benjamin bromberg gaber harvard gsd master in architecture I candidate
mixed-use hotel tower in doha | core III elizabeth christoforetti | fall 2016
Typical floor - back of house
Diagram - outdoor / public / semi-private / private Despite traditions of hospitality within the harsh environment, Doha is a segregated city (expressed as a waffle). In this project, the nested distribution and mixing of programs, people, and environmental systems/structures attempt to 2
provide answers to questions of social and environmental responsibility, bringing the users together (expressed as a pancake). Programs are distributed such that user groups shift up and
down throughout the building, sliding past one another. Tourists using the gym and restaurant are forced past the locals checking out the art gallery, who are forced past the migrant workers in the clinic, who are forced past the service
workers using the kitchen facilities. On one side of the central core are the private rooms with access to views of sunrise and the Persian Gulf. With Vierendeel trusses throughout the floorplates, the public 3
Gallery - 17th floor
Fitness - 37th floor programs can be located on the opposite corner, creating cantilevers when the program requires a larger floorplate. The rigid, cellular private half of the building provides structure while also creating a constant dichotomy between private 4
and the freeform, cantilevered public spaces. Above these enclosed, fully conditioned cantilevers are gardens, wrapped in an additional layer of building envelope for maximum environmental efficiency. This double enclosure
creates additional opportunities for interaction between users of different programs, across public and private space, while expressing a stance towards energy use in a climate like Doha's.
Through the social and spatial organization, a new architecture is proposed to fully enable the political and social agency of the hotel users and wider community. 5
Cafe - 42nd floor
Conference - 49th floor
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circulating + rare book library | core II max kuo | spring 2016
An extended precedent analysis of the Sou Fujimoto Musashino Art University Library analyzed how although the spiral organization suggests a gradient of experiences, the interaction of users with books and social dynamics among 8
users is fairly homogeneous. This proposal offers a range of experiences for the users although it is suggestive of a consistent experience throughout with platonic geometry and the same pixelated
shelf system as found in the precedent. Public, fully accessible, circulatory portals skewer the buildings, instigating incisions, clefts, cantilevers, and shafts. The resultant networks and their associated shelving system and level of
transparency to the sky or to the landscape offer a variety of experiences into each building and within each building.
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The puncture of the facade by the portals enhances the formal and programmatic organization of the library while also providing the public with new experiences within the park. By trading public space in the Boston Fens Park for enhanced 10
public pathways that connect users to the MFA, the city, and the park, the library reinforces its relationship to the site. The divide of the river and difference in formal systems allow users of the library, MFA, and park to engage with the seemingly
arbitrary distinctions between circulating and rare library collections, and the status and attitudes towards each held by the larger knowledge and arts communities. 11
cancer club | core II max kuo | spring 2016
2nd floor
ground floor Although millions of people are diagnosed with cancer each year, undergoing treatment is an isolating and lonely process. This is especially true for millennials; for whom it is rare to be diagnosed. 12
This project for a cancer “club” inserts itself into the existing cancer treatment infrastructure as a healthcare facility that not only battles the disease and treats member’s symptoms, but also cares for the member’s social well-being.
Although the project centers around communal spaces, the treatment and housing of the members is the primary concern for the club. Thus, the architecture is based around the individual private nodes, the guest rooms and
treatment rooms, designed on a rotated 13’x13’ grid to enable full handicap accessibility while preserving privacy. The aggregation and integration of public and private spaces creates a fluid experience for members, in which they are 13
able to socialize with fellow members constantly while still being able to find moments of quiet and private refuge. By distributing public and private spaces throughout the project around a central atrium, the architecture is an enjoyable and 14
flexible social experience on each floor and throughout the building. The facade treatment reflects this sifting of public and private spaces; the material treatment and orientation represents the difference in use of the space, while the
geometry breaks down the barriers between intimate and community spaces. The facade also reflects the club's position within Brutalist Boston. Instagram, similarly blurs these lines, allowing for the merging
of public and private spaces through the exposure of private spaces to a general social media platform while private users can interpret and experience public spaces on their own. 15
cathedral of saint thomas more | seminar: making sacred spaces christine smith | spring 2016
The final project for a seminar on cathedral design, the Cathedral of Saint Thomas More, located in the Columbia Point neighborhood of Boston is designed to serve as a paradigm for future cathedrals. The arrangement of the 16
