Objects & Images

Objects & Images Selected Academic and Professional Work 2015-2020

Ben Gillis

Columbia GSAPP Studio// Displacement Through Misplaced Items / Post Occupancy Study Vagelos Education Center / Reframing Contemporary Performance / Sharing With Friends, Family, & Strangers / Liminality of a Truck Stop / What If...

Then Studio in Tokyo Japan Columbia GSAPP Seminar// Wrong Column(s) / Fast Formwork / Platonic Typography / Material Things North Dakota State University Studio// San Francisco High Rise / Botanical Garden / Chicago Hyperloop / Bowery Mid Rise Technical and Professional Work// Greenpoint Theatre / Newark Masterplan / Greenpoint Condo Tower(s)

Displacement Through Misplaced Items The following is a proposed subway station designed through the lens of displacement through misplaced items. This intervention takes the ground plane as an operable medium for viewing the lost and found items currently being sorted by the MTA. As the lost items begin to populate the site at 14th St, cast within transparent vessels, they create a series of curated galleries and hypostyle halls that create several points of destination within the context of one subway station. With the grand gesture of this seven story intervention lofted above the subway platform, the idea of creating a series of destination points within the overall structure became prevalent. Coming to the platform becomes more than a means to enter the subway, it provides a means to identify places within the space to meet others, even as the intervention grows over time. “Let’s meet at the place where we saw those ripped pants and the tube top” or “I’ll be down by the wallet with the id if the guy who looks like your grandma” become the vernacular of the space.

Fall 2017, GSAPP Core One Studio Carrie Norman

Section Oblique showing the extents of the subway station. From left to right, the station is divided into kiosk, portrait gallery, and wardrobe typologies.

Vignettes showcasing the organizational structure of the Wardrobe, Kiosk, and Portrait Gallery display environments.

Section Perspective displaying the play of light that is created as the commuters venture through the subway stations uniquely ubiquitous lost and found items.

Plan Drawing showing the disbursement of cast columns throughout the 7 story structure from subterranean to over 50’ above street level.

Post Occupancy Study Vagelos Education Center A post occupancy study of the Vagelos Education Center by Diller Scofidio and Renfro focused on representing the found conditions of the space through explicit representation. While my weekly visits to the building began as a purely data driven expedition, counting people and group sizes, much of my interest shifted when I started to listen in on the subjects I was counting. The main activity within the ‘study cascade’ was indeed academic, however, the conversations ranged from research on red meat to cat videos seen on youtube. Documenting this, to me, became a much more useful study when gauging the use of this collaborative environment.

Fall 2017, GSAPP ADR One Course Bika Rebek

Conversational Section showcasing conversations going on throughout the building; flowing without being confined to a singular space.

Threaded Paper Model to convey the intricacies of the projects design concept being supported by the complexities of the user. Double ply museum board supported by sewing thread and acrylic core.

Reframing Contemporary Performance The Newburgh Contemporary Performing Arts Center critically evaluates the needs of the City’s performance community as well as what a performance is in the age of a 6 second snapshot. The modern performance is oft reduced to a selection of curated views that are then digitally disturbed to convey one’s participation in the event. Manifesting this sense of aperture in the built environment was the main focus of this project. Segmenting and framing the stages of performance to re-orient viewers and performers, audience and spectacle, goods and production. An amphitheater with six pre focused stages, a market space backed by communal workshop space, live-work residencies encouraging artist to put their process on display, and a main proscenium stage with an inhabitable envelope to allow a secondary viewing of the productions back of house.

Spring 2019, GSAPP Advanced Four Studio Amina Blacksher

Section Perspective depicting the blending of old and new within the reframed elements surrounding the proscenium stage on the left, and live-work studios on the far right.

Site Axon illustrating the programs through the site as well as the spectator disbursement throughout.

Site Floor Plan showing the blend of structure elements within and the landscaping without and the disbursement of program.

Drawing to Model study illustrating the community players in Newburgh. From NYC up the Hudson to Dia Beacon this project is a layered composition of communities and perspectives

1/8 Scale Models of the Aperture Amphitheater, Makers Market, and Exposition Live-Work Studios reframing each performance to challenge the spectators perception.

