BENJAMIN ARENBERG PORTFOLIO
BENJAMIN ARENBERG PORTFOLIO
Master of Architecture
|
Graduate School of Architecture & Urban Design
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Washington University in St. Louis
|
2010 – 2013
Cover Image:
Concept Model Urban Stages Fall 2010
BENJAMIN ARENBERG PORTFOLIO
Contents
Wedge Building
| Spring 2012 American Cultural Institute in Helsinki, Finland
Catedral dels Gegants
| Summer 2012 Bestiari Museum in Barcelona, Spain
Shifting Scenographies
| Spring 2013 Performing Arts Center in Grinnell, Iowa
Old No. 2
| Fall 2012 Engine House in St. Louis, Missouri
Urban Retreat
| Fall 2011 Multi-family Housing on the Mississippi River
Desert Penumbra
| Spring 2011 Research Facility in Phoenix, Arizona
Creative Endeavours
| 2008 – 2013 Furniture Design ∙ Bookmaking ∙ Photography
Wedge Building |
Spring 2012 Critics: Matti Rautiola and Pennti Kareoja
The American Cultural Institute is sited in downtown Helsinki where the city grid fractures and reorients. The shift occurs abruptly, as if a wood wedge were driven into the bedrock. The autumn rain fills the wood with water. The harsh Finnish winter freezes the water. The wedge expands. Under tremendous pressure, the granite splits, tearing the city grid and creating Helsinki’s current cityscape. The building’s form is conceived by a similar process. A volume of wood pierces a bar of granite, lifting the stone out of the ground and creating voids within the massing. A perforated copper cladding gives cohesion to the fractured form in the daylight. By night, the building inverts and expresses the tension between wood and stone.
-3.6 m
-1 m
-1.4 m
0m
.35 m
5.6 m
9.1 m
12.6 m
0m
Catedral dels Gegants |
Summer 2012 Critics: Adrian Luchini, Elena Cánovas and Anna Puigjaner
La Mercè is the largest street festival in Catalunya. The most important feature of the celebration is the parade of Giants. The large figures dance, twirl and stomp through the city’s narrow streets and spacious plazas to the beat of marching drums as spectators’ cheers reverberate off the architecture. The festival begins and ends at the Foundation Bestiari, where the Giants are designed, erected and exhibited throughout the year. An existing building and dilapidated plaza in Gothic Quarter are transformed into the epicenter of Barcelona’s oldest parade. Catedral dels Gegants captures the energy and anticipation of the Mercè parade by exploiting the scale of the Giants, coexisting with the historic urban fabric, and leaving traces of the festival’s soundtrack.
Ground Floor Plan
1:150
Second Floor Plan
1:150
Shifting Scenographies |
Spring 2013
Critic: Phil Holden
The juxtaposition of a high-endowment college sited within the rural, agricultural community of Grinnell, Iowa creates a palpable tension between the wageearning residents and the highly-educated student population. This disconnected social context creates the conceptual basis for a proposed performing arts center on a prominent downtown corner. Shifting Scenographies exposes the unseen symbiotic relationship between the theater’s fine artists – writers, directors, designers and thespians – and their supporting cast of manual laborers – set builders, painters, lighting/sound technicians, construction workers, and costume makers. By overlaying front-ofhouse programs with back-of-house operations, patrons have a visual, tactile, auditory, and olfactory connection to the entire process of a theatrical production.
Insulated Glazing Unit
Extruded Aluminum Mullion Steal Header Drip Edge with Flashing Finished Floor Neoprene Undermat Rubber Spacer Precast Concrete Plank Neoprene Spacer W24 x 160 L-Bracket Stainless Steel Clip Sheathing Board and Batten
Steel Shelf with Bracing
Rigid Insulation
Prefabricated Metal Panel Treated Cedar Facing
CONSTRUCTION DETAIL
1” = 1’
0’
15’ 24’
6’
-6’
6’
0’
24’
4’ 24’
296 Seats
6’
10’
10’
20 Seats
4’ 14’
6’
14’ 4’
6’
6’ 18’
18’
36’
36’
24’
48’
36’
296 Seats
140 Seats
36’
20 Seats
36’ 36’
48’
SECTION C: NORTH - SOUTH
Old No. 2 |
Fall 2012 Critic: Behzad Nakhjavan
St. Louis’s West End is in need of a strong civic presence which expresses safety, community and progress. This renovation of a retired firehouse engages the neighborhood by treating the façade as an active edge, a site of exchange and interaction between interior and exterior. A simultaneous layering of information gives the building envelope an experiential quality. The first layer holds the architectural intentions – opacity to create a visual dialogue coupled with sunshading to combat solar heat gain. The second layer presents the unintentional consequences of the architecture – the filtering of light, reflections of the streetscape, and the weathering of materials. The final layer is the emotional layer. The elevation acts as a frame to show the fractured lives of firefighters. Old No. 2’s rugged, often modest, occasionally dramatic appearance echoes the personalities of its inhabitants.
