board 1: 3 1/16” Bamboo Long- cut Veneers 2 1/16” Maple Cross-cut Veneers 2 1/16” Maple Long-cut Veneers 1 1/16” Red Dyed Birch Long-cut Veneer 1 Veneer Adhesive 1 Long Board Form 1 Long Board Profile 1 Set of Long board trucks and wheels 1 Vacuum Bag
Long board 2: 4 1/16” Bamboo Long- cut Veneers 2 1/16” Maple Cross-cut Veneers 1 1/16” Maple Long-cut Veneers 1 1/16” Red Dyed Birch Long-cut Veneer 1 Tightbond 2 Yellow Adhesive 1 Adjusted Long Board Form 1 Long Board Profile 1 Set of Long board trucks and wheels 1 Vacuum Bag
Longbow 1 & arrows: 1 2 1 1 1 1 1 1
72”L x 2” W x 2”T piece of solid maple (resawn into 1/16” thick strips) 72” L x 2” W x 1/16” T fiberglass strips 16”L x 2” W x 3”T Solid Walnut block (carved into bow bridge and handle) Tightbond 2 Yellow Adhesive Fiberglass Epoxy Bow String Tillering stick Vacuum Bag
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From left to right: ‘Longbow 1’ tillering stick used to slowly stretch bow and string ‘Long board 1’ form before board assembly ‘Longbow 1’ in process of being bent in vacuum bag 24
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... Budget Long board 1 & 2: $64.99 10 x $29.99 7x $12.00 2x Provided $21.92 4x $69.90 2x Provided
1/16” Bamboo Long- cut Veneers 1/16” Maple Long board Veneers 1/16” Red Dyed Birch Long-cut Veneer Veneer Adhesive 1” Foam insulation for Long board form 2 sets of long board trucks and wheels Vacuum Bag
Bow & arrows: $156.00 x1 $19.00 x2 $35.00 x1 $5.00 x1 $18.00 x3 $12.75 x1 $29.99 x6 Provided
$198.80
Total Cost
$275.74
72”L x 6” W x 2”T piece of solid maple (resawn into 1/16” thick strips) 72” L x 2” W x 1/16” T fiberglass strips 16”L x 2” W x 3”T Solid Walnut block (carved into bow bridge and handle) Tightbond 2 Yellow Adhesive Fiberglass Epoxy Bow String Carbon fiber arrows Vacuum Bag Total Cost
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From left to right: ‘Long board 1’ truck and wheel assembly ‘Longbow 1’ during tillering process ‘Longbow 1’ during finishing process 28
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... Long board 1 This first long board was truly an experiment. I knew little about long boarding and little about bending bamboo. That being said, I learned a lot from this experiment. Step 1 was building the form which I carved out of rigid insulation board. In reading about building bamboo boards, I discovered people usually use 7-9 plys of 1/16� material. I decided for this first attempt I would try 7. After bending the board, finishing it, installing the trucks and wheels, and trying it out, I quickly realized my board had far too much flex. I discovered that I either needed to make the curvature of the board more severe so that it was more rigid, or add more layers of veneer. In order to solve the problem, I added an extra layer to ‘Long board 1’. This gave the board enough rigidity and flex. Since this will be the board I keep as my own, I wanted to give it a bit of personal character. I designed a stencil to paint on the bottom of the board and used the same form to laser cut grip tape for the top of the board. For an initial experiment, I am quite happy with the outcome and the knowledge I gained.
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... Long board 2 Since I had found the issues in my long board design while building ‘Long board 1’, I had a better idea of where to start with ‘Long board 2’ . To begin, I reworked my long board form, making the curvature more severe in the long axis. This gives it more lateral support once a person’s weigh is on the board. I also decided to start with 8 veneers since 7 didn’t seem to be enough in ‘Long board 1’. By taking these extra measure, ‘Long board 2’ came out much stiffer than ‘Long board 1’. In my research on long boards I discovered that beginners and boarders who are looking for speed over maneuverability prefer a stiffer board while boarders who do tricks like a more flexible board. Therefore, I believe ‘Long board 2’ would be ideal for a beginner or speed boarder. I sealed ‘Long board 2’ and drilled the holes for the trucks and wheels, but left it as a blank for now until it finds an owner. Overall, I think ‘Long board 2’ came out much cleaner and easier since I had learned from my mistakes.
