[PORTFOLIO ] Chase Johnson
04-23
STEEL COMPETITION - ARCH 435
24-29
CONTEXTUAL DESIGN - ARCH 315
30-39
URBAN DESIGN - ARCH 325
40-47
DESIGN BUILD - ARCH 335
48-57
HOUSTON MUSEUM FOR CONTEMPORARY CRAFT
SUMMIT TROLLVEGGEN ROCK CLIMBING RETREAT
My name is Chase Johnson, and I am currently a graduate architecture student at Louisiana Tech University. In my time here, have learned much about architectural design from conceptual frameworks to work documentation. This Portfolio showcases my projects during the time I spent in the Louisiana Tech architecture program. All of the projects listed here, with exception of my graduate work, were completed within a period of 10 weeks each. I thank you for taking the time to look through it.
pg.
Theme - Class - Building GRADUATE SCHOOL - ARCH 500-530
ALTERNATIVE ENERGY RESEARCH CENTER [A.E.R.]
MISFIT MOVIE MUSEUM [M.M.M.]
HERO’S LAUNCH - MED-CAMPS
[GRADUATE SCHOOL]
04
Graduate School was the first instance in which I was tasked with designing a building for more than ten weeks. Beginning in the summer, rigorous study and documentation of what defined me as an architect was required. From my conceptual basis to designing detailed wall sections, the experience taught me much about building design in a more holistic manner.
05
BUILD
[PRE-DESIGN]
MANIFESTO
Architecture, at a fundamental level, is the physical transformation, through design, of the Earth's natural resources to better accommodate life in a meaningful way. This Architecture should be informed by the forces acting on it, the reaction of those forces, and the integration of the two through a framework.
Architecture Re:acts to its context through tectonics.
URBAN
Architecture Re:connects its users to the building's context.
Re:act Architecture should acknowledge its context, and work to adapt and improve it; whether it is built, a natural environment, or an urban infrastructure. This is the first vector, which imposes itself inward towards the architecture from the exterior. This integrated advancement of architecture into the existing framework should be what drives the formal and material nature of the building. Form and material should develop further, different aspects of surrounding elements physically (locally sourced natural materials), and immaterially (placement of elements) Adapting the surrounding context through more modern tectonics and formal strategies of a building grants it a sense of consistency while also augmenting the identity of an area.
CONTEXT
STEEL
GRADUATE
Re:Architecture I Chase Johnson
Re:connect
The first quarter of graduate school was spent researching, analyzing, and organizing information relating to the various aspects of the upcoming design project. This included the analysis of existing architecture, precedent studies involving buildings the students aspired to design, and the development of the individual’s Manifesto. [My personal statement of Design Philosophy. An articulate expression of my thoughts, beliefs, and general approach to the creation of architecture in the twenty-first century. It was the beginning of the end. The guiding factor that would influence all of my design decisions in the coming year]
06
Near the end of the quarter, assignments were given to shed light on the programmatic aspects of the graduate project. This general project research ended with the reveal of the project, a Museum of Contemporary Craft in Houston, TX.
Experiencing architecture should be a connected, transformative understanding. This should be influenced by demonstrating how buildings are an extension of the environment, and serve to reconnect the inhabitants to the outside world. This is the second vector, of the architectures reaction to the first. Framing views to the exterior, implementing indigenous foliage, and suppressing the effect of the thresholds' transposing qualities, all serve to bridge what it means to experience an interior space to that of the building’s exterior environment. The internal quality of the architecture should serve as an enhanced form of the experiential quality of its surroundings.
Architecture Re:frames the experience holistically
Re:Frame
The hierarchy of architecture (spatially, formally, and tectonically) should be determined using the organizational framework reacting to its setting. This ties the two vectors together, and is the means by which the inhabitants and architects understand their relationship with the physical context through the architecture. This framework is to be a multi-layered, complex entity that is comprehensible from a range of different scales to provide an inter-changeable experience. The structure of a building is the optimal element to use for the establishment of such a framework, and should impose itself on multiple building aspects to provide a cohesive understanding from general to intimate scales. This framework, and subversion thereof, should be a primary means by which experience inside and outside of the architecture are set and interact.
07
C. JOHNSON
°F
N NW
140
4”
10%
Houston Avg. National Avg.