Urban Retreat |
Fall 2011
Critic: Ben Fehrmann
The project introduces a multi-family residential complex into a deteriorating fabric of light industrial sites on the eastern bank of the Mississippi River. Resting on stilts above the floodplain, the glass volume is visually and physically sheltered from the undesirable presence of the neighboring factories and interstate. A densification of birch trees across the grain of the site transitions residents from the urban to the natural. The face of an existing sheer cliff is peeled back to reveal the clean geometry of the architecture and expose the site’s geology. Residents descend into the void and circulate between limestone and glass as reflections of the sky and water bring out the differing surface qualities. Each unit opens onto the river, miles of agricultural fields and the morning sunrise.
Desert Penumbra |
Spring 2011
Critic: Igor Marjanovich
Located in the Sonoran Desert north of Phoenix, Arizona, this facility houses scientists researching renewable energy sources and sustainable building strategies. This project embodies the values of its users. The building’s primary response to the hot, arid climate is the use of natural ventilation. The tessellated roof structure creates slits to capture and circulate the western breeze. These same opening diffuse natural light into the space and provide views to the sky and surrounding mountaintops. Deep overhangs provide sunshading and create a series of semi-enclosed microclimates to accommodate the facility’s common spaces. The structure’s thick, concrete walls act as thermal sinks, releasing their heat during the cool, desert night.
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Creative Endeavours |
2008 – 2013
The skills obtained through model building, bookmaking, furniture design and photography influence and inspire the work I produce in the architecture studio. Working with multiple mediums and crafting at varying scales are essential to my growth as a designer. These images provide a sampling of the additional creative pursuits which inform my design aesthetic.
The Diner’s Dining Chair Molded Birch Veneer & Hollow Steel Tubes Spring 2012 Critic: Julie Scheu
FURNITURE DESIGN
Sensitized Consciousness Hot
Kissing
Fleece
Cool
Damp
Wet
Perfume
Clapping
Pepsi
Warmth
Chocolate
Whistling
Knuckle Crack
Musk
Humid Rough Windy
Talking
Squeak
Basil
Wintergreen
Spearmint
Makeup
Sunscreen Greasy
Apple Juice Cooing
Lullaby
Jingling Milk
Cinnamon Burp
Warm Diapers
Baby Power
Typing
Dragging Crunching
Coffee
Phone Ring
Cotton
Humming
Shampoo
Swallowing
Crumpling Paper
Flannel Sneezing
Crying
Menthols
Sweat
Sniffling
Warmth Shimmer
Soft Talking
Laughter Conditioner
Coughing
Cigarettes Fleece
Warmth
Leather Knuckle Crack
Laughing
Silk Hemp
Lotion Cologne Dusty Humid
Shadowed
Body Wash
Grimy
Yelling
Spearmint
Deodorant
Bubble Gum
Greasy
Cool
Hard Smooth
EXPERIENCE
via unconscious sensory integration
Echoing Sticky
Lullaby
Apple Juice Cooing Jingling Milk
Cursing Tapping Curry Scratch Heat Saxophone Fly Buzzing Gulping Snoring Artificial Light Fan Motor Crying Snapping Spider Crawling Draft Dirt Paper Tearing Boom Box Slurping
Talking
Aftershave
Cinnamon Coffee Laughter Conditioner
via sensitized consciousness
Menthols
Phone Ring
Cotton
Typing
Dragging Crunching
Talking
EXPERIENCE
Deep Breaths
Humming
Shampoo
Swallowing
Baby Power
Liquorice
Clicking
Heat Speaking
Crumpling Paper
Coughing
Newspaper Crinkle
Cologne
Merlot
Tapping Smoke
Singing Clapping Doritos Wet Marijuana
Warm
Perfume
Beer
Latex Fart
Bar-b-que
Sniffles
Sweat
Hair Gel
Burp Warm
Diapers
Cologne Stepping
Buzzing
Pickles
Peppermint
Flannel Sneezing
Crying
Talking
Denim
Reflective
Crying
Wool Coughing
Glowing Bronze
Burgers
Damp
Cool
Baby Formula
Soft
Aloe
Cotton
Ticking
Talking
Talking
Crunch
Gasoline
Chocolate
Makeup
Sunscreen
Texting
Floor Cleaner Vibrations
Squeak
Aftershave
Hiccup
Body Odor
Heat
Wool
Heel Clicking
Cedar
Chewing
Rattling Change Foot Tapping
Stepping
Basil
Wintergreen
Perspiration
Silky
Stepping
Deodorant
noun : the phenomenon of being able to focus one’s auditory attention on a particular stimulus while filtering out a range of other stimuli, much the same way that a partygoer can focus on a single conversation in a noisy room.
