MEMOIRS: CHICAGO STUDIO DOCUMENTATION

B M V PR C S HI R Y IIE R NCGG E AM I SG N E B OM O I EE SA C ST IEK T RTW U

R2I S E D 0 CT I1 H O 4

2

H S 4 O 1T IC 0 I D2R E

W O MB ME EIY M UTR K TEI TC S AS EE I O E N GS I A GGCN R I R IR HP B V C S

3

M E M O I B R Y C E B E C K W V I R G I N I A T C H I C A G O S T U S P R I N G S E M E S T E R

INDEX OF CONTENTS

Urban Mapping “City Building: Nine Planning Principles for the 21st Century” / 50 Sustainability / 52 Accessibility / 54 Diversity / 56 Open Space / 58 Compatibility / 60 Incentives / 62 Adaptability / 64 Density / 66 Identity / 68 Cermak Axis / 70 Illustration / 72

Professional Practice

Studio

Lectures / 6 Randy Guillot / 8 Drew Ranieri / 10 Brian Lee / 14 Natasha Krol / 16 Iker Gil / 18 Laura Fisher / 20 Don Copper / 22 Peter Ellis / 24 David Wilts / 26 John Syvertsen / 28 Interviews/ 30 Kelley Folts / 32 Tim Swanson / 34 Randy Guillot / 36 Ed Keegan / 38 Casey Renner / 40 Laura Fisher / 42 Luis Monterrubio / 44 Conversations Response / 46

Radical Conjectures / 76 Chinatown Island / 78 Rubik’s Cube / 80 Audioceptic Spaces / 82 Mapping Analysis / 86 Transportation Map / 88 Vehicular Map / 90 Bike Route Map / 92 Zoning Map / 94 Gang Territories Map / 96 Atmospheric Map / 98 Audioceptic Map / 100 Trash Map / 106 Regional Forces Map / 108 Immediate Forces Map / 110 Street Wall Forces Map /112 Site Density Map / 114 Urban Proposition / 116 Concept / 118 Site / 120 Communities Diagram / 122 Site Connectivity Drawing / 124

R I T E C D I 2 0 1

S H H O 4

Timber Production Drawing / 126 Timber Construction Drawing / 128 Iterations of Block Drawings / 130 Catalogue of Spaces / 132 Timber Details Drawings / 134 Section Drawing / 144 Interior/Exterior Drawing / 146 Generative Drawing / 148 Process Work / 150 Identities Workshop / 152 About / 154 Perceptions / 156 Beacons of Identities / 158 Experience Collection of Images / 164 Images/ 166 Notes of Thoughts / 168 Thoughts / 170 Regards / 172

4

MEM O I R S C S S 1 4

PR O

PRA CTICE

L CTRS

IN T R V W S

URBAN

MAPPING

PRNCPLS

C R M K

5

S TU D I O

RD CL

CNJCTRES

A N LY I S

URBN

PRPOSTN

IDNTITES

EXPERIENCE

P R ROX FB T U S E EP A S SN EI U O RN M A LI AD PP ER A P NC I IT CIN C E O G

6

E G O C NIC TI I CN P A RE PP DA IL M A NR U O IE NS A S PT E BF XOR R E P U S

7

P R O L V I C H S P R

F E S S I O N A L P R A C T I C E C T U R E R G I N I A T E C I C A G O S T U D I I N G S E M E S T E R 2 0 1

E S H O 4

RANDY G UI LLO T DRE W RA N I ER I B R I A N LEE NATAS H A K R O L I K ER G I L LAUR A FI S H ER DO N C O P P ER PE T ER ELLI S DAVI D W I LT S JOHN SYVER T S EN

8 ABST RACT //

PRINCIPAL CANNON DESIGN RE: ITEMS TO REMEMBER ABSTRACT: summary of 10 points RESPONSE: email to Randy, response to advice

RANDY GUILLOT “Watch your thoughts, for they will become actions. Watch your actions, for they’ll become habits. Watch your habits for they will forge your character. Watch your character, for it will make your destiny.”

Margaret Thatcher in “The Iron Lady”

P RO F E SSI O NAL

P RA CTICE

Randy Guillot is a Principal designer at Cannon Design. He has had extensive experience as a design principal and leading design teams at large firms such as OWP/P, Perkins + Will, and Gensler. As an opening lecture to the semester, Randy shared with us ten items to remember and hold close to as we enter into the profession and begin to trail blaze the career before us. The first piece of advice was to “Build meaningful relationships through hard work.” The relationships that we are creating now will be very powerful and impactful in shaping our career path. The second piece of advice is that communication is everything.

Communication is crucial as we interact with clients, represent the potential of a building, foster relationships with coworkers, and establish and vocalize beliefs and our points of view in architectural discourse. Third, Randy encouraged us to hold close to a broad body of influences and mentors- “Surround yourself and surround others that disagree with your profession and point of view.” Fourth, surrender your time management demon. Team work is your best friend. Fifth, your client is your design partner. Even more so, your client is also your investor- be flexible and have versatility. Sixth, listen with cautious ears. God made us with two ears and one mouth for a reason. Start to develop a critical ear.

Seventh, don’t expect the outcome, set yourself up for discovery. If we are to expect the outcome, how can anything we do be creative? Eighth, promote your strengths. Understand the distinguishment between arrogance and confidence. Ninth, be generous and courageous- don’t let your pride undermine you. Lastly, tenth, there is always more than one right answer. If you believe that there is only one right answer, then you are possibly expecting an outcome and stifling creativity. In all, these ten pieces of advice are pieces of life skills that in and of themselves, seem basic, but when put up against the challenges of our profession, can put anyone light years ahead of others. Character will make the most profound impact within someone’s career.

9 R E S P O N SE / /

“Randy, My name is Bryce Beckwith, I am a Virginia Tech student apart of the Chicago Studio program, working at SOM. I highly appreciated your lecture at the very beginning of the semester in regards to some things to remember as we enter into the profession. Some of those ten items that you gave us seemed to be very rudimentary, but in the end, have been highly influential to myself and my evaluation of the workplace as I have observed and participated in a professional environment this semester at SOM. I am highly encouraged by Cannon Design as a whole and as an ethos of creatives, optimists, and personalities that are truly eager and transforming/ challenging the profession at large. I am personally intrigued and motivated by your outlook and perspective that you shared with us during your lecture and would love the opportunity to speak with you more in regards to your position of leadership at Cannon.

I am available this week on Thursday or Friday morning, and my times are pretty flexible the following week.

Would there be a time that you might be willing to meet and answer some questions in regards to your position and your personal pursuit of design?

Looking forward opportunity to talk.

to

having

an

Best regards, Bryce Beckwith” -Email sent 4/13/2014 at 4:55 PM As I have spent this semester at SOM, observing, interacting, contributing, and evaluating the character that others maintain in a professional environment, this lecture has continuously proved to be some of the most basic but influential pieces of advice that someone could ever give a young professional entering into the field of design. I have realized that by the very nature of design and the responsibility that we hold and are learning to carry, the nature of what we do can act as a continuous challenge to our character, injecting fuel into our

pride, for good, but also many times, for worse as well.

In response to Randy’s first point, this semester, in its nature, is a semester to build meaningful relationships. As I know my strengths and weaknesses, I am very aware of my social strengths and capabilities. Being in an environment in which the stage was set to build relationships and connect with professionals in social settings, this piece of advice was critical in evaluating where the line should be drawn in regards to making impressions. This piece of advice challenged me to not default on my social skills, but to allow my dedication, devotion, and initiative to establish or strengthen those relationships with professionals rather than social skills.

I believe that to be successful, there needs to be a marriage of both social skill and hard work, but at the end of the day, it is the hard work that is the fruition of how one speaks about themselves.

In regards to the advice of promoting yourself, I believe that there is a fine line between promoting oneself and selling oneself. Over the past four years I have noticed the difference between the two in the realm of academia, but this semester has proven to show me that these challenges still hold true to the profession just as much as in school. We all have strengths and weaknesses, fascinations, and disinterests with aspects of our workallow your strengths to align with your fascinations, and promote your strengths so that they may become your passions.

instigate ideas and wonders that we would otherwise, probably not discover. Spending time in the grey allows us to make many right answers.

I have often thought that a degree in architecture is the best education in communications. It is the real study of communications that the liberal arts barely scratch the surface on. I absolutely agree that within our field of study and practice, communication is everything. At the end of the day, we don’t build things, we represent things in order for them to be built. The way that we communicate ideas influences and dictates if things get built and how they get built. We communicate with out clients an a consultant of sortsconsulting them on what we know will be best for them, while exploring ideas that can advance the profession and push the boundaries for the advancement of society.

“Watch your thoughts, for they will become actions. Watch your actions, for they’ll become habits. Watch your habits for they will forge your character. Watch your character, for it will make your destiny.” In summary, I believe that this quote from Margaret Thatcher in the film, “The Iron Lady”, is a great synthesis to the advice that Randy gave us. All of what we think and how we act influences our impressions on others and our character that defines us.

To me, one of the most life-giving and freeing aspects of our profession is that there is no right answer. Due to how most of us have been raised, we are always searching for answers; we are all trying to solve something in the most economic and logical way. Design sometimes breaks all of those preconceptions. Design is not a practice of getting to the absolute right answer, but it becomes about spending time in the grey in order to discover, explore, learn, find, and LEC T UR ES

10

ASSOCIATE PRINCIPAL SCB ARCHITECTS RE: CONTRACTS ABSTRACT: summary of contracts RESPONSE: Yelp and SHoP Architects case studies

DREW RANIERI

P RO F E SSI O NAL

P RA CTICE

ABST RACT //

Drew Ranieri is an Associate Principal at Solomon Cordwell Buenz Architecture, previously holding his own firm, Ranieri + Associates for seven years. His lecture encompassed professional contracts, process, and the evolution of the business of architecture.

Overall, architecture involves many factors such as money, schedules, roles, responsibilities, quality, expectations, risk, scope, and work product. The architect is paid for the liability of a project, overseeing of parties involved in construction, and ultimately, establishing choices for decision-making based upon client interactions and producing instructions for the construction of a building. A typical billing structure is about one-third conceptual design, programming, schematic design, and design development; one-third construction documents; and onethird construction administration. In contrast to the breakdown of fees, a typical project schedule is about half design and half construction documents. The architect holds many responsibilities both in submission to the client as well as in the realm of design. In the making of a set of instructions for a building to be built, the architect also has a responsibility of protection in design discourse and academia. It’s the responsibility of an architect to keep secrets, secret.

As the client of a project has many expectations, the architect becomes the keeper and regulator or those expectations, putting a great amount of risk upon the architect. In turn, the architect has the right to brand the work as their own, establishing their own identity and style within the field of architecture. The rights to work product is an area of continuous debate as the design process and practice adapts to the advancement of technology and digitalization.

Ultimately, there is a grave amount of professional integrity required in the practice of architecture. The business of architecture is an act of great accountability, leadership, identity, and integrity. The purpose of contracts is the agreement of which these acts adhere to.

11 R E S P O N SE / /

Living within a generation that is pioneering digitalization and challenging traditional business models, social media, and business innovation is gaining rapid influence within our field of work. Drew’s lecture on contracts and the business of architecture speaks, in many ways, to the influence of social medias and new business models within design.

In regards to Drew’s lecture, two precedent examples of Yelp, Inc. and SHoP Architects came to mind.

Yelp, inc. A study done in Fall of 2013 shows that 90% of consumers say that they are influenced from positive Yelp reviews. That being said, 72% of consumers say that they are just as likely to trust a review that they find on Yelp as they would a personal recommendation from someone that they know.

Yelp is a search engine for businesses divided into 26 different categories ranging from public services, to food and night life, to arts and entertainment, and so on. The net profit margins for business owners who claim a Yelp profile is on average, $8,000 annually. Yelp, as well as many other review websites, blogs, and social media platforms, are having profound impacts, and transforming many industries. Yelp is a particular example that can easily influence businesses, especially small businesses, and how they operate, how they perform their services, how they market, and ultimately, how successful they are. Platforms such as these are, in a sense, giving consumers new rights and influence over businesses, similar to that of stock holders.

In regards to architecture and design firms, smaller firms are feeling great impacts from these new platforms for consumer input. Despite some controversy as to bias’ of Yelp and the algorithms designed to display search results and reviews, Yelp has become a more-or-less neutral platform for customers to shape and inform the reputation of architecture and design today. The reputation of

an architecture or design firm is highly important in obtaining and maintaining clients.

The reputation and impressions of businesses, especially design firms, all start with the initial agreement of services stated within a contract. Generally speaking, a good contract entails what’s involved, fees, schedule, roles, responsibilities, quality, expectations, risk, scope, and work product. The contract becomes the platform for the relationship with a client, making a good contract, a good first impression.

of about 40 designers, architects, project managers, and craftsmen located and working within the greater Chicago area. This particular review is by an assumed client of Normandy Remodeling who had a bad experience with their services.

Clark Architects is a small architecture firm working out of the suburb of Deerfield, Illinois, working mainly on residential and smaller scale projects.

Below is a review from a client that received services from Doug, an architect of Clark Architects. While the Yelp user writing the review for Clark Architects, “T.F.”, isn’t a frequent user of Yelp, only writing 4 reviews since 2009, the review that T.F. wrote is probably viewed within Clark Architects’ profile a couple times a day on many different devices.

At the bottom of the review, “Andrew W.”, a representative of Normandy Remodeling, has posted a response to “Bob M.” in regards to the legitimacy of the posting. The response from Andrew W. publicly expresses their interest and concern in Bob M.’s case and gives contact information for further conversation about rectifying said situation. Also visible at the bottom of the page is the influence of this particular review on potential clients and Yelp users.

The second example of a Yelp search result is a negative review for Normandy Remodeling.

This business is a remodeling design firm

Yelp has become a powerful tool of influence, forming the reputation of companies. As with all types of social media, once a review is written and posted on Yelp, it can be very difficult for the post to be removed.

In order to remove a Yelp review, to mitigate the impact it can have on the business, the easiest option is for the author of the post to simply delete the post themselves. As with the example of Normandy Remodeling, LEC T UR ES

12

the most common approach to mending the reputation of a business on Yelp (and the internet at large) is to address the client in order to come to an agreement. Yelp allows owners and business managers to comment publicly in response to a business review from a client as well as send private messages to reviewers. The second way of removal of a Yelp review is to enter into a multi-tiered process of litigation to eventually reveal the source of a post and eventually remove the review. Far from actually removing a review, Yelp does have a highly designed algorithm that manages the filtering process, allowing the most helpful and reliable reviews, regardless of opinion, to appear more than those that prove to be less accurate of perceived quality and reliability.

In all, social media stands as a neutral platform between clients and businesses to share personal opinions and proven results, influencing and shaping the reputation and ultimately success of businesses, particularly, in this case, design firms, in the digital age.

SHoP Architects SHoP Architects is a multi-disciplinary firm based out of New York, New York, working at multiple scales, pioneering a new business model within the fields of architecture and design. The team of seven principles are paving the way for a business model that marries the high-brow design side of architecture, with that of the typically-thought-ofas-evil, developer side of architecture.

The first largely recognized project done by SHoP, the Porter House, is an apartment building addition in the Chelsea neighborhood of New York that became the first of many successful projects using this business model.

The Porter House is a zinc-clad box, that cantilevers off of a top corner of a preexisting apartment building.

SHoP took this project, as a personal investment, investing its own money into the project to control both the quality and the design elements of the built product. A partner of SHoP, Greg Pasquarelli, owns one of the P RO F E SSI O NAL

P RA CTICE

units in the Porter House, leading to a trend in the business that SHoP does, taking equity in their properties that they have designed in preference to fees. This aspect of SHoP’s business model is bridging the gap between architecture and real estate.

With subsidiary companies: SHoP Construction and Helioptix push the envelope of building, proposing and utilizing modular construction techniques (Atlantic Yards), and unusual materials. SHoP Construction is an ACE (Architecture, Construction, and Engineering) firm that develops and utilizes sophisticated digital tools to ascertain and control cost, quality, and risk, dedicated to transforming the industry through innovative practice.

SHoP Construction functions as the “build” branch of SHoP’s design-build projects, reducing costs that would be typical of traditional development models by 20%.

In all, SHoP is pushing and expanding the scope of the architect through the business of design. Reducing the need for developers, agents, consultants, contractors, and others that typically become involved in large scale projects, SHoP is revolutionizing the industry by reducing the cost for the owner, controlling the quality of the work, and pushing the boundaries with technologies and building methods that otherwise they couldn’t have the freedom to do. With real estate as a trade off for project fees, SHoP has a deep investment in the quality and success of their projects.

The business model that the firm has created, as well as the evolution of process, puts SHoP at the forefront of architecture’s competitive edge and the future of the industry.

13

LEC T UR ES

14 ABST RACT //

DESIGN PARTNER SOM RE: AN ETHOS OF DESIGN ABSTRACT: summary of SOM RESPONSE: reflections upon experience at SOM, response to lecture

BRIAN LEE SOM is an ethos for what is believed to be right at the time- a place for successive generations of design.

“Do anything you can to become an interesting person and culture yourself.” research

SOM

think tank

projects

“What can we learn from this project or will this project be beneficial in applied research and challenging the current of our profession?”

P RO F E SSI O NAL

P RA CTICE

Brian Lee is the Design Partner at Skidmore, Owings, and Merrill’s Chicago office. Brian’s background at SOM spans about 40 years, meanwhile graduating from Berkley with an undergraduate degree in architecture in 1976, followed shortly by a graduate degree from Harvard GSD. Through a presentation of the breath of work that Brian has participated in and led, his lecture describes the partnership of SOM as an ethos for what is believed to be right at the time- a place for successive generations of design.

SOM is described as a think tank of sorts, a place for research. Each project is a joint venture in motives, to contribute to the advancement of civility and the building of nations as well as an opportunity to learn, to push the envelope, and advance the future of technology. Design projects become the medium for research and bring in the revenue that then stimulates research. When deciding whether or not to take a project, the question that is always asked is what is there that can be learned or experimented with?