Book Matched Perspectives of the Aperture Amphitheater that acts to mirror the backstage as it's own unique performance as much as that being performed to the spectators.

Sharing With Friends, Family, & Strangers Partner Rasam Aminzadeh and I began by asking what are the types of living dynamics that we can address as a means to challenge the idea of community within a group of dwelling types.

This resulted in essentially three housing types within our project; dwellings that are shared with friends, shared with strangers, and shared with family. As we began to incorporate the unique requirements within our unit plans we asked how we could merge these different types into one overall concept. That, in addition to the issue of density brought about our typological study, led to our investigation and challenging of the courtyard house and residential tower. Both traditionally result in impersonal relations with your surroundings. Since we began by focusing on the sharing aspect of housing, it made sense that the overarching concept would act to bring these typologies together to create a space to share among family, friends, and strangers.

Fall 2018, GSAPP Housing Studio Adam Frampton

Cast Massing Model highlighting the solid and void porosity created by the courtyards throughout this full block housing project in the Bronx.

Axonometric Drawing depicting the extents and density of this tiered courtyard project while still maintaining Light and Air requirements throughout.

Section Oblique exposing the intricacies of the project as it blends a semi-private housing typology above with a series of public programs below.

Ground Floor showing the throughout structure from the housing courtyards above and how they begin to inform the shared public space below.

Formal Diagram showing the interlocking, multidimensional L shaped hosing modules, creating and interior courtyard and private terraces on the exterior.

Second Floor

First Floor

Courtyard Floor Plans showing the duality of the Family Units with more private entries and Friends unit with communal space and direct access to the courtyards.

Structure Diagram 1’=1/16”

Circulation Diagram 1’=1/32”

Circulation Diagram bringing the residents into the project to elevated pathways between courtyards in an effort to create a more connected community overall.

Tower Courtyard Public Courtyard Diagram showcasing the idea that these spaces are meant to be, shared and connected within the community throughout the project.

Courtyard Perspective illustrating the potential for mutligenerational sharing with the micro-communities formed within the courtyards.

Large Community Courtyard Perspective illustrating how the community exits in an intertwined physical space that begins to blend private and shared space and activities.

1/4 Scale Facade Study Model blending structure, material, and fenestration to create a dynamic and illustrative facade.

1/16 Scale Project Model showing the modularity and complexity of both the individual courtyard as well as the project as a whole.

Liminality of a Truck Stop Looking at how the contemporary means of production are defining our cities in relation to Massimo Cacciari’s theory of the Metropolis, the truck stop acts as an optical study in liminality between the relationship of a city and the contemporary means of production. The metropolis is no longer defined by the cities separation from factories and industrial areas, but from data centers and distribution networks, as these are the methods in which industry is defined in modern America.

The truck stop lies at the cusp of the metropolis and these contemporary means of production making it neither nor, rather the liminal space between. Defined by the canopy, the liminal truck stop does not define space, rather it facilitates the interchange of spaces and programs in this liminal moment between origin and destination; neither stopping nor going. Occupying a position at, or on both sides of, a boundary or threshold. The reflective nature of the structure composed next with the transparency of the glass allows it to disappear in the landscape from afar, but when occupied the patron is both drawn and optically rejected from the space, exemplifying the liminal qualities of the this uncertain typology.

Fall 2019, GSAPP Advanced Five Studio Michael Bell

Section Perspective depicting the layers of uses within the truck stop. Defined and diffused by the materiality of the structure, visitors are always being optically drawn in and pushed out.

Assembly Diagram showcasing the frames of the structure that when complete will bound the viewer while simultaneously expose them to their surroundings.

Mondrian Canopy Model fabricated with soldered rods and translucent colored acrylic showcasing the nature of projected delineation of space.

Perspective showing the reflective structure and transparent walls creating a liminal space where the viewer is drawn in by the depth and simultaneously ejected by their reflected surroundings.

Perspective illustrating how throughout the day the project both blends into it's surroundings as well as exposes itself depending on the light.