Rustling Apricot
Headphones
Warmth
Laughter
Stomping
Talking
Yawning Moist
Warm
Warm
Chewing
Soap Snapping
Sneeze
Scratching
Dust
Heat
Lotion
Garlic
Singing
Breeze
Yawn
Smoke
Crunching
Coffee
Density
Leather
Phone Ring
Talking
Music
Laughing
Hard
Dandruff Barking
Dirt Talking
Sweat
Camera Flash
Denim
Cheddar
Heavy Breathing Dr. Pepper
Roses
Heel Clicking
Polyester Body Spray
Perspiration
Denim
Shuffling
Talking
Boom Box
Windy Pabst Blue Ribbon
Yawn Laundry Detergent Headphone Bass
French Fries
Artificial Light
Rough
Artificial Light
Singing Clapping Doritos Wet Marijuana
Aftershave
Deep Breaths
Crying
Spider Crawling
Slurping
Bar-b-que
Newspaper Crinkle
Liquorice
Clicking
Crying
Dirt
Draft
Paper Tearing
Cologne
Merlot
Tapping Smoke
Fan Motor
Warm
Heat Speaking
Wool Coughing
Baby Formula
Soft
Aloe
Snoring Snapping
Perfume
Beer
Latex Fart
Tapping Scratch Saxophone Fly Buzzing Gulping Heat
Talking
Sweat
Hair Gel
Peppermint
Humid
Cursing Curry
Jingling
Hemp
Stepping
Denim
Laughter
Lip Gloss
Cotton
Sniffles
Pickles
Damp
Cool
Chocolate
Knuckle Crack
Warmth
Perfume
Sweat
Cologne Stepping
Buzzing
Crying
Talking
Crunch
Gasoline
Heel Clicking
Hiccup
Body Odor
Heat
Wool Aftershave
Cedar
Warmth Chocolate
Whistling
Olives
Talking
Reflective
Talking
Burgers
Pepsi
Wet
Perfume
Clapping
Snort
Glowing
Stepping
Laughter Stepping
Damp
Musk
Warmth
Deodorant
Kissing
Fleece
Cool
Natural Light Soft Pizza Halogen Chewing Laughing Swallow Yelling Leather Phone Ring Fresh Air Warmth Snort Tea Footsteps Bright Chatter Mouthwash Drooling Cologne Smoke Flicker Gulp Dirt Swishing Rolling Shutter Closing Dust Heat Heel Click Tapping Growling Tweed Wiping Pen Click Champagne Beef Jerky Coffee Shampoo Leather Swallow Knocking Cologne Flatulence Drooling Crying Wool Flannel Talking Scratch Exhaling Crunch Slick Knuckle Crack Radio Cigarettes Sweat Strawberry Clapping Roses Soft Stone Warm Greasy Lip Smack Beer Lotion Beer Gurgle Wool Burp Cigarettes Mothballs Shiny Sweat Breathing Cheering Blink Talking Cool Deodorant Zipper Warmth Crumple Sunscreen Texting Smoke Hard Stirring Coconut Lemons Glass Clink Polished Round Laugh Ring Tone Humming Cool Talking Stepping Metallic Hiccup Dusty Coffee
Vodka
Perspiration
Smoky
Peppermint
Heat
Banana
Artificial Light Drafty
Cider
Cotton
Ticking
Cheddar
Warm
Stomping
Silky
Bronze
Scratching
Warm
Chewing
Yawning Moist
Perspiration
Buzzing Menthols Talking Jack Daniels
Rustling Apricot
Headphones
Breeze
Dust
Heat
Lotion
Soap Snapping
Sneeze
Yawn
Smoke
Crunching
Coffee
Density
Leather
Phone Ring
Talking
Music
Talking
Laughing
Hard
Dandruff Barking
Dirt
Roses
Pabst Blue Ribbon
Laughter Jingling
Hemp
Heavy Breathing Dr. Pepper
Garlic
Singing Warmth
Lip Gloss
Sweat
Camera Flash
Denim
Snort Perfume
Sweat
Stepping
Artificial Light
Hot
Olives
Cotton
Crying
Burning
Natural Light Soft Pizza Halogen Chewing Laughing Swallow Yelling Leather Phone Ring Fresh Air Warmth Snort Tea Footsteps Bright Chatter Mouthwash Drooling Cologne Smoke Flicker Gulp Dirt Swishing Rolling Shutter Closing Dust Heat Heel Click Tapping Growling Tweed Wiping Pen Click Champagne Beef Jerky Coffee Shampoo Leather Swallow Knocking Cologne Flatulence Drooling Crying Wool Flannel Talking Scratch Exhaling Crunch Slick Knuckle Crack Radio Cigarettes Sweat Strawberry Clapping Roses Soft Stone Warm Greasy Lip Smack Beer Lotion Beer Gurgle Wool Burp Cigarettes Mothballs Shiny Sweat Breathing Cheering Blink Talking Cool Deodorant Zipper Warmth Crumple Sunscreen Texting Smoke Hard Stirring Coconut Lemons Glass Clink Polished Round Laugh Ring Tone Humming Cool Talking Stepping Metallic Hiccup Dusty Coffee
Vodka
Perspiration
Smoky
Peppermint
Heat
Banana
Artificial Light Drafty
Cider
Cocktail Party Effect