SOM being a large firm, is a place of collaboration, producing projects without a single authorship. Brian spoke about collaboration happening between great people who have great ideas and those people needing to have great humility in order to adopt other ideas for the advancement of one idea.

In conclusion, Brian posed the question: how do you build upon history in a contemporary way? This question lends itself to the answer that SOM appears to approach their projects with- using projects as a platform for exploration and research, for the advancement of technology and innovative engineering solutions.

15 R E S P O N SE / /

Spending time at SOM this semester has given me great insight into one circle of the profession of architecture.

My experience at SOM has been a vastly different impression of what it is like to be in an architecture firm, than what I thought it to be. While my time at SOM has informed me about the importance of firm environment both physically, socially, and culturally, it has also shed light on the great benefits of working within a large firm.

I would never trade the experience I have been privileged to have at SOM for anything, as it has brought clarification to things that I value and am passionate about within the field of design.

Brian’s lecture was a great introduction into the beliefs and benefits of a large firm. I believe that the strength of SOM is it’s ability to push the profession through the advancement of technology. Through the structure of the firm, SOM attracts some of the greatest engineers, computer scientists, as well as architects.

The chemistry of the firm allows for a emphasized focus on the structural, material, and technological advancement of architecture. Being that the firm is a partnership of many different experts and leaders in their field of expertise, the firm naturally acts as a think tank, utilizing projects and commissions as platforms to test and activate new ideas. The projects that they take on becomes the medium for research. With this approach, it seems as though there are many people that are invested in the implementation of new ideas and inventions, but on the flip side, an investment in iteration of aesthetic and design theory in accordance with my experience in academia can tend to be compromised.

During this semester, I had the opportunity to sit down with many people who work at SOM and get to know them and their excitement for architecture. During these many conversations with people, one thing that was continuously was brought up was the way in which such a large firm goes about selecting projects that they

are willing to take on. When presented with a problem or a potential client, the partners get together and address the decision with the question: “What can we learn from this project or will this project be beneficial in applied research and challenging the current of our profession?” I believe that this question well describes the practice of architecture at SOM.

and allow these things to dictate how I might build upon a continuum of history in a way that might best add to the society we live in today.

Just as Randy gave us advice to have broad influences and mentors, Brian’s closing advice to us students for the semester was very similar.

He said to do anything we can to become interesting people and culture ourselves. I believe that this is of utmost importance because you can not arrive to architecture purely from the study of architecture.

Architecture is a method of evaluation and exploration of things of this world.

We don’t just build architecture for the sake of building architecture, we build architecture for specific programs and people of different vocations and cultures. The more in tune we are with other interests, the more applicable and soulful the architecture that we create can be.

The Chinatown Library project that SOM is currently working on is a good example of Brian’s advice. This project is tied very close to the hearts and interests of SOM because it is tied very closely to Chinese culture and a neighborhood of great interest to Chicago residents. This project is a smaller project, but a project that can be a generator of a greater civility through need. Without the investment and interests in Chinese culture that SOM has cultivated over the years with the people that work there but also the projects the regions in which they work, the Chinatown Library project would not have the heart and support that it does.

As I am faced with Brian’s parting question, how do you build upon history in a contemporary way?, I find it absolutely necessary to evaluate my own interests outside of design, find what I love and am passionate about, take into account my moral beliefs, LEC T UR ES

16

ENGAGEMENT MANAGER MCKINSEY & COMPANY RE: A DIFFERENT VIEW ABSTRACT: summary of job RESPONSE: memos regarding different thoughts from Natasha’s lecture

NATASHA KROL “Our experience of architectural space, life, work, etc., is a result of how we arrive in it.”

“Cherry Blossoms of Historical Castle Site” (2006), By Tatsuo Horiuchi

P RO F E SSI O NAL

P RA CTICE

ABST RACT //

Natasha Krol is an associate and engagement manager of sorts at McKinsey & Company, a consulting firm that works with a diverse body of businesses and organizations. As an engagement manager, Natasha plays a unique role in intervention, problem solving, and manipulating/ teaching new perspectives.

Natasha’s eclectic background includes an undergraduate degree in Neuroscience which gave birth to her interest in design, not necessarily in a one to one relationship, but an interest in design as a mode of thinking. She received her graduate degree in architecture from the University of Michigan and then found herself at the global consulting firm, McKinsey & Company.

Natasha begins to address global questions that we are faced with daily such as how to save a city from bankruptcy or why Polio still exists in Nigeria. In efforts to begin to address these issues, architecture has given her a method of thinking and problem solving that isn’t linear.

The artwork pictured to the left is a prime example of a method of unconventional thinking, using the computer program, Excel, to create an image by the computation of algorithms. The method of thinking used that resulted in this image could be the perfect analogical example as to how Natasha goes about her job of problem solving in her role as an engagement manager for businesses and corporations.

17 R E S P O N SE / /

“Walk around a block and record something.” These were the first words that Natasha said to us as she opened up her lecture. The result was many different methods in recording in which the content was vastly different. This is a prime example of the types of people that we are surround with daily. As creatives, we all are working towards a same goal, with different logics in which we work and different content in which we are interested. Another great lesson that came out of this exercise was that it is hard to define what you’re looking for. Exploration is the act of finding something unknown, a way by which we discover something.

“Plant an idea in your client’s head that they can think is their own.” As an engagement manager, Natasha’s job is to address pertinent questions that face our global society while engaging in conflict resolution among members working towards the same cause. With Natasha’s experience in this role, she acts as a facilitator of sorts, working to synchronize a team for the same cause. One of the most important pieces of advice that she had to share with us is, “plant an idea in your client’s head that they can think is their own.” As we work on group projects this semester, the dynamics of many personalities and many personal interests, validates the idea that as members of one group, working towards the same cause, we need to see past ourselves and forfeit ownership in order to work on the same idea as a group. I believe that this principle is also very applicable in the profession. At the end of the day, like Randy said, our clients are our design partners as well as our business. While we know what most likely would be the best method in which to realize the clients interests, the only opinion that truly matters at the end of the day, is the client’s. I believe that this correlates with Brian’s point that it takes great humility to be a great leader. From my own experiences this semester, I would follow up that statement with the fact that it takes a servant to be a leader and a follower in order to lead. This

is something that I have been truly challenged with this semester and believe can greatly dictate the success or failure of a project.

“What’s your story? What are you here to do, and how do you operate in this world?” I believe that architecture is all about making decisions in order to problem solve. I think that we are participating in a never ending cycle of learning that we each manage and own individual and unique ways.

Natasha described her perspective of how she operates: making decisions, making mistakes, rejoicing in hardship, seeking uncomforatbility, challenging environment, evaluating extents, and finding peculiarities in order to better inform decision making. I believe that, basically speaking, we are making decisions and allowing the outcome of our choices to inform our wisdom in order to become more refined as human beings.

“False realities vs. real realities- what is history in your eyes?” I think that this question leads to a bigger question of relativity and how our view of things inform ourselves and our process of decision making and design. How we view history influences how we respond to it. I think that history is not something that is objective, but within it lies many subjectivities.

In all, Natasha’s lecture is one of the most challenging lectures to summarize and verbalize. Her unique position at McKinsey & Company puts her in a place where she is in a sort, a type of corporate missionary, dealing with conflict resolution, and the ownership and implantation of ideas. She is working for the common good in the public, social, and private sector, for a greater cause of humanity. I would describe her as an impatient optimist, not just waiting on the world to change, but being the initiator of something that can give part to change for a greater cause.

LEC T UR ES

18 ABST RACT //

DIRECTOR MAS CONTEXT/STUDIO RE: SOCIAL ARCHITECTURE ABSTRACT: summary of background RESPONSE: response to the greater role of the architects method of thinking

IKER GIL

“Nothing is linear, it is all revolving.”

Iker Gil is a maverick in the world of architectural discourse and the profession of architecture as a whole.

Growing up in the transforming city of Bilbao, his interest in architecture was sparked by the transformation of the industrial city. As he observed the start of change beginning with Frank Grehy’s Guggenheim museum, he began to see particular concrete assets of a context that can be reinterpreted.

Iker then went to study architecture at Escola Tecnica Superior Arquitectura Barcelona, completing an undergrad degree in architecture, then moving to Chicago to attend University of Illinois at Chicago for a graduate degree in architecture. From there he worked at SOM for some time, becoming a senior designer, only before leaving to focus on his own practice and think tank- Mas Studio and Mas Context.

Iker’s background in Bilbao greatly affected how he sees architecture, architecture’s role in the social environment, and the power that architecture has for change. This influence of Iker’s childhood has helped to form the principles of his practice today.

One project that Mas Studio has been working on is a system of landscapes and furniture that provokes a change in perception.

This was a temporary project, and in effect, became an instigator for changing perceptions of a dilapidated public parking lot, activating the parking lot to make it a concentrated space for people to come and gather.

Iker’s goal with his quarterly publication, Mas Context, is to instigate conversations and not necessarily to protect current assumptions. The publication is a collective effort of many different thinkers and writers that contribute to architecture in some way. These publications become a consistent dialogue of current issues that are affecting our society and potential ideas of where design could play a role in change.

P RO F E SSI O NAL

P RA CTICE

19 R E S P O N SE / /

Mas Studio and Mas Context are particularly fascinating to me as I believe that they resonate with many of my strengths and passions in the field of architecture. Design has always been intriguing to me as a vehicle for discourse and conversation. The platform (Mas Context) that Iker has created, is a way to instigate conversation and a way to reach people interested in social issues through the medium of architecture.

I think that the media of a book is a medium that anyone may understand, and creates limits that allows for an organized reading and understanding of the material presented. I believe that we have a unique field of study that can seem very intangible and unmeasurable to the common crowd.

The think tank that Iker holds and the crowd sourced contribution to the publications that he produces, is one institution of a few that are working to exploit the perspective and trained method of thought to the greater population of people. A challenge that I am continuously presented with is explaining and imparting my perspective and method of thinking to those who I surround myself with outside of my field of study. This also translates to the small example of communicating to my parents the understanding and comprehension of the work and projects that I am doing within my field of study. This is a small example, but leads to a greater issue that I believe Mas Context is working to address. I think that as students and professionals, the role of the next generation of designers is in part, to change the perceptions of the greater public on architecture.

I believe that there would be great benefit in the awareness and influence of the general public within our method of thinking and problem solving that we maintain as designers. As I enter into the profession and set out with desires and goals in mind for my career, I have always appreciated the way we are taught to learn in architecture even more so than merely the practice of designing. Within my career, I believe that I have a responsibility with my capabilities and my training, to dedicate myself to the influence

and effectiveness that our training can have on society outside of the vehicle of architecture. For this reason, my greatest goal for my career is to be apart of the IOC, International Olympic Committee, in order to use the IOC as a platform to affect many cities and societies through the thought process of design.

Iker Gil’s childhood story is one that greatly affects the way in which he thinks and the aspects of life that he believes in changing through architecture. I think that the radical transformation of Bilbao can stand as a contemporary precedent of what is to come for many American cities as well as many American stories of those that it will affect. The rise to urbanism that is rapidly reforming our country, let alone our global society, is giving greater rise to the prominence and need for architects, urban designers, and designers in general, as we are becoming accustomed and sensible to the constructed landscapes and city scapes in which we would rather live. Just as Bilbao, the responsibility of architects won’t necessarily be to continue to build new, but to transform the preexisting, reinterpreting the contexts of our know environments.

LEC T UR ES

20

MANAGING DIRECTOR IPM CONSULTING RE: ALTERNATIVE CAREERS ABSTRACT: summary of background and advice RESPONSE: characteristics of self-employment, what I am learning from Chicago Studio, self reflection

LAURA FISHER

P RO F E SSI O NAL

P RA CTICE

ABST RACT //

Laura Fisher is a self-motivated, self-driven professional who has worked with many different types of professionals, in many different capacities and markets. She has worked with firms such as I. M. Pei, and businesses such as McDonald’s, working as a client representative and consultant, to managing and purchasing real estate. Laura has a Bachelor’s degree in Architecture and an MBA in Finance. She has worked at SOM under Adrian Smith and for corporate banks in their building and property management departments.

Laura is LEED certified, a fellow of the AIA, on her church board, on the coop board of her apartment complex, and participates on many boards and in many organizations. Laura has also been the president of the Chicago AIA and is continuously involved with the Chicago chapter. Today, Laura works as an independently employed consultant for companies and people looking for new spaces or looking to remodel. With owning and managing her own company, Laura gave advice on how to be a competent professional and how to manage all aspects of a business. In managing contracts and the document portion of owning a business, the organization and reuse of general documents is important in regards to efficiency and time. The second piece of advice given is to know your skill sets and the value of your services. Other pieces of advice given includes asking the questions such as, “How do you present yourself?” “Are the people who influence you, your leaders more than your peers?” Are you weary of what might be deal killers in your profession?” In conclusion, Laura gave some fantastic advice that has been well tested and greatly tried.

Laura has portrayed her ethical and moral views and has demonstrated how they appropriately affect her professional relationships, behavior, and how she does business. Laura’s voice and leadership in the field of design as well as in the Chicago community in general, can be a precedent and example of women in the field of architecture and professional leadership positions.

21 R E S P O N SE / /

As Laura is a woman of many different hats, she has been in many job positions and has held many different roles and responsibilities within and surrounding the field of architecture.

One thing that I admire most about Laura is that she is an expert at knowing her strengths and knowing the value of her work. In evaluation of my self, I know what my strengths and capabilities are, but I can’t quite comprehend what they’re worth. I think that there is a measurement of time that plays into the equation that affects the net worth of one’s services.

The aspect of time is something that I am challenged with continuously.

Time is a concept of business within design that can become difficult to evaluate and judge. Just as the design process takes time, there is also a pressure from the client, and the project time line that is in place. I think that the challenge of time begins within our education as designers.

We spend days and nights on end in studio, countless hours doing and redoing, taking two steps backward before making one step forward.

While time is not a primary concern while in academia, it becomes a whole different aspect of the vocation that we are being trained in that we traditionally don’t really learn about until entering into the profession. One of the great lessons and benefits of Chicago Studio, and the professional environment in which the program takes place, is the hyper-awareness of time and our own abilities and skill sets that it requires. The consistency of a loaded schedule and the consistency of frequent deadlines and reviews, simulates an environment that focuses on aspects of our skills that wouldn’t have been learned otherwise outside of the profession. While at the same time we don’t necessarily have an emphasis on things that can be primary focuses within academia, I think that Chicago Studio has created a platform that puts us in a position to learn the unteachable.

Another part of Laura’s lecture that I really appreciate is her constant risk of being a self-employed entrepreneur.

She has become very successful,

working and partnering with wellknown and qualified firms and companies, while at the same time, managing and holding her own as a self-employed business woman.

Laura’s self-employed risk that she takes daily is inspirational to me as I see myself within the interests of design, but not necessarily within the professional practice of architecture for the tenure of my career. With that said, I am unsure of the path that I may pave for myself, but I know that what I am learning now and every experience in school that I am currently receiving is absolutely crucial in informing where I will be and how I will operate tomorrow. I have had ideas and thoughts of working for the International Olympic Committee, Apple, and within politics in Washington D.C. I believe that any of these options could present opportunities in my professional future that could benefit from my education and every experience that I have had within Chicago Studio and any experience that I may gain within the profession of architecture.

personal investment and something to be enthusiastic about. Laura is a woman who believes deeply in her strengths and how she can apply them to better serve others and better the profession in which she works. To challenge and better the profession as a whole is a goal and aspiration of mine as I am anxious to dive into the professional realm of design, not only using it as a vehicle for change, but using the profession of design as a community to instigate change within.

In all, Laura’s self-driven ambition, forward attitude, and wisdom gained through experience has been highly motivating to me this semester in how I view problems that present themselves, tasks that lie before me, and struggles that may inevitably affect me. Laura’s religious beliefs and the visibility and vocalization of those beliefs in the professional realm is encouraging for my own faith and the interweaving of faith and work. This is something that I have always struggled to find balance and connection between but am motivated and encouraged by Laura’s personability within the professional environment and the statement of her personal beliefs. At the end of the day, our personal beliefs, opinions, experiences, ethics, and ideas make up who we are as people and who we are as professionals- guiding and influencing every decision that we make and giving joy and excitement to the work that we do on a daily basis. It is beliefs, morals, ideas, and interests that makes our work a LEC T UR ES

22 ABST RACT //

PRINCIPAL GREC ARCHITECTS RE: ACE HOTEL ABSTRACT: summary of process RESPONSE: the responsibility and integrity of architects, the marriage of practice and education for one goal of creating a set of instructions

DON COPPER “Every mistake costs someone, something.”

P RO F E SSI O NAL

P RA CTICE

Don Copper is one of three principals at GREC Architects, previously working at small scale firms after graduating from the Bachelor of Architecture program at Virginia Tech.

Don’s lecture regarding the Ace Hotel in downtown Las Angeles broke down and explained the client-contractorarchitect relationship and the process of collaboration between the three parties. The Ace Hotel brand has a very tactile and un-self-concious nature. The style is very raw in aesthetic. The building historically was an old United Artist theater that was the home to Charlie Chaplin and other great acts. The old theater is located in a skid row neighborhood of Hollywood that is in the process of being gentrified and transformed into a contemporary, young-crowded neighborhood.

The project is a landmark restoration project that limits the amount of change that can be done to the original design of the building. With this type of a project, any decisions that were made in regards to altering the existing structure had to go through three different government approvals- local, municipal, and state systems. With this type of a project, much of the architectural work that was done was replicating and restoring details and spaces within the building. In order to bring the building up to code, an exoskeletal structural system was added to one face of the building in order to adapt the building to seismic code. Being that this was the first project of it’s kind for Don, there were many unknowns about restoring that made for a steep learning curve.

Based upon his experience, Don’s advice was to understand and answer as many unknowns about a project as possible before going into it. The emphasis of the lecture was about design and construction documents.

