living systems
a portfolio by chris mackey
BA in Architecture from Yale University Applying to MARCH I First semester
Chris Mackey BA in Architecture from Yale University Applying to MARCH I First semester (3 1/2 years)
chris@mackeyarchitecture.com 516-509-0165 www.mackeyarchitecture.com All content Š 2010
contents architectural designs 2008
house for a filmmaker welcome pavilion community forum theater atlantic city holocaust memorial
formal exercises
2009
de young museum analysis designing a building from a section working with the grid sketches from the shanghai world expo assorted charcoal drawings
websites and blogs
2010
dean sakamoto architects website redhot & blue website yale sustainable development journal website mackey architecture website an american in copenhagen blog video blog against sustainability misconceptions
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19 22 23 24 25
29 30 31 32 33 34
sustainability initiatives cycle system proposal for rockville centre analysis of chicago urban heat island policies
2011
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architectural
designs
inspiration
house for a filmmaker
inspiration Exit to the open private outdoors
Exit to public urban life
Front Entrance
Roof Terrace Bathr oom
Project Type:
Entrance Hall/ Gallery
Casual way to greet guests
Academic
Living Room
Contimuous Pa rty Space
Additional Gathering/ Lounge Space
Role:
Designer (the only one)
Impress Employers before talking
Alleviate Traffic f rom Large Pr esentations
Feed Guests
Location:
16th Street, Manhattan, NY
Client:
An Obsessive Filmmaker (fictional)
Duration:
Contimuous Party Space
Relieve Guests
Getting Fresh Air During Work
Office
Feed Guests
Working on finance to workng on film
4 Weeks
Date:
Studi o
Spring 2009
Bringing in Groceries
Food Delivery
Primary Critics: Dean Sakamoto Joyce Hsiang
Concept:
The house is a web of circulation and program that manages the space between the filmmaker’s internal studio and his/her external sources of inspiration.
Moving inside when it rains
Kitchen
Getting Fresh Air During Work Food Delivery
Moving fr om Bed to Br eakfast
Back Porch
Backyard Exit to the enclosed private outdoors
inspiration 5
Dining Room
Bedroom
Moving fr om Bed to Shower
Bathr oom
Bed
Exit to dreams
inspiration
Initial Diagram
Studio
Circulation
Program
External Inspiration Sources
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7
In the bedroom
In the studio
From the street 8
Exterior
welcome pavilion
Project Type: Academic
Role:
Co-Desinger (all images here are by me)
Location:
Kampong Botanical Gardens, Miami, FL
Client:
Kampong Botanical Gardens
Duration:
6 Weeks
Date:
Spring 2009
Co-Designer: Kyle Briscoe
Primary Critics:
Dean Sakamoto Joyce Hsiang
Concept:
The moveable wooden fin is used to control the wind and sun entering the pavilion, thereby stabilizing the indoor micro-climate year-round.
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Interior
NO
RT
H
50
/h
km
EA
/h
40
km
ST N
O
R
S
T
° 20
km
° 30
/h
20
EA ° 10
/h
30
TH
km
/h
10
Wind Rose
km
Sun Plot
° 40
° 50
° 60
° 70
M
8A
° 80
M
9A 1
M 0A
AM
PM
11
12 M
1P M
2P M
3P
E
ST
SO
W
Winter
UT
H W
Early Spring
Late Spring
ES
M
4P
T M
5P
S
O
U
TH
Summer Primary Wind Direction Primary Sun Direction
Cool air pooling ventilation maximized in summer Solar gain maximized in winter 10
Spectrum of Theater Politics
community forum theater Project Type: Academic
Role:
Designer (the only one)
Executive Declaration
Democratic
Location:
Red Hook, Brooklyn, NY
Client:
Falconworks Theater Group
Duration:
10 Weeks
Date:
Fall 2009
Primary Critics:
Owners of Falconworks Theater Company Adam Hopfner Turner Brooks
Concept:
The theater is a democratic forum space that gives all users equal access to the means of expression. The “fourth wall” that privileges actors with attention is broken down with a more equal distribution of performance space, theater program, and visual access to “behind the scenes.”
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Final Plan Reflects Democratic Discussion Ideal
Discussion
Democratic Discussion in Final Section
Model Shots 12
atlantic city holocaust memorial
Holocaust Badges
Jew
Political Prisoner
Ethnic Foreigner
Asocial
Habitual Criminal
Homosexual
Gypsy
Project Type: Academic
Role:
Designer (the only one)
Location:
Atlantic City, NJ
Client:
The Atlantic City Holocaust Memorial Design Competition
Duration:
20 Weeks
Date:
Spring 2010
Primary Critics:
Steven Harris + Thomas Zook
Concept:
The boardwalk is covered in a pattern of reflective tile holocaust badges. Individually, each badge represents a victim but, collectively, they form a tapestry honoring the beauty in human differences. The memorial also minimizes the need for electric lighting on the boardwalk by reflecting the light of existing street lamps and billboards.