104 Maximum 3” Average Minimum 2”
68 32
W
E
DECEMBER
E
0%
12 mph
1 mph
SW
January
SE S
S
December
WINDROSE
SUN PATH
RAINFALL
TEMPERATURE
CIRCULATION PATH LAYOUT
OPTION #1
OPTION #2
AVERAGE
AVERAGE
73% VISIBILITY
46% VISIBILITY
250 FT. SITE
66 FT. MAIN ST.
FOLIAGE CONCENTRATION
WALK VIEW
DRIVE VIEW
FIXED ADAPTABLE OFF-SITE DENSITY
RESIDENTIAL
VIEW ORIENTATION
BLOCKAGE VIEW
[My Site Analysis became integral to the building’s design in multiple facets. I studied contextual circulation, foliage, views, and building setbacks to better inform how my building could enhance the museum district.]
0 K Et 0 0 . C , T 5 Nigh 12 SQ.F BA I L t. He T
G N I
f 0 E 2 E 5-
SE
R D T L I T E BU E R T S IN A M US O GI LI
L
IA
C
ER
M M
CO
SITE ANALYSIS [WORK SAMPLE]
1
ACROSS CROSS VIEW
BLDG
Pedestrian Vehicular
The ARCH 510 class was given a site a couple of blocks south of the existing contemporary craft museum to allow for more freedom in designing a larger facility. The site is, in reality, a parking lot for the nearby church. Because of this, students had to come up with alternative means of transportation for the churchgoers to justify the Museum’s presence.
08
34+ mph
5%
JUNE SOLSTICE SEPTEMBER W DEC. SOLSTICE
1”
-4 JANUARY
NE
15%
5 LEVELS
BUILD
URBAN
CONTEXT
STEEL
The Houston Museum District is an association of museums in a portion of downtown Houston that has dedicated itself to the creation of a pedestrian friendly learning environment for the general arts community. The group was founded in the late 1970’s as an attempt to revitalize the area, which had fallen into disrepair; and has succeeded in providing a pedestrian-oriented learning environment for the residents of Houston.
N
5”
RE
GRADUATE
SITE ANALYSIS
HOUSTON MUSEUM OF CONTEMPORARY CRAFT AND METAL SITE ANALYSIS
6”
EXISTING
BUILD
URBAN
[INITIAL DESIGN]
SCHEME - A
ATRIUM
CONTEXT
GREEN TERRACE CLASSROOM ASSEMBLY SECTION #1
SCHEME - B
ATRIUM
ARTIST-IN-RESIDENCE GALLERY SYSTEMS
The second quarter of graduate school began the iterative design process, which included programmatic research and placement based on the previous precedent studies. Students were tasked with narrowing their designs down to two to three schemes to present to faculty and guest critics. The schemes were required to assess the site, sectional, and massing implications in the broadest sense while maintaining a semblance of the design manifesto.
STEEL
GRADUATE
ADMINISTRATIVE GALLERY GALLERY SECTION #2
Pedestrian Automobile Building Outline General Green Space Sculpture Garden Back-of-House Parking
10
[My manifesto, being more heavily steeped in architecture that responds to it’s context, meant that my site analysis would have a more prominent influence on the two designs than other students. Both attempted to capitalize on the adjacent building’s site placement as well as the acknowledgment of common paths of travel along and perpendicular to main street at the automotive and pedestrian level. Scheme 02 was ultimately chosen to move forward in the design process, but I believe that both could have been successful in creating exceptional buildings.]
Pedestrian Automobile Building Outline General Green Space Sculpture Garden Back-of-House Parking
ADMINISTRATIVE SECTION #1
ATRIUM
OFFICE
EXPOSED BALCONY
CLASSROOM GALLERY ASSEMBLY SERVICE
SECTION #2
ARTIST-IN-RES. CLASSROOM GALLERY ASSEMBLYSERVICE SERVICE
BUILD
URBAN
CONTEXT
STEEL
GRADUATE
- directly informs - influences indirectly
CONCEPTUAL From the faculty review, students spent the rest of the second quarter choosing a material to specialize in, as well as refining the chosen scheme in plan, section, and elevation. The product was that of a building with a more well defined circulation, program [spatially], and site disposition.
