PROCESS Content:
Space Derived from Cube Alleyway Abstract Landscape Nesting/Casting Solids Bison Watch Artists in Residence Spiderweb Threshold/Calvino Factory Repurpose Inhabiting Grid Manhole Observatory Eureka Springs Orb
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Trace piece of portfolio storyboard
Process is more important than outcome. When the outcome drives the process we will only ever go to where we’ve already been. If process drives outcome we may not know where we’re going, but we will know we want to be there. -Bruce Mau
SPACE DERIVED FROM CUBE Studio Semester I Materials/Methods: Sketchup hand drawing foam core basswood bristol board chipboard
The first architecture project for the class of 2020. After studying properties of surfaces and articulation, a perfect 3” cube was to be seen as a 24’ inhabitable space. Many rules were given in this assignment. Major restrictions included all manipulations adhering to an orthogonal grid and environmental properties remaining monolithic. 5
ALLEYWAY PROJECT Studio, Semester I Materials/Methods: Rhinoceros 3D lasercutter heliodon paint basswood matboard acrylic
This minimalist design is intended to elevate the site, located on OU’s campus corner, while not straying too far from its existing architectural language. The ground plane is arranged with the intent of creating gathering places accessible to all, including persons who are handicapped. Designing the structure with a simple, white frame maximizes the alleyway. The panels, which were inspired by leaves, act as a series of disjointed, layered overhead
planes which define the program of each portion of the alley. Together they provide a sense of enclosure, shelter, and cast an intricate display of shadows. 7
leaf inspiration first sketch of final concept exploded axon heliodon
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ABSTRACT LANDSCAPE Methods, semester II Materials/Methods: Sketchup woodworking shop 2 x 2s basswood acrylic
To begin the project, our methods Professor focused on a piece of history involving landscape’s important role in architecture. This entailed watching Cave of Forgotten Dreams by Werner Herzog and discussing various characteristics of the Chauvet Cave in southern France. In addition to exploring the usage of space as architectural articulation, this project was aimed to show the difficulty in turning a digital rendering into a solid through woodworking and the importance of time management. My two geographic landforms to combine were butte and floodplain. 11
NESTING/CASTING SOLIDS Studio Semester II Materials/Methods: Sketchup woodworking shop quikrete insulation foam hand drawing
The assignment began with using two 2” x 3” x 4” wooden cubes to create two solids which when nested together would form a single solid 2” x 3” x 4” cube. The design parameters included all surfaces and edges adhering to a .5” grid line and all cuts being orthogonal. Section, axonometric, plan, and elevation drawings of the finished wooden assembly to scale and pulled apart one inch were also required.
My design came from an idea of concealing the joint within the cube so that the finished product would look similar to its original state, a single block of wood. With this concept in mind, I knew the design would be best if oriented vertically. The next stage involved replacing one of the existing wooden pieces with a concrete duplicate. In the process of creating a mold, the direct use of one of the original wood pieces was not allowed. Tuning the concrete piece after being removed from the mold was also not allowed.
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Materials/Methods: Rhinoceros 3D Photoshop lasercutter handrawing woodworking shop plaster matboard acrylic
BISON WATCH Studio Semester II
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Bison_skull_pile_edit_2.jpg
The Wichita Mountains are a collection of lifeless boulders rising from a lush grassland. Their configuration resembles the heaping mounds of bison skulls caused by excessive hunting and fertilizer production during the 19th century. Had bison not been brought to Oklahoma in the early 20th century, it is likely the species
would have become extinct. The relationship between the static boulders and the moving, living vegetation below parallels the avoided extinction of the bison. The design furthers this symbolic situation by drawing from the bison skull’s openness and organization of space. 15
study models first sketch of project first sketch of final concept final gesture model
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ARTISTS IN RESIDENCE Studio Semester II Materials/Methods: Rhinoceros 3D Photoshop lasercutter plaster matboard acrylic basswood
diagram showing design’s relation to two nearby buildings
The University of Oklahoma’s dedication to the arts is widely acknowledged. The art program and dance school have gained national reputations and the Fred Jones Jr Museum of Art is one of the largest university art collections in the nation. The OU Artists in Residence Facility aims to continue this tradition by housing artists from around the world, specifically those working within the new medium, to improve and share their craft here at OU. The facility is designed to complement the unique buildings found in this region of the campus and to capitalize on the special
pairing of living quarters and public exhibition. To compliment art, which is never finished and instead abandoned, the design incorporates architectural honesty, broken forms, and disrupted patterns. 19
first trace piece of final concept gester models final model
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SPIDERWEB THRESHOLD/CALVINO Studio Semester III Materials/Methods: plaster foam core piano wire hand drawing
first sketch of final concept
This dying city needs a new threshold and is anxiously trying to make one into the side of one of its neighboring mountains. To replicate this mountain, and the tragic situation it is linked to, an entire bag of plaster and delicate strands of piano wire were used to make the model. The result is a 6.25” x 9” 1’ 2.5” sculpture weighing
roughly twelve pounds.