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Jehovah’s Witness
One Badge for Each Victim
11,869,000 Badges 5.76 Miles of Boardwalk
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formal exercises
de young museum analysis
1
Project Type: Academic
Role:
Researcher (the only one) Drafter (the only one) Model-builder (the only one)
Location:
San Francisco, California
Original Architects:
Herzog and de Meuron
Duration:
2
14 Weeks
Date:
Fall 2008
Primary Critic:
Ariane Harrison
Summary:
The de Young Museum’s form can be abstracted to Herzog and de Meuron’s signature box shape. The more complex form results from a number of dialogues between this box and the landscape and the final experience of the building as a box is further masked by an organic circulation network.
The de Young Museum’s tower and cantilever emerge from the initial box to have a dialogue with the surrounding terrain 19
3
4
Internal voids result from the landscape entering the building as two strips that are pinched to create circulation connections
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Lobby Café
Gallery Center
Tower
Gallery Intersection
Stair Bottom/Top Entry Court
The de Young’s internal circulation spaces emphasize “nodes” over the general box form. 21
Auditorium Entrance
designing a building from a section Project Type: Academic
Given Section
Role:
Designer (the only one)
Plan
Duration:
3 Weeks
Date:
Fall 2008
Primary Critics:
Bimal Mendis Margaret Deamer
Model
Concept:
Golden ratios between different elements of the section were identified and became the basis of a system to extrude the section into plan.
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working with the grid Project Type: Academic
Role: Co-designer (model building done jointly; 2 of the 3 drawings are by me)
Duration:
6 Weeks
Date:
Fall 2008
Co-Designer:
Josh Feldman
Exploded Cube
Unit of a Larger System
Primary Critics:
Bimal Mendis Margaret Deamer
Description:
A series of designs working around a cube with a steel cross through it. Each design explores different architectural concepts.
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Details of Exploded Cube
Light/Heavy Tension/Compression
sketches from the shanghai world expo Project Type: Personal
Role:
Artist (the only one)
Location:
The 2010 World Expo Shanghai, China
Netherlands Pavilion
USA Pavilion
Norway Pavilion
Duration: 2 Days
Date:
Summer 2010
Description:
A series of sketches drawn over two days at the 2010 Shanghai World Expo. Mediums used include drafting pencil, charcoal, and oil pastels.
Expo Axis
Denmark Pavilion
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assorted charcoal drawings
A Figure Drawing
Project Type: Academic
Role:
Artist (the only one except for the New Haven Skyline in which all 3 drawings were done jointly with another person)
Duration:
Sporadically Over 3 Years but Intensely for 10 Weeks
Date of Intense Study: Spring 2008
Partner (for New Haven Skyline): Faris Montgomery
6:30 PM
Primary Critic:
Sophia Gruzdys
The New Haven skyline over a sunset
8:00 PM
9:30 PM
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On-site drawing of the industrial Gowanus Canal of Brooklyn, New York. (site of the building on pg. 10)
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websites and blogs
dean sakamoto architects website Project Type: Office
Role:
Web Designer (the only one) Coder (the only one)
URL:
www.dsarch.net
Client:
Dean Sakamoto Architects LLC
Duration:
5 Weeks
Date:
Fall 2010
Primary Critics:
Dean Sakamoto Co-Workers
Concept:
The website’s aesthetic draws inspiration from Dean Sakamoto’s work, accentuating an underlying grid and following a code of simplicity and clarity. The site also reflects Sakamoto’s emphasis on functionality with a comprehensible means of navigation, a capability of being viewed on mobile devices, pages that load quickly, and html code that is optimized for search engines.
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redhot & blue website
Project Type: Personal
Role:
Web Designer (the only one) Coder (the only one) Graphic Designer (for a new logo)
URL:
www.redhotandblue.org
Client:
The Singing Group Redhot & Blue
Duration:
8 Weeks
Date:
Summer 2009
Primary Critics:
The Members of Redhot & Blue
Concept:
The site was designed as a part of a complete remaking of the group’s image to one that better reflects a jazz repertoire. It was designed to accommodate a variety of users including clients, potential members, alumni, friends of the group, and many other parties. When completed with the project, I had designed and coded over 50 pages.
yale sustainable development journal website Project Type: Personal
Role:
Web Designer (the only one) Coder (the only one)
URL:
www.yalewheel.org
Client:
The Yale Wheel: Yale’s Undergraduate Sustainable Development Journal
Duration:
7 Weeks and Continuing
Date:
Fall 2010 - Present
Concept:
The website functions as a database for The Yale Wheel’s articles and, as such, the structure of the site was designed for ease of uploading and organization of news. The overall aesthetics, based off of satellite images and a strict continental grid, highlight the Wheel’s internationally conscious subjects. The debut of this site marked the end of The Wheel’s print publishing and a transition to exclusively broadcasting on this site.
