brian.yang university of minnesota | undergraduate portfolio
content form.passive spiraling.movement space+materials.light defying.gravity analogy.waldorf primary school
form.passive usgbc design competition - 2nd place collaborator derek kiekhafer summer 2012 EAST ELEVATION 1/4” = 1’-0”
NORTH ELEVATION 1/4” = 1’-0” ELEVATION NORTH 1/4” = 1’-0”
WEST ELEVATION 1/4” = 1’-0”
SOUTH ELEVATION 1/4” = 1’-0” ELEVATION SOUTH 1/4” = 1’-0”
collaborating with derek Kieckhafer, this project is a submission to the 2012 USGBC Natural Design Competition. the challenge called for a LEED Platinum Sustainable Learning Center for Dakota County Technical College in Rosemount, Minnesota. the project was restricted to a $150,000 budget fitting within a 4,500 sq/ft footprint. the primary driver of the building was passive design. simple rectilinear shapes and forms were first placed to organize program and space. by pushing and pulling certain planes and lines responding to natural conditions for passive opportunities, the language of the simple forms expanded yet remained simple. these forms create the passive design as a whole. certain technologies, materials and details carry the project further to achieve LEED platnium.
roof membrane rigid insulation
low-albedo adhered white roof
gypsum thermal protection wood texture trespa panels vapor barrier metal decking
steel stud
half trombe wall
concrete topping w/ radiant piping
sunscreen louver system
low-e insulated glazing
aluminum sill w/ thermal break
pre-cast plank
wood texture trespa panels steel stud
batt insulation exterior sheathing + vapor barrier
insulated opaque glazing
low-e insulated glazing
floor slab
concrete exterior
outdoor permeable paving foundation
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11
access road native grasses xeriscaping geo-exchange bore field green roof low-albedo white roof skylights active solar/pve panels prairie grasses permeable paving alternative fuel/low emitting vehicles only + electric charging stations
12 bike racks
spiraling.movement design fundamentals II professors john comazzi + adam jarvi + benjamin ibarra-sevilla spring 2011 the east wing stair way in Rapson Hall located at the University of Minnesota - Twin Cities is a hidden feature that not very many people know about. the unique and irregular spiraling figure of stairs motivated my collaborator, allison smith, and I to document the spiraling motion that people experience when utilizing the stairs. we first analyzed the stairs through photography and later on created a hybrid drawing to document our studies. the hybrid drawing combines multiple drawings ranging from plans to perspectives. through the drawing, the unique geometries that compose the spiraling stairs were revealed as well as the experiential aspect of the stairs as people utilize the stairs.
space+materials.light studio I professors dzenita hadziomerovic + martha mcquade + dan winden fall 2011 the studio focused on space + materials and how they interacted to create architecture, specifically a pathway and public space for the Cedar-Riverside community. my particular interest was how lighting corresponded to various programs and invoked movement. the specifice site in the Cedar-Riverside community connected a busy street to multi-story residential coumminities of a primarily somalian residents. as light as the specific study, the ribbon ceiling which weaves side to side catches the human eye, yet the people do not move in that sequence. the louvers attached to the ribbon ceiling creates interesting light qualities and a rhythm invoking movment. the covered spaces are more private spaces such as bathrooms and community conference rooms. the center courtyard, a public space, is wide open maximizing sunlight which invites people to occupy the space.
defying.gravity design fundamentals II professors john comazzi + adam jarvi + benjamin ibarra-sevilla spring 2011 the challenge was to design a cantilever that is able to hold a tennis ball 18� into mid-air only using a deck of playing cards. adhesives were NOT permitted. partnered with ashley gryzwa, we made a decision to split the work. her focus was the attachment of the cantilever to the hand rail. My focus was the cantilever itself. through numerous iterations, a final method for card attachments was achieved: slit + tab. the cards are placed in a triangular pattern for maximum strength and then connected to outside bracings. the project was a success as the cantilever held the ball for 3 days.
analogy.waldorf primary school studio II: program professor julia robinson spring 2012 waldorf education can be summarized by the words: head + hands + heart. the pedagogy utilizes nature, legends + myths as a language to teach the children the 3 aspects.
st. anthony’s fall: se maine street + se 6th avenue
taking the legends + myth curriculum, greek mythology became an analogy for the overall school design. the 12 olympian deities each have a symbol which was represented by sketch models and drawings of possible programs in the school. this later on developed into an overall scheme utilizing the analogy of zeus’ lightning bolt. god of all gods, zeus was the overarching concept of the spaces inspired from the 12 deities. the lightning bolt touches both the ground (inhabited by humans) and the sky (home of the gods). the school follows the order where children go learn in the “rooms of the gods” on the upper floors then have a procession down to the ground level at the end of every week to showcase their work to other students.
12 olympian deities
EXITS TO OUTDOOR
ROOMS
CORRIDOR