Alistair Benckenstein selected work 2017
Amtrak Station
Currently outdated and underutilized, Austin’s central Amtrack station has potential as a method of mass transportation within Austin and the surrounding areas, but its unassuming appearance and secluded location makes it an unpopular destination.
Design VI | Austin, TX Professor: Matt Leach
This new proposal presents the station as a landmark meeting place for those living in the area through its more imposing presence in the city. It draws inspiration from the existing outdoor culture of Austin, presenting a place for people to gather and enjoy the rolling hills surrounding, where food trucks and other vendors can gather and people can relax.
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The exterior wall is a vertically striated board-form concrete, further emphasizing the visual rhythm previously established by the primary structural ribs. These ribs are each made up of a single structural steel member encased on all sides in a layer of thermal insulation to prevent thermal bridging from affecting thermal comfort in the interior. This layer of insulation is then further clad in steel to maintain its clear role as a primary structural element.
This glazing system provides protection from the rays of the summer sun while keeping the space beneath open and bright. This canopy extends past the platform and begins to establish the station’s presence as far as the main boulevard itself. Beyond this, the park extends across to the next block, reaching toward the city beyond.
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exterior cladding: board form concrete, striated drainage sheet polystyrene thermal insulation reinforced concrete wall
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hardwood flooring metal floor decking steel beam
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hardwood flooring plywood subflooring wood floor joists concrete ground slab waterproofing membrane protection board for waterproofing unreinforced concrete mudslab
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steel rib
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composite wood board acoustic insulation galvanized steel ribbed sheeting thermal insulation wood battens stainless steel sheeting
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rib construction: steel cladding thermal insulation against thermal bridging primary steel structural member thermal insulation
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Serial Stools
Prototype Professor: Igor Siddiqui Collaborators: Alex Wu
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Design Excellence Award
The stool series investigates frameworks of mass production and mass customization through digital fabrication and parametric design. The investigation is manifested through the design and fabrication of stools that exhibit serial difference while clearly exist as part of a singular family. A stool is intrinsically a surface lifted off the floor to support a human body. Our design distinguishes the seat from the legs through pairing these processes, utilizing parametric explorations through Grasshopper. The seat is CNC-milled. The legs angle outward at varying amounts. The seat forms are all unique. The 3D printed parts (the joint and parts within the seats) are used to mediate the varying height differences caused by the changing leg angles, allowing all the leg components to be cut at the same length. Across the same stool, all legs are identical allowing them to be off the shelf and cut to the same length (to reduce errors in the process of making).
3D Print Ends
CNC Milled 0.71” Birch Plywood
3D Print Joints 17.625” Dowel Legs Identical per stool 3/4” diameter for Stool A 5/8” diameter for Stool E, H 1/2” diameter for Stool K 3D Print Feet Identical per stool
Dabble Campus Adv. Design | Austin, TX Professor: Kory Bieg
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The project created the concept for the tech startup Dabble, a company specializing in teaching unique hobbies such as micro farming, woodworking, and jam making, The company expressed interest in expanding beyond its normally strictly online presence in an effort to accommodate activities that needed a physical facility for learning. The studio consisted of the development of an overall campus plan scheme, in this case consisting of the concept of subdividing the site in Shoal Creek and weaving these divisions among each other, generating a site organization to which program could be applied and adapted. This formal concept of weaving was then expressed in the building forms themselves, utilizing a swarming algorithm controlled through Grasshopper that generated a cloud of points that could drag lines behind them according to proximity with each other. This algorithm was applied on the building massings generated by the overall site strategy, resulting in masses implied by densely packed vines, reminiscent of the vegetation surrounding the Shoal Creek area.
Swarm density progression generating building mass
Swarm convergeance sample
Rogers Partners Architects + Urban Designers June - December 2016
6 month Internship at a firm in Tribeca. Work included rendering, physical model making, digital modeling in Rhino, CAD, conceptual design, schematic design, design development, client meetings, contractor meetings, and site visits.
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Providence Bus Depot | Providence, RI
Buckhead Park Over GA400 | Atlanta, GA
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The New St. Pete Pier | St. Petersburg, FL
The Stephen Gaynor School | New York, NY
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