brianna nixon
advanced design portfolio usf | school of architecture and community design
brianna nixon
advanced design portfolio usf school of architecture and community design
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contents designa 04 photography 06 touching history 32 journal
c a r e of maki ng 36 humidor
designb 46 the hoard
d e t a i l ma ki ng 62 lamp
designc 70 photography 72 tubma reservoir project
“We see architecure as an act of profound optimism. Its foundation lies in believing that it is possible to make places on the earth that give a sense of grace to life-and believing that that matters. it is what we have to give and it is what we leave behind.� Todd Williams and Billie Tsien 4
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to uc hing his t or y
Ljubljana, Slovenia
design a Nancy Sanders
summer 2012
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mapping and the city
“...The relief and design of structures appears more clearly when context which is the living energy of meaning, is neutralized, somewhat like the architecture of an uninhabited or deserted city.� Peter Eisenman
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Location Krizanke Trg francoske revolucije 1 Ljubljana, Slovenia Facility The objective of Krizanke school of design and performing arts is to provide spaces that facilitate learning and provide event spaces for the city of Ljubljana. The student gallery enables the students work to be exhibited to the city. Property area 104000 sq. ft. Existing area 45000 sq. ft. Renovation area 24000 Building height 59’
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Ljubljanski grad (castle) city center | three bridges Site - KriĹžanke Ljubljanica river
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Through expression of the natural materials’ patina and wear and the main objective of creating a place, rather than just a space, issues of space, time and materiality transcend history and construct meaning across historical epochs.
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Ljubljana offers a rich and complex history in a tightly contained urban center. Križanke, currently a school of music and design, was once a monastery of the Teutonic knights. A Roman forum once spanned part of the site. Today, only a piece of this history remains but its plays a major role in the organization of Krizanke. The Roman wall acts as anchor, foundation to the historical exhibit. The in-between spaces; the courtyards, create moments of interaction controlled by the surrounding walls. The studio spaces overlooking the Plečnik courtyard create a moment when the intervention floats within time, penetrating history. The intervention transformes Križanke; acting as a modern layer, concealing or lightly touching history, not obliterating it. Traces of history linger within the subtexts of a contemporary architectural proposition and contribute to a lineage of cultural identity by exposing the layers of history. 16
“Natural material expresses its age and history as well as the tale of its birth and human use. The patina of wear adds the enriching experience of time; matter exists in the continuum of time.� Juhani Palasmaa
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student gallery student library art studio Roman ruins gallery cafe bathrooms ticket booth
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student studio viewing historica
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gallery
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deck al exhibit
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entrance
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The entrance to Krizanke is a movement through layers of public to semi-private. A steel moveable wall pivots, transforming the street condition and opening up the courtyard to the street during events. The wide square in front of the church can now be seen as a gathering space as opposed to just a vehicular street that has been converted to a pedestrian street. 01 02 03 04 05
Krizanke church entrance to courtyard ticket booth Roman wall park
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section a 01 02 03 04 05 06
church entrance to Plecnik courtyard student gallery student library atrium viewing deck
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Plecnik courtyard
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The section illustrates the entrance into the historical exhibit, the cafe, and vertical circulation to the studios and the gallery. As the existing arched columns ground to the main floor, stone transforms to steel columns that use the same language and proportions of the old building; echoing old into the new. The permanent historical exhibit exposes layers beneath the earth and uses the Roman wall as an organizer and background of the exhibit. The spaces are suspended in time as the layers of history are exposed and the diffuse light entering the gallery changes the perception of time. The atrium acts as the joint between the intervention; providing access to the studios, the student gallery and the student library. It is a void carved into a historical context in which the temporal space that people pass through, floats in time.
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section b
park entrance to historical exhibit elevated greenspace cafe studios vertical circulation existing
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graphite on paper 5” x 175” 30
humidor
care of making
Steve Cooke | spring 2012
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materiality | touch | form Smoking cigars is a sensory experience. It involves smelling the cigars, the taste of the tobacco in your mouth and the feel of rolling it in your hands. I wanted the entire process of smoking to involve the senses thus, I studied hands to learn what the shape and the material should be. Hands are more suited to hold a thin rectangular form rather than a large cube. Wood is soft and warm to the touch and cedar has an aroma that compliments cigars. A soft, smooth material responds to the hands. The hands also determined how the humidor was opened with the simple action of sliding and pushing.
