Brent Hillenbrand: Work Sample

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INTRODUCTION


From a very early age, I was usually doing one of two things; drawing or building. Little has changed since then. I have always had a desire to positively impact the lives of people, and the practice of architecture has provided me an opportunity to gain a greater sensitivity to human interaction with space. With this sensitivity to people and the advancement of my understanding of representation, I will continue to draw and to build.

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CONVENT AT RONCHAMP SEPTEMBER - DECEMBER, 2008

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VIRGINIA SOCIETY AIA STUDENT DESIGN COMPETITION 2010 JANUARY 29 - FEBRUARY 1 , 2010

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INSTITUTE OF CULTURAL ANTHROPOLOGY (ICA) JANUARY - MAY, 2010

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CHURCH PROPOSAL (ARCHITECTURAL INTERN) JULY - AUGUST, 2010

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KETCHAM ELEMENTARY SCHOOL AUGUST - DECEMBER, 2010

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THREE HOUSES JANUARY - MAY, 2011

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SENIOR THESIS AUGUST - MAY, 2012


CONVENT AT RONCHAMP SEPTEMBER - DECEMBER, 2008

physical model (chipboard, basswood); dimensions approx. 46 x 38 x 11”

The hilltop presence of Notre Dame du Haut and its surrounding buildings calls for a sensitivity to existing sightlines. In order to address the visual and spatial demands of Le Corbusier’s interpretation of the site, a general physical openness must be maintained. The convent, sited beneath the ziggurat of ruins on the site’s northeast edge, allows for this openness as well as a close physical proximity to the chapel. By taking advantage of the hill’s downward slope, both the upper and lower levels of the convent remain open-air to the north and to the east. The shelter provided by the hill and surrounding woods establishes an opportunity for privacy within a largely public site.

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CONVENT AT RONCHAMP


Notre Dame du Haut, hilltop siting above Ronchamp, France 47º 42’16.28”N, 37º 37’14.06”E

50’ 0’

250’ 100’


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CONVENT AT RONCHAMP - LOWER LEVEL (1” = 32’)


LOWER LEVEL

ORATORY

(images above)

Following the stairlines of the existing ziggurat, two sets of stairs descend below the surface to become one large stair leading into the oratory. This area is available to the site’s visitors as a supplementary place of worship to the chapel, in which the visitors and nuns can join in prayer and reflection. Lit primarily by large openings extending beyond the profile of the hill, the oratory is also lit from above by a reconfigured vertical offsetting of the ziggurat levels. The top level of the ziggurat has been removed and placed in the oratory as an altar, directly below its former location.

UPPER LEVEL

LIVING SPACE

(following spread)

Above the oratory is a private level for the Poor Clare nuns, consisting of bedrooms, washrooms, and a large communal area for gathering and dining. The bedrooms exist as columns within the oratory space, each containing a window overlooking the activity below. The gathering area also partially overlooks the oratory, further reinforcing the responsibility of the visitor to acknowledge the convent as both a place of worship and a place of residence.


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CONVENT AT RONCHAMP - UPPER LEVEL (1” = 32’)



WILD ISLE JANUARY 29 - FEBRUARY 1 , 2010

Given the allure of its roughness, the last thing Belle Isle needs is a traditional visitor’s center - a place where an agreed-upon body of information is re-packaged and re-presented to the tourist, preempting and prescribing the actual experience of a place. Instead, this competition asks you to design one or more spaces that act as a repository for the variable, ephemeral, and ultimately personal narratives arising from individuals’ experiences of the island. This space should be a place for sharing and interpreting stories of all kinds (written, spoken, drawn, found) and from all sources (here and now, there and then, reputable and otherwise). The direct viewing or experiencing of Belle Isle, and the monitoring of local environmental or meteorological phenomena, could be considered important narratives as well.” - VSAIA

Since the early 1800s, Belle Isle has played host to the whims of industry and war. It has witnessed times of prosperity as well as atrocity. Although operations have come and gone, the island remains littered with remnants of occupation. These remnants exist as solitary objects, fostering a spirit of wandering throughout the landscape. To intervene is to embrace this spirit, to pay homage to an unassuming place of ruins.

- FIRST PLACE WITHIN VIRGINIA TECH - ENTRY SENT TO STATE LEVEL

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VIRGINIA SOCIETY AIA STUDENT DESIGN COMPETITION 2010


Belle Isle, Richmond, Virginia 37 º 31’43.39”N, 77 º 27’8.07”W

100’ 0’

500’ 250’

1000’



final submission (graphite, xylol); 20 x 30�


physical model (chipboard, corrugated cardboard, basswood); dimensions approx. 27 x 15 x 24�

INSTITUTE OF CULTURAL ANTHROPOLOGY (ICA) JANUARY - MAY, 2010

EXHIBITION

ARCHIVE

RESEARCH AND HOUSING

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INSTITUTE OF CULTURAL ANTHROPOLOGY (ICA)

gallery of visual and aural anthropology gallery of small to medium scale artifacts hall of large scale artifacts

film and media archive staging warehouse, shop permanent collection

12 researcher/artist apartments (singles) 8 researcher/artist apartments (families) 10 studio spaces office, library, support spaces


Cincinnati, Ohio 39 º 06’16.95”N, 84º 30’34.20”W

50’ 0’

250’ 100’


tower three passenger elevator shaft (left) and mobile studio lift rails (right)

The urban siting of the ICA affords an opportunity to investigate the role of a tower within the cityscape. Intended as a central place of gathering, the towers rise within the highest reaches of the city, boldly communicating their collective presence to the surrounding buildings. On the ground, passersby mill through the slender profiles of the towers. They become witnesses to a complex concert of movements, as the ground and sky are brought to life by the everyday happenings of the institute.

