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BRANDON THARP 11831 Stanton Dr, San Antonio, TX tharp.bm@gmail.com 1 210383407
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01 UTSOA Comprehensive Studio
AUSTIN MU SIC ACAD EMY Fall 2017 Austin, Texas Critic: M. Fajkus Team: S. Iyengar, B. Tharp
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As “The Live Music Capital of the World”, Austin Texas serves as a home for some of the greatest musicians and most legendary festivals of all time. Paired with a quirky charm and vibrant youthful energy, a design for a new school of music must express the intangible beauty and uniqueness of the Austin music scene while also addressing the crucial significance of a central urban site just South of Republic Square Park. In conjunction with Sudarshan Iyengar, I devised strategy targeted at formally expressing the abstract qualities of music while addressing the crucial urban condition by creating key points of public interaction. In its most abstract form, the structure of music can be defined by a note and the
silence following that note. In translation, architecture can be summarized by a solid volume and the void that follows. Formally, our building consists brick volumes followed by u-glass reveals. This pattern repeats itself across the site, forming a strict grid. The grid is then strategically broken or expanded in spots of hierarchical importance and public interaction. Public interaction within the building happens in three primary areas: an elevated courtyard above a performance, the performance hall’s front of house (adjacent to Republic Square Park) and the school’s atrium.
REP SQ PARK VIEW
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AUSTIN MUSIC VENUES 01 02 03 04 05 06
Long Performance Center Austin City Limits Live Proposed Site Paramount Theatre Frank Erwin Center Bass Concert Hall
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4TH STREET ELEVATION
01 AUSTIN MUSIC ACADEMY
GUADALUPE STREET ELEVATION
SCHOOL INTERIOR PERSPECTIVE
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PARK CONNECTION
ARTS DISTRICT CONNECTION
TRANSPORTATION NODES
The new music school will certainly have implications on Republic Square Park across the street. This new threshold was a primary design consideration.
The lot is immediately surrounded by two major venues of similar program. The Austin Ballet to the Southwest and the Moody ACL Live Theatre to the Southeast.
The site is located near a core transit stop for the City of Austin buses and is also near Guadalupe and 2nd Street, two primary urban axi.
SITE PLAN
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MASSING
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01 AUSTIN MUSIC ACADEMY
SECTION A
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PERFORMANCE VENUE
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MAGNET SCHOOL
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MUSIC CONNECTION
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URBAN ENGAGEMENT 01 Guadalupe St Connection 02 Rep Sq Park Connection 03 Magnet School
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03
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LEVEL 3 08 09 10 11 12
Musician’s Lounge Academic Recording Studio Small Recording Studio Roof Terrace Large Recording Studio 12
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LEVEL 2
01 AUSTIN MUSIC ACADEMY
05 Lecture Hall 06 Student Lounge 07 Teacher’s Lounge
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Cafeteria Classroom Auditorium Front of House
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03
FRONT OF HOUSE
ROOF TERRACE
SCHOOL ATRIUM
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01 AUSTIN MUSIC ACADEMY
SECTION B
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SECTION C
Our design seeks to dramatically enhance the experience of all patrons, students, concert goers, musicians and pedestrians alike through engagement by careful sectional manipulation. As visible in Section B, skylights visually connect the rooftop terrace serving the practice rooms to the large auditorium below. This provides controlled natural light to the auditorium while establishing this important visual connection between the two vastly different programmatic spaces. In Section C, the relationship established between solid and void is intended to create a compelling spacial experience for students in the lobby of the magnet school. The section is also driven by the desire to provide ample, controlled natural lighting and carefully curated visual connections from the school atrium to classrooms, the roof terrace, the auditorium, the lecture hall, Republic Square Park and the exterior street scape.