The documents that we put together act as a set of instructions- it becomes the most important and liable part of any construction project. A construction document is fundamentally a contract- an ownership of responsibility. In all, the theme of Don’s lecture really stressed

23 R E S P O N SE / /

One of the biggest responsibilities that we hold as architects is integrity.

I believe that our jobs are to create a successful document to construct a space that will be a successful and functional place of dwelling. The ownership of responsibility is profound within every stage of the process.

From the very beginning, the design of a space carries so much weight as it dictates so much about how people live lives and interact on a daily basis.

When a building or space becomes built, it is something that everyone has to accept. Buildings are not things that easily can be demolished, but once brought into existence, holds a degree of permanence. Within the creation of a set of instructions, the creator has a great responsibility for the proper explanation of a making of a building to the one who is making. Thinking about construction documents in relationship to any other instructions, if there is any unclarity, it most likely won’t get built or could get built improperly. The responsibility to not only create a thorough set of instructions, but to monitor and mentor those constructing the structure falls on the architect. All of this being said, I think that most of the time, the construction documents become after thoughts to designing and modeling. In academia, there is little to no importance that is placed upon the end goal of creating a set of instructions for a building to become built. I think that this arises out of a differentiation of goals. In academia, the goal is not to try to create a building, but to push the boundaries conceptually and spatially.

Within the practice of architecture, the goal is more so about creating a set of instructions to get something built. I believe that there is relevancy in both realms- both academic and professional. At the end of the day, I think that there is room for both academia and the profession to work together to advance the overall field of architecture and the craft of making buildings. Creating construction documents is still a form of representation just as any other obscure medium that academia might push. The set of instructions that the

profession creates is in effort to build something that is truly challenging and advancing the future of society. In all, I think that both architectural education and the architectural profession both deal extensively with managing and carrying a heavy weight of integrity.

With the end goal in mind, to create something that people can inhabit, there can be a true and successful marriage of the practice and education. This is where I think that Chicago Studio has a responsibility, setting a stage and establishing links between the two.

LEC T UR ES

24 ABST RACT //

PRINCIPAL CANNON DESIGN RE: CITY DESIGN ABSTRACT: summary of urban challenges RESPONSE: interest in urban design and the role of urban design in American cities

PETER ELLIS “Much of our architectural aspirations now, are misguided.”

“As architects, we have one in a million opportunities to create landmark buildings, the rest of the time we should design and work to contribute to the making of a city.”

“Ninety-nine percent of what we do should be trying to make a Rome.”

“Modernism created a poetry that created fantastic individual objects, but they can’t write a larger poem for the city.”

P RO F E SSI O NAL

P RA CTICE

Peter Ellis is a widely known and accredited professional who has established and manages the City Design sector of Cannon Design.

Before working for Cannon, Peter spent the tenure of his career with Skidmore, Owings, and Merrill, reaching partner level, leaving his position there only to start his own firm, Peter Ellis New Cities. During the span of owning his own firm, Peter was commissioned to design and build an entire city in India. After the completion of design and beginning of construction of the city, Peter merged his small firm to what now comprises Cannon Design.

Peter started his lecture by posing a question, “How do we really restructure American cities that have been built in the nineteenth century and are completely obsolete?” With Peter’s vast urban design experience and knowledge, he explained that the current work in China and India teaches us all about the working parts of a city that we need to apply to our existing cities.

According to Peter’s own project in India and his observations of China, things such as open spaces that structure cities, smarter flow of traffic and transportation systems, finer city grids, decentralized water systems and services, etc. are all items worth exploring in order to create and retrofit our existing cities to be more sustainable and functional. How can infrastructures be transformed from these vast machines for the mobility of goods to natural ecosystems? The High Line could be an easy example of this, but projects such as the 606 in Chicago is another, just as applicable example. Within Peter’s lecture on new cities and how we can apply the principles of new cities to enhance our existing ones; natural systems, water, and open space are what Peter emphasized most. Peter encourages us to begin to challenge our communities with these questions as it won’t be the current generation of professionals to address these issues, but it will be us and our children.

25 R E S P O N SE / /

Peter’s lecture was one of the most significant lectures that I’ve heard this semester. It truly challenged me and what I believe about cities and my interests in urban design. This semester has fostered an interest and desire in the unknown of urban design and has been fueled by such issues that Peter addressed in his lecture. Throughout the semester, both during our group project as well as during the internship phase of the semester, I realized that my interest in urban design does not lie within creating entirely new sites, campuses, neighborhoods, or cities, but my interest is in addressing the existing problems that we have created for ourselves.

The urban conditions in which I’ve grown up and have learned to know are environments that I have come to know intimately and have begun to understand how they work.

I think that there is rarely a chance that we get as designers to construct entirely new cities, but there will be endless and reoccurring opportunities to re-purpose, reconstruct, reprogram the existing ways in which our infrastructures and cities work. I think that America is dawning upon a unique period in the life of our country where there will be a necessity for the readaptation of our existing constructed environments. The continuing trend of populations moving back into cities gives us an incredible chance to improve and reiterate concepts of transportation, water, open spaces, etc. I think that America has the most opportunity to become a prominent global leader again through design and the application of our urban environments.

As a country, we have more urban settings than many countries combined. I believe that we could channel that reality into powerful assets as our world emerges into a hyper-digital global economy. The new cities that are being constructed all over China have a significant flaw in that there isn’t any celebrated or preserved preexisting culture or heavy influence of culture. A lot of Asia is almost borrowing the western results of modernization and have not allowed for the modernization of their own culture and built environment. I

think that this gives America and other western countries a leg up as we have a young but rich history on which the modernization of our societies are taking place.

Peter mentioned in his lecture that architects have one in a million opportunities to create a landmark building, the rest of the time we should work on contributing to the making of a city. I think that this is a very interesting comment in that many modern-contemporary architecture practices are so focused on creating “landmark” buildings, or buildings that function more as objects rather than as functional buildings (and no longer contributing to the whole of an urban environment). Take Pudong or Shanghai for example, the pollution of buildings that function more as objects has obstructed the skyline in a way that does not benefit the composition of those cities as wholes.

The landmark buildings such as CCTV

by OMA in Shanghai are buildings that are autonomous. They exist within their own campus, their own masterplan, their own language. They do not contribute but subtract from the density and holistic nature of a city.

I believe that there is an appropriacy to creating these landmark buildings, but I also believe that architects have a greater responsibility to contribute to the making of a city. Architects need to be much more about creating the urban weave than an individual showpiece. Peter says that ninetynine percent of what we do should be trying to make a Rome. In closing, as we are in a transitioning age from modernism, we should learn from our past that modernism created a poetry that generated fantastic individual objects, but it can’t write the larger poem of the city.

LEC T UR ES

26

ASSOCIATE PRINCIPAL ARUP RE: HOW TO CHANGE THE WORLD ABSTRACT: summary of focus RESPONSE: the role of technology and the ethical limits of its implementation

DAVID WILTS

ABST RACT //

David has a very diverse and dynamic history, previously working within the audiotechnic world at Shen Milsom and Wilke where he worked with people such as Bob Marley, Tony Bennett, and various other top entertainers. From Shen Milsom and Wilke, David gained interest in the application of his interests in buildings and how the logic of systems could profoundly impact the way we build and manage built environments.

He worked for Crestron Electronics as a director of integrated building technology before landing at ARUP, working as a smart building practice leader among the firm and more so, among the profession at large.

Ambitious topics covered in David’s lecture such as how to change the world, perhaps could be boiled down more specifically to, how do we really design for net-zero? David relates the practice of making buildings to the design of a clock. The goal is to design for multiple systems within one system. If buildings have multiple systems, how do we make it all one working machine? Five goals that David is focused on to push the profession forward are, one, improving the user experience for all user groups, giving them a sense of control.

Second, improving the controllability of environments. Third, reducing the cost of operations. Fourth, reducing the cost of energy and utilities. And fifth, to empower sustainability and stewardship goals. David is passionate about the fact that these five goals can be achieved through the process of automating many systems within a built environment. That being said, limits exist when automation negatively impacts productivity or the user experience isn’t any longer delightful. In all, there tends to be a huge scope gap between design teams and all other contracted people involved in the making of a building. David’s position at ARUP is challenging that gap and allowing for there to be more of an awareness and responsiveness to the gap that is isolating designers and protecting the prevention of progress.

P RO F E SSI O NAL

P RA CTICE

27 R E S P O N SE / /

I believe that David is highlighting a niche market, lying in-between engineers, subcontractors, and the architects. There is a degree of separation within our profession at large that is continuously over looked and glazed over with band aids of excuses. The gap to be bridged starts with simply an awareness of the unknown. I think as architects we can become so weary of what we don’t know or haven’t been taught. We can become skeptical of technology and high integration of technology into “our” buildings. We become cautious when it comes to engineers. I believe that these are preconceptions that are fostered in school and absolutely need to be broken in order for the advancement of technology and the advancement of our society and cities. I think that everything that David talked about are serious items to consider.

business of architecture or computer science, I believe that there are ethical limits to the use of technology that we need to be weary of and respect.

There is no doubt that digitalization and the advancement of technology can and is extremely useful in the advancement of society. The installment of automatized systems in buildings is certainly necessary and is something that is becoming more and more optimal in our society. In all, I think that ARUP is highlighting a market that shouldn’t necessarily depend upon an outside facilitator, but should become more and more integral to the design process and the responsibility of the architect.

When thinking about the automation of human environments, the question that comes to mind is, how much is too much? This ethical question about technology is becoming more and more of interest in our contemporary world.

Within the realm of architecture, there are limits to how much automated technology is deployed within our environments.

I think of the Disney, Pixar movie, “WALL-E” and the scene when the entire population of a massive space craft, young and old, is perfectly content, flying around in their automated hover crafts. There is no need for fitness, no need to do any physical tasks. It portrays the epitome of what we could call “pleasure”. In a matter of moments, the automation of the system fails and the residents of the space craft go flying out of their robotic hover crafts and are required to physically recover themselves and take care of themselves. This scene depicts complete and total reliance on technology and the helplessness of those who don’t know any better but complete dependence. This is an extreme picture of what could happen, but I think that it makes a point as to the negative effects of technology. So whether we’re in the LEC T UR ES

28 ABST RACT //

SENIOR PRINCIPAL CANNON DESIGN RE: SOCIAL IMPACT ABSTRACT: summary of Open Hand Studio initiatives RESPONSE: addressing question of where I see myself at the twilight of my career

JOHN SYVERTSEN What will be the legacy that you leave behind?

John is an experienced leader and man of wisdom within the profession of architecture. Before joining with Cannon, John was the President of OWP/P, a large Chicago based firm, for ten years. When OWP/P merged with Cannon, John realized and accepted that there was no need for two CEO’s, and returned to “just a guy working in the firm”. Upon joining Cannon, John found opportunities to satisfy his architectural appetite for social impact and public interest work, initiating what is now known as Open Hand Studio.

Focusing on a project for the University in Brownsville, Texas that began as an Open Hand Studio initiative, John spoke about the opportunity and investment that the project holds within Cannon Design. The investment that Cannon has made in Brownsville is, of course, to some extent, an economic investment, but is far greater a social, cultural, and relational investment that has blossomed and branched into, ultimately, more business for Cannon.

John describes the Brownsville project as a daunting challenge that meets radical optimism. He says that the fastest way to build trusting relationships is by generosity.

Brownsville is a perfect example of building a trusting relationship with a client through generosity. Brownsville is a great example not only because of the client-firm relationship, but for the impacts that the project has had on the firm. The business case for Open Hand Studio is that when you’re building social interests, you’re building the community of your firm.

Open Hand Studio is a case in point example of the important and positive impact of the distribution of think tanks and programs into the interwoven fabric of the actual practice of the firm. In all, John’s initiatives with Open Hand Studio, his passions and desires for a greater incorporation of public interest within the firm, and John’s personality and character, are all credentials that makes John and his efforts at Cannon, precedents to be heavily considered in the modernera design practice.

P RO F E SSI O NAL

P RA CTICE

29 R E S P O N SE / /

Where do you see yourself in the twilight of your career? Many of the professionals that I have met and interacted with this semester are within the twilight years of their careers. They are potentially making some of the most profound impacts and greatest decisions that are ripe in the current global conversation today. As I still have an extensive career ahead of me, and many years until I reach a similar point in my career, I would hope that I am constantly acting as though every year and every project that I work on could be my last. I don’t ever want to get to a point in my career where all of a sudden I think that I have officially hit a twilight period in which I need to make a difference or think about my legacy. During the latter years of my career, I hope to be well accredited and experienced that I am not confined to the limits of architecture in which I am changing the world. I think there is so much latent opportunity for designer mindsets within many different leadership capacities in our world. Freshmen year I had a class with an interior design professor who was adamant about the need for designers within political leadership roles in our country. I think that this is absolutely true and could definitely see myself within the realm of politics.

My dream job that I always think about would be working on the IOC, International Olympic Committee.

I think that the IOC is such a highly complex panel of international leaders, addressing highly complex global issues through a specific program and agenda (being the Olympics), in a deployment that is semi-temporal, yet has immediate and heavy impact on many cities. All of this being said, I am reminded of a question that my high school history teach used to ask us every day as we ended class: What will your legacy be? This is a question that I am continuously pondering, not because I like to dwell on what I want to be remembered for, but as a self-evaluation of who I represent myself to be. I am constantly asking myself if I will be remembered as a designer, or will I be remembered for my faith, or will I be remembered for my relationships? What do I want

to be remembered for? The thing I want to be remembered for most is as an instigator who challenged and encouraged change in our world.

Architecture, being perhaps the vehicle in which I can initiate change, is not as important. I also believe that I have a future role in the education of future generations. As my whole family has been in education, I have come to know it as the most back breaking, yet rewarding career. I think it would be selfish if I did not give what has been given to me. I have a huge heart for students of similar passions and interests and I’ve already tried to cultivate an environment in which I can mentor and pour myself into others of same interests and studies at Virginia Tech.

This is almost more important to me than a career practicing architecture as I can have a greater impact on the world through a number of students that I would never be able to do single handedly. In conclusion, I believe that every day of my career is the twilight of my career as I desire to live every day as though it is my last and make every decision with knowledge that it will impact the world. It’s a question of degrees and extents rather than capacity.

LEC T UR ES

30

E G O C NIC TI I CN P A RE PP DA IL M A NR U O IE NS A S PT E BF XOR R E P U S

31

P R O F E S S I O N A L P R A C I N T E R V I E V I R G I N I A T C H I C A G O S T U S P R I N G S E M E S T E R

T I C W E C D I 2 0 1

E S H O 4

KELL EY FO LT S T IM S WA N S O N RANDY G UI LLO T ED K EEG A N CASE Y R EN N ER LAURA FI S C H ER LUIS

MON T ER R UBI O

32 INT ER VIE W //

ARCHITECT CANNON DESIGN

KELLEY FOLTS

Why did you decide to pursue architecture and design? Growing up, I seemed to be competent in both mathematics as well as the arts. I had strengths in both the right brain and the left brain. In sixth grade, we had this design-build competition that they would do every year; that became my basic introduction as to what architecture is. From there, the rest was just perusing architecture through high school classes and eventually a college degree program. As I studied architecture and design in college, I began to find a great interest in urban design and the complexity of systems that urban design deals with. That has become a growing interest for me personally, as the urban environment is a vast web that many systems plug into.

What are your roles and responsibilities and who evaluates your performance?

That’s a somewhat difficult question to answer. My responsibilities change day to day depending on the type of project, where the project is, and honestly, my current interests.

I am doing everything from Revit to speaking to the client, to designing, to figuring out details. Likewise, who I report to changes depending upon what I’m doing. There is really no easy way to distinguish who my boss is in the traditional definition of a boss. At Cannon, we don’t rely upon a heavily regulated business hierarchy like some firms might. I would report to the project manager of the project that I’m working on, who sits next to me, for my performance reviews, I may report to Randy for overall design, someone else for technical, Tim maybe when I get stuck to help gear the project in a different direction, etc. While Randy acts as almost a critique of the many projects in the studio, the lead project manager would be the one who is responsible for the decisions I can make.

What do you like the most about Cannon Design and what do you like the least? It’s easy to say that I truly like the collaborative and flexible work environment of Cannon. I love that I can always be doing something

P RO F E SSI O NAL

P RA CTICE

33

different at all times, and that I am always allowed to have some freedom in what I would like to be doing. It might be one of the most unique and greatest parts of Cannon. As far as what I may like the least, it would probably have to be that I am kind of stuck in Chicago for now. Especially with liscensure, I have taken one test of seven, and it seems to be best to complete liscensure as early as possible. Cannon also has a great setup where they subsidize your test fees as long as you pass. Besides liscensure, I don’t get the opportunity to travel a ton, outside of site visits, as an entry level architect. My dream is to go work in Berlin for a little bit, but that is definitely down the road after I finish my licensing.

In hindsight, what about our architectural education at Virginia Tech could be changed or improved? Well, for one, Chicago Studio is one of the most beneficial opportunities that I had in my education. For whatever reason, there seems to be stubbornness by an aging generation of faculty that seems to condone Chicago Studio upon their romantic desires for what architecture should be. Many of the professors at Tech live in the past and are very much so out of touch with current architectural discourse, and simply, today’s contemporary world. There really needs to be a younger wave of teachers and academics teaching and shaping the education at that school.

There is definitely a place for the more aged and mature, per say, faculty, but to stay competitive, there needs to be some house keeping.

Entering into the profession, I found that there are many aspects of architecture that I wasn’t even made aware of during my undergraduate degree. Not to say that there is a place for all of it within schooling, but looking back, the Architecture program at Virginia Tech seems to be very narrow minded in what they teach and how they mold students. There’s almost a naiveness that seems to be cultivated in architectural education today.

Perhaps the issue of not having a ton

of emphasis on the pragmatics of architecture, and the vastly different structure of Chicago Studio can encourage and stimulate architectural education to have integration and closer connection with the workplace.