What If... Then Studio in Tokyo Japan Looking at the lifestyles involving Onsen bathhouse retreats, volunteer forestry groups, and green space in Tokyo, this project sought to explore the possibilities of bringing the rural forests of Japan into Southern Tokyo. Where bathhouse culture is an unexpected social space in Tokyo, they are slowly fading form mainstream culture. As forest in Japan began to decline after WWII, groups began to form to remediate them. With park space often restricted and sparse, groups like the Tokyo Picnic Club formed to protest their lack of free public space. This studio asked What If the landscapes of rural Japan, where these lifestyles are more accessible, was brought into Southern Tokyo without compromising its density. Then, the residents of this neighborhood would be able to engage with them in their daily routines.

Spring 2020, Advanced Six Studio Sarah Dunn & Martin Felsen

Section Isometric showing the blending of lifestyles in Southern Tokyo as defined by the existing rail and river passing through the neighborhood.

Section Isometric of The Floating City as designed by Kisho Kurokawa exploring the potentials of in-between sectional space within the structure.

Section Isometric of The Continuous Monument as designed

by Superstudio exploring the potentials of blending inside and outside space within the continuous grid.

Urban F

Gotenyam

Urban Figure Collage depicting how the forest and hills of rural Japan can be brought into Southern Tokyo to promote new social lifestyles and environments.

Figure

ma, Tokyo

Courtya

Courtyard House Perspective illustrating the new micro communities formed around the communal parks within the low density housing area of the neighborhood.

ard Housing

Bath Hou

Bathhouse Perspective showing the retreat like qualities brought into the commercial districts of the city to promote additional social activities and connections.

use

Multiplanar

Perspective showcasing the urban density being blended with the new park and forest space in Southern Tokyo.

Office Park

Columbia GSAPP Studio// Displacement Through Misplaced Items / Post Occupancy Study Vagelos Education Center / Reframing Contemporary Performance / Sharing With Friends, Family, & Strangers / Liminality of a Truck Stop / What If...

Then Studio in Tokyo Japan Columbia GSAPP Seminar// Wrong Column(s) / Fast Formwork / Platonic Typography / Material Things North Dakota State University Studio// San Francisco High Rise / Botanical Garden / Chicago Hyperloop / Bowery Mid Rise Technical and Professional Work// Greenpoint Theatre / Newark Masterplan / Greenpoint Condo Tower(s)

Wrong Column(s) Wrong Columns was an exploration of aggregation of geometry that, while still functioning as an architectural element to define space, only structurally support themselves with inverted fluting though an intersection of the otherwise recognizably pure geometry. Designed and fabricated in collaboration with Prof. Trevor Watson for the 2018 GSAPP End of Year Show. Beginning as a Rhino modeled, 3d printed cast concrete object, we scaled and redesigned the object first to be laser cut and assembled by hand, to finally being CNC milled and assembled in the GSAPP Fab Lab. Spring 2018, GSAPP Transitional Geometries Seminar Trevor Watson

6� concrete modules created by casting a 3D printed positive to create a one part silicone mold.

18� laser cut chipboard modules to test segmented connection as we transitioned to full scale.

7’ plywood Wrong Columns created by CNC milling profiles and assembling them to the curvature of the internal ribs.

Detail shot of the connection point between the full scale Wrong Columns.

Fast Formwork A three week research, design, and fabrication project completed in partnership with two Master of Advanced Studies in Architecture and Digital Fabrication students at the ETH in Zurich that explored the possibilities of a segmented structure created by robotic deposition concrete 3D printing. Collaborators Aya Shaker and Noor Khader, under the supervision of PhD Researcher Ana Anton, developed a system that allowed for multiple elements to be printed separately and with integrated supports and a continuous print path to form an self-supported arch structure. As the initial exploration into their eventual thesis project, this study allowed us to push the boundaries of this advanced fabrication process. This was the first time multiple elements had been printed separately for assembly in this manner. From concept to fabrication, there were many lessons learned and ideas shared. My role was primarily concept development, rhino modeling, and fabrication as the simulation and programming was a proprietary process being researched by the university.

Summer 2019, GSAPP/ETH Summer Design Studio Trevor Watson, Nina Baier-Bischofberger, Ana Anton

Completed segment of robotic concrete deposition arch.

12 minute 'print' weighing 55lbs.

3D model prototype created in Rhino and Maya. Scaled PLA 3D print prototypes exploring shape and texture.