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INSTITUTE OF CULTURAL ANTHROPOLOGY (ICA)


INITIAL SCHEME

SINGULAR TOWER

(images top row)

FINAL SCHEME

MULTIPLE TOWERS ALONG AN AXIS

(images left and bottom)

In order to address issues of housing and groundplane integration from the initial scheme, living spaces have been moved below grade, and gallery square footage has been divided amongst three towers. An elaborate system of lifts and mobile studio spaces is responsible for the transportation of artifacts to galleries located within and between tower structures. Archive areas remain sheltered within the foundations of the site.


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CHURCH PROPOSAL (TIMOTHY A. COOK DESIGNS)


CHURCH PROPOSAL HOUSTON, TX JULY - AUGUST, 2010


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KETCHAM ELEMENTARY SCHOOL


KETCHAM ELEMENTARY SCHOOL ANACOSTIA, WASHINGTON D.C. AUGUST - DECEMBER, 2010


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THREE HOUSES


THREE HOUSES RIVA SAN VITALE, SWITZERLAND JANUARY - MAY, 2011

ZONA

Collettivo

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IMPLICATIONS OF CONTAINMENT AUGUST - MAY, 2012


IMPLICATIONS OF CONTAINMENT AUGUST - MAY, 2012

Within a society over-stimulated by speed and communication, spaces in which people can temporarily dissociate from this pace of life, that strive toward a sense of isolation, will become increasingly significant. Four case studies were conducted, each focusing on a specific spatial condition from my experiences. In order to understand these spaces objectively, they were approached through the making of diagrams, drawings, and models. Initially, the four conditions were documented as diagrammatic cast forms, prompting an intensive study of mold-making and its relation to containment and inhabitation. To address primitive questions of isolation and containment, the program developed into that of a homeless shelter, a container for temporary inhabitation. More specifically, the thesis work addresses the potential role of privacy and dissociation within the confines of a bedroom. At this more intimate scale as well as at the scale of a community, the room is meant to address the state of the individual as opposed to the logistics of mass housing.

(right) room design progression

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SENIOR THESIS



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SENIOR THESIS


case study mold drawings (mixed media) backlit photography; left image corresponds to actual drawing scale


CATHEDRAL : MASS CASE STUDY ONE

mold interior space (laser-cut chipboard); dimensions 24 x 6 x 12�

Having studied in Europe for a semester, I spent long periods of time sitting and drawing in cathedrals. Regardless of the activity of the street, the interior space of each cathedral seemed to exist in isolation from its immediate context. Dismissing temporarily the potentially isolative implications of a religious program, focus has been placed on the basic spatial qualities of a cathedral and the impact of these qualities on the dissociation from the street. In regard to scale and material selections, a cathedral is dominated by massive elements of construction, offering highly physical, and often formidable, levels of enclosure and separation. The case study seeks to better understand direct formal responses to the containment of mass through intensive mold-making.

(right) diagrammatic cathedral mold pine, plywood, chipboard

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SENIOR THESIS



excerpt from thesis book case study one; wooden mold construction drawing set 1/3

16”

48”

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SENIOR THESIS


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Band saw and router handles into base 2x4s (for eventual transportation of the mold)

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Attach base

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Attach base supports and guides for the primary walls


excerpt from thesis book case study one; wooden mold construction drawing set 2/3

16”

48”

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SENIOR THESIS


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Cut and place primary walls into the guide blocks


excerpt from thesis book case study one; wooden mold construction drawing set 3/3

16”

48”

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SENIOR THESIS


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Insert primary 2x4 braces into the slots of the primary walls (shim firmly into place)

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Attach upper blocks to support the upper corners of the primary walls


THE ROOM The room, beginning with the bed, is bound by various elements of inhabitation. Most critically, occupants of the Roanoke Rescue Mission, the basis of my program, arrive at the shelter each evening around 5:00 PM and must leave in the morning before 9:00 AM. The initial boundaries of the room are defined in such a way to allow for all possible light to enter the space within this timeframe. The remaining formal decisions, made with a sensitivity to these initial conditions, carefully address the approach to the bed and the circulation through the implied spaces within the room.

annotated room progression (mixed media) initial considerations for morning and evening light

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SENIOR THESIS



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SENIOR THESIS


initial door design (mixed media) understanding the scale and physicality of the door; relationship of the door to the hallway and to the visitor


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SENIOR THESIS


ABOVE |

LEFT |

entrance condition to the initial room (mixed media) the spatial impact of the movement of the door door sketch understanding the physical gesture of the door profile


room as a unit within a series (mixed media) diagrammatic plan; spaces and forms produced by joining multiple units

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SENIOR THESIS



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SENIOR THESIS


room plan (mixed media) courtyard scheme; utilizing the envelope of the room to create privacy to the outside


room as a unit within a series (mixed media) diagrammatic section; descent from the hallway into the room

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SENIOR THESIS


room as a unit within a series (mixed media) diagrammatic section; sectional relationship of the interior of the room to the hallway


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SENIOR THESIS


final board design (mixed media) diagrammatic plan, section, elevation; understanding the room within an environment



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