What shifts do you see happening in architecture (not that you have a history in the profession upon which to compare the present) and where do you see the profession in ten years from now? I probably can answer that question only as much as you can, being that I am only about a year into the profession. But I think that just as Cannon has been making great efforts to try to reposition itself lately and how it sees design problems. I think that architecture is becoming a broader and broader profession. I think that architects are and will become more problem solvers than architects.

Especially in today’s world, when we are not spending money like we used to, and where our world is becoming progressively urbanized, architecture and built constructs, will probably be less and less the correct answer to solve problems that architects are hired to solve. “Together, we create design solutions to the greatest challenges facing our clients and society” -Cannon Design’s vision As architects, we are trying to place ourselves more and more, at the nexus of everything- hence a lot of these multidisciplinary and collaborative firms. We need to be facing challenges that not only affect our clients, but simultaneously affects our society.

What do you feel has been your biggest achievement or success in architecture thus far? I actually have not really been in a position yet where I can say that I have had a personal success, but I have definitely felt success within a collaborative group. I have had small decisions or ideas within a group that I have fought for and won in a sense, which always brings some happiness and personal morale. As far as personal achievement, what makes me most proud is probably to see my name published on projects, drawings,

writings, etc. On the internet or within books and publications. It feels great because after five years of schooling, these projects are no longer personal and kept for myself, but they are made public, they are for others, and I get to take some of the credit for them.

What do you wish you would have done in school that you did not do?

Thinking about thesis year, and the last year of college, I would say do whatever the heck you want to do.

Enjoy yourself, enjoy your projects, and don’t feel defined or constrained to the limitations and the confinements that professors or teachers impress upon you. If you want to take the day off and go hike, take the day off and go hiking. Do what is going to be best for you, do not become an architecture robot. When you focus too much on architecture, you loose sight of everything around you, what you’re designing for, the types of people you’re working with, and the strength of why you’re designing becomes weak. Culture yourself, surround yourself with as many different experiences as possible, and just be normal.

What is particularly parts of your job are difficult or the toughest to motivate yourself to do? As an example, right now I am working on drawings for portable trailers at this school that we’re doing some work for. It is absolutely the most boring thing that I have ever made drawings for, they’re bland and have nothing architecturally interesting about them. I continue to motivate myself to get through these drawings so that I can move on to what’s next- designing the portion of the school that we’re building. There’s always things that you do not want to do for every project, but you do it in order to do what you love about design.

I N T ER VI EW S

34

URBAN STRATEGIST CANNON DESIGN

TIM SWANSON

INT ER VIE W //

PROLOGUE: Within the Favelas in Columbia, there was a massive social movement in how humans were being treated. People started treating people like human beings. How do we get the next generation to see the value in education? They created libraries and day cares, and job training for a new profession. The community in Columbia is rapidly changing because the government is trying to help its people, and promote social good, and support people in the favelas.

The government will pay for the training of the people to learn a new profession or to expand companies and businesses. It’s not socialism, it’s treating people how they want to be treated. It’s all about respect. I was also in Brownsville for a while, where a lot of my time has been working deals to create something for the community. You need to pay attention to the people that will be inside of the buildings you are creating.

Would you say your job is easy?

Hell yes, and God no! My job is so obvious, it’s about bringing things back to a dignified human perspective.

It’s tough because clients and coworkers might not understand the value of certain things. Sometimes we have to fight with people in our own professions. I love what I do, so it makes it incredibly easy. I love it because in order to change the world, we need to understand how we can empower people to change their own world. I can only empower you and foster you and your people to change the world.

Where do you see our profession in 10 to 20 years and what will our roles be? I think you have two lines: Zaha’s party who believes in form, and Shigeru Ban who is making architecture from empty buckets, tarps, and mud. If you are a good designer, the whole thing is the design challenge verse just the object. The architecture of ancient times brought in all the craftsmen, decided on all the materials, and the laborers lived there, and breathed there. So we have to take on everything as the design problem. One path takes us on a

P RO F E SSI O NAL

P RA CTICE

35

journey that is losing place in society, and the other is just remembering the part of what we actually do. Do we have social responsibility to make a difference?

We have so much liability to skills to make something structural, and occupiable that works.

It’s not about the sculptural form that we push onto other disciplines that makes it an object. When we want to know what our role is, we have to stop having very little responsibility and we need to step up past the purity of form. Form is great, but its way better when its servicing and influencing the world in a positive manner. We don’t have a role in the real world, and we should have a role in how it socially costs, and how it operates. It has to go in the direction other than solely form, or we go into oblivion.

What do you think about architecture education today? How do you think it could improve to create future leaders? Programs like this are huge.

Its not just architecture. Education is trying to figure itself out in general.

The architecture profession has been trying to isolate itself, and education has taken the next step possible.

The reality of fostering professional relationships and having clients that serve as critiques is tough. Its not just in architecture, it’s throughout everything. In our profession, if you really want to change the world, you have to step into the real world, stop thinking, and start doing. I do respect architecture education, and I respect it more when they realize architecture doesn’t happen in a vacuum, and instead that it’s mixed with the pedagogy of other disciplines.

You have to challenge the norms, and people have to be willing to change the way they live. Understand the norm in which people live, and don’t assume that your norm is everyone’s norm. You can’t just put in bike lanes and light rails. As a profession and a pedagogy, we need to understand that we are always apart of something bigger. Like the McKenzie’s, they are looking at problems that are way larger than ourselves.

Who are your biggest mentors?

Honestly John Syvertsen. He is both thoughtful and understandable of humanity. He has so much to give and believes so much in ideas to impact and change humanity. John is a huge influence in my life. There is a young woman, she is an activist in Pakistan for women’s rights. She’s another prime example who we have got to think like. Why Pakistan is suffering is because people want an opportunity and she is challenging everything. It has everything to do with architecture, but also nothing.

Bjarke Ingels designs a sculpture but with concern how people interact and how the building operates at a large scale. It’s dynamic and interesting for the people who occupy it and it’s grounded in the reality that people are using it. The end goal is empowering them to do something better and to grow!

What is the best mistake that you have made? I think the best mistake I ever made was moving to rural India.

That messed me up and rocked my world. Everything I think we did was all-wrong, but it was all worth it, because it was doing something that was ethical that supported humanity in the best way and it had to happen so that I could understand humanity.

Where we would have succeeded is to work with the client to bring people together, and to unite the villages and cities in ways they never imagined.

People are moving into cities in India, most of them are moving to informal cities where they can squat, and afford to live in order to succeed. It’s not about building shiny new cities and thinking that was the case to make things right and to allow cities to grow.

I N T ER VI EW S

36 INT ER VIE W //

PRINCIPAL CANNON DESIGN

RANDY GUILLOT

How did you find yourself having an interest in architecture? I always had an interest in the arts. I didn’t know any architects until I was in college. I applied to the architecture program immediately, right when I began college.

I really didn’t understand design except that I knew I was interested in something beyond the quantitative topics in school. I wanted to tell a story that mattered and affected people. I started at RISD, and my projects were definitely not the best. It was honestly my 5th year and when I got out that I realized the role of architecture in the real world, and how hard people are working and how they are committed to it. I worked harder than I ever did in school. It wasn’t about the career opportunity, I loved the work going on and I wanted to understand more about all the creative people and how they developed teams, spoke about the work, etc. I remember writing that I was going to be an architect when I was 7, I don’t know why, but I did.

What do you think design has offered you that you wouldn’t otherwise understand? It has offered a world to be in that I find interesting and that I find to be more open and tolerant than most of the other worlds that I exist in.

Architecture occupies multiple realms, and all these realms you work in everyday. It is the poetry of what we do everyday and how we affect people without them even knowing. It probably has to do more with the arts than the science. I am uncomfortable in all the worlds I talk about, and it should be like that because it keeps things interesting.

How would you define architecture?

There is architecture as a profession and architecture that is an art. They are connected, but they are definitely different. Architecture as an art has a meaning and influences people in specific ways. Architecture as a profession has way more nuts and bolts and is motivated by many reasons as to why you do things.

It’s not negative, but it’s the ability to make a building. You can only have a conversation about it for so long, until you discuss how you are doing, and

P RO F E SSI O NAL

P RA CTICE

37

that’s when it becomes architecture.

The conversation is definitely dominating how we are doing it. The creativity involved in this business is enormous.

As a leader within Cannon, what are roles and responsibilities unique to your position and what do you enjoy about your job? There are a lot of people that contribute on a daily basis to our success and the creativity of the work, but it ultimately lands on my shoulders. So I try to organize groups so that they can be most successful.

I sometimes get in the way to get things out of the way that are blocking the teams production and creativity. I have obligations to maintain with the other principals. I report to the director of architecture and design, and he has a boss, and we all work for Cannon Design that has a Board of Directors.

Boards are the single most powerful entity in the organization.

Being a leader, what is the single most important thing in gaining respect from others? Two things: humility and humanity. They both do one thing and that is they connect us to people.

They have larger responsibility than what we do today, and it’s on the scale of the world. Humility, is not me or I, it’s the team; it’s the way we go about making humanity possible. You need humility to play a large role to make something out of nothing, and you need experience and people. The trick is to not let the ego get in the way of humanity. You are used to be a leader, and sometimes you have to be a follower. It takes some time to figure this out.

What is the most rewarding part of your job? I cannot detach myself form the creation of the work, and I love walking through buildings that I had a hand in the work and I hope it’s meaningful on some level. I remember walking through my first building I designed and seeing the impact I’ve had. I often visit and going back to the building to see how people are using them and how they have changed the live of people. It makes me really happy when I see people functioning

together as a creative machine and love creating things and changing the world.

What challenges you the most? I always need help managing the practice. It’s a different skills set. It’s still related to architecture in every way. You need a group of people with different skill sets and characteristics to make things successful.

What do see impacting my generation of designers? Working drawings are dead. We all work in models. The evolution started as a design tool, and I witness the change from drawing and designing, and now it’s all about the model. Everything happens in a much more compact, digital space, and everything can be extracted from the thing. I think the instruments of service are now the models. It should carry with it very different phases of projects, and it carries the embodied value.

It translates into different ways of working for us that could be stronger and compensate us. People who are starting the profession have more power and value because of their skill set. The non-users are the people who don’t have the ability to swim around the digital waters. Right now there is an opportunity for 5 to 10 years where the youngest people who are digitally literate will have the largest impact on the process and development of each project. No firm is completely literate. Any idiot could draw with AutoCAD, but any idiot can use Revit. If you can’t use Revit, you can contribute to our document set.

The real answer to that question is that either the relevance or irrelevance will change how we see the world. The leadership and our creative skills will hopefully help us show the ideas to the client and relate to the world in which we live.

What is your critique about academia today and architectural education? I think Chicago Studio is great because it does everything right. Allowing students to break the barrier of the structure of each of the offices and firms. You get a chance to really see the story of who we are here. I think

it is important to see what is going on here. I think one of the things it does right, it that it brings you back together at the end of you day and at the end of the year, you can talk about things you believe and don’t believe. The schools do a lot of really good things too. I think I have little criticism, because they are teaching students the digital resources and broad range of material and courses so that they can change the world.

You can always find programs that need help. The sense of community in doing things together is about the value of it. I was always doing things in groups that were suffering just like I was.

What is the best mistake that you have made? My life isn’t over by the way, and I have so many more to make. I don’t know if I have an answer... That is one of the best questions that I have ever been asked...

Who are some of the mentors and influences that have impacted you? It starts with your family. School was the first time I saw people that were related to the profession. I started seeing the two worlds of academia and who practiced. I met people who helped me funnel my creativity and my thesis advisors pushed me and helped me to understand architecture. My parents used to and still influence me. People offer me lessons on pushing the work until it breaks. My relationship with clients teach me responsibility in coordinating everything. I am also influenced by people who just come to present and they open my eyes to something new and it happens almost everyday, that I continue to learn from people. You have to look for those things though, because it is very easy to not be exposed to those types of situations, and you have to allow yourself the opportunity to be amazed.

You have to admit you don’t know everything and you have to be willing to learn something. It can be seen as a sign of weakness in other professions, but architects should learn from it.

I N T ER VI EW S

38

COMMUNICATIONS MANAGER SKIDMORE, OWINGS, AND MERRILL

ED KEEGAN

INT ER VIE W //

Would you mind sharing with me a brief background about yourself? I grew up in New York City, I wanted to be an architect and yet no one in my family was an architect. I grew up in Brooklyn, and went to high school in Manhattan. I went to UVA which was a 4-year program, and wanted to practice so I needed to go to grad school so I could do that. I was told to take a year off to get work experience before grad school, but there were no jobs, so I had to move home. At the time urban design was becoming more and more important and my colleagues were designing urban places from suburban lives.

All along, I knew I was going to end up back in New York. I ended up in Chicago at UIC and worked here for a few years, getting enough experience in order to go back to New York. It is a unique city to be an architect.

To call yourself a Chicago Architect, it’s a great, rewarding title. No one does that in New York. Chicagoans always embrace their architecture which affects how they view the city.

It creates the essence of a place. The cities are ultimately different, but you have to take them for what they are individually, not which one is better.

Chicagoans want to make the city better and contribute.

Would you say SOM is unique in their perspective, goals, and creating a collaborative environment? SOM is actually oddly becoming different by staying the same. SOM has always been collaborative and contained many disciplines. We are the only firm that has done the tallest building in the world twice. Bill talks about how we are an architecture and engineering firm. SOM has held on to this in a way so that is core to who we are. This is very clear within our work. Look at the great lakes project; it’s because there is this incredible dedication to learn through designing and attempting to solve problems larger than architecture. Besides making money, what can we learn from it, and what on this project have we not done before.

We don’t crank out tall buildings to do tall buildings, but they have a purpose to maintain density and urbanity. The

P RO F E SSI O NAL

P RA CTICE

39

question we’re asking is always, what else? Excellence is a given, what’s next?

Here at SOM, how do you know who to go to? How do you harness all the knowledge that is here? This is quite a flat organization. Because we are split into studios and teams, and even the highest level of leaders are collaborating. I have never worked anywhere that is as smart or collective as SOM. I have worked at some great firms and witnessed many great things, but it’s because people have ideas and are willing to voice them.

The way the projects are even chosen and conducted and the amount of research that goes into the making of each project. Big firms are not the worst of everything, there aren’t many firms that are as old or maintain the consistency, ethics, and process as SOM does.

How did you find yourself at SOM and the position that you are in? I practiced in small, medium, and large firms for a dozen years. All in which I learned different things from. I was also writing and doing broadcasting and wanted to be a curator for exhibits. I liked to write and teach and I wanted to curate, as well as practice, which seemed impossible.

Architecture and design journalism seemed to be something that I might like, but I wasn’t actively working. I crossed paths with a colleague at SOM and he mentioned to me his own interests and asked me if I ever would work at SOM. They were talking about hiring someone full time to design the website. The thought of being a apart of the community by getting things out to the broader design community was convincing.

I saw the potential opportunity here.

It was a long process, and I realized that anyone at SOM will find a place to succeed and take practice their capabilities. Still after 2 years we are still defining what I do. If you zoom in too close, you have no understanding what’s going on and I don’t know what I’m doing on certain days. Once you are inside SOM, the scale of things makes it easy to lose perspective.

450 meter is where people get interested, and 600 meters is where you really capture people’s attention.

We design projects that are over 10 million square feet. We did a whole master plan for a whole kingdom and country. How big can you think? The role of the architect pushes us to stand up and take initiative to create sustainable designs and to continue to strive to improve quality of life. We have to think at that scale. It’s firms like SOM that are uniquely situated to look at these problems and notice the resources that are necessary to do something that will make a difference.

We don’t have all the answers, we are just well situated to get the answers, and we would like to lead the profession, which is broader than what architecture use to be. Please come help us change the world, it’s your skills that are necessary to make a difference as an ethical human being.

What is the most rewarding part of your job? Its just having the opportunity to work with people who are so smart. I can’t tell you how energizing it is and how great it is to see what great things we have done each day. The great thing about college is that you are still in a spot where you are a sponge and there is so much to learn. The most important part of my education was high school. I was involved in a school in which people wanted to make a better place. You have to keep the broad perspective that you want to be stimulated by people who are smarter than you. Everyone always says that SOM is the smartest workplace they have ever been in their entire life. We are a 24/7 place, and are super connected to each other. It makes you see how small our world really is.

How do you see technology transforming our profession and where do you see architecture 10 years from now? I think the real question is where it is in 30 years. I think it will be more relevant than it is now. We have to get better control of these things like environmental issues. Technology is not the answer with everything. Face

to face meetings are still relevant. We are all connected, all the time. We are more aware that we are all connected.

I am in touch with more people during periods of my life through Facebook.

How can the world be a better place with having these things at our disposal and how can we connect with people on a deeper level? We need to figure out problems like net zero energy in order to make a better life for everyone. The role of design in general is to challenge and question social issues. The challenge for everyone is to create buildings that produce more energy than they consume, and it’s our responsibility to step up to make that possible.

What’s the most difficult thing about your job?

Juggling everything and keeping things organized and coordinated. The skills that you learn in architecture and design, help with every day to day task and I still design specific strategies to keep everything under control.

Critical evaluation is what you have to do on a regular basis for everything you do. You need to be touch with yourself and you can’t take anything personal. Learn how to become stronger though selfevaluation and ask yourself, are you goals set high enough? The answer to that question is always no; they will always keep growing. But it is important that you enjoy what you are doing and contribute to your own well-being and development, and make the world a better place for the people around you. The greatest thing is to see people’s reactions to something that you have created and how positively it has impacted their life. The most rewarding part of practicing architecture is seeing your design come to fruition.

What is the best mistake that you have ever made? Is it my biggest regret or my biggest mistake? When I was high school, we had to choose to take 4 years of one language. I took French but I should have taken Latin.

I don’t know if it is a mistake but it’s a missed opportunity.

I N T ER VI EW S

40 INT ER VIE W //

ASSOCIATE SKIDMORE, OWINGS, AND MERRILL

CASEY RENNER

What led you to have interest in design and architecture growing up? My dad wanted to buy his dream house and would buy magazines with house plans. I used to look at those and atlases and began to have intimate knowledge of how houses worked.