noun : the mental state where experience is no longer a passive, unconscious interpretation of sensory stimuli; rather, our brain consciously and actively filters desirable stimuli from undesirable stimuli.
Burning Buzzing Menthols Talking Jack Daniels
Sweat
Sniffling
Warmth
Talking
Warmth
Leather Knuckle Crack
Laughing
Lotion Cologne
Silk Hemp
Shadowed
Yelling Deodorant
Bubble Gum Texting Chewing
Rattling Change Foot Tapping
Perspiration
Denim
Shuffling
Shimmer
Soft
Heel Clicking
Polyester Body Spray
Yawn Laundry Detergent Headphone Bass
French Fries
Body Wash
Floor Cleaner
Cool
Vibrations Dustyconsciousness, InCigarettes a state of sensitized we are cognizant Hard Fleeceof the human capacity to sense. The awareness of our Grimy Humid Smooth sensorial dexterity permits a reworking of perception. Everyday acts can become profound when experienced through sensitized consciousness.
Echoing Sticky
discovered h She had a lot of class. But when she smooth that accent? No. I’ll tell you how long. One yea And, ah, finally, when I thought she was ready I arranged for a little screen ing.” she says, “this is Holly.” I says Holly?, You sound so far away honey. What’s with you?.” she never been to New York before.” I says “Get yourself on the plane, get back here.” ”She says, “I don’t want to.” “What do what I want, I’m going to let you know.” so, look, Fred, baby— you know. Don’t tell me --. It’s Paul, baby. Paul baby, sure . reaching you all day long. Your answering service doesn’t answer. Well you know the kind of trouble people have with answe knows …. Holly! Time, darling. What? Time? You have a watch? No. Oh, let me see. 6:45. Thank you. Aaahh! Really, was tha darling? Mmmm. Reinforcements. Right in there. Holly? Holly, d-darling! What’s that? Mag Wildwood. She’s a model, believe it some, rich-looking men with passionate natures and too many teeth. I don’t mean that one, I mean the other one. The other indeed, is a remarkable piece of information to have at your fingertips. I keep track of these things. Excus doing here? Holly! I was upstairs working with Yunioshi—Easter stuff for the a mistake, of course. My wires got crossed somewhere. They were both v Brazil. Miss G-Golightly. Very kind of you, miss Golightly, to allow me to a I’ve been already of course to the statue of liberty and to the restaurant a American home. Wouldn’t he just m-melt in your mouth? And this is Mr. R bringing him? Of course not, darling. Darling. I’m glad. Now, who’s going get Miss Wildwood a drink? Yeah. Which one’s Miss Wildwood? introduced. But I’m Mag Wildwood from Wildwood, Arkasas. make yourself right at home, senor Jose da Silva Pereira: contented to stand observing the customs of your that. Now come along, Mr. Trawler. Let’s see what we can find to amuse you with. I wasn’t supposed to pick you up. You said you would pick me up,
You want you to call him and You know the tell him Fred’s a genius. Stop blushterrible thing, Fred, ing, Fred. You didn’t say you’re a genius, I did. So Quit darling? I am still Lula stalling O.J. Just tell him what you’re going to do to Mae-- 14 years old, make Fred rich and famous? Now why don’t you let Fred baby and me settle that, huh,stealing turkey puppy? eggs, Okay. But just remember, I’m the agent. He’s already got a decorator. I’m the agent. Hold it. Hi, boys. Come on in there. Right in the kitchen everything and running you need. So listen, Fred, baby, What are—No, its Paul, baby. Oh! It is? aI thought through briar it was Fred, baby. No. Well Answer the question. Is she or isn’t she? Is she or isn’t she what? A phony. I don’t I don’t think so. So, you don’t, huh? Well, you’re patch.know. Except wrong. She is. Uh, on the other hand, you’re right, because she’s now a realI call phony. it You know why? Because she honestly believes all this phony junk that she believes in. I mean it. Now look, I like thehaving kid, I sincerely like