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mackey architecture website Project Type: Personal
Role:
Web Designer (the only one) Coder (the only one)
URL:
www.mackeyarchitecture.com
Client:
Myself
Duration:
3 Weeks and Continually Updated
Date:
Fall 2009
Concept:
A simple site for web publishing my design work, showcasing my blogs, and enabling interested parties to contact me. As such, simplicity, clarity and honesty were the primary factors that influenced design.
an american in copenhagen blog Project Type: Office
Role:
Blogger (the only one for this series)
URL:
www.sustainablecities.dk/en/blog
Client:
The Danish Architecture Centre
Duration:
7 Weeks
Date:
Summer 2009
Primary Critic: Anna Esbjørn Hess
Description:
A blog published once a week on a website that is owned by the Danish government and run by the Danish Architecture Center. The posts documented experiences from my two months in Copenhagen and presented personal reflections on sustainability in the US and Denmark.
Excerpt from “An American in Copenhagen # 5: The Sustainable City is Also Safe” “One of the things I immediately noticed when I first got to Copenhagen was a feeling of incredible comfort in the public realm. I didn’t quite understand why this was the case at first but, now, I think I’ve found some reasons. I’ll admit part of it is sheer aesthetic value with some of the most beautiful parks, quaint bustling markets, and a number of stunning artworks to see in museums. But this barely scratches the surface. What really makes me comfortable are the people around me: the people casually talking on benches in the squares as they enjoy a bottle of wine. Or the parents playing with their kids, bringing them to the ice cream vendor in bicycle trailers and letting them run freely over the fields in the park. But this really isn’t everything either... Something that I really didn’t expect to make me comfortable here was the minimized use of cars... In 2005, my nation lost 42,636 people to car accidents. This is roughly equivalent to the American losses of fourteen 9/11 attacks or ten Iraq wars. And these aren’t just statistics. I’ve known three people from my high school that have died in car accidents and I’m sure that a lot of Americans can say they’ve been affected by such incidents as well. The truth is, my country has been designed around something with terrible consequences – it kills my fellow citizens; it robs me of a better connection to my community; and it is rapidly compromising the environmental welfare upon which my nation subsides.”
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video blog against sustainability misconceptions Project Type: Personal
Role:
Blogger Blog Video Actor/Presenter and Editor
URL:
http://climatechange.thinkaboutit.eu/ think4/blogger/mackey
Client:
The European Journalism Centre
Duration:
14 Weeks
Date:
Fall 2009
Primary Critic: Michelle Addington
Video Excerpt from “Analysis of Yale’s Micro Wind Turbines”
Description:
Originally created for a blogging competition hosted by the European Journalism Centre, this blog addresses misconcep-
tions in sustainability by breaking down issues into simple calculations and everyday terms. One of the video posts on micro wind turbines won honors and 300 €.
Hello Everyone. I’m sitting here in a building that’s receiving energy from wind turbines on the roof and today I’m going to evaluate the efficiency and effectiveness of this system. According to a recent university publication, this system should produce 26 MW-hrs of electricity per year. Now, I’m just going to take this power output in MW-hrs/year and turn it into kilowatts; maybe something that we can understand a bit better. It turns out that this system is producing roughly 3 kilowatts; which is 3,000 Watts; 30 100-Watt light bulbs; or basically the amount of light in this auditorium I’m in right now. Now, typically speaking, this is great. We get 30 light bulbs to run without electrical costs. However, if you do a bit of analysis into the cost of these turbines according to the company that put them up there, it turns out that each turbine is $15,000, making the 10-turbine system up there a good $150,000 investment. If you do a bit of research into how long it will take this system to pay for itself in Connecticut electrical bills, it turns out that you would need 58 years. Now, 58 years is a very long time to re-coup an investment and I know that there are much more sound ventures out there. For example, solar energy in the southwest has been known to pay for itself within 10-15 years and wind turbines often recoup their investment even faster... 34
sustainability initiatives
cycle system proposal for rockville centre Project Type: Personal
Role:
Original Planner (I originally developed the proposal for a class at Yale) NOTE: All images here are by me Primary Campaign Organizer
Location:
Rockville Centre, Long Island, NY
Duration: A Year
Date:
Fall 2009 - Present
Primary Critics:
The Citizens of Rockville Centre
Description:
A comprehensive plan for cycle infrastructure in the village of Rockville Centre, divided into two phases: 1) A phase aimed at increasing cycling to the village’s center that relieves parking demands. 2) A phase that will improve cycle infrastructure within the village center, creating a pedestrian-friendly atmosphere that spurs retail. The proposal was sent to the village mayor and I am presently assembling a team to campaign for it. 37
Photoshop Renderings of Phase 1 Improvements Cycle tracks will be added on targeted streets where there is ample room. These will be accompanied by bicycle signage and special markings at intersections.