It was by dissecting relationships between spaces and rooms, and visiting the dream house tours. I was approximately age 10 or 12. My mom is a landscape designer with horticulture background as well... No legos!

In regards to your position at SOM, what roles and responsibilities are unique to your position and where does your job fit within the hierarchy of SOM? D-level designer: Earlier I did competitions; it was about me answering directly to Brian Lee. I am now working directly as a designer with people who are leading me. I was one of 5 people who knew Grasshopper and Rhino very well. If you think about SOM as an integrated design process resembling a family tree, I don’t really fit into the hierarchy.

I am part of a studio, but I am given smaller projects and work closely with a director or a partner. I’m out of the hierarchy, and part of the melding of the two worlds.

Do you think your skill sets have paved your career path at SOM? I think so, but I would stress less about the skill set. It’s about generalizing. I had to understand all software in general terms. It’s about knowing the design language, rather than being an expert in one specific software or program.

We learn a basic skill set that leads to expertise in programs, what are the differences between education and the profession? How does the system work? I don’t think academia could stand own its own. I had some good professors, and the abstract ones had hard times getting projects out of people. One of the best exercises I didn’t do myself. At MIT, there was a project designing stairs and ramps between two buildings that had different floor to floor heights. You had to get it right, and no new way to reinvent the stair. You could make it nice, but it still has to be functional, and not boring.

P RO F E SSI O NAL

P RA CTICE

41

What do you hold as some of your biggest successes? What parts of your job do you enjoy the most? It’s been tough. I came in 2008. The office was cut in half and everything was very speculative. What I learned was good. What I can hold up as proof is thin. I didn’t build anything, but I completed competitions and renders.

That has been the track for the last 5 years. I do have a project in Hong Kong that is finally underway, however, the city is extremely difficult to build in.

We have a local architect there that is misinterpreting our intentions. I haven’t won any awards, it learning how to deal with complex projects and coordinating with engineers and understanding buildings I’ve never seen. The rewarding part is that I am still learning all these new things and I am learning constantly.

I use to work at boutique firms- those seem to be about what you tease out to make something new and interesting out of banal curtain walls and modules.

Middle firms are going to be swallowed by large corporate firms, and the boutique firms will stay small and make small insertions here and there with limited impact. There is a huge gap and you have to realize so many things are out of your control. I don’t know- the singular architect might be going away it might just be about teams now. Even starchitects have teams of 60 people.

Is there anything else that you might say that you like least about architecture in general- daily tasks or time when it is tough to find motivation? I glaze over at contracts: things have liability and have to be done in a proper manner. There is a lot of people here who cover that as their day to day tasks, but if I had my firm I would have to do that and I don’t want to do that. Something I don’t dislike but I don’t care for is detailing. I would love to design the attitude of the space, but how the reveal works- just make it clean.

What is the role of technology today and do you see it transforming the profession over the next decade? Technology is a funny word. Pen and paper is a technology, it’s all linear. Everyone is working in CAD and Revit. I think it’s

funny that people see a difference between absolute geometry and relative geometry. Revit is not really a relational program, its about drawing the absolute thing. It’s about picking things off a shelf to make it build-able for the contractor. Everything is not informing each other. Computation is completely indispensable. The relationships should always be there in how we think and set up relationships between geometries and the environment. We should be using computations seamlessly from a very early stage all the way to the very end to make things smarter. BIM is kind of missing the point. It’s making the current system more efficient but they have no idea about the relationships that they are designing.

Do you have any worries about the profession if this problem increases?

Mega-firm and a boutique firm: this will continue to shape the future. We have people who have really efficient processes and two people who have skills and technology with something that no one is ever going to use, and then there is a huge gap between all of that. I have colleagues that have made amazing pavilions, but that’s all they have the capabilities to do. What’s so great about that?

Where do you think architectural training could be improved? Keeping a focus on the physical thing, and the crafting of the physical thing. It’s still about placing something in this world. How do I use that, how do I approach that, how much do you know about the materials.

Production and design are inseparable.

I had friends who were using Maya and I think people use it incorrectly. They are using the form in a totally different way in which it was intended for. There was a furniture workshop that one of my professors did in Minnesota. We had all of the resources to make things, but the name is “there will be gravity” the point was to make a chair. You can 3-d print it and render it, but you still have to get the fundamentals right.

Where do you see yourself in 10 years from now? If you asked me 5 years ago I would not have been here. Your guess is as good as mine. I consider this as

a third education for me. Whether I’m here or not, I’ve learned a lot about coordination that I would not have learned anywhere else, but I don’t know how I will use it in the future. I would like to think there is still stand alone architecture. I don’t know where it will be, but it won’t be staying in academia or working for a developer. I would still be in architecture. If I’m not, I would love to know what knocked me off course after 10 years.

Are you licensed? What is your opinion?

I passed 7 months ago, and nice to have all of that behind me. I have to attend some lunch and learns and attend some AIA conventions. I didn’t have to do a lot of studying for exams because it’s all about things I have to do on a daily basis. If you are observant enough, it will be easy to pick up on everything that is covered on the exams.

I don’t even think Negar, one of my best teachers is even licensed. The way he thinks about putting things together, everything is always considered and that’s what makes him a great architect, not passing these exams.

What is the best mistake you ever made? When I graduated, I was wide eyed. I had some job interviews set up in Rotterdam, London, and New York. It provided stability in a rough time period.

I can take pleasure in the fact that I was here and still learning instead of jumping all over the place. I felt it was a mistake not following those dreams though, but it worked out and I still have my career ahead of me.

What is some advice for the next couple of weeks and my last year of undergraduate school and thesis?

Here: immerse yourself in a project. You never will be able to wrap your head around it. You are going to get the most when you are focused on one thing.

Last Year: Thesis is important. Mine fizzled out because I had such high expectations on it. It is a simple project of x y and z, and I’m using these methods. Keep it very simple, and keep it about architectural problems. Keep it simple to immerse yourself in things you are interested in.

I N T ER VI EW S

42

MANAGING DIRECTOR IPM CONSULTING

LAURA FISCHER

ET HICS

INT E R V I EW / /

PROLOGUE: I have a license in many states and to maintain each is very different. I was on the architecture board for a couple of years, and at the time the governor was sweeping the funds for other parts of the government. The higher fees maintain the boards that make sure that people aren’t abusing and breaking the rules.

Once things get out there like your resumes, they are hard to take back and things can easily be misconstrued and misleading.

You have your reputation. If your reputation gets tarnished for any reason, it can be very hard to polish up.

When people hire you to make a project, their fees pay your salary, and it’s a very small part of the budget.

There are a lot of sleazy people that are going to ask you to do something to cut corners and it is going to compromise everything you have worked for.

What do you do as a consultant?

My client is usually the owner, not the architect. When I worked at McDonald’s, I was managing everything from people who cut the grass and tuned on and off the AC. One thing we put into place was a website where we added all the drawings of the buildings and where people sat. The architects that we hired, we asked to be able to manage things better, and to make things more compatible. You always hire architects with a specific expertise depending on the project like a bank drive thru. Each firm also has a different culture. There is nothing unethical about different firms, just drastically different cultures.

If you have a project where you are changing the structure, wouldn’t you want someone to work on that and check after you. Wouldn’t you want a consultant or a contractor that can own that piece?

So right after school I’m looking for a full time job. My dad had kept track of a family friend who was an architect, and I ended up helping edit plans for house drawings. He wanted to start messing with some extreme things,

P RO F E SSI O NAL

P RA CTICE

43

especially the structure, and I didn’t feel comfortable so I left. I didn’t want to be liable for things being changed.

I learned that you better be a whistle blower to bring things to the table, and you don’t want to be caught later knowing something and not doing something about it. I think it’s about doing something good for the client and yourself.

So try to find a point to turn away from a problem, but don’t try to make a problem. What is the scope of what do you know, and where do you need to bring in other professionals?

People honestly don’t know, and you don’t want to create panic and fear.

You want to provide them with the resources to plan what they need in the future. As a consultant, I make thing clears to the client, and make things clear with the contractors.

Is there any situation where you have felt obligated to bring things up?

My biggest problem would be if the licensed architect weren’t doing what they were supposed to be doing. I think they have slightly over represented themselves, and don’t actually know a lot about what they demonstrated they knew. They will sometimes charge a higher fee to figure things out and conduct the research. If they don’t know a lot about a certain area of expertise they need to bring in help. They should see it as a way to enlarge their learning experience without charging the client and make them pay extra fees for the architect’s own investigations, studies, and learning exercises.

You have to look at what type of projects it is. What is known, what is unknown? What are the contingencies? I did these buildings that were converted into a school, and there was a brick tank found in parking lot. We had to figure out what is was, and go through testing.

Is there such thing as unbiased judgment? Well, for example, if three contractors give a bid, and they all offer the same price- you recommend one because you know them well. It’s

less difficult if you do every project together, and it’s easier for you. You should get to know the contractors so that you can tell that they are honest and trustworthy. The biased part of relationships, will continue to hire their friends instead of hiring people who have expertise in a specific discipline and sophistication. The schedule and timing is important. You have to find the best place and support the client even if they don’t follow your advice and consulting.

How do you say “I told you so?” You don’t. It’s just frustrating. It’s just their mistake and it wasn’t the best choice.

We can only give them advice, but they have to take it.

Is it appropriate to withhold some information? Let your gut tell you, especially if you feel uncomfortable.

What does integrity mean to you? If you don’t have integrity, who wants to work with you? It goes back to your reputation.

Even if it is legal, but is uncomfortable, you still shouldn’t do it. You don’t want to be a jerk about everything, you have to find a way to talk things through and be reasonable. What are the risks of doing things without permission or having things incorrectly done?

This is drastically different from just closing up walls without insulation and whole building structures. Both have completely different consequences and liabilities. It still goes back to your reputation, but you shouldn’t take certain risks, and just follow your gut instinct. You don’t want things to get in the paper, because it can make the situation worse, and it could affect the reputation of everyone involved. You have to be careful with the risks that you take, and you should continue to let your moral compass guide you even if something is legal and it still seems wrong. When stories come out they always have a slant on the story.

work with flashy renders and obscure forms of representation? When you go through the process of a project, many things can change, and people will have to pay for a new rendering. I think when someone creates a render, they want it to show exactly what the building will look like. Architects have to be clear on what is going to be built and sometimes there is a gap between what is practical. That’s the problem of design, in that architects and clients might disagree, and things have to change and the process makes it hard for the client to understand that actual visualization of the project. The real question is when were the renderings made, and at what stage. What part of the rendering is going to be realistic, or is it some big idea that didn’t quite pan out, or will it look like that in 40 years?

How much of the created information and drawings belong to the client and how much belongs to the architect?

McDonald’s was clear that they owned the architecture, and that the architect’s didn’t own the drawings.

It was part of their marketing, so it always serves as a potential argument.

It’s a discussion that should happen right at the beginning, and both want to be protected. Architects want to make sure the conceptual idea is working everywhere and they are not liable for the changes that need to be made and architects want to have their ideas copyrighted so that no one takes their ideas.

With all the technology we have today, in your opinion, where is the line drawn in the way we represent our I N T ER VI EW S

44

COORDINATING PLANNER CITY OF CHICAGO PLANING AND DEVELOPMENT

LUIS MONTERRUBIO

INT ER VIE W //

Are you a master planner? My primary function is that I work with the planning division and I manage all the different plans. There are several hundred plans going on at once, and we have to get all the plans to be together. We have to make sure that everything is up to date with existing city policies and we don’t want any contradictions.

How did you get into planning? I am a licensed architect from Mexico City.

MY thesis was located in Chicago. I was able to leave the country and travel. I was able to get a internship with one of the principals at GREC. I was only supposed to be here for 3 months and now I’ve been here for 15 years. I was hired by the city, and it is our job to see what we can do to make things happen and to provide things that people need. I work in commercial and residential parts of development.

It’s weird going from architecture and design to management. I came with the mentality of an architect, and it was difficult to look at everything as a whole and that the client is the city and not just a specific group of people. I had to gain a new real estate perspective and why land has specific value. You learn to read an appraisal and you get to know lawyers to draft agreements and legislation.

I walk the areas and make surveys that turn into maps of diagnostics and analysis of everything that is going on and what can trigger certain types of development. Currently in Chicago, there is too much zoning, and every area has not enough demand, and our task is to create a concentration of commercial development. You don’t want it to be overwhelming.

What makes places attractive and sustainable? The problem becomes if you only have a single use buildings like restaurants. We want to have a specific plan for each location for the entertainment centers and capture groups of things needed to make the commercial nodes thrive correctly and be sustainable. It is tough to make an artificial commercial district.

P RO F E SSI O NAL

P RA CTICE

45

How do you go about a timeline for a planning development? Zoning will tell you where to have residential and commercial. We concentrate the commercial zones where we have assets. We spend a lot of time trying to make sure the we can support local businesses and we want places to adapt the surrounding culture.

Sometimes new construction and development is created so fast and it consequently stands out so that it juxtaposes the culture, when ideally, we want it to blend in seamlessly.

We offer incentives and offer eminent domain so that we can acquire and assemble certain projects that we need, and we can create temporary projects for the area that might later be permanent. We look at cites like New York City, and created places that can promote business and then grow to be more permanent. The timelines for projects can be about 20 year recommendations so that we can ensure things work out, and some plans are 30 years- it depends on annual analysis and upkeep of the plan.

What for you personally is the most rewarding part of your job? There are great things about working for the city. Just as projects last for years, it takes a while to see the benefits of your work in the community and the lives of people becoming better. You go to committee meetings and fight until you get what you need. There are a lot of good intentions and when you explain how city policy works, and they understand the result, they are willing to work together and the city is not the enemy that is trying to destroy them, but instead protect them. The long-term effect I’ve seen, especially after seeing and traveling to many cities, is that we can add urban parks and public spaces. We talk a lot and we actually do things and get them done. We keep our word and our end results are the most tangible and most rewarding. I love to encourage areas of development to grow and become stronger and I love to give back to my own city and community.

What else does you job include?

We run analysis on populations and demographics and we have actually been losing residents.

But what saves us is that we have a diversified economy, and we depend in the downtown, tourism, manufacturing, and the entire combination keeps the city alive in the Midwest. We help create jobs that will keep our steady urban population. We keep the job market up to date with whatever is needed or changing to keep the economy going to and to keep bringing people to the city. We are always working to prevent crime and lower the levels of danger in areas. We have to work with design teams and architecture teams to figure out how we can tackle this problem together. Part of this is architecture itself and the materials it’s made of, and certain other things. We also encourage our architects to look at sustainable features and become LEED certified. I am passionate about my job and I love what I do to help the city. I am not shy or afraid to speak up to change things.

What is the hardest part of your job?

Dealing with architects- because they all want to worry about themselves, but we have to make recommendations so that we can consider everyone as a whole. Sometime the projects will go against our plans. We try to stay involved from the beginning and there are so many liabilities to worry about and we have one of the strongest governments. We want to make sure we get the best and we have to keep track of everything going on. Some contractors and architects will be difficult to work with or will refuse to cooperate. We ask that they take our recommendation for future problems and needs of certain areas and for certain people. People are constantly suing construction companies due to the mess they make. When all these things come up, you know the right thing to do, but things happen anyway that are out of your control. Things happen that aren’t the best and could have been done better for the greater overall whole. You can not be an expert on everything so you have to have those tough conversations and

put up fights.

What do you think about adaptive reuse and public housing?

The industrial corridor is receiving an influx of artists, and that’s where we keep codes so that spaces can be used for either residential or commercial uses.

We are not promoting a process of gentrification, we just need developers to follow the rules and the zones. We need developers to put more money in certain areas so they are fit for the proper use and affordable. We don’t want to replace people or industries.

We want to keep residential areas the same, and commercial the same, so we bring in architecture that is affordable by the normal everyday people. We like to create places for people to have fixed incomes.

Residential areas are affordable but they are still looking for cheaper rent and places that are closer to transportation and commuting everyday. There is housing that is subsidized by the government in certain areas so that people can have a place to live. We do our best to respond to the concern for housing for everyone at different levels of income. There are a lot of conflicts that will arise from the specific zoning of certain areas where it begins to devalue other property, or people not wanting specific housing near their neighborhoods. Then there becomes issues of human rights involved and government policies. I find myself standing up for the humanity of this world. There are things that are more important for people to exist and to live in the city to keep everything functioning correctly.

I N T ER VI EW S

46

RESPONSE TO ALL CONVERSATIONS PROFESSIONAL PRACTICE

RESPONSE

P RO F E SSI O NAL

P RA CTICE

RE SPONSE //

Throughout the duration of the semester, I had great opportunities to meet with many leaders and professionals throughout the city and within many different positions relating to the field of design. The importance of education within the broader spectrum of architecture and design is clearly exhibited by the enthusiasm, deep interest, and dedication of everyone involved with the Chicago Studio program. The conversations that I had the pleasure to engage in within my host firm, other firms involved, professionals individually, and other students have greatly refined and informed my ideas and views on architecture, design, professional environments, and life in general. The few individuals that I resonated with most, challenged me and further invigorated my passion for design. Tim Swanson has become a great mentor over the course of the semester and has continuously challenged my mind to fabricate and resolve relationships between ‘everything’ and architecture.

My conversations with Phil Enquist have spurred me to take a deep interest in city design and more so, the adaptation of our existing built environments.

Speaking with Brian Lee has given me a great amount of perspective as to the weight of architecture and the capabilities and responsibilities that we have. From the early lecture that Randy Guillot gave to the discussions I’ve had the opportunity to have with him since, the enthusiasm and strength of leadership is an inspiration to me and a precedent for the career ahead of me. Talking to Peter Ellis, the opportunities that he has had and the opportunities that he’s created within our field of work is a legacy. Sensible conversations with Don Copper have given me a person to relate with and a story that I deeply respect. All of this to say, this semester has proved the importance of relationships and a personable community within the profession of design. The depth and breath of wisdom and ideas that each individual carries is profound and every individual is worth the conversation. Simply put, that is the one biggest thing that I will take away

47

from Chicago Studio.