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‘Long board 2’ top view 34
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... Longbow 1 ‘Longbow 1’ proved to be trickier than both long board experiments. While I learned a lot about bending solid wood veneers in my last explorations, I hadn’t had much experience with fiberglass or bow and arrows for that matter. I began with lots and lots of research ,and after I understood as much as I could without doing it myself, I assembled all of my materials and got started. I began by CNCing a recurved longbow form based on profiles of bows I had studied. Next, I re-sawed my maple board into 72” x 2” x 1/16” strips. To begin, ‘Longbow 1’ used 3 maple veneers, 2 fiberglass strips, and a solid walnut bridge. I used a fiberglass epoxy to attach the fiberglass and wood glue to attach the wood veneers. Everything seemed to go well, so I shaped the limbs and handle, sanded and finished the bow. The next step was tillering the bow which involves stringing and then slowly stretching the bow so that all the fibers and settle and the bow won’t break. This is where my problems started. My bow seemed to be too stiff and couldn’t reach the draw depth is was supposed to. After forcing it a bit, the fiberglass on the belly of the bow delaminated and part of the interior wood started to crack where the bridge met the limbs. Though this was majorly disappointing, I learned more from this failure than the rest of the process. First, I now know that there is a weak spot where the bridge meets the limbs that needs to be reinforced. Secondly, I found out that the fiberglass epoxy I was using wasn’t strong enough. Third, after thinking through it, I realized that the fiberglass on the belly of the bow was actually doing more harm than good. Fiberglass seems to work really well in tension, but has too much resistance for a longbow in compression. With this new understanding, I started attempt two. After removing the fiberglass from the belly and the strips of wood that had cracked, I added a new veneer of maple and reinforced the weak spots with extra maple and fiberglass. I also used a stronger fiberglass epoxy. These changes gave the bow the correct amount of flex, while reinforcing the weak spot next to the bridge.
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From left to right: ‘Longbow 1’ form and materials during bending process Longbow blank after bending Rough cut longbow blank ‘Longbow 1’ after shaping, sanding and stringing Tillering process Weather seal and finishing process 38
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‘Longbow 1’ finished before fiberglass failure 40
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From left to right: Fiberglass failure from delamination Bow after removing fiberglass from belly Removal process of wood that failed at edge of bridge Relamination of new maple to replace broken strip Finished ‘Revised Longbow 1’ 42
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... Future Development Overall, I learned an invaluable amount about bending solid woods through my exploration. This knowledge will help me be more informed in future projects. In the immediate future, I plan to do further testing with ‘Revised Longbow 1’ to see how the strength and flexibility now perform. Next, I hope to make a follow up longbow using the first as a prototype. I’m hoping that by continuing the process of creating a prototype, testing it, and then using what I’ve learned to better the design, I can continue furthering my wood working and design skills.
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Final ‘Sidekick’ push bike solid and woven prototypes 46
3. Natural Harvested Bamboo This project essentially was a way for us to use design to help the community of Greensboro. There are many people around the town that can’t afford to get a home or keep power and water running in those homes. Hero is a non profit company that tries to correct this by building houses, helping people maintain their houses and basically anything else people need. One of the way Hero funds these is through start up design companies such as Hero Bikes. These small companies then employ people from the town, teach them a skill, and help fun Hero Housing projects. Our involvement was to create a new product that can be kickstarted into another one of these small design ventures. Greensboro is an ideal place for this because there are wild bamboo patches that we can take advantage of. Therefore, by using free material, we are able to create a product that is cheap to produce and profitable. The projects we worked on this winter break were bamboo push bikes (‘Sidekick’) and bamboo paddle boards (‘Fishtail’). We harvested, dried, and built 6 kids push bikes and 4 paddle boards while we were there. We then put together kickstarter campaigns for each of these projects.
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Bamboo harvesting from a wild bamboo field outside of Greensboro, AL 48
... Harvesting Alabama is an ideal place to grow bamboo based on its climate and the amount of undisturbed forested area. There are wild bamboo patches all over the area, a few of which are right outside of Greensboro, Alabama where Hero Bike Shop operates. These natural bamboo patches supply all of the bamboo for Hero Bikes’s projects as well as our design projects while there. As a team, we found and harvested about 40 stocks of bamboo ranging from an inch diameter to four inches diameter. This was truly a one of a kind experience especially since it poured rain the entire time we harvested. After three hours in the rain, lots of mud, and one stuck car we managed to harvest all the bamboo we would need for the ‘Sidekick’ push bikes and the ‘Fishtail’ paddle boards.