Breakdown of Costs for Phase 1 Item Striping Street Symbols Street Signs Bike Racks Bike Event at Recreation Center
Price/Unit Quantity Cost $1/ft 45,107 $45,107 $200 140 $28,000 $250 75 $18,750 $1,000 10 $10,000 $200 4 $800 Total
$102,657
Photoshop Renderings of Phase 2 Improvements After enough community support has been gathered for bicycle use, cycle infrastructure can be used to spur retail and create a more pedestrian friendly atmosphere in the town’s center.
before
Maple Avenue after phase 1
Bicycle share arrows will be added on targeted streets where there is not enough shoulder room. This will alert drivers entering the village of cyclists’ presence.
Hempstead Avenue after phase 1
after
Park Avenue after phase 2 38
Urban Heat Island
analysis of chicago urban heat island policies Project Type:
Academic (originally) Office (when I began receiving pay to continue the project)
The condition where an urban area is a few degrees warmer than the surrounding rural area.
Importance of Combatting Urban Heat Island
1. Global warming threatens to warm urban environments further, making them less liveable. 2. The world is urbanizing and cities must be comfortable although they must also minimize the energy consumed for thermal comfort.
Chicago Urban Heat Island at Night
Role:
-Original Researcher (The project was originally my idea, which I pursued for a research class in my last undergraduate semester) -First Author (for the study’s publication) NOTE: All images presented here were synthesized by me from raw satellite data.
Duration:
Several Months
Date:
Spring 2010 - Present
Other Authors (for publication): Prof. Ronald Smith Prof. Xuhui Lee
Description:
Over the past 15 years, Chicago has arguably had the largest campaign against urban heat island out of any American city. This study uses publicly available satellite data to evaluate which of these campaignsupported efforts have been effective. The research will be submitted for publication in January.
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The City of Chicago
(the study area)
Since the Great Chicago Heat Wave of 1995, the city has implemented a number of localized efforts to combat its urban heat island, indicated by the blue areas in the image to the right.
Methods of Combatting Urban Heat Island 1. Increase vegetated surfaces, which will evaporate water instead of increasing in temperature. 2. Increase reflective surfaces, which will absorb less solar radiation than dark surfaces.
Image made by subtracting values from the LANDSAT temperature band in two images with similar atmospheric conditions.
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Dense vegetation appears to have the greatest cooling potential of any surface. However, Chicago’s reflective polices were more effective at cooling than its vegetated ones.
However, the increases in Chicago’s reflectivity between 1995 and 2009 corresponded to much greater cooling than its increases in vegetation did.
Vegetation Quantity to Temperature (June 1995)
Vegetation Quantity Increase to Temp. Change (1995-2009)
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4
correlation = -0.620 Temperature Change (oC)
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Temperature (oC)
This is probably because the reflective policies produced the most cooling for the smallest amount of money invested.
Within single images of the city, densely vegetated surfaces generally correspond to much cooler temperatures than highly reflective surfaces.
33 31 29 27 25 23 21 0.3
0.4
0.5
0.6
0.7
0 -2 -4 -6 -8 -10 -12
0.8
correlation = -0.117
2
0
Vegetation Quantity (vegetation index)
Temperature Change (oC)
Temperature (oC)
The study reveals a new compelling argument for reflective roof efforts over greenroof and vegtation-based strategies.
4
correlation = -0.082
35 33 31 29 27 25 23 21
0.2
0.3
0.4
0.5
Surface Reflectivity Increase to Temp. Change (1995-2009)
Surface Reflectivity to Temperature (June 1995) 37
0.1
Vegetation Quantity Increase (vegetatoin index)
correlation = -0.364
2 0 -2 -4 -6 -8 -10 -12
0
0.1
0.2
0.3
Surface Reflectivity
0.4
0.5
0
0.1
0.2
0.3
Reflectivity Increase
0.4
0.5
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thank you for reading
for more information, visit
www.mackeyarchitecture.com