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“It is the effort that human beings make to put the marks of skill and love on the artifacts they leave behind that ennobles us in the face of life’s tragic nature and lifts us close to the domain of angels’ James Howard Kunstler, Home From Nowhere
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concept model
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The top and bottom have a natural imperfection in the wood that acts as a detail and as a groove to slide the top open. After the sides were cut to the correct dimensions, they were then cut into three sections. This enabled the drawer to match the rest of the humidor The entire humidor is made from a 11’x11”x7’ plank of walnut. Using the table saw, I cut it in half and proceeded to plane it down to 1/4” thick. This gave the box the seamless appearance. The individual pieces of the drawer are notched and can be held together without glue. Adjustable compartments in the drawer enable the user to put the lighter, cutter, and a deck of cards, into the drawer.
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the hoar d Th e H o a r d Chicago, Illinois design b mark weston fall 2012
design b Mark Weston fall 2012
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materials | time | temporality
The hoarder house museum celebrates the life of an eccentric billionaire whose entire life’s work is centered around the collection of dump trucks, in all its variations. The drafted drawing of the toy dump truck was the first immersion into becoming obsessed with the object to understand its every facet, to absorb its lines and to use this information to shape the museum. The drawing serves to bridge the gap between the handcrafted object and the industrial processes. The goal is to produce a modern architecture that will reintroduce handmade material quality to the stark modernist conception of space-making. After analyzing the dump truck, importance was placed on its materiality and movement. Layers of history manifest themselves through the patina and wear of the materials, thus materials and time are essential to this project.
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Time is sensed through light. The lobby moves people into the darkness, thus playing with the perception of time.
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04 toy truck exhibit 05 L train platform 06 office lobby
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07 auditorium 08 catwalk 09 vintage truck exhibit
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10 superdump 11 viewing deck 12 office space 54
After analyzing the dump truck, importance was placed on its materiality and movement. Layers of history manifest themselves through the patina and wear of the materials, thus materials and time are essential to this project. Instead of looking at the truck for a skin system that covers the entire building, the skin carves out a space between. The angles of the steel as it wraps up the building give the illusion of movement. Certain moments where the hoarder museum passes to the other side space of contemplation between the two steel skins.
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the lamp
detail making
Giancarlo Giusti | spring 2013
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concrete base detail scale 1”= 1’0”
By lining the form work with acetate, the concrete has a smooth finish. The concrete is angled inside and the steel body is attached to the concrete with screws screwed directly into the concrete. The steel floats away from the concrete with 1” spacers.
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pivot detail scale 1”= 1’0”
The assignment was an exploration of the connections between steel and concrete. The chord is held in place between the two flat bars by 1”x1/8” rods. The steel tube was grinded down in order to insert the 1/2” steel flat bar into the tube.
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walnut lamp shade detail scale 1”= 1’0”
The steel is once again floating between another material. The steel flat bars that make up the body of the lamp, hold up the walnut lamp shade, while also floating inside of it.
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t ubma r es er v oir pr oje c t Rayong, Thailand
design c Jan Wampler
spring 2013
team T.o.W. B o e h me r | Co l贸 n | Nix o n
spirit tree
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The reservoirs are located in Thailand near Bangkok. East Water Group is preparing for the future need for providing clean water to Bangkok and the surrounding areas. This project aims to design a sense of place around the watter by creating an environment which respects the pedestrian scale, acknowledges a connection to the surrounding water, creates a sense of community within each neighborhood, and provides a variety of experiences in each district.
concepts | objectives Creating a sense of neighborhood through community areas developed around the human scale Practicing environmental sustainability through PV panels and rainwater collection Various housing types attract diversity of people A public market provides goods for residences and encourages community outreach Social and recreational opportunities in pathways and public spaces foster a healthy community Distinctive identity that responds to the culture and context Access to other major cities provided by the proposed transit hub Connection to nature through a main park and green spaces dispersed throughout the development 70
Our urban design studio began with researching cities that excel in place making our chosen precedent study being Venice. This ‘Space Between’ model highlights the network of plazas that one moves through while visiting Venice, providing a variety of experiences at different scales, while also connecting to the canals serve as a means of way finding. The character of these spaces served as inspiration for how we designed the framework of our Tubma settlement.