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... Materials & Equipment ‘Sidekick’ Bamboo Push bike: 1 24” Length 4.5” Internal Diameter Bamboo 2 24” Length 1.5” External Diameter Bamboo 2 6” Length 1” External Diameter Bamboo 1 6” Length 1” Internal Diameter Bamboo 1 5” x 3” x 3” Block of Solid Wood 2 10” Bicycle tires 1 Child’s Bicycle seat 1 Fiberglass Cloth 1 West Systems Epoxy 1 6” Steel Rod and Compatible Nuts 1 Polyurethane Weather Proof Seal
‘Fishtail’ Bamboo Paddle board: 32 10’ x 1/2” x 1/4” Planes Bamboo Slats 6 10’ x 1/4” x 1/4” Planes Bamboo Slats 6 24” x 2” Diameter Bamboo Halved 1 Pre Laser Cut Cardboard Skeleton 1 Fiberglass Cloth 1 West Systems Epoxy 1 Paddle Board Wrap (Boat Wrap, Dacron Fabric, etc...) 1 Fishing Line 1 Polyurethane Weather Proof Seal 1 Hot Glue Gun and Sticks
‘Fishtail’ Bamboo Paddle 1 12” x 8” x 1/4” Fabric Backed Balsa Core 2 12” x 8” Woven Sheet of Bamboo Veneer 1 7’ x 1.5” Exterior Diameter Bamboo 1 Fiberglass Cloth 1 West Systems Epoxy 1 Grip or Electrical Tape 1 Gorilla Glue 1 Hand Orbital Sander
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... ‘Sidekick’ Bamboo Push bike Push bikes are a growing trend for young kids to learn how to ride a bike without the pedals. They are typically plastic, quite pricey, and not overly well made. As a team, we took the idea of a push bike and tried to make it in a different way that would be aesthetically pleasing, well crafted, and able to be sustainably made. The push bike is essentially comprised of a 4” main body tube, two front forks that attach to the handlebars, and a rotating piece that connects the forks to the main body tube. The bike is then finished with purchased wheels and seats. My team and I began this project by harvesting, drying, and then prototyping this bike. After initial prototyping, testing and redesign, we were able to come up with a final design that could be produced and sold as a kickstarter company or as a workshop for interested woodworkers. Overall, I am very happy with this project. It is strong enough to hold a grown adult, sustainably and economically made, and aesthetically much more interesting than typical push bikes. To learn more about the ‘Sidekick’ push bike check out the project website at https://www.behance.net/gallery/32913547/Greensboro-2016-Push-Bikes?
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From left to right: Burning 4� tubes for push bike body Woven tube body before fiberglassing Heating body frame in makeshift oven while fiberglass and epoxy set Shaping and assembling of bike forks and handle bars Assembled push bike body with tire and seat post attached 54
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From left to right: Connecting bike forks, handle bars, and prototype turning block Connecting body to fork and turning block prototype Wrapping carbon fiber to secure handle bar and fork connection Finished successful initial prototype bike 56
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... ‘Fishtail’ Bamboo Paddle board The ‘Fishtail’ paddle board series was done as an experiment to understand the feasibility of producing or setting up a workshop to produce bamboo paddle boards. This project will continue to be prototyped and developed in the future into a finished product. The process of creating a bamboo paddle board begins with a pre laser cut cardboard skeleton. We next harvested 12ft lengths of bamboo, table-sawed them to regular sizes and planed then to the correct thickness. These slats are then secured to the cardboard skeleton with glue, fishing line, and fiberglass. Once all slats are attached and trimmed to the correct shape, the paddle board is wrapped with some sort of material and coated with a waterproofing seal. We experimented with using pallet wrap, Dacron fabric, boat shrink wrap, and quilted fabric. Each were sewed into place and then coated with polyurethane. Overall, all three paddle boards we ended with successfully floated and held passengers, however, after about an hour on the water, the quilted board and pallet wrap board began taking on water. We hope to continue working on this prototype to come up with a viable option to produce. 61
From left to right: Initial cardboard framing Attaching slats to cardboard skeleton Wiring slats in place at nose and tail Fiberglassing standing area of finished skeleton Paddle board wrapped in pallet wrap to test strength of cardboard and bamboo structure 62
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From left to right: Wrapping ‘Fishtail’ Paddle Board 1 with Dacron fabric and sewing in place Applying Polyurethane waterproof seal over fabric Initial test of ‘Fishtail’ Paddle Board 1 on Blood Lake Greensboro, AL Final test of all three ‘Fishtail’ Paddle boards on the Alabama River 64
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From left to right: ‘Fishtail’ Paddle Board 1 wrapped in Dacron ‘Fishtail’ Paddle Board 2 wrapped in quilted recycled fabric ‘Fishtail’ Paddle Board 3 wrapped in heat shrink boat wrap 66
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Phone: (402) 677-2439 Email: alexandriafrost1121@gmail.com Portfolio: http://issuu.com/alexandriafrost