cathedral’s programs and liturgical furniture enhances the experience of the congregation joining the clergy in worship. Located in a politically important location within Boston, and oriented to honor the patron saint of statesmen, the cathedral
confessional daily chapel sacrament chapel deacons clergy light from skylight (aligns with altar on Feast of Saint Thomas More)
bishop gospel baptismal font
narthex
congregation
altar epistle choir master organ choir communion
back of house
will serve an important role within Boston’s Catholic and political community. Built with simple materials, the church reflects the values of the congregation while enhancing the congregation’s spiritual experience. Congregants and visitors
from around Boston and the world will look forward to their time spent celebrating the liturgy together as they celebrate the glory of God, praise Christ, and yearn for a future redemption. 17
ouagadougou bus shelter network | j-term studio d. francis kĂŠrĂŠ | winter 2016
This project proposes a network of bus shelters in Burkina Faso that will improve public transit experiences for residents and visitors, provide community public spaces, promote education for all ages, provide electricity for the public, and 18
create rent-able spaces. In addition to seating for bus users, the benches could be used by community members, and the central chalkboard could host tutoring sessions, business meetings, or children
learning to write. A design for one medium-sized shelter is explored but a network of various sized shelters is proposed. Lightweight yet durable, the structure is easily constructible and replicable across the city. 19
extensive/intensive | core I cristina parreĂąo | fall 2015
This project uses a transformation system in Grasshopper to create an architecture that uses intensive processes of conduction and convection in one state, and radiation in a second to inform the extensive properties and form. 20
The form enables maximum sun exposure in the compact state and maximum sun and wind exposure in the exposed state. Through a thick envelope, compact structure and central
temperature/people circulation system, the first state utilizes the attributes of the stack effect to drive and enhance its thermodynamic system. As the Grasshopper armature unfolds the geometry into a second, exposed state, the radiation
and shading creates a completely different thermodynamic and organizational environment. The proposal references, enables, and explores the dichotomy between environments, geometries, and thermodynamic systems. 21
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quad neighborhoods dorm | core I cristina parreĂąo | fall 2015
This project, a dormitory, proposes a system of quad rooms types composed of two doubles lofted together in order to maximize the use of space. Often dorm quad typologies are used in cases of over-crowding or are remnant space, 24
leftover from other room configurations or converted from common spaces. This proposal creates a dorm centered around this complicated typology, as the rooms combine into a neighborhood arrangement of quads, providing 3 different
living styles for students according to their preference for more individuality, smaller clusters, or larger groups. The project emerged from a brief that had restrictions on the plan, overall organization of the building, and use of stairs,
along with a requirement for 270 beds in a given footprint. The eeconomy and efficiency of the quads allows for 330 beds, along with significantly more common space, an important amenity to a college dorm. 25
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resources in istanbul | design III karen fairbanks | fall 2014
1950 1980
1960 2010
first gecekondus
gecekondus settlements
gecekondu “landed over night”
population growth millions of people 20
15
10
5
0 1900
1910
1920
This traveling senior design studio was focused on how students tackle design issues in a foreign city (Istanbul), through issues related to resources in the city. The city’s morphology was analyzed with special attention paid to the 28
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1940
1950
1960
1970
1980
1990
2000
2010
2020
horizontal development of the city and the treatment of city’s public spaces. Some diagrams focused on Istanbul’s rapid development, while others focused on the historical, political, and social
1900
1910
1940
1960 2010 2012
2013
2013
2014
area of development compared to prior years & current roads
1807
1899
changes through the lens of certain places around the city including Taksim Square, a former barracks and site of political protests. Further map analysis tracked infrastructure and demographics development.
1950
Project teammate: Rhea Schmid
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inhabiting connections | design III karen fairbanks | fall 2014 kit of parts packaging and constructing the pavilion for rebuild 3 ft.
1 ft.
bulbs
metal meshing
attachments
lighting
poles: 9 ft.
corrugated metal sheeting
packaging
Working in collaboration with a transportation-focused group, the midterm proposal was a temporary structure based on connecting people physically and socially to the Galata Greek School, the site of the 2nd Istanbul Design Biennial. The 30
scaffolding structure allowed for a view of the city (as well as its traffic and development), connected people across a busy street, and referenced the abundance of construction sites around the city. Its structure also served as a beacon
to advertise the Biennial to passerby with exhibits flowing out from the Biennial into the street while also creating connections into the impermeable facade.