01 - Mass 20,000 sq.ft. on site with elongated geometry to maximize street front view to facility
02 - Maintain common street front oriented footprint
and shift section back, taking advantage of building context to create public garden area
03 - Emphasize foot of main CIRCULATION by relocation of foliage and the integration of the lobby space connecting the two
PROGRAM
CIRCULATION
STRUCTURE
PROGRAM - Program oriented to provide public with large amount of views into the sculpture garden
CIRCULATION - Central atrium provides main vertical circulation to all parts of facility
STRUCTURE - Organized through superimposed
adjacent city grids on formal mass
TECTONICS
01 - Separate bottom from top mass into heavy and
light surfaces respectively implies the marriage of hot and cold metal forging
02 - Heavy surfaces push and pull to give geometric
composition and natural lighting while Light surfaces are punctured to expose structural system
03 - Use EXPOSED STRUCTURAL SYSTEM in conjunction with geometric composition to give a holistic experience
12
[My chosen craft was metal due to my previous interest in it. With my second scheme, I began to implement the varied aspects of metal craft into my conceptual basis primarily through the building’s tectonics. This allowed me to begin refining and documenting in earnest while maintaining a cohesive design.]
BUILD
STEEL
The third quarter focused the class on going more in depth in regards to the individual’s design intentions relative to the program and manifesto. It asked questions relating to the schematic design development, and required the responses to be completely understood within the systems and context of design. The phase demanded design decisions to be made across scales with implications thought out for each. Research went into the broader details regarding the structural and facade systems, giving the product a more realistic connotation.
GRADUATE
CONTEXT
URBAN
[HOLISTIC DESIGN]
[This quarter was the beginning of something that I have never done before. Working on a building for more than one quarter let me reflect on how much more detailed past projects could have become. In designing the minutia of my facade and structural systems, I gained a new appreciation for the tectonics of architecture.]
14
STRUCTURE/FACADE ANALYSIS [WORK SAMPLE]
15
BUILD
URBAN
-Role: [Solo Project]
GRADUATE
STEEL
CONTEXT
Houston, TX
Houston Museum of Contemporary Metal Craft [H.M.C.M.C.] - ARCH 500 - 530 • Design • Documentation • Detailing • Renderings
-Programs Used: •AutoCAD •Lumion •Photoshop •Illustrator •InDesign •Rhinoceros
-Abstract:
•The Houston Center for Contemporary Craft’s new facility [H.M.C.M.C.] will provide the general public with an education on the use of craft as a whole, as well as a focus on the history as well as the qualities and techniques implemented in the specific field of metal based works [i.e. blacksmithing]. It accomplishes this through it’s exhibition spaces focused on variety of metal-based crafts as well as minor galleries focused on general craft. It also hosts several craftsmen-in-residence who will demonstrate and explain their processes to visitors.
16
17
BUILD
URBAN
The final quarter spent on this project dealt with further refining all aspects of the building down to the minute details. This is what definitively separates this project from the other’s seen in this portfolio. It is this rigorousness that was involved in the development of a detailed set of drawings. This drawing set includes: diagrams; site, floor, roof, and life safety plans; elevations; sections, RCP’s, HVAC layouts, enlarged wall sections, and occupancy calculations. All of these drawings are annotated to explain the building’s layout in terms of programming and circulation as well as its construction requirements.
GRADUATE
STEEL
CONTEXT
DOCUMENTATION
18
CONTEXT PLAN
BUILD
URBAN
CONTEXT
STEEL
GRADUATE
20
GROUND LEVEL
SECOND LEVEL
THIRD LEVEL
FOURTH LEVEL
URBAN
BUILD
[Being given the opportunity to work on a building for more than one quarter was very different experience for me. I was able to learn a large amount more about building systems, programming, processes, occupations, and construction through my graduate year. I am thankful for how efficient the quarter system has made me in terms of design, but am much more appreciative for being allowed to see this building through to greater lengths]
GRADUATE
STEEL
CONTEXT
ELEVATION
SECTION A-A
SECTION B-B
SECTION A-A [DETAIL]
SECTION B-B [DETAIL]
23
[STEEL COMP.]
24
The ACSA Steel Competition is an annual event in which students compete to display new and innovative uses for steel structure. It is divided into two categories of entry, one having a fixed program while the other is open. My partner and I opted into Category II - Open Program to better demonstrate our skills in conceptual and contextual integration of steel structure into the architecture.
