Brian barber work samples 4 2015

BRIAN BARBER WORK SAMPLES 2015

Experimental Martian Settlement, Hollywood, CA

The proposed facility in the Hollywood Hills above Los Angeles is meant to closely mimick the first structure to be built by humans on the surface of Mars. Its purpose would be to extract water from the surface soil which is then used to grow food and plants for the inhabitants of the outpost. Utilizing the high winds often found on Mars, the facility’s initial power source is a large wind turbine on the top floor. Because of the nature of the project, it must be completely self-sustaining, employing additional methods of generating power once the system is up and running such as solar power, and biomass production.The structure is built into a mountainside in an effort to mediate the harsh temperature differences found during a typical Martian day. The facade also faces south in an effort to optimize and control the amount of direct sunlight in an effort to mimick the amount of sunlight found on the surface of the red planet.

Cahuenga Peak, Hollywood, CA 34.1370° N, 118.3258° W

wind patterns The project is strategically placed to take full advantage of sun and wind exposure.

Daylight Study

July

April/October

January

wind turbines

Energy-producing solar panel glass

Biomass panels

158 meters

wind turbine

Food growth/ experiment/ research Inhabitant residence

Micro Unit Housing Brush Park, Detroit

Brush Park is a neighborhood in Detroit that is situated between a highway corridor and a developing area of Midtown. After years of urban decay, Brush Park is set to make a comeback with plans to build a new hockey stadium just outside the neighborhood boundaries. Detroit being a city with a large land area and limited resources, urban density is an issue to be addressed.

Single Unit

Double Unit

frame

floor plates

circulation

structure

3

2

1 interior

study model

6

5

4

Water Catchment Tower This water catchment system is designed to help alleviate water shortage issues for rice farmers in the northern mountains of Sri Lanka. The nylon netting has the potential to capture up to twenty five gallons of water a night, given the right conditions. Working in congruence with a system of cisterns using the Alternate Wetting and Drying Method, this system could reduce the farmer’s reliance on government supplied water from the south.

structure: formed by ribs similar to tent poles, easily assembled but lightweight and strong.

14.5’

nylon netting: loose weave to collect water and allow it to run down into a basin without being absorbed by the material.

form: the doubled over surface area of the catchment tower increases the nightly collection potential. rammed earth or brick: with a focus on local materials the surrounding area can provide what is needed to build the huts that house the water basinsand act as a base the catchment towers.

16’

10’

Irrigation System bamboo is plentiful in Sri Lanka, in fact it’s a growing industry. it works well for drainage systems that use natural materials, and can be grown to lengths of more than 12’ with a consistent diameter.

Delirious Detroit In the fall of 2013 our studio studied Detroit as the focus of a semester-long project. We were given the opportunity to research a given part of city and then choose a specific site within that area. I chose the former site of the Michigan State Fair along Eight Mile Road as a site as social condenser.

We were also given a text as a point of departure, mine being Rem Koolhaas’ “Delirious New York”. This example led me to a project that is a reimagination of the history of Detroit. Taking into account political, economic, and social factors around the turn of the Twentieth century, my project examines a critical point in the history of the city where the future could have turned out differently.

Delirious Detroit In 1904 Detroit was a bustling city with the hopes and promises of a new century.

Technology was making life easier. In four years time, henry ford would make the newly invented automobile affordable for almost anyone. Detroit was set to become the economic center of the United States.

Emma Whitney was a young woman that dreamt of becoming an architect. Her father had moved them to Detroit from Western New York after the death of her mother.

While emma’s father, David, Had dreams of turning the city into the next New York, emma had dreams of turning it into the next Paris..........

the Whitney building (Dad’s “Home”)

the whitney house (Emma’s Hideout)

amphitheatre/elevator

axon Garden plots

Sell it!!!!! I’ll build another skyscraper!!!!!!

amphitheatre

monument

elevator

Area of Surface Program: 135 Acres Area of Underground Program: > 1500 acres

section

1200’

4.62 mi site

saltmine

1200’

the woodward plan

emma’s plan included an underground tower made entirely of glass. she had seen images of one in a newspaper during one of her many visits to berlin. if she mounted lights on the mine walls she could control the intensity and duration of the light. for emma, daylight was too harsh and night time was too dark. she could finally find a happy medium and effect the mood with colored glass on the facade of the building.......it would be brilliant.

The woodward plan had so obviously been modeled after the parks of europe, like the gardens of versailles. Her Grandmother had left emma a plot of land that her father wanted to sell so the state could use it for the fairgrounds. Emma had plans to turn it into an urban garden, full of flowers and vegetables for the people who lived in the city. Her plan was perfect.. She had drawn it out, how could her father argue?

saltmine the site of the gardens sits on top of vast salt mines....... the perfect place for her secret society. emma dreamt of building glass skyscrapers underground, a concept her father could never understand.

4.62 mi

detroit 1904

garden plan

monument to modernism

glass: meant to control the visual atmosphere of each floor of the underground tower. lights: powerful new lighting used in baseball parks for night games. steel frame: the frame is also new technology. used in the mine to protect against any mine collapse. the vast salt mines could also be used for other activities, like golf, tennis, and swimming in the underground lakes.

detroit was such a beautiful city, with a promising future.......

above ground the gardens could serve the community. she could raise flowers and vegetables. Perhaps she could even rent out plots to folks who need a garden. The amphitheatre could hold concerts and other community events. maybe she would even open up the underground club to the public. afterall, one of the things that bothered her about her father was his eliteism.

emma dreamt of planning out the rest of the city.

She thought that one day detroit really could be another Paris....of the midwest!

place de la concorde

perhaps........

Brian Barber

Artwork I started blowing glass in 1997 as an undergrad at Ohio State. I went on to work in glass professionally for eleven years until I went back to school in 2010. I have continued to work in glass and use it as a means of working through certain design challenges.

Pollen Grains blown glass 2010

Inland Wave photograph 2014

When the Stars Came to Earth blown glass 2012

A Story of Faith: Loup River sandcast glass 2015