Final PLA 3D printed prototype. Created with a custom script to print in one continuous path to mimic Robotic Deposition printing.

Detail shot of completed segment showcasing the integrated structure created with the contentious path deposition process.

All the completed segments printed in an hour and a half, weighing from 20lbs-65lbs.

Construction of the segments in an attempt to create an arch from all five segments.

The weight and height of the final pieces made completing the arch potentially dangerous and could not be completed.

Platonic Typography Exploring how to show the forethought and argumentation style of Socrates through typography and materiality. This book showcases an excerpt from the Socratic Dialogues, The Apology. Reading these conversations one is often following along with Socrates as he builds his argument. However, one can infer Socrates forethought and planning as he lays out his argument. This physical booklet attempts to interpret this forethought through a layering of dialogue that becomes clear passage by passage but represents a complete argument as a whole. In printing it in signatures on vellum, the typography had to be meticulously planned ahead of time to ensure a complete book that illustrated the complexities of the Socratic Dialogue while maintaining clear legibility.

Fall 2019, GSAPP Graphic Architecture Project Seminar Yoonjai Choi

Book, 5"x4" vellum signature saddle stitched with on black printed cover.

black

Material Things A study in three parts; testing tolerances, fabrication techniques, and multi-step sequencing of complex machining. Mixed Primitives called for a combination of base geometry. Joinery challenged the concept of a joint to be reinterpreted as a formal gesture. Lastly, the Artifact questioned the idea of a temporal object being found in the future and it’s implicit use forgotten.

Spring 2019, GSAPP Material Things Seminar Josh Jordan

Glome, a mix of the primitive Globe and Home. Flip CNC milled to create a hidden lead filled cavity allowing the object to teeter and act in unexpected ways.

Avocado Bowl created on the CNC that mixes two materials to create a operable co-dependent joint.

Temporal Desk Lamp fabricated through a CNC Mill of an encapsulated light bulb to illustrate the temporal nature of the unchangeable light bulb within.

Columbia GSAPP Studio// Displacement Through Misplaced Items / Post Occupancy Study Vagelos Education Center / Reframing Contemporary Performance / Sharing With Friends, Family, & Strangers / Liminality of a Truck Stop / What If...

Then Studio in Tokyo Japan Columbia GSAPP Seminar// Wrong Column(s) / Fast Formwork / Platonic Typography / Material Things North Dakota State University Studio// San Francisco High Rise / Botanical Garden / Chicago Hyperloop / Bowery Mid Rise Technical and Professional Work// Greenpoint Theatre / Newark Masterplan / Greenpoint Condo Tower(s)

San Francisco High Rise As the capstone to the B.S. degree at NDSU, this project asked us to consider everything from structural systems, HVAC design, zoning requirements, as well as documenting this entire process in a 120 page design document. Entering the project through the concept of 'Wonder' this tower sought to visibly draw interest from passersbys who would gain glimpses through the transparent atrium into the work spaces within and the then obscure the full depth of the project with reflective glazing. The public atriums would allow visitors to gain a better understanding of the projects tectonics as they circulated to the open air public park on the roof.

Mechanically, the project acted to integrate much the HVAC systems into the sawtooth facade to allow air to circulate naturally through the office space and be ejected through the fenestrated atrium structure. Structurally the project maintained perimeter columns to ensure maximum floor usability and integrated hydraulic earthquake dampers into the public atrium to further the idea of exposing the tectonics of the building to satisfy the curiosity of it's visitors.

Fall 2016, NDSU Capstone Studio David Crutchfield

Skyline render showing the adjacencies of the waterfront and Bay Bridge and highlighting the saw tooth facade and transparent atriums throughout the building.

Process Diagrams depicting the given envelope per the Transbay Master Plan and how the project responded to site and programmatic opportunities.

Zoning Analysis of the neighborhood under the current Transbay Masterplan.

Typical Lower Commercial Retail Plan

Typical Floor Plans and dual core layouts adhering to egress and vertical transportation calculations as well as the integration of the atriums and open air roof space.

Typical Office a

and Atrium Plan

Open Air Roof Space and Office Plan

Programmatic Section illustrating the public atriums, integrated structure, earthquake dampers, below-grade program, and ground condition.