25
BUILD
SUMMIT Trollveggen Climbing Retreat
Arch 435 - ACSA Steel Competition
STEEL COMPETITION BOARDS [WORK SAMPLE]
GRADUATE
STEEL
CONTEXT
URBAN
Third Place Winner [2017 Category II]
-Role: [Partner Project] • Conceptual Integration • 3-D Modeling (partially) • Programming • Sustainability Integration • Renderings • Background
-Programs Used: •AutoCAD •Lumion •Photoshop •Illustrator •Rhinoceros
-Abstract:
•Among the southern mountain ranges of Norway stands Trollveggen, or Troll Wall. Peaking at 3,600 feet, Trollveggen casts its shadow over a beautiful five mile valley of river and forest. As the tallest vertical rock face in Europe, the wall provides a challenge second only to Mount Everest. With the prestige of the climb, however, comes the risk of injury or even death. Summit Climbing Retreat aims to mitigate the risk of climbing by acting as an encouraging training refuge for the aspiring climber, and doubles as an iconic tourist attraction for the people of Andalsnes.
27
GRADUATE 28 29
STEEL
CONTEXT
URBAN
BUILD
[CONTEXT]
30
In the projects leading up to this quarter, context had always been flexible to my designs. The relation of the building to the site and the surrounding environment was the focal point of ARCH 315, and changed my perspective about what it meant to have an integrated design. I found that I enjoyed analyzing how the world “looks� at a site and being able to respond to that.
31
BUILD
GRADUATE
STEEL
CONTEXT
URBAN
SITE ANALYSIS - GROUP [WORK SAMPLE]
The Atchafalaya Basin is Louisiana’s largest swamp, stretching over 260,000 acres of land, It contains the largest amount of coastal cypress in the United States. Due to illegal oil rigs dotting it’s landscape and industrial logging practices, the basin has suffered copious amounts of degradation. With the capability of deciding the program of my building, I chose to design a center to help stop further damage to it’s context.
33
BUILD
URBAN
CONTEXT
STEEL
GRADUATE
Alternative Energy Research Center [A.E.R.] - Arch 315 Assumption Parish, LA -Role: [Individual Project] • Design • Documentation • Renderings
-Programs Used: •AutoCAD •Lumion •Photoshop •Rhino
-Abstract:
•The A.E.R. Center’s primary function is a research facility specializing in the accumulation and extension of knowledge concerning alternative means of energy production. In addition, it serves to inform the public of the more economically viable solutions to pollution at a consumer level. The design of the building stems from the geometry of off shore oil platforms, and how they are structured using staggered floor plates, interconnected through use of catwalks and stairways. It also mimics the platforms by the exposure of the majority of the structure throughout the building.
34
35
BUILD
URBAN
GRADUATE
STEEL
CONTEXT
The building’s skewed geometry stems from the contextual elements on the site. The lower portions of the building are arranged perpendicular to the adjacent road to allow for easier access, while the skewed upper levels capitalize on the breathtaking views of the surrounding swampland.
36
37
URBAN
BUILD
The catwalks and staircases that comprise the central core of the building are surrounded in a steel column/beam structure. Mega-trusses branch out from the core to support the individual floors. The vertical circulation through the building is organized to be the central experience to accentuate the relationship between interior and exterior spaces.
CONTEXT
The vertical circulation’s intended to re-frame the individual’s experience to begin identifying both exterior and interior conditions of architecture to be equally important.
GRADUATE
STEEL
The central core of the building is clad in a double insulated glass paneling. It is supported through a stainless steel spider clamp system tied back to the main structural elements for added rigidity. The clamp mechanism allows for the mullions in between panels to decrease in size, further emphasizing the connection between interior and exterior conditions through transparency.
38
[This project is one of the first instances of my exploration into the tectonics of building’s facades and structural systems. A valuable learning experience that would further influence my future projects.]
39
[URBAN DESIGN]
40
This project was the first experience where I had been put in a dense urban context [downtown LA]. As such, I was forced to look at different aspects affecting the building than I had before, such as location accessibility at different scales, response to surrounding museum architecture, and the cultural impact of the area.
