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CONTENTS
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SHEAR
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PROGRESS
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RIPARIAN
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2X2
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SHEAR Architecture and Landscape: Lilienthal Glider School and Chamber Music Venue Moore Memorial Park, Ames, Iowa Academic: Fall 2016 Professor Mikesch Mueke Professor Nick Senske
A dual-program as a Lilienthal Glider school/workshop and chamber music venue, Shear integrates both functions through the utilization of the landscape as a tool. 4414
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The natural landscape of Moore Memorial park is framed by the two structures.
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The intermediate space is functional for varying events and activities.
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Otto Lilienthal conducted some of the first experiments in controlled human flight, preceding those of the Wright Brothers. Based on his studies of the flight of birds, he constructed a series of gliders. Taking off from the highest point, these gliders were capable of flying unprecedented distances into the valley below. From an elevation of only 30 feet they could cover a distance of 270 feet before landing. From 1861-1891 Otto Lilienthal conducted thousands of trials toward his goal of long distance human flight.
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The majority of Otto Lilienthal’s gliders had a wingspan of approximately 25 feet.
Serving as a chamber music venue, the program required space for up to eight musicians to practice and perform for a small audience of approximately 50 persons. It was necessary for the practice spaces to accommodate the size of those it served, be it a single performer, duet, or larger ensemble. As a performance venue, it must serve the audience as well, containing the intermission space necessary to the experience. Both in practice and performance the acoustic quality of the space was a significant consideration.
With access from the parking lot to the north and the remainder of the park, the structure is situated at a higher elevation. Gliders have ample elevation for takeoff and sufficient distance for safe landings into the prairie grass below.
The structures, practical for their individual programmatic needs, are separated. This “in-between� space serves both programs and all occupants.
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The conical shape of the chamber creates a variance of the practice rooms in both floor area and volume. This range accomodates different ensemble sizes and desired acoustic qualities.
Practice
Performance
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Flutter echo is an acoustic phenomenon that occurs when sound waves bounce off perpendicular surfaces. The building’s slight torsion mitigates this effect. A series of acoustic curtains are concealed by a screen of wood slats, curtains that can be raised or lowered based on the preference of the musician.
There are two obvious sides to the musical realm, the public performance and the more private rehearsals that precede it. With the practice spaces embedded in the hillside, the landscape is utilized to provide both the physical and acoustic isolation from the public sphere. As the hill descends, it falls away from the performance space. The resulting appearance of the structure rising above the landscape indicates a certain significance of the performance space it encloses. It is here that the private realm of the practicing musician converges with the public audience.
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The separation of the buildings allows for the requirements of each respective program. An intermediate space is created between the two, accessible to all visitors. The corresponding shapes of the two buildings suggest that they might fit together to form a whole, two parts of an integrated program. The torsion of both buildings suggests a tension between them, facilitating a conversation of the two separate entities and creating a more intimate gathering space. The shear of the buildings accommodates programmatic needs such as privacy for the practice rooms and the elevation needed to fly gliders.
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The intermediate or “in-between� space is a vital part of both programs in addition to its own function. Adjacent to the performance venue, the intermediate acts as a lobby and intermission space, making the campus suitable as an event space. The glider workshop, rising above the intermission space is visible to those below, serving as an exhibition of the gliders inside. Separately, the space serves its own program. Beams, shading the sun extend from the glider space, in cooperation with the curving walls of the structures to enclose a space of congregation, activity, and play. Following the curve of the landscape, stadium seating descends into the space, acting as the northern border. Useful to all, from audience members during intermission, to glider spectators, to everyday park visitors, the seating looks through the space and to the landscape to the south. The landscape becomes a spectacle, framed on either side by the split structures.
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The workshop allowed for the storage of two of Otto Lilientha’ls gliders, with wingspans of 25 feet. Additional exterior storage is provided underneath the workshop, embedded into the hillside.
Glider Circulation 14141 14
The hillside proved to be a vital building element in the workshop and school for Lilienthal Gliders. The descending land not only provides gliders with the elevation necessary for a successful flight, but allows the gliders to be loaded into the workshop with ease and without the assistance of mechanized lifts. This linear circulation increases the efficiency of the process of loading, repairing, and taking off. As the ground falls away from the workshop entrance, an occupyable space is formed underneath to be used by spectators, park visitors, or those attending a performance in the neighboring structure.
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Progress (n.): forward or onward movement Food Hub, Architecture for the Public Minneapolis, Minnesota Academic: Spring 2016 Professor Nicholas Senske Professor Nick Senske old, vs new gentrification museum showcasing minneapolis food event center urban activity abundance of eateries
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Within an Urban Fabric
Situated at the intersection of Hennepin Avenue and North 6th Street, our site was located in the heart of Minneapolis. Located at a crossroads of bus routes and lightrail tracks, the site was surrounded by restaurants and businesses and within close proximity of Target Center and Target Field. This made it a hub of activity. The urban surroundings of the area were also in the process of rapid gentrification, with half of the border dominated by towering skyscrapers and the other edged by antique brick buildings.
Cuisine Center
Minneapolis is the source of a unique food culture with a wide variety of dining options. As an urban center in the middle of the mid-western United States, in Minneapolis farm-fresh products can be found next to unique modern cuisine. It was my goal then, to showcase the evolution of food from the days of the hunter-gatherer to what the future holds and modern cuisine in a museum.