Project teammates: Lauren Espeseth, Rhea Schmid, Sara Shalam
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datascapes and the informal city | gis leah meisterlin | fall 2014
C
D
B
A
This course was focused on various representational techniques that are possible through web mapping which can represent information that is invisible in the city. The final product was a static and interactive web map that 32
investigated accessible data and visualized the changing demographics around Canal Street. This project also comments on the ways that data representation has evolved alongside the development of the city.
1920
2014
870,000
business information
370,000
% of total immigrants
asian eastern european other total # immigrants
180,000
50,000
county
tract
2014
2000
1980
1960
1940
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1900
1880
0 1860
number of immigrants
1860
block group
Final project teammate: Sara Shalam Interactive web map: www.benjaminbg.com
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barnard college library | design II peter zuspan | spring 2014
Before proposing a library design to replace the existing library on Barnard College’s campus, analysis of library social systems and the site was undertaken which focused on the “peer pressure� that organizes and controls social systems. 34
Using the example of the panopticon, an analysis of the libraries on campus revealed a similar pressure to focus on studying. In addition, the analysis revealed the social system of occupying space through placement of books and other
belongings. The proposal also included an system in which books could be rearranged throughout the library's winding stacks of shelves, and new academic connections could be forged by the new adjacencies in content. Analysis of the
site also revealed the typical building and material typologies on campus, and explored the “jig-jogs� of the site which force users to constantly turn while moving throughout the campus. 35
Using program and site analysis, this proposal exploits and utilizs the peer pressure created in the library in a positive manner. Through books that could be removed or rearranged on the shelves, users organize and occupy each reading room 36
according to their own personal study habits and desires. Rearrangment of academic materials would be possible, providing users with new conditions between content while also creating a unique study environment. The entire
proposal is designed to encourage users to utilize the social system of the peer pressure enabled via apertures in the wall/ shelving units, in addition to responding to the unique built environment and circulation of Barnard College. In addition,
the proposal adds green space as well as performance space, which is limited on campus.
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third SPAce: a spa without doors | design I rosalyn shieh | fall 2013
spa experience
heat hot
70-90 °
95 °
4F
sauna
hot tub steam room 90 °
95 °
5F/ int.
massage
85 °
3F 85 °
showers 80 °
5F/ trans.
cooling area
75 ° lockers
2F
more personal space
less personal space
warm pool
cold pool
changing
70 °
5F/ roof
sun deck
65 °
75 °
cafe
65 °
1F
waiting area bathrooms
Cold
This spa proposal uses properties of thermodynamics and air movment to eliminate doors, permitting 24 hour access to spa amenities and programs. The heat and personal space required for each program within the spa organizes the 38
experience for users through a system of constant shifting between hot, cold, public, and private. Within the spa are also third spaces that create a space for socializing and interacting outside of the home and workplace regardless of weather
70-90 °
95 °
85 °
75 °
65 °
or time of day. The spa programs add much needed spa and publicly accessible programs to the site, 6th Avenue and Vandam Street, New York City. 39
women’s changing
cold pool
lockers
men’s changing
waiting area
women’s room entrance/exit
cafe cafe
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men’s room
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ice melting analysis | design I rosalyn shieh | fall 2013
plaster
Analysis of ice dropping into water droplets from plaster and metal ramps compared to “ideal� water drops. Concludes that metal creates more centralized water dispersion and droplets than plaster melting structures. 42
ideal drip zone
metal
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hair growth analysis & salon concept | perceptions nicole robertson | spring 2013
An analysis of hair growth over three months after shaving hair, describing the directions in which hair grow over time and the directions in which the razor shaves. The shaving directions and hair growth directions evolved into 44
the form for the next project, a hair salon. The brief called for a concept for a ‘pop-up’ hair shaving salon in Times Square, so this design responded to site research and provided tourists and locals with a location to shave. The proposal also serves
as a tourist surveillance device with exterior mirrors for police officers.
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professional work
Pei Cobb Freed & Partners, New York, NY June 2016-August 2016
Experion Design Group, New York, NY June 2014 - May 2015
1:200 model for Jerusalem mixed-use development
3D modeling for Miami residential competition proposal
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Fentress Architects, Shanghai, China June 2013 - August 2013 Schematic design sketches and presentation preparation for
retail development in Kunming, China Schematic design, 3D model, and presentation for sales office1 in Xi-amen, China 47
benjamin bromberg gaber portfolio: spring 2017 harvard university graduate school of design master in architecture I expected 12.2018
www.benjaminbg.com benjamin@benjaminbg.com bbromberggaber@gsd.harvard.edu cover: analysis of internal construction system in gropius house, lincoln, ma - spring 2016