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01 AUSTIN MUSIC ACADEMY
FRONT OF HOUSE
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WALL SECTION
DETAIL SCHOOL CIRC
DETAIL ROOF DECK
DETAIL ROOF DECK 2
DETAIL PRACTICE ROOMS
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02 Young Architects Competition Entry
DM Z P ER CEP TION Winter 2017 DMZ, Korea Team: U. Song, B. Tharp
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A bathhouse on the Korean DMZ does not attempt to succumb to the ordinary and mundane, for the premise defies what is thought to be possible. With tensions high, a radical push towards unity is the only way to respect this barren landscape. This intervention is pushed to the depths of the earth, where a monumental form arises and takes cues from the circle, a gesture of peace. This bathhouse is not meant to blend with the setting, but rather be a bold intervention into a severely tense environment, an unrelenting approach to try to begin the formation of order. Two entrances from each country transcend an outer ring of water to ease down the landscape,
a process which connects the users to the depths of the earth to foster peace and unity. Tunnels are used during this procession in a manner of connecting users to an isolated, peaceful environment, challenging their typical connotation of war. Procession through the locker rooms lead citizens of both countries together to grand bathing spaces for all, where North and South Koreans, men and women, can co-habitate. Being wrapped in natural stone and separated only by the flow of water acts as spacial boundaries of each program. This bathhouse is not meant to follow its predecessors, rather it defies the need for boundaries, and pushes for a completely open bathing experience to ease tensions in these countries.
SOUTHERN APPROACH
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SECTION A
CIRCULATION ROTATION
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WATER - VOID
SECTION UPPER PROGRAM LAYERS
SECTION WATERFALL
SECTION LOWER PROGRAM
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03
RU S K P S YC HIATRIC A S YL UM Spring 2017 Rusk, Texas Critic: D. Almy The small East Texas town of Rusk has long housed the campus to one of the state’s most valued psychiatric institutions. Due to lack of usable space at the aging facility and a steadily rising patient count, the hospital is in dire need of a massive, nearly 100,000 sq. ft. renovation. The additional program can be broken down into four primary categories, administration, admissions, health care and occupational therapy. Out of these four programs, occupational therapy was one of the largest and by far the most important in that it is truly the only program type directly related to patient psychological and mental healing. Naturally, the idea of creating a desirable and effective ‘therapy mall’ quickly took the forefront of the design. It was concluded that the best location of the therapy mall would be within the large central courtyard in the center of the Rusk campus. This centralized location offered multiple benefits including close proximity from all other buildings, easy containment of patients within an enclosed area and the hierarchical dominance of this healing program as the most important element of the hospital. Conversely, the courtyard is large enough to engage patients with an incredibly open and natural environment. After taking this approach to the therapy mall, the remainder of the project development became a series of reactive moves in attempt to make the nicest possible space while still managing to fit all of the program. Natural axi within the campus help to divide the therapy mall, creating facades and moments of interaction for patients. Volumes above the mall help to contain more program while connecting the courtyard with building 501 in front of it, allowing limited, controlled moments of interaction between patients and the general population. Finally, this volumetric strategy carries over to historic building 501 itself, which opens up to the city of Rusk and contains just single loaded first and second floors to allow maximum interaction and visual connection to the therapy mall.
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AXIS DEVELOPMENT
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SITE PLAN
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01 THIRD STORY WARD Many of the interior conditions inside of building 501 were in some stage of deterioration, however, the primary structural grid was still clearly intact as visible in one of the old wards on the third floor. Primary approach to this issue was through reapplication of simple materials (glass, gypsum board, new concrete were absolutely needed) throughout the building.
02 FRONT APPROACH During the 1930’s renovation, a block containing mostly administrative and circulation spaces was added to the front and center of building 501. One design strategy was to hollow this space out, visually and spatially connecting the front of the campus (parking lot and park) to the primary axis this volume falls along (running straight through the campus and up to the chapel beyond).
03 EXISTING CONDITION The exterior stone wall condition, especially at the ground connection , is visibly deteriorating quite dramatically in some locations but still retains its structural integrity. Juxtaposing the existing stone wall with smooth, clean rhythmical concrete inserts gives an interesting new face to the facade while window panes and planters pop out to give further depth and contrast.