This is not only in response to interviews, but all conversations, formal an informal, casual and intellectual, dialogs and lectures, both on record and off record. The few selected pieces of thoughts and questions are simply chosen fragments. They are part of a larger conversation, both with those that I’ve interviewed, but also within a greater dialogue that is taking place among the profession. By conversing with many of these leaders and conversation instigators and participators, I have gotten a raw and active read of the current pulse of the profession and the discourse that surrounds it. It is this consistent and continuous string of dialogue that is directing the profession and weaving the fabric that makes up the never ending practice of architecture.

Through all the interviews, lectures, coffee conversations, lunch conversations, and work related conversations that I have had this semester, I have gained a great amount of knowledge about our field. These conversations have also taught me a lot about myself.

One of the greatest things that I have learned about myself through my talks and conversations with others, is in regards to the cultivation of interest. I have this ravishingly overcoming addiction to my curiosity.

It sounds simple, but the extremity of my curiosity has become evident this semester to others and clearly to myself.

Not knowing in depth anything about Tim apart from architecture, there is simply intellectual and social evidence of many interests, pursuits, and dedications outside of design.

The other large thing that I have pulled from my conversations and interactions with others, is to relax.

The training and environmental norms that I have experienced in architecture school are continuously a force that influences how I speak and how I learn. While there is a certain amount of intellectual severity that should be taken with architecture, at the end of the day, it’s only architecture. Life is broad and vast and holds much more for every individual than solely architecture.

With that, my time in Chicago and interactions with many has cultured my perspective and deepened my knowledge of architecture, but it has also taught me to take it easy, step back, an continuously challenge and reorient my perspective.

One of the greatest challenges that I have faced during my many conversations is simply my recreation outside of architecture.

Mental, social, and physical recreation is absolutely crucial. Brian Lee as well as Randy Guillot always said to make yourself interesting. Indulge yourself in many hobbies, crafts, activities, and obligations outside of architecture, so that they may inform your pursuits in design. Everything we do and engage in is a feedback loop. One thing influences the other and the other informs all. Tim Swanson is a great example of a man of many interests.

I N T ER VI EW S

48

MEM O I R S C S S 1 4

PR O

PRA CTICE

L CTRS

IN T R V W S

URBAN

MAPPING

PRNCPLS

C R M K

49

S TU D I O

RD CL

CNJCTRES

A N LY I S

URBN

PRPOSTN

IDNTITES

EXPERIENCE

P R ROX FB T U S E EP A S SN EI U O RN M A LI AD PP ER A P NC I IT CIN C E O G

50

E G O C NIC TI I CN P A RE PP DA IL M A NR U O IE NS A S PT E BF XOR R E P U S

51

U R B A N M A P P P R I N C I P L V I R G I N I A T C H I C A G O S T U S P R I N G S E M E S T E R

I

N

G E S E C H D I O 2 0 1 4

SUSTAI N I B I LI T ACCE S S I B I LI T DI VERS I T OP EN S PA C COMPAT I B I LI T IN C EN T I VE

Y Y Y E Y S

ADAP TA B I LI T Y DEN S I T Y I DEN T I T Y

52

NINE PLANNING PRINCIPLES CREDIT: HEATHER AND MARU

SUSTAINABILITY

SY NOPSIS//

The first principle of the book City Building: Nine Planning Principles for the 21st Century is sustainability.

It is chosen to head the list because it is an overarching principle which impacts all the others. It is crucial for urban planners to consider the sustainability of a project throughout the entire design process. The principle of sustainability does not only refer to environmental factors, but includes social and economic issues. Sustainability is a holistic design approach.

Sustainable urban planning can be broken down into two main efforts: conservation of the natural environment and smart city building.

The natural environment needs to be carefully considered whenever designing a city. It is important to calculate the environmental carrying capacity of the land, manage the land use in an area, maintain clean air and water, conserve open natural space, and use local resources. The built environment must also be constructed in a smart way. Strategic plans include using energy efficient systems, making dense developments, implementing efficient infrastructure, and utilizing local building materials.

Designing and building dense cities is a critical step towards achieving sustainability. Dense developments allow for maximum conservation of natural landscape and results in more livable spaces. In order to realize this condition, there needs to be cooperation and collaboration between regional and local governments. These groups working together can implement zoning and land use policies, inter-city transit infrastructure, economic sufficiency plans, and building code standards.

Combining these elements will result in the planning of economically, socially, and environmentally sustainable cities.

UR B A N

M APPI NG

53

BUILDING A CITY planned vs. unplanned

density vs. sprawl

urban infill

guiding populations

energy efficient materials

intercity transit

P RI N C I P LES

54

NINE PLANNING PRINCIPLES CREDIT: ANDREW AND KELSEY

ACCESSIBILITY

UR B A N

M APPI NG

SY NOPSIS//

Accessibility is about facilitating ease of movement and maximizing circulation. In order to design a more accessible city, one of the most important aspects to consider is the concentration of density within an efficient transit network. Compact developments can aid in reducing travel time, discouraging automobile use and encouraging walkability. By connecting concentrated pedestrianfriendly destinations with mass transit systems, the use of cars are reduced.

In order to better serve the pedestrian, breaking down large areas into small blocks and streets can provide safer and easier crossings, while also giving the road system redundancy.

If a breakdown occurs, parallel routes can provide traffic alternatives. When designing transit systems, having the ability to handle multiple modes of transport is beneficial.

Transportation, circulation, and access corridors should be considered when designing a city. Setting aside areas as land reserves for future transportation use can prevent possible demolition of buildings. Transit corridors should be located at the boundaries of districts without blocking important views to create more walkable areas. By reducing the size and radius of turns, traffic is forced to slow down, which makes the area safer for pedestrians.

Another way to increase pedestrian comfort is to consider the street types and design treatments. Wider sidewalks, designated mass transit, automobile, and bike lines, and landscape treatments can all work together to create a more pedestrianfriendly area.

In conclusion, considering the needs of pedestrians and transit requirements in design can lead to a more accessible city.

55

multiple modes of transportation

MULTIPLE MODES

EASE OF MOVEMENT

small blocks and streets

SMALL BLOCKS AND STREETS

EASE OF MOVEMENT

concentrated destinations

CONCENTRATED DESTINATIONS

EASE OF MOVEMENT

geometry and scale P RI N C I P LES

56

NINE PLANNING PRINCIPLES CREDIT: ANNA AND AARON

DIVERSITY

SY NOPSIS//

Diversification of a place occurs within two main categories; the built environment and the residents. The built environment can be varied through the conservation of natural landscapes or significant historic buildings, allowing for the character of a place to develop over time and authentically reflect its history. When developing new structures, design variation is important because it helps to increase visual variety. This can be accomplished by breaking larger parcels of land into smaller parcels and allowing different design approaches to take place. Design variation may be influenced by zoning laws, which over time vary building stock, or by simply allowing multiple design languages to be implemented. These strategies combine to create an urban landscape which is visually dynamic and representative of the people who inhabit it. However, simply creating an interesting and diverse building stock is not enough to keep people living and thriving in an area.

Mixed use can be used as the umbrella strategy for diversifying the cultural elements which draw people to a place, allowing them to find their niche and stay there. In this case, mixed use means more than just variation in the amenities and program of a development. Instead, it incorporates a larger scale of thinking, including accessible transit and practical proximity between amenities.

This concept of immediacy reduces the amount of sprawl, creating communities which are overall more viable for residents. It is also important to retain multiple levels of affordability within a mixed use development, thus maintaining economic diversity and combating social stratification. When all of these elements are brought together, in combination with other proven urban strategies, the result is a place which is rich in character as well as visual and intellectual interest.

UR B A N

M APPI NG

57

optimizing adjacency between uses

mixed use to reduce urban sprawl

MIXED USE

REDUCING SPRAWL

+

=

conservation of historic structures

VISUAL VARIETY

CONSERVATION

P RI N C I P LES

58

NINE PLANNING PRINCIPLES CREDIT: BRYCE AND ADRIENNE

OPEN SPACE

SY NOPSIS//

The presence of open space within an urban environment is imperative for reasons pertaining to human health, natural habitats, and the quality of living environments.

Open space should take into account the preexisting habitat and natural systems. When designing large open spaces surrounding wildlife, migration corridors should be preserved. The ground plane needs to remain porous to accommodate watersheds that often exist surrounding flood plains, rivers, and drainage corridors. The isolation of park spaces should distance habitat from human contact, creating various spaces of sensitivity to natural habitats.

Recreation and urban landscape is an important type of open space for the health and quality of life within dense living conditions.

Open space intended for recreational use and human activities should be programmed accordingly. The urban landscape should contain green spaces for environmental purposes that improve the quality of life such as cooling air, filtering polluted runoff, and absorbing carbon dioxide.

Various scales of open spaces should be distributed within an urban fabric in accordance to easy accessibility.

Lastly, open space is a crucial element of any built environment for the visual and spatial relief that it offers.

Conserving man-made and natural landscape such as hills, rivers, parks, and skylight strengthens contextual characteristics.

Views should be preserved, providing visual relief from the built environment, and highlighting landscaped contextual characteristics. Physical connection to these preserved views are important as it creates a release from cities and prevents the applicability of the island effect within the built environment.

UR B A N

M APPI NG

59

Programmed open spaces for human activities vs. open spaces that accomadate industrial and infrastructural needs.

Large open spaces for habitat and natrual systems such as water runoff and watersheds.

Different scales of open park spaces for recreation in proximity to living areas.

Dense living conditions surround open space creating islands that isolate wildlife.

P RI N C I P LES

60

NINE PLANNING PRINCIPLES CREDIT: ISAAC AND LINDSEY

COMPATIBILITY

SY NOPSIS//

“In deciding whether buildings are to stand out or fit in, the principle [of compatibility] suggests that elements of similarity are just as important in establishing a recognizable, identifiable sense of place as elements of singularity.”

Throughout the process of design, context should constantly influence a project. This means checking the proposal against current conditions, and looking at it as a part of the whole of the city. Designers should reference not only the surrounding urban landscape of today, but also the city’s historical context. In addition, designers should try to account for future conditions, even postulate as to what changes their project might spark in the urban fabric.

At the resolution of individual buildings, scale is a major factor in establishing compatibility. Parcel size, as well as height and setbacks can be regulated to form an urban consensus. However, allowances should be made for some variation, interest, and relief. If desired, a height difference of up to two times can create a landmark building, but anything much above that will seem out of place and “freakish.” Likewise, large parcel sizes break the continuity of the city. Beyond scale, designers are confronted with the temporal matter of style. In many ways, the built environment is a visual timeline of history. Every architect or planner of a new project has to ask themselves how much they want to reference and reflect the context, “respect [the] surroundings,” and how much do they want to deviate, in order to be “of [the] time?” How should the character of the building sit in this timeline?

These questions are answered primarily through decisions of material and detailing, color and historical preservation.

Compatibility is about the broader sense of place; about both similarity and difference. Seeking to respect the existing character and qualities of a site, compatibility in design makes way for the values of today and the possibilities of the future.

UR B A N

M APPI NG

61

P RI N C I P LES

62

NINE PLANNING PRINCIPLES CREDIT: PATRICK AND JOHN

INCENTIVES

UR B A N

M APPI NG

SY NOPSIS//

Incentives for expanding or building a city generally focus on areas that have underused land, infrastructure, or buildings, such as spaces that are in economic decline or brownfields.

This development is commonly carried out by governmental or private organizations to facilitate further investment. The most common incentives are: tax reductions; subsidies for land costs; site assembly and preparation; new infrastructure for transportation and utilities; health care, education, and public safety services; open space and landscape beautification; and additional density allowances. A growing, livable city is an attraction for talented individuals who in turn will accelerate the success and expansion of the city life and attractive spaces. This development process is found, planned, and defined through master planning and infrastructure improvement.

The master plan provides a strategic approach for attracting new investments, city growth and development, and a defined focus for the future of the city.

The master plan is designed around development quality, beautification, and value enhancement. Development Quality focuses on circulation, open spaces, and phases of building construction as a framework for potential investors.

Landscape beautification of streets, parks, and waterfronts are one of the main methods of attracting investments to a particular area. Value enhancement consolidates existing land parcels and adds additional density to the plot which, in turn, adds further value to the property. The second direction for city development is through infrastructure improvements, which are done through access improvements and the creation of public facilities. By improving the infrastructure of a space to facilitate the ease of access into those areas, transit oriented development follows these constructs; malls, restaurants, hotels, and other like facilities being commonly found near a major access point such as a subway station. This can be accomplished through transit and street redesign, new bicycle paths, pedestrian walkways, parking,

63

and other access improvements. The creation of public facilities such as airports, convention center, ballparks, museums, performance halls, cultural and educational facilities all create new jobs and draw in visitors and economic revenue. These facilities can also add value and revenue to one another, such as a new convention center attracting new hotels which attracts new restaurants and entertainment venues.

social center

school

residential

main transit axis

unused developer rights transfered

historic building preserved

P RI N C I P LES

64

NINE PLANNING PRINCIPLES CREDIT: RACHEL AND GREG

ADAPTABILITY

SY NOPSIS//

Adaptability, as framed by Kriken, is focused on the goal of creating cities that are flexible over time.

More flexibility enables designers to conserve resources and history as a city ages. Designers are expected to take into account the needs of a progressive urban landscape, while maintaining the vibrancy of the built environment. The main points of adaptability are centralized expansion, smaller modules, conservation of open space, and viability of communities. All of these topics overlap in their effects and intentions, developing a balance between adaptation and innovation.

Centralized expansion supports an efficient and understandable cityscape. By maintaining focal zones of established areas, both the sense of incompleteness and debris from new construction are separated from daily life. The finished center serves as an orientation device for visitors.

Planning with smaller parcels of land encourages the most efficient use of valuable space that centers on the pedestrian. Parcels can be combined to create distinct programmatic groupings that can later be reallocated as uses change. A high degree of walkability, supported by maintaining accessible walkways through larger buildings, connects these disparate elements of the city and supports collaboration.

Open space is a precious commodity in the city. For urban dwellers to receive a share of wind, sun, view, and green spaces, cities must prioritize the maintenance and development of flexible open spaces.

The economics of the city are such that the supporting elements of daily life must be integrated into every community. Shops, gyms, residences, and businesses can be developed in a mutually supportive way. The viability of communities also rely on simple spatial decisions. Engaging the street and pedestrians results in a more comprehensive use of buildings, which can support a change in program later in time.

UR B A N

M APPI NG

65

Most of the moves that support adaptability are common sense, but they are also often overlooked, as designers seek to develop their personal ideas. While the expression of concept is important in the success of a design, the awareness of and engagement with more general issues is just as crucial. Adaptability will make any design much more valuable, especially as cities become more crowded and adaptive reuse becomes mandatory.

DIRECTION OF EXPANSION

60’s

70’s

00’s

80’s

90’s

REUSE

RENOVATE ADD

DIRECTION OF EXPANSION

MIX

ADAPT

general practice

optimal practice

BENEFITS

PRINCIPLE SEVEN: ADAPTABILITY PLANNED EXPANSION

VACANT LOTS

COMPLETE CORE

INCOMPLETE NEIGHBORHOOD

DEVELOPMENTS DEVELOPMENTS

PERMANENT PERMANENT OPEN SPACE SPACE OPEN

GENERAL PRACTICE PRACTICE GENERAL

OPTIMAL PRACTICE PRACTICE OPTIMAL

PARK PARK

SCALED CITY PLANNING

OPEN SPACE

P RI N C I P LES

66

NINE PLANNING PRINCIPLES CREDIT: ALEC AND ETHAN

DENSITY

SY NOPSIS//

Density is defined by the number of people living or working on a given unit of land. It varies based on many factors, but culture is the most influential. Developing countries tend to have a density of about 100 square feet per family while more developed countries have about 1,000 square feet for every 2 people. Another determinant of density is the terrain in the location of a place. Mountains, rivers, oceans and other natural boundaries impose limits and dictate the urban fabric.

When dealing with city design, there are three elements to consider in effort to achieve a livable city: Integrating transit with shopping, business, and entertainment with residential areas to support efficient transit and encourage walking.

A suggested density of 300 dwellings per acre to maximize views, sunlight, and adequate open space.

Establishing amenities (recreational, cultural, and supportive services) to activate the street at all times.

Implementing these elements, higher density, mixed-use corridors connect areas by means of public transportation.

Strengthening neighborhoods provide a base for the density to form. Protecting landmarks, parks, and industrial areas, which are essential to a city and neighborhood character, bring economic benefit for the density to thrive. Lastly, expanding open spaces begins to make the higher density more enjoyable for residents.

Sprawling development destroys irreplaceable land, wastes energy and infrastructure, and causes millions of hours lost in commutes. Through transit oriented development, careful planning, and providing adequate amenities, these densities are sustainable, livable, and achievable.

UR B A N

M APPI NG

67

establish grid

green space

city fabric

infrastructure

sensible growth

brownfield sites

FINANCIAL DISTRICT

FINANCIAL DISTRICT

RESIDENTIAL

financial districts

establish neighborhoods

residential districts

P RI N C I P LES

68

NINE PLANNING PRINCIPLES CREDIT: ERIN AND CATHRINE

IDENTITY

SY NOPSIS//

Identity is creating and preserving a unique and memorable sense of place. The primary sources through which cities achieve identity are natural features, climate, culture, and design.

Because each one of these elements can vary, it gives uniqueness to cities because of the infinite combinations.

The greatest challenge for modern city builders is designing fast-growing, yet livable cities. Such fast development can hinder builders from recognizing and utilizing attributes of a specific city, causing these elements to not have time to develop into rich and deep ideas.

On the other hand, generic components of a city can stitch together the urban fabric in an otherwise dense area with too many variables. The generic then becomes the background for specific landmarks and cultures to develop a sense of place.

A good city must involve the public interest to protect and enhance the city’s uniqueness over the private interest that threaten it. However, the development of identity can be inhibited by conflicting interests, such as too many monumental icons that don’t respect their existing context.