3/32" Structure Model exhibintg the slanted and exposed columns, slabs, and piles below grade of the tower.

As warm air is pulled in through the facade panel it is conditioned and distributed to the office space before being naturally pulled into the atrium and evacuated through the facade.

3/32" Acrylic Presentation Model showcasing the facade transparencies and atriums. Laser and raster etched for gradient effect of reflective sawtooth curtain wall.

Lobby Rendering depicting the exposed structure and flexibility of the double height spaces within the perimeter columns.

Skyline Rendering contextualizing the tower with the contemporary skyline and Transbay Masterplan.

Botanical Garden Along the northern edge of North Dakota on the site of an abandoned Cold War radar instalation, this prjoject considered the intersection of the the imposed context of the heffersonian grid in contrast with the otherwise completely baren lndscape. By looking at the platanoc natue of the truncated pyrmaidal radar and contrasting it with a deconstructued structure the project is kntted together with a freeform flowing concrete landscape to highlight the contrast of contexts while producing intricate spaces for the botanical program.

Spring 2016, NDSU Design Studio Regin Schwaen

Photo of the abandoned Cold War radar installation in Nekoma North Dakota.

Rendering of the flowing concrete landscape juxtaposed with the existing installation and proposed visitor center.

Rendering of the proposed visitor center within the deconstructed form providing intricate and inhabitable space.

Unfolded Axonometric Drawing depicting the interconnection within the deconstructed visitor center.

Site Plan Diagrams illustrating the intersection of context of the site and the Jeffersonian grid that gives order tot he barren landscape.

Rendering of the flowing concrete landscape juxtaposed with the existing installation and proposed visitor center.

Chicago Hyperloop A proposal for the future integration of the hyperloop transit system, this project sought to create a connection regionally as well as contextually within Chicago. With suspending the project over the river it also creates a iconic gateway to the city. Located over the Chicago River, the hyperloop transportation hub was designed to be constructed without interrupting it's context. Through a series of unitized systems, roof plane sections, suspended platforms, and double layer facade, the entirety of this complex form can be fabricated off-site anywhere in the world and be brought to the site via the Chicago River and then be pieced together section by section.

Spring 2016, NDSU Design Studio Regin Schwaen

Located on the then defunct Chicago Spire Site, this project utilized the existing foundation work for terminal and concourse structure along the riverbank.

-LAKE SHORE DR

RIVER WALK -

-MILLENNIUM PARK

CHICAGO LOOP-

Close proximity to existing transit within the city, such as the loop, addresses the projected increase in car-less residents in major cities.

SEATTLE | 180 min FARGO | 60 min MINNEAPOLIS | 40 min

NEW YORK | 90 min BAY AREA | 180 min

DENVER | 120 min

ST.LOUIS | 30 min

LOS ANGLES | 200 min DALLAS | 90 min

Anticipating the necessity for such a network to become trans-continental to become functional, Chicago was an ideal central location to begin.

D.C. | 60 min

Elevation depicting the continuous fluidity used to bring passengers up from street level to the main concourse.

Detail Section and Exploded Details showing the prefabricated and segmented construction of the steel components of the project made possible by the direct access to Lake Michigan

Perspective depicting the gateway created by the Hyperloop poised over the mouth of the Chicago River

Interior Perspective showcasing the split platform terminal to facilitate the flow of passengers and trains through the terminal.

Bowery Mid Rise Primarily a core and shell project, this building form came about by drawing inspiration form the cyclical motion of development and the gentrification of Manhattan. The ebb and flow of development around our sight directly informed the push and pull of the building form. Challenged to design a retail space, lobby, rooftop element, and appropriate intermediate floors. Choosing to design for a the headphone manufacturer LSTN, and their non-profit partner Starkey Hearing Foundation, the building became a mix of offices, recording studios, and a rooftop music venue.

Fall 2015, NDSU Design Studio Adam Beck

Located in the rapidly developing Bowery neighborhood, this mixed use building maintains contextual scale while identifying itself with form and materiality.

Floor One Retail Plan

Typical Floor Plans showing the retail base and office and recording studios above, isolating studios between office floor and away from the street.