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mold removal
sketches of city
Calvino’s Written Description: “If you choose to believe me, good. Now I will tell how Octavia, the spider-web city, is made. There is a precipice between two steep mountains: the city is over the void, bound to the two crests with ropes and chains and catwalks... Below there is nothing for hundreds and hundreds of feet... This is the foundation of the city: a net which serves as passage and as support. All the rest, instead of rising up, is hung below: rope ladders, hammocks, houses made like sacks...
Suspended over the abyss, the life of Octavia’s inhabitants is less uncertain than in other cities. They know the net will last only so long.”
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FACTORY REPURPOSE Studio Semester III Materials/Methods: Rhinoceros 3D Sketchup Photoshop lasercutter basswood paint chipboard acrylic
repurpose process diagram
This project began as an introduction to industrial design. Students were told to design a factory, starting with its structure, then skin, then site. The project ended as an introduction to adaptive reuse. The factory was now to be repurposed into a student housing complex. This involved adding floors, circulation, manipulation of site, etc. The design’s industrial language survives this alteration in program by keeping materials in their honest state and only adding new raw materials. The final project introduces six two-man living areas located in the back half of the building. The remaining areas, dining area, kitchen, laundry room, study lounge, are housed in the front of the building and inspire congregation between the residents. 27
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INHABITING THE GRID Studio Semester IV Materials/Methods: acoustical grid coupler Rhinoceros 3D wood working shop weldable sheets 22-gauge galvanized metal rope lasercutter acrylic matboard spray paint
first sketch of final concept
This project focused on studying how space and circulation can abide by or come from a grid. This was executed by manipulating an acoustical grid coupler to produce an observatory belonging to a site of the student’s choosing. All pieces cut from the grid had to be reintroduced into the design. Professors also advised the observatories to incorporate verticality. The design stretches these parameters to their limits. It achieves its sense of verticality by cantilevering off of a cliff. The grid is manipulated not only through rearrangement of its components but also through the introduction of angles made by a more complex process of cutting and attaching. These angles create a pocket where the observation deck and the majority of circulation are housed. To highlight its emphasis on structure, the tensile cable and circulation path share a distinct procession. As one enters the design, they pass the tensile cable that will be beside/underneath them once they reach the observation deck. 31
acoustical grid coupler manipulation process
mass/void diagram
circulation as it relates to structure
circulation diagram
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MANHOLE OBSERVATORY Studio Semester IV Materials/Methods: Sketchup lasercutter quikrete rebar cable connectors hardwire mesh foam core acrylic hardboard
A manhole’s beauty is derived from its purpose driven design. Such a manmade element coupled with nature’s shrubbery is an intriguing situation in the existing context. This moment is framed at a “point of observation” suggesting a descent in perspective just as a manhole offers a point of access for physical descent. Unapologetic and brutal in form and shadow, while coupled with a sense of delicacy through thin connections and interlocking forms. In spirit of the synthetic and natural, materials (concrete, glass, Corten) are left in their natural state to undergo their inevitable chemical processes. 35
first sketch of project iteration taking implied grid into consideration sketch of final design curve articulation
mold (foam core, cardboard, hardwire mesh, pam) pouring process with embedded rebar study model shadow
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EUREKA SPRINGS ORB Studio Semester IV Materials/Methods: Rhinoceros 3D Photoshop 3D pinter lasercutter scanned pen drawings matboard chipboard basswood acrylic spray paint hardwire mesh
Eureka Springs is an amalgamation of differing attitudes. It boasts a culture with characteristics such as various references to witchcraft and strange eclectic art. There are winding paths resulting in an unpredictable terrain, homes built on the edges of stone walls supported by stilts, and many stairs with no acknowledgment of ADA regulations. Despite its chaotic state, Eureka Springs is made up of buildings that appear to be very simple geometries from their facades. The performance center, or Eureka Springs Orb, responds to its contextual situation by employing the simplest of geometries, the circle, in both plan and section. Its elevated
structure mimics the stairstepping of the town’s geography and allows the site to maintain its position as one of the town’s rare moments to pause and view the Ozark Mountains. 39
trace piece containing Orb concept development
First sketch of Orb concept Orb study models
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previous iteration study models final model pictures
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BEN DECUYPER Process is more important than outcome. When the outcome drives the process we will only ever go to where we’ve already been. If process drives outcome we may not know where we’re going, but we will know we want to be there. -Bruce Mau