Establishing identity within a city is difficult and can be faced with many challenges. Many of the issues are common among cities, such as environmental sameness, repetition of elements, places that are hard to comprehend, a sense of being lost, and a lack of natural features.

By utilizing existing conditions and recognizing a city’s potential, it is possible to create a sense of identity.

UR B A N

M APPI NG

69

issues: environmental sameness, repetition of elements, places that are hard to comprehend /sense of being lost, and lack of natural features

P RI N C I P LES

70

E G O C NIC TI I CN P A RE PP DA IL M A NR U O IE NS A S PT E BF XOR R E P U S

71

U R B A N M A P P C E R M A K A X V I R G I N I A T C H I C A G O S T U S P R I N G S E M E S T E R

I

N I E C D I 2 0 1

G S H O 4

72

NINE PLANNING PRINCIPLES IMPLEMENTATION ON PROJECT SITE

POTENTIAL OF CERMAK

UR B A N

M APPI NG

Creating an outdoor recreation park upon the historic Icke Homes site becomes a new magnet for density on the south side of Chicago. Open space also creates incentive for more residential zoning in the surrounding area. The park functions as a place for the migratory birds that are being displaced by the development of Northerly Island. Being that the Cermak axis is a heavily industrialized corridor, the green space provides the necessary landscape for the treatment and filtration of the land and air. One of the parks amenities is a retainment pond that collects rain water from the site and uses it for multiple uses within the surrounding neighborhoods.

The park is bordered by the Metra train line, a highway system, State Street, and Cermak Road. The highway is a major infrastructure system but a soft border for the park as the park has potential to run south through the grounds of most of Chicago’s depleted social housing. The park activates the boarders of State Street and Cermak Road as it encourages a dense urban street front opposing the park. The school located within the Northeast corner of the park utilizes the park as a classroom and tends to the care of the trees. Through the education of students and the landscape of the park, many natural and raw resources are being cultivated for the continuing development and construction of the immediate neighborhoods.

73

MAJOR BIKE / BUS / CAR ARTERY

CTA RED LINE METRA REGIONAL LINE

CTA GREEN LINE

A round-a-bout intersection allows for ease of traffic and greater efficiency of mobility. This type of an intersection activates street corners and is perceivably more pedestrian friendly, creating a safer outdoor space. The round-a-bout doubles as a pedestrian entrance into the park and acts as a visual boundary and landmark for the development of Cermak Road into an entertainment district.

C ER M A K

A X I S

74

MEM O I R S C S S 1 4

PR O

PRA CTICE

L CTRS

IN T R V W S

URBAN

MAPPING

PRNCPLS

C R M K

75

S TU D I O

RD CL

CNJCTRES

A N LY I S

URBN

PRPOSTN

IDNTITES

EXPERIENCE

P R ROX FB T U S E EP A S SN EI U O RN M A LI AD PP ER A P NC I IT CIN C E O G

76

E G O C NIC TI I CN P A RE PP DA IL M A NR U O IE NS A S PT E BF XOR R E P U S

77

S T U D I R A D I C A L C O N J E C T V I R G I N I A T C H I C A G O S T U S P R I N G S E M E S T E R

O U R E S E C H D I O 2 0 1 4

CHINAT OW N I S LA N D RUBI K ’S C UBE AUDIOCEPT I C S PA C ES

78

RADICAL CONJECTURE 1 TABULA RASA Using manipulation of perception to create a world that is perceived to be isolated from any other context, China Town will be an attraction for Chicago residents, and Americans at large, as a themed park that embodies the themes, culture, feats, monuments, and architecture of China’s extensive history as well as it’s presence, as a leading global power.

city of

CHINATOWN ISLAND

social s

chinatown chamber of commerc chinese american service league

immigration services center the phoenix restauran ten ren tea and ginseng co.

minghin

chi cafe

restaur

chinese-american museum of chicago

y

ferris wheel

jin mao tower of terror

cctv tower climber

ping p

Is Chinatown more a thematic tourist attrac

是中国城更多的是主题旅游景点

S T U D I O

79

chicago

services

ce

nt

asian-american coalition of chicago

immigration services center career services center ken kee restaurant double li restaurant

exchequer restaurant lao shanghai restaurant n cuisine restaurant lao beijing restaurant

rant row

yee heung seafood house restaurant chinatown cultural center wendella boats

bullet boomer coaster

pier park

submarine rides

chinatown photo mural wall

ction, or does it remain ethnically authentic?

点,或者它是否仍然是种族真的吗 lake michigan port

RADICAL

C O N J EC T UR ES

80

RADICAL CONJECTURE 2 MEGA BLOCK The continuous recomposition of context via the preexisting logic of a Rubik’s cube explores latent opportunity by means of reorganizing sites along the Cermak corridor.

RUBIK’S CUBE

S T U D I O

81

THE

T

ING HINK

HAND

RADICAL

C O N J EC T UR ES

82

RADICAL CONJECTURE 3 CARTOGRAPHIC ARCHITECTURE Through the mapping of audioceptic conditions found along the Cermak axis, a series of perceived spatial conditions can be imagined. The architectural idea is a sequence of extreme spatial conditions where the pure form of the rooms creates a variety of environments for the recording and recreation of sounds of the urban fabric.

AUDIOCEPTIC SPACES

soundscape perception

visual reality

S T U D I O

83

RADICAL

C O N J EC T UR ES

84

S T U D I O

85

level 8

level 7

level 6

level 5

level 4

level 3

level 2

level 1

level 0

RADICAL

C O N J EC T UR ES

86

E G O C NIC TI I CN P A RE PP DA IL M A NR U O IE NS A S PT E BF XOR R E P U S

87

S T U D I M A P P I N G A N A L Y S I V I R G I N I A T E C C H I C A G O S T U D I S P R I N G S E M E S T E R 2 0 1

T RANSPOR TAT I O N V EHIC ULA R BIKE RO UT E ZO N I N G GANG T ERRIT ORI ES AT M OSPH ERI C AUDIOCE P T I C TRA S H REGIONAL FOR C ES IMM EDIAT E FORC ES ST REE T WALL FO RC ES SIT E DE N S I T Y

O S H O 4

M M M M M M M M M M M M

A A A A A A A A A A A A

P P P P P P P P P P P P

88

CERMAK AXIS ASHLAND RD. TO MCCORMICK PL. This map displays the many methods of public transportation that intersect with the Cermak axis.

TRANSPORATION MAP

18

18TH

HOYNE

DAMEN

N62 21

CERMAK

DAMEN

HALSTED

50 755

855 62 ASHLAND

S T U D I O

8

4

89

pink line orange line red line cta busses pace busses metra commuter rail

855

MCCORMICK PLACE

ARCHER

CERMAKCHINATOWN

1 4

21

24

2 29

6 10 J14 26 28

44 3

M APPIN G

A N A LY S I S

90

CERMAK AXIS ASHLAND RD. TO MCCORMICK PL. This map displays the many different arteries and paths of movement for vehicular traffic surrounding the Cermak axis.

VEHICULAR MAP

S T U D I O

91

highways 4-lane roads 2-lane roads 2-lane roads (narrow)

M APPIN G

A N A LY S I S

92

CERMAK AXIS ASHLAND RD. TO MCCORMICK PL. This map displays the ever increasing network of bike paths, lanes, and bike friendly routes surrounding the Cermak axis.

BIKE ROUTE MAP

S T U D I O

93

divvy bike share stations bike routes buffer-protected bike lanes barrier-protected bike lanes off-street trails bike lanes

M APPIN G

A N A LY S I S

94

CERMAK AXIS ASHLAND RD. TO MCCORMICK PL. This map shows the many different zones that compose the urban fabric surrounding the Cermak axis.

ZONING MAP

S T U D I O

95

business commercial manufacturing residential planned development planned manufacturing downtown service downtown mixed downtown residential parks + open space

M APPIN G

A N A LY S I S

96

CERMAK AXIS ASHLAND RD. TO MCCORMICK PL. The Cermak axis is riddled with gang territories and boundaries that are GANGSTER DISCIPLES GANGSTER DISCIPLES constantly shifting and migrating.

This map shows the shadow of gang COBRAS territoriesMICKEY in 2008 and the current COBRAS boundaries MICKEY of gang territories today in ALMIGHTY BISHOPS the foreground.

ALMIGHTY ALMIGHTYAMBROSE BISHOPS GANGSTER PARTY PEOPLE GANGALLPORT TERRITORIES MAP ALMIGHTY AMBROSE LOVERS LA RAZA

S T U D I O

GANGSTER PARTY PEOPLE ALMIGHTY INSANE LATIN COUNTS MORGAN BOYS LA RAZA ALMIGHTY INSANE LATIN COUNTS

97

SATAN

morgan boys satan disciples la raza all port lovers gangster party people DISCIPLES almighty ambrose almighty bishops mickey cobras gangster disciples almighty insane latin counts

M APPIN G

A N A LY S I S

98

CERMAK AXIS LUMBER ST. TO MCCORMICK PL. This map is a verbal description of the current feelings and emotions evoked when walking the Cermak axis, layered with potential perceptions of feelings that the Cermak axis could encourage.

ATMOSPHERIC MAP

COLORFUL

CLUSTERED

ATTRACTIVE

DIVERSITY

POPULATED ABANDONED NATURE

POPULATED TIMEWORN

APPEALING NATURE ABANDONED

COMMUNITY

NATURE ACTIVE QUIET QUIET

CRIME

DIVERSITY

FAMILIAR

QUIET ABANDONED VITAL ACTIVE QUIET

COLORFUL

LIVELY CLUSTERED CULTURAL SOCIAL COLORFUL COMMUNITY

VITAL VITAL LOUD

TIMEWORN NEW

LIGHT VANDALIZED LOUD SECURE COMMUNITY

ACTIVE

SOCIAL SOCIAL

DIVERSITY LONELY ACTIVE CONNECTED TIMEWORN CONNECTIVE POPULATED UNSAFE DENSE UNSAFE VITAL GLOOMY LONELY APPEALING TIMEWORN VIBRANT SAFE COMMERCE UNSAFE GLOOMY POPULATED VITAL UNSAFE VITAL DENSE LONELY DARK LIVELY

SYMBOLIC

FAMILIAR UNSAFE CONNECTIVE

SAFE LONELY

VIVID

S

OCCU UNS

CLEAN CONNECTION DARK

COMMERCE COMMERCE

CRIME SAFE D CLEAN DARKD OPPOR

BARRIER DIVERSITY BARRIER

SYMBOLIC SYMBOLIC SYMBOLIC

VI EM

TIMEWORN ACTIVE POPULATED CRIME CULTURAL VIBRANT ACTIVE UNSAFE ACTIVE UNSAFE LOUD ACTIVE DENSE COMMUNITY POLLUTED NEW OLD VIBRANT VIBRANT COMMUNITY COMMUNITY CRIMEAPPEALING POLLUTED LIVELY COMMUNITY VIBRANT CRIME LIVELY

VIBRANT DIVERSITY

CULTURAL

ATTRACTION

OVERWHELMING

S T U D I O

DENS POLLU

DEFINED LOUD

LIVELY DIVERSITY BARRIER COMMUNITY NATURE TIMEWORN SAFE DARK VITAL DARK INDUSTRY INDUSTRY SOCIAL SOCIAL CLUSTERED ABANDONED DARK SAFE LIGHT DARK SOCIAL

LOUD DIVERSE

POLLUTE POLLU SAFE

COLORFUL

CLUSTERED

SAFE

V

SPACIOUS

OPPO

99

existing characteristics potential characteristics

VAGUE

ED SPACIOUS OPPORTUNITY UTED

EXCITING MONOTONOUS

DIVERSITY MONOTONOUS APPEALING SE UTED STILL SPACIOUS OPENNESS VIVID VIBRANT LIFELESS SPACIOUS POPULATED STILL LIFELESS VIBRANT

CLEAN

CONNECTED SILENT

VITAL STILL DULL ISOLATED SILENTACTIVE ACTIVE DENSE ATTRACTIVE STILL LONGORDERED ACTIVE ISOLATED ATTRACTION OPENNESS DENSE SECURE

LIFELESS ISOLATED APPEALING ACTIVE VIBRANT SAFE UPIED MONOTONOUS ALIVE DULL

SAFE

CONNECTED OVERWHELMING

APPEALING DISCONNECTED COMMUNITY NEW VAGUE DULL DIVERSE DIRTY OPENNESS VITAL

KN

CLEAN

SAFE LONG

RTUNITY VITAL

CLEAN

COMMERCE

ACTIVE CORPORATE VITAL CONTAINED OLD CONTAINED

ATTRACTION

CONNECTED UNUSED MPTY ITAL NEIGHBORHOOD POPULATED DISCONNECTED BARRIER

ACTIVE DIRTY

VIBRANT VACANT

S

ACTIVE UNUSED

VACANT

SILENT

SECURE

DENSE LONELY

OLD NEW OPPORTUNITY ALIVE OLD CONNECTIVITY LONG OPENNESS

CLEAN

ISOLATED

SECURE

CONTAINED

CONNECTED OVERWHELMING

SECURE

ORTUNITY

M APPIN G

A N A LY S I S

100

CERMAK AXIS ASHLAND RD. TO MCCORMICK PL. The next few pages are the mapping of noise heard along the Cermak axis, from Ashland Road to McCormick Place.

The literal recording of the Cermak axis by our audioceptic sensory perception of the area is diagrammed by a set of symbols, representing the soundtrack heard along Cermak.

AUDIOCEPTIC MAP

S T U D I O

101

vehicular pedestrian mechanical overpass + train aircraft

M APPIN G

A N A LY S I S

102

S T U D I O

103

vehicular pedestrian mechanical overpass + train aircraft

M APPIN G

A N A LY S I S

104

S T U D I O

105

vehicular pedestrian mechanical overpass + train aircraft

M APPIN G

A N A LY S I S

106

CERMAK AXIS LUMBER ST. TO MCCORMICK PL. The images are an example of trash samples found along the Cermak axis between Lumber Street and McCormick Place. Using trash as a point of reference, one can easily infer social classes and demographics by means of analyzing brands and types of trash within different parts of the surveyed area.

TRASH MAP

LUMBER STREET

S T U D I O

107

food + non-alcoholic drinks miscellaneous alcohol paper construction cigarettes

MCCORMICK PLACE

M APPIN G

A N A LY S I S

108

FUTURE HIGH SPEED RAIL MIDWEST REGION There are many forces that act upon and interact with the Cermak axis.

Surrounding regional cities easily become forces that influence Chicago as a whole, not to mention their influence on Cermak axis. With the coming technology of high speed rail, Chicago is forecasted to become a regional hub for these trains, likely being located near the Cermak axis.

REGIONAL FORCES MAP minneapolis

milwaukee kalamazoo des moines

omaha

chicago south bend

quincy

indianapolis

topeka kansas city

st. louis

louisville S T U D I O

109

3 HOURS

montreal ottawa 2 HOURS

toronto rochester 1 HOUR

syracuse

albany

buffalo hartford

detroit

toledo

new york city

cleveland

trenton pittsburgh

philadelphia

columbus

cincinnati

M APPIN G

A N A LY S I S

110

POINTS OF INTEREST GREATER CITY AREA More immediate forces that influence the Cermak axis and the potential for the vacant land of the old Icke Homes site, are the municipal and cultural stadiums and centers as well as districts unique to the area.

IMMEDIATE FORCES MAP

uic

pilsen industrial corridor

c union stock yards union stock yards S T U D I O

111

millennium park

soldier field

northerly island

mccormick place

iit

comiskey park

M APPIN G

A N A LY S I S

112

URBAN STREET WALL HISTORIC ICKE HOME SITE Upon the vacant site of the old social housing development, there are many contextual forces that interact and influence the site such as dead end streets, infrastructure, neighboring buildings and communities, and the National Teachers Academy, the only existing structure on site.

STREET WALL FORCES MAP

24th street

train infrastructure

S T U D I O

113

federal street gateway

23rd street

hillard homes M APPIN G

A N A LY S I S

114

CHINATOWN SUPERIMPOSED HISTORIC ICKE HOME SITE The following is an analytical model of the historic Icke Homes site that currently lies vacant, overlayed with the density and grain of Chicago’s Chinatown which resides across the Red Line from the site. This model acts as a tool, relating the un-precieveable scale of the site to a known and measurable scale.

SITE DENSITY MAP

S T U D I O

115

M APPIN G

A N A LY S I S

116

E G O C NIC TI I CN P A RE PP DA IL M A NR U O IE NS A S PT E BF XOR R E P U S

117

S T U D I U R B A N P R O P O S I T I O V I R G I N I A T E C C H I C A G O S T U D I S P R I N G S E M E S T E R 2 0 1

O N H O 4

C O N C EP T S I T E GE NERAT IVE COMM UNIT IE S DI A G R A M SIT E CONNECT IV IT Y DRAW I N G T IMBE R PRODUCT ION DRAW I N G T IM BE R CONST RUCT ION DRAW I N G IT ERAT IONS OF BLOCK DRAW I N G S CATALOGUE OF OPEN S PA C ES CRIT ICAL T IMBE R DETAILS DRAW I N G SECT ION DRAW I N G INT ERIOR/E XT E RIOR SPACES DRAW I N G GE NERAT IVE COMM UNIT Y DRAW I N G PROCES S W O RK

118

URBAN PROPOSITION HISTORIC ICKE HOME SITE Creating a high density housing development that is sustainable not only environmentally, but economically, socially, relationally, contextually, and culturally.

URBAN EC INTERWOVEN CONCEPT

S T U D I O

119

COSYSTEM CONNECTION A NETWORK OF CONNECTIONS CREATED BY INTERWEAVING SPATIAL CONDITIONS TO CULTIVATE INTERACTION AND COMMUNITY.

URBAN

PR O P O S I T I O N

120

HEROLD ICKE SOCIALHOUSING LAND STATE ST. AND CERMAK RD. The site previously was home to a large social housing development commonly known as Icke Homes. This vast project housed roughly 4,000 people of different races, occupations, and statuses. Within the housing units, various exceptionally strong communities developed, using unconventional spaces and individual units for gathering and providing services for one another. These communities were sorts of informal settlements among the buildings.