Floor Three Recording Lounge

Floor Five Mixed Office

Floor Seven Recording Lounge

Retail Rendering depicting the custom retail experience designed to reflect the product and promote a customer guided listening experience.

Columbia GSAPP Studio// Displacement Through Misplaced Items / Post Occupancy Study Vagelos Education Center / Reframing Contemporary Performance / Sharing With Friends, Family, & Strangers / Liminality of a Truck Stop / What If...

Then Studio in Tokyo Japan Columbia GSAPP Seminar// Wrong Column(s) / Fast Formwork / Platonic Typography / Material Things North Dakota State University Studio// San Francisco High Rise / Botanical Garden / Chicago Hyperloop / Bowery Mid Rise Technical and Professional Work// Greenpoint Theatre / Newark Masterplan / Greenpoint Condo Tower(s)

Greenpoint Theatre As the ‘Revit Course’ in the technical sequence at Columbia GSAPP, my role in this group was to lead in the revit coordination of a linked model within the group. Through this effort I constructed and organized file structures and offered additional Revit instruction among the team. Providing initial design goals and outlining the technical aspects of the project was an applicable use of my professional experience.

Fall 2018, GSAPP Tech IV Grace Ali, Tim Zhou, Illgar Tan

Entry Rendering depicting the main concept of bookended system masses to allow for a floating and dynamic interior space, a jewel box.

Site Plan further describing the relationship between the solid masses, jewel box center, and the pedestrian flow in and around the project.

First Floor Plan showing the entry sequence and adjacencies to the main atrium lobby.

Building Section depicting the levels and ramps within the jewel box component of the project.

Egress Drawing that further describe the floors and their uses as well as differentiating the need for fire protected paths of egress to address the atrium space.

Facade Vignette for the sold mass portion of the project. A perforated corten panel provides protection from the elements to the otherwise simple concrete and CMU construction.

Facade Vignette for the rear of the jewel box theatre. The curtain wall is simple but the exposed structure allows for removable sound panels to be deployed as needed.

Reflected Ceiling Plan Vignettes detailing the ceiling pack and how castellated beams and structural elements are used to create a floating event space above the entry.

Reflected Ceiling Plan Vignettes detailing the ceiling pack above the main stage and how the duct work serves the event space above while also isolating any vibrations between the two spaces.

Structure Diagram highlighting the separation between the concrete masses, main jewel box, and the main stage; an isolated structural element to ensure vibration isolation.

Assembly Diagram illustrating the sequence of construction and facade elements.

Newark Masterplan A master plan study that integrates with existing conditions and a multitudes of urban and regional processes. Tapping into the current river dredging and remediation to accommodate this process and provide development and educational opportunities in Downtown Newark.

Spring 2019, GSAPP Tech V Grace Ali, Erica Song, Helena Pestana

Located on the riverfront in Downtown Newark, this project is a development proposal for the neighborhood.

Greenpoint Condo Tower(s) Located on the rapidly developing Greenpoint Landing in Brooklyn, this residential tower is poised to offer 173 luxury condominiums. Managing and producing much of the documentation as this project developed from Design Development to the final stages of Construction Documents has allowed me to understand how a building is put together from all aspects of project of this scale.

From working with MEP and structural engineers to brokers and attorneys, I’ve played an essential role in this project for over a year. As the project began CDs I took over management of the Revit model, laying the groundwork for rapid updates and accurate documentation as well as developing drawing standards and strategies required for the specifics of this project.

All drawings and renderings property of Morris Adjmi Architects 2022 anticipated completion, Morris Adjmi Haanwa Chau, Vicente Quiroga, Tina Uznanski, Jasmine Ho

Located on East River in Greenpoint, this tower is one of the several developments currently underway in the area.

Filing Diagram Depicting zoning codes and adherence.

Filing Diagram Depicting zoning codes and adherence.

North and South Building Elevations

Zone one Floor Plan

Zone Two Floor Plan

Zone Three Floor Plan

Unit Plan Sheet

Unit Plan Sheet

Facade Vignette Sheet

Facade Details Sheet

Rendering of the main entry and 'bridge' amenity depicting the flood glass at the base of the strefront to comply with the zoning codes.

Exterior Rendering showcasing the integrated terraces within the setbacks as well as the relation to the public walkway along the river.