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ADMISSION 01 02 03 04 05
Lobby (501) FLEX Offices Storage Medical Officer on Duty Security Staff Room
ADMINISTRATION 01 02 03 04 05 06 07 08 09 10 11
Health Management and Storage Health Management and Storage Health Management and Storage Health Management and Storage Health Management and Storage Superintendent and Support Superintendent and Support Staff Lockers Staff Break Room Facility Training Facility Training
03 RUSK PSYCHIATRIC ASYLUM
LEVEL 3
LEVEL 2
LEVEL 1
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12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32
Facility Training Security Quality Management Utilization Management Technical Support FLEX Offices FLEX Offices Clinical Director and Support Director of Psychology Safety and Workers Compensation Safety and Workers Compensation Meeting and Multipurpose Room Meeting and Multipurpose Room Meeting and Multipurpose Room Chief Nurse’s Office Chief Financial Officer and Accountant Lobby, Welcome Center and Reception Job Center Job Center Patient Rights Patient Rights
THERAPY MALL 01 02 03 04 05 06 07 08 09 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19
Library and Reading Room FLEX Program and Meeting Room FLEX Program and Meeting Room FLEX Program and Meeting Room FLEX Program and Meeting Room FLEX Program and Meeting Room Cafe and Support Kitchen Computer Room Post Office and Mail Room Music Arts and Crafts Peer Support Patient Education Teaching Kitchen Trust Fund Clothing Center Canteen Cashier and Patient Property Barber
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Chapel Indoor Central Recreation Staff Lockers and Break Room Gymnasium FLEX Room FLEX Room FLEX Room Auditorium
MEDICAL 01 02 03 04 05 06 07 08 09 10
Mechanical OPS and Storage Multipurpose Meeting Rooms Employee Health and Infection Control Offices Staff Break Room Dental Medical Professional Offices Medical Professional Offices Medical Lab and EKG Medical Exam Rooms Pharmacy
THERAPY MALL
MEDICAL AND ADMISSIONS
ADMINISTRATION
FRONT APPROACH
THERAPY MALL
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FRONT ELEVATION
SECTION A
SECTION B
SECTION C
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04 UTSOA Design Excellence Award ISSUE018 Publication
FR AME Spring 2018 Galveston, Texas Critic: C. Coker Team: S. Iyengar, R. Joseph, C. Townley, D. Huang, A. Stone, D. Smith, M. Gaudio, P. Chang, M. Navarrete, A. Vanella, J. Sheets, M. Rodriguez, B. Tharp
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Gulf Coast Design Lab is a semester-long design build studio at UTSOA headed by professor Coleman Coker. During our semester, 11 fellow studio mates and I were tasked with the design and construction of a multipurpose outdoor classroom intended to serve a non-profit educational organization called Artist Boat in Galveston, Texas. Artist Boat owns a large plot of land that sprawls across the coastal parries of Galveston Island, where they offer guided tours and field trips to local (often low income) students of the surrounding Houston area. Upon our initial visit to the site, we were all struck by the incredible rugged and chaotic beauty of the coastal prairie. Consequently, early conceptual
design emphasized the need to capture this beauty in a unique manner while creating a smooth transition but clear juxtaposition between natural landscape and human intervention. Ultimately, the classroom’s design revolves around a grid with both physical and abstract rationale. Two rows of trees, placed along a continuation of the structural grid line, visually ease patrons into the classroom while creating a visual, thermal and audible barrier between the sun and large neighborhood to the South. On the Northern side of the classroom, the structural grid extends two rows beyond the enclosure, creating intentionally framed views out to a forest and water beyond.