the kid. I do. I’m sensitive, that’s why. You got to the be sensitive to like the kid. It’s .. It’s what you call a touch, a streak the poet. meanofreds. Well, You known her long? Are you kidding? I’m the guy that her. I’m O.J. Berman. A couple of years ago, back in the coast, shetoo was justtoa go kid—lot of style and class...you know. Lot of what? Class. it’s still early e opened her mouth, you didn’t know what she was talking about—whether she was a hillbilly or an Okie. You know how long it took me to to Tiffany’s. I guess the ar. Know how we did it? Ah We gave her French lessons. Figured once could imitate French, she‘d have no trouble imitating English. next best thing is ashe drink. n test. The night before the screen test, oh I could have before, the phone rings. I picked it up. I said, “O.J. speakYes,killed I verymyself. much The neednight a drink. e says, “I’m in New York.” I said, “What kind of New Youme gotta screen WillYork? you buy one, Fred,test tomorrow.” She says,” I’m in New York because I’ve o you mean you don’t want to? What do you want?” she says, “I Only don’t promise want to.”me I says, ”What do you want?” She says, “when I find out darling? Sure. Don’t tell me she isn’t a phony. You know what I mean?. Irving. Honey, Irving, where you been? Mmm, thanks. Mike, darling, I tried one thing—don’t take me home ering services. Well, I guess so. Say I saw your mother down at the Roxie until I’m drunk... until the I’m other very day. And after all that she said about him, and he at necessary? This is some party. Who are all these people, anyhow? drunk, indeed.Who knows? The word gets out. You don’t mind, do you, t or not, and a thumping bore. But just look at the goodies she brought with her. He’s all right I suppose, if you like dark, handone? He’s Rusty Trawler. Huh? Rusty Trawler. He happens to be the ninth richest man in America under 50. Now, that, se me. You owe me 47. Hold this a minute for me will you darling. Mag, darling, what are you e b-bazaar. Then these two nice boys came to pick me up. It was very sweet about it. May I present Jose Silva Pereira? He’s from attend your party. I’m so interested in North American culture. automatique. But this is the first time I am in a typical North Rusty Trawler. Miss Golightly. You’re not vexed at me for to bring me a bourbon? O.J. Yeah. Would you Mr. Berman, we haven’t been formally That’s...hill country. Now, you just The cocktail party phenomenon is an example of a Oh, don’t trouble yourself. I’m consciousness of perception. The brain actively registers country. Okay, you do select auditory stimuli while disregarding impertinent
stimuli. Sensitized consciousness extrapolates this auditory phenomenon to all the senses.
Ou r skin re ac ts to th e warm th of th e su n , th e c ool of th e sh ade an d th e we t of th e sky.
A mus e um i s a publ i c pl ace b u t it f eels pri v at e. I t feel s l i ke we c a n e s c ape i nt o t he pl ace a n d o w n a co rner o f i t fo r a s ho r t w hile.
A good public space makes it easier to be with other people, by creating a comfortable balance between public and private, which makes us feel safe but at the same time stimulates our imaginations.
BOOKMAKING
From left to right:
Go Analog, Top Banana, Barclay Marine Acrylic Latex Paint on Gypsum Board, 24” x 24” Summer 2010
PAINTING
On left:
Grevy’s Zebra Shaba Game Reserve Kenya, 2008 On right:
America’s Mart #3 John Portman, Architect Atlanta, Georgia, 2009
PHOTOGRAPHY
On left:
Pulitzer Foundation for the Arts Tado Ando, Architect St. Louis, Missouri, 2012 On right:
Inca Terrace Farming Machu Picchu Peru, 2011
On left:
Red Cliff Akrotiri Beach Santorini, Greece, 2012 On right:
Image 27 The MUNY: Backstage St. Louis, Missouri, 2011
Haptic Scale Pulitzer Foundation for the Arts St. Louis, Missouri, 2012