SITE

S T U D I O

121

URBAN

PR O P O S I T I O N

122

GENERATIVE COMMUNITIES CREATED OVER TIME The following is a diagram of the process of building from the education of locals for the building process, the coordination and construction of the development, the creation of living residents, the addition of economic and cultural amenities, and the building of community within the built environment.

CREATING COMMUNITY

EDUCATION JOBS

HARVESTING

INDUSTRIAL

STATE ST.

ON SITE LUMBER ST.

S T U D I O

123

SOCIAL

ECONOMIC

CONSTRUCTION

DENSIFICATION

CUSTOMIZATION

CULTURAL

RESIDENTIAL

COMMUNITY

OPEN SPACES

FORESTRY PARKS GREEN HOUSES

COMMERCIAL

ECONOMIC

URBAN

PR O P O S I T I O N

W

(FLO

124

RELATIONSHIP TO TRANSPORTATION SITE IMPACT ON SURROUNDINGS The site is embedded within a vast network of transportation systems from barges by way of river, to freight traveling on three different tracks, let alone heavy highway infrastructure and a complex city grid system for vehicular traffic. The ease of access is opportune for the export and import of materials and goods.

The strong connection with the river allows for the harvesting and production of timber on and surrounding the site.

ER MB U L

SITE CONNECTIVITY

ET RE ST

H

O

F

CH

IC

AG

O

RIV

ER

CERMAK ROAD

SO

S T U D I O

UT

H

A BR

NC

CHICAG O T RANSIT AUTHO RITY GREEN LINE

CHICAG

REIGH T 125

URBAN

PR O P O S I T I O N

126

THE PRODUCTION OF MATERIALS TRANSFORMATION OF SITE USES The land is seeded, cultivating a forest of trees for the production of timber, injecting life into the local economy.

The act of training those to tend to the forest and harvest the wood, educates the population. The building of the site, block by block, generates community within the process and sustains the newly generated community within the development.

TIMBER PRODUCTION

S T U D I O

127

URBAN

PR O P O S I T I O N

128

TIMBER PRODUCED ON SITE TRANSFORMATION OF SITE The wooded forest is transformed into a wooded community by the cultivation of trees into cross laminated timber products for the construction of the buildings. The wood structured community becomes a celebration of the community developed and reminiscent of the forest, housing a new urban ecosystem.

TIMBER CONSTRUCTION

S T U D I O

129

URBAN

PR O P O S I T I O N

130

NORTHEAST CORNER MASTERPLAN MASTER PLAN ITERATIONS As the site is developed block by block, sequentially over time, the ecological forest is transformed into a urban forest.

The land that holds the forest becomes the land that holds the development, with the open spaces of the masterplan sustaining pockets of the original forest.

The pockets of open space serve the community in providing programed and unprogrammed spaces of gathering.

ITERATIONS OF BLOCK

S T U D I O

131

commercial residential business

URBAN

PR O P O S I T I O N

132

PROGRAMMED EXTERIOR SPACES COMMUNAL SPACES Within the modern city, open space is becoming progressively critical to the health and well-being of communities.

From the filtration and purification of the land and air that these open spaces provides, to the recreational space and view corridors that come with these spaces, both programmed and unprogrammed open spaces are necessary for the health of a community.

CATALOGUE OF SPACES

S T U D I O

133

URBAN

PR O P O S I T I O N

134

CROSS LAMINATED TIMBER 1/2� = 1’ The craft of timber construction is intellectually, socialy, and economically critical to the community that occupies the structures. Just as a collection of trees creates a miniature ecosystem, the community that lives within is reminiscent of this ecosystem. The craft and the spatial capabilities of timber construction provides opportunity for the training and housing of workers. The cost of timber construction is economically realistic and suitable to all social classes.

CRITICAL TIMBER DETAILS

A B

S T U D I O

135

A B

TYPICAL COLUMN 1 rigid insulation concrete ring beam

A B C D

TYPICAL COLUMN 2 laminated timber column metal bracket concrete topping cross-laminated timber panel

A

B C D

URBAN

PR O P O S I T I O N

136

A B

S T U D I O

137

A B

TYPICAL PARTITION 1 concrete to timber tie-rod concrete power-actuated fastener

A B C D

TYPICAL PARTITION 2 gypsum board metal stud with insulation wood trim power-actuated fastner

A B C

D

URBAN

PR O P O S I T I O N

138

A

B

C

S T U D I O

139

A B C

EXTERIOR COLUMN DETAIL laminated timber column metal pin bracket gravel fill

A B C

TYPICAL EXTERIOR WALL wood panel wood sheathing rigid insulation

A B C

URBAN

PR O P O S I T I O N

140

A

B C D

S T U D I O

141

A B C D

TYPICAL EXTERIOR GLAZING insulated glazing unit aluminium mullion wood sheathing wood panel

A B C D E

TYPICAL RAILING DETAIL wood handrail copper screen metal clip steel wide flange copper sheathing

A

B C D

E

URBAN

PR O P O S I T I O N

142

A B C

D

S T U D I O

143

A B C D

TYPICAL BALCONY DETAIL wood decking metal grate drainage sublayer copper sheathing

A B C D E

TYPICAL PARAPET DETAIL wood handrail soil gravel fill rigid insulation weatherproofing

A

B C D E

URBAN

PR O P O S I T I O N

144

UNITS ORGANIZED BY OPEN SPACE COMMUNAL SPACE BUILDING SCHEME The proposal for a timber constructed residential building fosters community not only within the built environment, but in the construction and erection of the structure. The various community spaces that exist within the clearings in the units, creates an overall hierarchy and order to the organization and circulation of the building.

BUILDING SECTION

S T U D I O

145

URBAN

PR O P O S I T I O N

146

UNITS ORGANIZED BY OPEN SPACE RESIDENTIAL UNITS The residential building houses various sizes of residential units, all containing interior and exterior spaces. Exterior unit spaces provides opportunities for gardens, patios, events, etc.

The range of strictly defined to the delineated exterior unit space provides a range of privacies throughout the building. The delineation of boundaries between community spaces and residential open spaces promotes a greater sense of ownership over the community.

INTERIOR/EXTERIORSPACES

S T U D I O

147

URBAN

PR O P O S I T I O N

148

MAKING OF A MODERN COMMUNITY TRANSFORMATION OF SITE Over the course of time, the site is seeded, harvested, raised, milled, constructed, and occupied. From the process of tending the forest to tending to the community, the narrative of the forest generates a community by the act of making and the community generates the built environment through the act of sustaining.

GENERATIVE COMMUNITY

S T U D I O

149

URBAN

PR O P O S I T I O N

150

WORKS OF ITERATION FRAGMENTS OF THE STORY The story of the forest and the community is an ongoing saga. As the worker tends to the forest and creates the home, the author tends to the narrative and creates the plot. The following is a collection of pieces to the story that is certainly not irrelevant as it has crafted the story to what it has become.

PROCESS WORK

MODEL OF CONFIGURATION AT 500 FT²

MODEL OF CONFIGURATION AT 500 FT²

CONCEPT OF LIVING

1 BED APARTMENT (500 SF)

2 BED APARTMENT (500 SF)

ROTATION 3

ROTATION 2

ROTATION 1

STUDIO APARTMENT (500 SF)

CONCEPT OF LIVING

UNIT TESSELATION

NARRATIVE OF LIVING

S T U D I O PRECEDENT (mgb ARCHITECTURE + DESIGN)

CONCEPT OF STRUCTURE

PRECEDENT (mgb ARCHITECTURE + DESIGN)

151

30’

30’

DESK DESK

KITCHEN KITCHEN

OPEN TO TERRACE

10’

OPEN TO TERRACE

QUEEN BED

QUEEN BED

R W/DR W/D SHOWER SHOWER

10’

TWIN BUNKS UTIL. UTIL. TWIN BUNKS CURTAIN

TABLETABLE

CURTAIN

10’

OPEN TO BELOW OPEN TO BELOW

10’

SCREEN MEDIAMEDIA SCREEN

20’

20’

1 PLAN 1/4” = 1’

LEVEL 2 PLAN 1/4” = 1’

ONCEPT OF LIVING

CONCEPT OF LIVING

MAK

STA TE

CER

SUMMER / WINTER WINDS VIEWS SUN PATH

CHICKEN STEAK BARBACOA CARNITAS

A

STUDIO

FAJITA VEGETABLES

C

A B

1000 ² ft - 2 BR

C

PUBLIC

COMMERCIAL

COMMUNITY

CHILI-CORN SALSA

A B

700 ² ft - 1 BR

2 BR

CILANTRO-LIME RICE TOMATO SALSA

C

1BR

RESIDENTIAL

BLACK BEANS BROWN RICE

B

500 ² ft - STUDIO

PINTO BEANS

PUBLIC

TOMATILLO-GREEN CHILI SALSA

INDUSTRIAL

TOMATILLO-RED CHILI SALSA CHEESE GUACAMOLE SOUR CREAM LETTUCE

TREE DIAGRAM CUSTOMER

TYPE

INGREDIENTS

PROGRAMS OF COMMUNITY URBAN

PR O P O S I T I O N

152

E G O C NIC TI I CN P A RE PP DA IL M A NR U O IE NS A S PT E BF XOR R E P U S

153

S T U D I I D E N T I T I E S W O R K V I R G I N I A T C H I C A G O S T U S P R I N G S E M E S T E R

O S H O P E C H D I O 2 0 1 4

BEACONS

A B O UT PE R C EP T I O N S OF I DEN T I T I ES

154

VIRGINIA TECH, VIRGINIA DELFT UNIVERSITY, NETHERLANDS The recording of a collaborative workshop between Delft University of Technology Department of Architecture and Virginia Tech School of Architecture + Design’s Chicago Studio.

IDENTITIES WORKSHOP

A BOUT //

“Designing a masterplan or making an urban development strategy involves many actors, data, opinions, policies, programs and restrictions.

An urbanist project is a complex project by definition. Developing a good strategy means a continuous weighting, balancing and shifting between all these specific interests, to be combined in one integrated approach. In practice, many different stakeholders will monitor and fight for their, often conflicting interests, as plans come along. The less compromised these interests will be during the design process, the more successful the result.

Apart from the complexity of these different layers of ‘input’, a planning process can take up to several decades. If architecture is a slow profession by the nature of the material and organizational reality, urbanism seems inert. Set aside the modern Asian building speed, developing a coherent and productive city fabric takes time. Over time policies change, technology develops, markets collapse and people change their minds. Being a victim to these complicated and constantly changing forces over such considerable time spans, realizing urban plans seems mission impossible.

How can urban planners and architects keep charge of these projects? How to manage and integrate all data involved in the design process? How to streamline interests of cities, investors, developers, people and businesses over time? In short; how to tackle the problem of longterm complexity in the design process?

Clear and strong visions are needed to cope with complexity and multiplicity of contemporary large assignments. In order to realize this we need to understand the given assignment beyond the simple programme by involving the knowledge of the multilayered dimension of contemporary cities.

Most often a paradoxical issue or a key argument emerge when facing contrasting ambitions at stance. For

S T U D I O

example; How to create a substantial and sustainable density in delicate landscapes? Or how to create urban quality in devaluating environments?

How to plan a more productive development whilst being more energy efficient? The architect, the designer should realize the translation of these conditions in spatial languages and visions, which could be shared or understood by many actors. First step is to visualize them in powerful images, that are at the same time intriguing and explanatory.

Research by design: Having a very limited amount of time, resources and development input, creates excellent circumstances to test radical interventions and scenarios. This is a short term, pressure-cooker exercise to test if strong concepts could battle long term complexity. Lets develop bold concepts, scenarios and visualizations for Chicago that later can be regenerated in more manicured and evaluated forms. Big plans are good, so are small plans; as long as their effect is substantial. Build program is flexible and depends on strategy chosen.”

TEAM: Bryce Beckwith, Alec Yuzhbabenko, Kelsey Dressing, Khalid El Meziani, Anna Grossi

155

PERCEPTIONS: The following is a recording of initial perceptions of an area along the Cermak axis at the intersection of river, rails, and roads.

IDENT IT IE S

W O R K S H O P

156

S T U D I O

157

IDENT IT IE S

W O R K S H O P

158

BEACONS OF IDENTITIES: The following is a recording of what could become of dormant structure systems and typologies found throughout many neighborhoods in Chicago and how they could be revitalized as beacons of identity for existing communities. Existing water towers could become landmarks, links, and programmed spaces within the communities in which they belong.

S T U D I O

159

CHURCHES

WATER TOWERS

GAS STATIONS

Historically an identity and magnet of communities within Chicago, churches became distinguishing organizers and points of reference of neighborhoods and cultures that surrounded them.

As a latent piece of infrastructure that stands upon the tops of buildings, water towers have potential to become steeples of our time- not necessarily reorganizing communitybut representing preexisting communities.

These beacons of identity stand as landmarks in the urban fabric telling a story of history and could create a narrative from community to community.

As communities advance and technology progresses, our urban environments are continuously left with dilapidated pieces of built structures and objects that have historically served communities in new ways, becoming relics and defining the identity of neighborhoods.

Could the gas station become the next of these typologies?

IDENT IT IE S

W O R K S H O P

160

S T U D I O

161

IDENT IT IE S

W O R K S H O P

162

MEM O I R S C S S 1 4

PR O

PRA CTICE

L CTRS

IN T R V W S

URBAN

MAPPING

PRCDNT S

C RM K

163

S TU D I O

RD CL

CNJCTRES

A N LY I S

URBN

PRPOSTN

IDNTITES

EXPERIENCE

P R ROX FB T U S E EP A S SN EI U O RN M A LI AD PP ER A P NC I IT CIN C E O G

164

E G O C NIC TI I CN P A RE PP DA IL M A NR U O IE NS A S PT E BF XOR R E P U S

165

E X P E R I E N C C O L L E C T I O N O F I M A G E V I R G I N I A T E C C H I C A G O S T U D I S P R I N G S E M E S T E R 2 0 1

E S H O 4

166

CHICAGO CULTURAL CENTER

HANCOCK TOWER, LOOKING NORTH

JEWELERS BUILDING COPULA, LOOKING WEST

CHICAGO CULTURAL CENTER

GUTHRIE THEATER, MINNEAPOLIS

CHICAGO ART INSTITUTE

MICHIGAN LAKE FRONT

BRIDGE ELEVATOR, CERMAK ROAD

CHICAGO ART INSTITUTE SCULPTURE GARDEN

DEPAUL UNIVERSITY THEATRE SCHOOL

CROWN FOUNTAIN, MILLENNIUM PARK

STILLS OF EXPERIENCES DOCUMENTATION

COLLECTION OF IMAGES

EXP E R I E NCE

INDIANA DUNE PARK

CLARK BOAT HOUSE

CHICAGO CITY MODEL, SANTA FE BUILDING

MARINA CITY

CHICAGO RIVER

JEWELERS BUILDING COPULA, LOOKING EAST

HANCOCK TOWER

WILLIS TOWER, LOOKING SOUTH

WILLIS TOWER, LOOKING DOWN

WILLIS TOWER, LOOKING NORTH EAST

SANTA FE BUILDING, SOM

IBM BUILDING, MIES VAN DER ROHE

CHICAGO

ST UDIO

S P R I N G

167

2 0 1 4

168

E G O C NIC TI I CN P A RE PP DA IL M A NR U O IE NS A S PT E BF XOR R E P U S

169

E X P E R I E N C N O T E S O F T H O U G H T V I R G I N I A T E C C H I C A G O S T U D I S P R I N G S E M E S T E R 2 0 1

E S H O 4

170

MISCELLANEOUS MEMOS DOCUMENTATION

NOTES OF THOUGHTS

My curiosity is vicious, it consumes my mind and spawns burning interests...

Do what ever you possibly can to make yourself interesting.

What legacy do

EXP E R I E NCE

you want to leave?

I’ve learned the most this semester, possibly the least solely about architecture, but the most about life.

What is your favorite city and

171

why?

Read: “The World is Flat” Wes Anderson.

Thank you notes Thank you notes Thank you notes!

You would

be lucky to have one opportunity to make a “landmark building”, the rest of your time should be spent contributing to the greater whole of the city.

to be successful at following.

This semester I have learned how to be a FOLLOWER.

Chill out, relax, and To be a calm the leader, you fuck down. need to be Life is a servant. good.

You need CHICAGO

ST UDIO

S P R I N G

2 0 1 4

172

M E M O I B R Y C E B E C K W V I R G I N I A T C H I C A G O S T U S P R I N G S E M E S T E R

REGARDS

Drew Ranieri, SCB Architects Natasha Krol, Mckinsey & Company Iker Gil, Mas Context/Studio

Virginia Tech // College of Architecture and Urban Studies // School of Architecture + Design // CHICAGO STUDIO

Laura Fisher, IPM Consulting

Andrew Balster, Director of Chicago Studio

John Syvertsen, Cannon Design

Skidmore, Owings, and Merrill Brian Lee, Partner* Phil Enquist, Partner* Casey Renner, Associate

Ed Keegan, SOM

Luis Monterrubio, Coordinating Planner, City of Chicago Planning Department* Cannon Design Randy Guillot, Principal Tim Swanson, Urban Strategist GREC Architects Don Copper, Partner von Weise Associates Chip von Weise, Principal Kathryn Albright, Founder of Chicago Studio Joanna Cofer, Assistant to the Director of Chicago Studio

Peter Ellis, Cannon Design David Wilts, ARUP

Kelley Folts, Cannon Design

Chicago Studio Alumni Esther Chang Chris Morgan Bobby Vance Chase Daniels Tyler LaFontaine Delft University of Technology // Department of Architecture Olindo Caso, Faculty Mick Van Gemert, Guest Faculty, MVRDV Khalid El Meziani, Student Anna Grossi, Student *Program Mentors

R I T E C D I 2 0 1

S H H O 4

173