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The junk model exercise served as a means for getting away from our preconceived notions of urban design. We were able to delineate three zones in the model which eventually led to defining the three types of living experiences the site had to offer. These districts are further defined by the canals that run through them, providing residents with a greater connection to the water.
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The boardwalk acts as the main organizing element of our settlement, weaving throughout the different living areas and providing the main connection to the city center from each district. The most notable feature of the boardwalk is its relationship to the axis that connects the water market to the temple. This area of the boardwalk is, essentially, the ‘living room’ of the Tubma settlement. Shops and cafes spill out onto the boardwalk, generating bustling activity in the area. Another feature of the boardwalk is its connection to the path which encloses the entire settlement, and the level changes within the boardwalk that bring the path down to the water level.
The project is focused on the city center, which consists of the dense urban living, a public park and lake, community buildings, the market over the water, and a connection to the boardwalk promenade to the temple. This area is designed to accommodate bustling commercial activity, with mixed use buildings being the dominate typology. Cafes, shops, and arcades define the street room in this area, and serve to bring residents out into the community at all times of the day.
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section cut through the shrine, the greenspace community area, the dense urban core and the market graphite on trace 60� x 15�
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impor tant destinations stages circulation land-use open space
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The elevation study of the urban living focuses on bringing ventilation through multi-story buildings, giving each living space three walls which can be opened and altered to allow fresh breezes of the water into the living spaces. Dividing up the buildings with these breeze channels keeps the residences from feeling too stacked or compartmentalized.
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The different types of living conditions within the settlement provide a variety of living experiences for the residents of Tubma. The three types take advantage of the amenities provided by the reservoir - living above the water, on the hill, and in the dense urban core. The dense urban core is characterized by mixed use buildings which house commercial activity and multi-family residential spaces. These buildings benefit from view corridors out to the water and into the urban park, while also taking advantage of their proximity to the center of activity of the settlement.
urban boardwalk
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canal living
The settlement on the hill takes advantage of the topography created from the fill of the reservoir, and provides views out to the water and the adjacent park. These neighborhoods are defined by their proximity to the canals and housing that is built into the land - particularly, the green roofs that extend from the topography and create private green spaces for residents.
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Many of the roofs within the settlement are defined by steep slopes which are capable of handling the rainfall during the monsoon season. However, in the hillside settlement, some are green roofs that extend out from the topography. These have cuts in them which not only define private space on the roof, but also provide for ventilation through the house. The green roof would serve as a means for collecting water and becoming an integral part of the drainage system. 90
The section of the hillside living focuses on how terracing the land through building form creates a more dynamic way of dealing with the steep topography. This area also faces the challenge of dealing with rainfall by creating a series of cuts in the ground which transfer water back to the canals and reservoir. These channels also connect to water features within the green spaces in the neighborhoods, providing another soothing audible and visual experience of the water for the resident.
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central core of privacy double layer of screen systems; exterior and interior privacy low-density living-duplex mid-density living-residents share an outer courtyard with the low-density residents. An inner courtyard within the building is a private courtyard mixed use buildings main large public space The plan illustrates the transition from main public open space, to semi-public open space, to semi-private courtyards
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The m munity public the c that d es. Th reside terior
model of the above-the-water comy explores the notion of layering c and private space, defined by central core and screen systems divide spaces within the residenche varying transparency allows the ent to change the exterior and inof their home to suit their needs. 96
Keeping the settlement close to the edge of the water, wrapping the reservoir rather than pulling away from it, has kept the focus of the project on the connection to the water. This settlement aims to serve as an example for future reservoir projects - keeping the development contained and intimate is the best manner for respecting the reservoir and surrounding context.
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brianna nixon
advanced design portfolio usf school of architecture and community design brnixon2@mail.usf.edu