41
BUILD
URBAN
CONTEXT
STEEL
GRADUATE
Misfit Movie Museum [M.M.M.] Los Angeles, CA -Role: [Partner Project] •Co-Designer •2-D Documentation •Model Builder
(Section + Structural)
-Programs Used: •AutoCAD •Illustrator
-Abstract:
•B Movies are defined as Films that are funded privately, often by smaller groups, and therefore have less budget and executive influence in the industry. The M.M.M. is a B Movie focused museum showcasing strategies of successful movies and pitfalls of unsuccessful ones that are produced in small scale studios using limited budget. This museum not only teaches budding filmmakers about B-movies, it also gives them the means to create their own. The best B movies generally become cult classics that develop niche followings from their ability to push the envelope of the norms that dominate the culture. The MMM emulates that by pushing up through the site to bring occupants to levels of greatness previously not thought possible to achieve.
42
The best B movies generally become cult classics that develop niche followings from their ability
43
BUILD
URBAN
GRADUATE
STEEL
CONTEXT
Because of the denseness of downtown LA, site analysis became primarily concerned the with observation of the location’s walk-ability, it’s prominence on the street corner, and its proximity to other similar programs like the Los Angeles County Museum of art and the La Brea Tar Pits & Museum.
ELEVATION
44
SECTION A-A
SITE PLAN
SECTION B-B
45
BUILD
CONTEXT
URBAN
Our building’s facade is a system of concrete panels with banding glass fenestrations, some covered by the building’s skin. The skin depicts a collage of B movie scenes/ posters. At certain angles, visitors can also see that the skins perforations are located and sized to reveal the likeness of famous B-Movie directors.
GRADUATE
STEEL
The building contains a modular exhibit section, a media center for film-making research, classrooms for community film-based classes, studio space for shooting movies, and a theater to show them. The museum’s tower primarily consists of administrative program, but also houses an observation deck where visitors can go and view the facility from an elevated perspective.
46
[This was one of the first quarter’s I dealt with occupancy loads. Comparing our museum to existing ones square footages helped me get a better understanding of room size implications.]
47
[DESIGN-BUILD]
48
Med-camps is a non-profit organization that provides children with disabilities a place to experience summer camp just like any other. One issue the camp had every summer was with the loading of children into canoes for the boating activity. The School of Architecture Design build class mediated this problem by designing and building a slip based canoe launch.
49
BUILD
URBAN
CONTEXT
STEEL
GRADUATE
Hero’s Launch - Arch 335 Lincoln Parish, LA
-Role: [Group Project] •2-D Documentation [Floor Plan] •CD Set Compiler •Construction Worker
-Programs Used: •AutoCAD •Photoshop •Maxwell
-Abstract:
•The Hero’s Launch follows the narrative of Joseph Campbell’s The Hero’s Journey, which tells of a hero who ventures out, faces great adversity, and overcomes it to return home. The campers do not normally get to experience something as grandiose, so the canoe launch’s slip-based design pushes them out into the adversity and allows them to return victorious. •The launch allows counselors to load individual campers with ease, cutting down the loading time by more than half. This slip makes it possible for groups of campers to simultaneously come in from the lake, unload, and reload another group to launch back out into adventure.
50
51
BUILD
GRADUATE
STEEL
CONTEXT
URBAN
PLAN
The shed roof provides shelter over the entire launch, covering the central core which functions as storage for life jackets, paddles, and peddle boats. A section of the core is a cased opening clad in red painted metal to frame the view out into the lake, allowing the campers to cross the threshold into a new experience.
52 ELEVATION/SECTIONS
The design and documentation of the project took place during the first two weeks of the quarter. During which time, the ARCH 315 class of approx. twenty students created sketches and concept models in large amounts. Once a consensus was reached on the favorite design, three proposals were submitted to the administrative body at Med-camps. The class and organization, over the course of three separate design meetings, narrowed it down to the final design.
53
GRADUATE 54 55
STEEL
CONTEXT
URBAN BUILD
BUILD
URBAN
CONTEXT
GRADUATE
STEEL
-Featured in the December 2016 issue of Architect Magazine’s “The Power of Three Minutes” -Grand Prize winner of AIA’s Ilookup film challenge of 2016
[The Hero’s Launch design build project was one of the most taxing experiences in my five years of architecture school, but also one of the most rewarding. It was fraught with obstacles that were both physically and mentally straining on the entire class. However, the look on the camper’s faces as they were able to load themselves into their canoes and push off towards the water made it all worth the effort.]
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