ENTRY APPROACH
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01
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Roof Membrane Roof Framing Structural Framing Deck Deck Framing Structural Footings
PLAN A
SECTION A
SECTION B
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04 FRAME
INTERIOR
NORTHEAST CORNER
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CIRCULATION FRAME
FAR APPROACH
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05 UTSOA Design Excellence Award Lyceum Competition Entry
A UDUBO N BRAN CH L IBRA RY Fall 2016 New York, New York Critic: M. Haettasch New York City’s Audubon Terrace is located near the Washington Heights neighborhood between 155th and 156th streets in Northwest Manhattan. The terrace is surrounded by a collection of minority cultural buildings (a church and Hispanic heritage center among several others) constructed in the beaux arts style in the late 1920s. Unfortunately, this once pleasant space that was deeply invested in the local community has recently fallen into a state of abandonment and disrepair. When granted the opportunity to construct a library along the diminishing terrace, this major contextual issue quickly became the primary design consideration. The initial building strategy manifested itself in an unobstructed void that slices through the infill site. A response to the vacant terrace level (which is located 30 feet above 156th Street), this large void offers pedestrians on the street a clear view and clear path to the terrace, therefore opening it up to the public realm. The void creates both an upper and lower level to the library. The lower level steps up from the street to the terrace, easing both vertical circulation (to the terrace) along with volumetric organization of program. The largest and most important space of the lower level, the community room, is located at the very back of the site, another attempt to draw pedestrians towards the terrace. This general strategy, in regards to volumetric rhythm and spatial hierarchy, is echoed in the upper levels, which contain narrow volumes of bookshelves in the front of the building and larger communal reading rooms towards the rear. Rhythmical breaks within the upper volumes echo the circulation paths below and allow natural light to filter into the void. The void itself contains two exterior reading spaces, a green courtyard just below the terrace, another located on the terrace itself. Ultimately, these outdoor spaces take one final attempt at drawing pedestrians onto the terrace while providing patrons with an immensely rich spacial experience.
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05 AUDUBON BRANCH LIBRARY
156TH STREET VIEWING WEST
As depicted in the upper sketch, 156th street consists of primarily early 20th century beaux arts style buildings. One of the original ideas was that the library’s facade would consist of some sort of grid that abstractly mimicked the language of the street. The sketches above show some initial attempts at subtraction within the building to create connections between street and terrace. The early wall assembly drawing to the right exhibits some attempts and general ideas concerning thermal barrier and structural systems within the building. Certain
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elements, such as the exterior steel grid, were vacated as the project progressed. However, a few of the major concepts (the most important of which being the explicit street to terrace visual connection, remained quite explicit in the final project. Furthermore some of these original attempts at the unique approach of infilling the site with defined objects and integrating nature into the library at strategic points, can be seen within the final design.
TERRACE TO COURTYARD
156TH STREET TO TERRACE
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VERTICAL CONNECTION
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LEVEL 1A
TERRACE LEVEL
STREET LEVEL
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01 02 03 04 05 06 07
Circulation Path Computer Lab Main Lobby Multipurpose Hall Terrace Reading Space Terrace Circulation Desk Book
LATERAL CONNECTION
LEVEL 3
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Children’s Room Book Stacks Teen Room Main Reading Room
LEVEL 2
LEVEL 1C
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VERTICAL MORPHOLOGY
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SECTION A
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05 AUDUBON BRANCH LIBRARY
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05 AUDUBON BRANCH LIBRARY
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06 Mebane Travel Scholarship
PO RTUG UES E CU LTU R AL CENTER Spring 2019 Porto, Portugal Critic: K. Alter
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Where the dramatic hills carved out by the ancient Douro River give way to the mighty Atlantic, generations upon generations of this world’s finest architects have constructed one of Europe’s oldest and most beautiful cities. Winding through Porto’s narrow and unpredictable streets, it seems almost every visual moment comes with a shockingly aesthetic surprise. Luckily, our given site just West of downtown on the Northern bank of the Douro River provides one of the best views of all; the Arrábida Bridge perfectly frames the mouth of the Douro River as it spills into the Atlantic. Given the cultural center’s public, extroverted program and requirement to showcase the nation of Portugal
and city of Porto, maximizing on this incredible moment was key. The roof of the museum portion is an occupied platform extending out from the city, oriented towards the bridge and Atlantic beyond. Near parallel to the Main Street below, this platform and the art museum underneath serve as an extroverted public interface. Behind this volume, a perpendicular axis and tower rise up to a neighborhood condition and the famed Faculty of Architecture behind. This tower contains more intimate and academic programs intended for interaction amongst the locals. Below the platform at street level, these two axes converge, forming a much needed public plaza and tram stop along the street.