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Gentrification is visible in a site section of downtown Minneapolis.
nsory Diagram
The main entrance opens up to the intersection of 6th St and 1st Ave facing Target Center.
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In order for the path to be unbroken, a series of switchbacks was utilized. The gravity created by raising the starting point of the exhibition naturally draws occupants down the intended path. This elevation change also allows the service space, administration offices, vendor storage, and loading to be concealed beneath the exhibits.
Service Served
Beginning at the museum’s highest point, visitors are drawn through the exhibits in one continuous line, through the timeline of the evolution of cuisine. This procession is briefly interrupted between fare of past decades and the possibilities of the future. In this moment, patrons can pause and sample the products of local restaurants in the form of kiosk vendors. In contrast to the immersive exhibits, the concessions overlook the lobby with views through the glass of present-day Minneapolis.
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Riparian Architecture and Landscape: Observatory Brookside Park, Ames, Iowa Academic: Fall 2016 Professor Mikesch Mueke Professor Nick Senske
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Progress
There is no permanence in nature. Growth and change are inevitable, notably when considering water. Water flows, erodes, rises, and falls, constantly changing its surrounding landscape. Inspired by river path maps of the Mississippi, the stair-stepping form with each level slightly offset is a prediction of the future changes of the bank due to erosion. Partially immersed in the water, the structure is subject to gradual erosion over time. Riparian is a celebration of change due to water, in the day to day changes of the water level as well as its long-term impact. 28281 28
Progress
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Riparian provides occupants with a variety of multi-sensory experiences. Connecting to existing paths within Brookside Park, the circulation of visitors is re-routed, providing an opportunity of interaction with the water. The path diverges into five individual paths, allowing those traveling along it to choose their experience. One rises above the bank, creating an opportunity to view the brook and surrounding landscape from a unique point of view. The raised path allows for an enclosure beneath it offering narrow views back to the park and expansive views around the riverbend. Stepping down from the enclosure, paths reminiscent of a boardwalk accommodate those simply passing through. Two paths facilitate an interaction with the water. The first path, partially embedded in the bank, allows for occupants to experience the space tactically as well as visually. The second, completely submerged into the brook, providing an unusual vantage point of the water for those inside, with the light creating dramatic displays of reflections of the water within the space. With multiple elevations, the paths evolve with the water levels adding additional variance to the visitor experience.
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TwoXTwo Public Space Analysis Ames, Iowa: College of Design Atrium, Reiman Gardens Academic Project: Spring, 2016 Professor Nicholas Senske Collaborative effort of the 2019 ISU Architecture Class Published in ArchDaily and Archinect
Named one of the “Best Student Design-Build Projects of 2016” -ArchDaily “TwoXTwo is an in-depth exercise towards an understanding of public space through the rethinking of formal proportions and conventions of program and privacy.” “The final assembly appears as a kinetic and continuous surface that incorporates various spatial qualities such as inclines, overhangs, ledges, and pockets.” -ArchDaily
Published on Archinect.com “Constructed almost entirely of 2x2 lumber and deck screws, the 25-foot-by-20-foot “TwoXTwo” project has transformed the college atrium by offering new opportunities for group interaction and individual activity.” -Archinect.com
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TwoXTwo was the product of Iowa State University’s architecture class of 2019 consisting of 77 students.It was our collective aspiration to improve a public space, the atrium of our College of Design. In preparation for the execution of our first design-build project, we analyzed public space within our college. As a result, it was concluded that the atrium was highly under-utilized. The limited number of tables were often occupied by one individual each. Due to the common nature of resisting an invasion of personal space, many of the chairs remained vacant, indicating the inefficiency of this public space. As a class we worked to reinvent the space into a more practical solution while accommodating common functions of the space (studying, visiting, relaxing, eating). We as students took it upon ourselves to accomplish our goal, establishing an efficient workflow. The process, from design to documentation to fabrication and assembly was facilitated entirely by students. Leaders emerged within each category, of which I was fortunate to be a part. Individual efforts were organized in a firm-style system. 34341 34
Documentation Team Workflow Two students extracted AutoCad files from the Rhino 3D model, separating the overall design into individual layers from which the installation could be assembled layer by layer. Annotators then created construction documents from the AutoCad files, noting angles and dimensions necessary for fabrication. An inventory of each piece included within the layer was included with board dimensions and miter angles.
Annotated construction documents passed through three editors, myself included, before printing. Quality control of and necessary corrections to documents were facilitated at this level. After conducting a final quality check of each document, I printed and organized each final construction document for use by the fabrication/assembly team.
TwoXTwo was more than a design-build project. It was a lesson in teamwork, communication, organization, and problem solving.
Five sections, each designed by one studio comprised TwoXTwo’s continuous surface. The form accommodates areas of isolation, socialization, and circulation that make the installation practical within the College of Desing Atrium.
Construction began in the middle of the project, with the installation expanding in both directions as layers were added. Every layer, as well as the installation was comprised of 2x2 boards, inspiring the project’s title. Each of the 200 construction documents detailed the placement of the boards in addition to an inventory detailing the dimensions and miters of the individual boards.
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Photo Credit: Christopher Gannon
Photo Credit: Christopher Gannon
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