Ben Flesch portfolio of selected work
contents 01 building from without 02 tectonic programing 03 spatial construction 04 computer modeling 05 hand skills 06 personal work 07 photography
Building from without Rooftop skate park
The integration of urban spaces is often overlooked as cities are constructed with speed and economy in mind. The combination of an existing parking structure with a built skate park brings two opposite extremities together in a way few would expect. Challenged to transform an existing parking structure by adding three programs to the top–performance, audience, and an interstitial space–I created a skate park as a way to bring together different functions of the downtown area to become a space where everything can be appropriated for skating.
Key plan of existing structure.
Aerial view of roof structure covering skate features.
THE ROOF
POOL
SKATE FEATURES
OBSERVATION DECK
tectonic mapping bike shop in the park
Devou Park is home to multiple mountain bike trails—a little known fact among both locals and visitors of Cincinnati alike. Less known still is that the park is expanding the trail map adding new trails every year. Creating a bike shop accompanied by short-stay accommodations will make the trails more visible and usable to the public. Allowing the surrounding site to inform the building shape, the structure is lifted from the ground with glazing across the front to maximize the views from the lake with space to adapt to fluctuating demand as the park grows in size. The program offers a stripped down hotel-like experience that will help users focus on what’s really at hand—the trails outside the window. The rooms of the lodging can be used in either day-long or overnight applications depending on user need. Parking is located inside each room in order to keep supplies in vehicles close at hand. This presented a challenge when having to separate pedestrian and vehicular traffic all heading to the same place. Individual corridors for each function were established with common points for exchange between the two. Everything only steps away from a full service bike shop capable of repairing and supplying any sort of mountain bike need. The design brings new life to an otherwise unknown feature of the park. VEHICULAR PEDESTRIAN
The building was designed to be experienced by pedestrians and vehicle passengers alike. The separation of circulation allows for these two features to coexist. The rooms and shop provide the interstitial space where the two types of circulation meet.
spatial sequence public space construction
A study of directing movement through space through connections and common language between multiple structures. This group-based project was designed with the intent that each group was broken up into teams that handled different parts of the design process, both with each individual structure and also with the relationships between all of the models to make the overall structure. I led the construction aspect of our individual space and was also a part of the small team that drew parallels between all seven structures that they might read as a whole; as if they were designed as one singular piece. Materials: Masonite and Pine. Photography: Ben Flesch.
computer modeling
01 Cross section diagram of stairwell in campus building with scale figures and materiality. Tools: Rhino, Photoshop, Illustrator.
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02 Model of aggregate project. Tools: Rhino. 03 Model of an iteration of the Half House by John Hejduk completed for class. Tools: Revit Architecture. 04 Section through building showing joist and beam construction completed during co-op. Tools: AutoCAD Architecture. 05 Model of hotel completed during co-op. Tools: SketchUp. Rendering: FRCH. 3/16" = 1'-0"
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Hand skills 01 Detailing of stair runners meeting wall. Charcoal on bristol paper. 9 x 12� 02 Context model created during co-op for developer approval. 03 Natalie Portman in Black Swan. Graphite on bristol paper. 28 x 30� 04 Exhibition project featured in the National Academy Museum in New York that I had the chance to help create and construct both remotely and on site.
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05 Context model created during co-op for client meeting. Model photography by: FXFOWLE
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personal projects Left Summer camp exploration of human dimensions as applied to a seat. Initial design was based directly on seated position measurements and iterated from that point. Chair was to be completely cut using the CNC router and held together on its own without the use of an outside material. Material: cabinetry plywood. Right Electrical and kitchen & bathroom casework drawings created using field measurements for cabin renovation in Grayling MI. Tools: AutoCAD Architecture.
photography
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New York. Mar 2015 New York. Apr 2105 New York. Mar 2015 New York. Mar 2015 Kentucky. Dec 2015 New York. Mar 2015 New York. Mar 2015 Cincinnati. Oct 2015
no detail is small -anonymous