DOURO RIVER VIEW
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PORTO, PORTUGAL 01 02 03 04
Site Faculty of Architecture Arrรกbida Bridge Palรกcio de Cristal
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New Town
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04
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Duoro River
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AXIAL MASSING
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VIEW FROM BRIDGE
After slicing through the site in order to create the lengthy public platform and subsequently housing the museum below it, secondary volumes such as the tower, main theatre and additional exhibition spaces were placed with the intention of framing the public plaza. As evident in the sketch, the generally monolithic volumes reveal themselves at the plaza level, promoting visual connection along with ease of
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access and navigation to the street level pedestrians. Though diagrammatic, the model shows how the expressive secondary volumes utilize material to further distinguish themselves from the platform and surrounding urban context. These monolithic, simple yet abstract forms draw inspiration from world renowned Portuguese modernists such as Eduardo Souto de Moura and Alvaro Siza.
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CONTEXTUAL MODEL
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LEVEL 2
06 PORTUGUESE CULTURAL CENTER
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Gift Shop Kitchen Restaurant Bar Outdoor Patio Lecture Hall Archive
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Public Plaza Main Theatre Student Room Archive Lobby Storage Gallery Main Exhibition
ROOF PLATFORM VIEWING WEST
STREET LEVEL PLAZA
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LEVEL 4
06 PORTUGUESE CULTURAL CENTER
01 Conference Room 02 Archive 03 Neighborhood Plaza
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LEVEL 3 01 Surfboard 02 Archive
URBAN AXON
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06 PORTUGUESE CULTURAL CENTER
SECTION A
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07 MARVEL AR CHITECTS Fall 2018 New York, New York My seven month internship at Marvel Architects can be broken up into three segments: two months of completing a long list of presentation drawings of recently finished and current Marvel projects, three weeks working on a feasibility study for an international art gallery looking for a permanent home in New York and three months on B15, a residential tower and elementary school in central Brooklyn. During the time spent on portfolio drawings, the majority of my work was done in AutoCAD. For most projects, I’d start with a full CD set and export a few plans, sections and elevations to clean up. Ultimately, I established a standardized framework of
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B15 rendering by Hiroya Umeda
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lineweights and graphic techniques for future use. Building 15, whose name refers to its original lot number in a large scheme called Atlantic Yards in central Brooklyn, functions primarily as a residential tower and contains a public elementary school on its bottom five floors. Personal tasks on B15 included window and PTAC unit assembly studies, brick coursing calculations, studies, details and eventually full fledged facade elevations, attending client meetings with the developer, communicating and meeting with our brick representative to attain and organize all of our brick samples and finally helping to complete drawings for the 100% Design Development set.
WINDOWS CATHEDRAL RELATIONSHIP
WEST ELEVATION
WINDOWS TOWNHOUSE TO TOWER TRANSITION
STAIR A SECTION
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07 MARVEL ARCHITECTS
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SLAB EDGE CELLAR
SLAB EDGE LEVEL 3
SLAB EDGE SUB CELLAR MEZ
SLAB EDGE LEVEL 2
SLAB EDGE SUB CELLAR
SLAB EDGE LEVEL 1
TYPICAL RESI LOBBY
KITCHEN B
PIERHOUSE AND 1 HOTEL LEVEL 5
LEVEL 8
LEVEL 3
LEVEL 7
LEVEL 2
LEVEL 6
EAST ELEVATION
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08 CL AYTON AND LITTLE Summer 2017 San Antonio, Texas Austin, Texas Architects Clayton and Little is a small firm in Austin and San Antonio, focusing primarily on high end residential and boutique commercial and hospitality work. As an intern in the San Antonio office, my primary role was to assist in schematic design and design development while producing physical and digital models. I had the opportunity to work on multiple projects, the three shown being the Kauai Residence, two winery
08 CLAYTON AND LITTLE
WINERY
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projects in California, and the residence in Austin, Texas (respectively). For the Kauai house I produced two quick study models and a more detailed section model (pictured) as well as multiple studies of the truss system over the roof of the guest house (also shown). For the barn and house, I produced two detailed models at the design development stage.
KAUAI RESIDENCE
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SECTION MODEL
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08 CLAYTON AND LITTLE
WINERY AG BARN
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AUSTIN RESIDENCE
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