P O R T F O L I O s a m pl e 2 0 1 4 Christopher Paxton Arkitekt MAA BSc.
chrispax10@gmail.com +45 91990523 cargocollective.com/christopherpaxton
christopher paxton ARKITekt MAA BSc. DOB:
24th August 1989, London, UK
Email: Phone: Address:
chrispax10@gmail.com +45 91990523 Rumæniensgade 14, 4th 2300 København S Danmark
Website: cargocollective.com/christopherpaxton
PROFILE Experienced and highly motivated Masters graduate from the Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts, School of Architecture, Copenhagen, who is reliable and hardworking. In 2014, was awarded MA Architecture at grade 12, equivalent to distinction. Has over 2 years’ experience working in architectural practice in the UK and Sweden, on a wide range of project scales, typologies and at all stages of the design process. Currently based in Copenhagen, learning to speak Danish and seeking full-time employment in the field of architecture.
woRK EXPERIENCE
SKILLS AND ATTRIBUTES
REFERENCES
Aug - Sep 2013 International Student Mentor, International Office, Royal Danish Academy of Fine Art, Copenhagen Coordinated a program of introduction days for incoming international students for the 2013/14 academic year.
Excellent hand drawing technique and computer modelling skills. Clear and articulate when presenting design proposals to colleagues, peers and clients. Quick to form working relationships; effective team member.
References available on request from the following:
Reliable and punctual. Has experience of working under pressure and meeting deadlines. Self disciplined and independent. Will show enthusiasm and take the initiative.
Jul 2011 - Jul 2012 and Jul - Aug 2013 Architectural Assistant, Grimshaw Architects, London Key member of a close-knit team designing the new London Bridge Rail Station. Returned to work on construction phases between Masters studies.
Niels Grønbæk Associate Professor, Phd, Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts, School of Architecture +45 20119937 niels.gronbaek@kadk.dk
Andrew Byrne RIBA Associate Director, Grimshaw Architects, UK PC skills: AutoCAD Microstation 2D/3D Vectorworks Rhino3D+Grasshopper +44 (0) 207 291 4171 andrew.byrne@grimshaw-architects.com SketchUp Adobe Creative Suite
Jul - Sep 2010 Internship, Tham & Videgård Arkitekter, Stockholm Gained experience of working overseas in an international office. Feb - Jun 2010 and Mar - Sep 2009 Architectural Assistant, WEAL architects, Herts, UK Highly involved in a number of small projects, working closely on all stages of the design and construction process.
Language skills: English (native), French (intermediate), Danish (currently learning)
AWARDS
EDUCATION 2012 – 2014 Royal Academy of Fine Arts, School of Architecture, Department 2, Copenhagen Masters in Architecture in the Urban Context Grade: 12 (highest attainable) 2007 – 2011 University of Bath, Department of Architecture, UK BSc (Hons) in Architecture - RIBA Part I Grade: First Class Honours
Jan 2012
Prize Winner, RIBA Pews and Perches Design Competition - January 2012
Jun 2011
Prize Winner, The BSc Award for Integrated Design 2011, University of Bath - June 2011
Jan 2011
Runner-Up & Commendation, Basil Spence Design Competition 2011, University of Bath
Martin Videgård Partner, Tham & Videgård Arkitekter, Stockholm +46 (0)8 702 00 46 martin@tvark.se Martin Gledhill RIBA Director of Studies, University of Bath, UK +44 (0)1225 386649 mlg20@bath.ac.uk Francesca Weal RIBA Partner, Weal Architects, UK +44 (0)1438 712301 francesca@weal-architects.co.uk
INTERESTS Current interests lie in atmospheric architectures, thinking through drawing and the process of making things. Keen sportsman – regularly playing football, tennis and squash in teams. Plays guitar and saxophone in a band.
2000 – 2007 Simon Balle School, Hertford, UK A Level: Maths A, Physics A, Chemistry A AS Level: History B, French B Christopher Paxton
2
2014
stadia and the city [2014] Masters Thesis Project Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts, School of Architecture, Department 2 Tutor: Niels Grønbæk Through its dramatic proximity to homes, shops, bars, museums, mosques, garages and all manner of city activity, the Recep Tayyip Erdogan Football Stadium in Istanbul opens up a new set of relations between the urban environment and the contemporary culture of viewing sporting events. Operating within this found context, this project explores the urban potential of contemporary arenas by speculating and proposing a future transformation of the stadium and its surrounding neighbourhoods. The study examines a reciprocal relationship between the stadium and its urban context; both are informed and challenged by the other’s presence. The work includes several speculations as to specific futures of the stadium based on various discrete motives; local connectivity, Istanbul’s highly politicised fan culture, the timely hybridisation of spaces and the logic of both spectator and TV viewpoint. In combination, these studies inform a single proposal for a 50-year transformation of the stadium and its diffuse surrounding urban area. A series of architectural interventions are proposed, each occuring at specific moments in time and instigated by differing, and at times opposing stakeholders: The club grandstand and TV gantry, a city block tribune, a privatelyowned rooftop seating gallery and a network of elevated walkways.
Christopher Paxton
3
2014
Christopher Paxton
4
2014
atmospheric architectures [2013] Fourth Year Project Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts, School of Architecture, Department 2 Tutor: Phil Ayres is architecture project challenges the hermetic nature of many contemporary buildings and rejects the notion of discrete optimal conditions. Instead, it explores atmospheric variance, air masses in chaotic flux in which microclimates affect each other in a single, dynamic and open system. It investigates ‘air as a material’ that has distinctly architectural capacities - characteristics of directional force, temperature, humidity, charge, pressure, aroma. Following a series of speculative studies, the project culminates in a design proposal to recharacterise Schlossplatz, a notable but currently redundant wasteland site in the heart of Berlin. e scheme may be seen as an alternative to the anticipated Humboldt-Forum Cultural Centre, implementing a contrasting approach but with comparable ambition for global outreach and exchange of world cultures. e design orchestrates an atmospheric landscape of alpine tundra, savanna, tropical rainforest and hot desert climates across Schlossplatz and Marx-Engels Forum. rough a mechanical process, a series of refrigerant towers direct the extraction and insertion of thermal energy and water vapour, modulating local climatic characters, while a lightweight, transparent buoyant canopy entraps rising hot air masses and controls the level of enclosure. e proposal situates unfamiliar climatic programmes in close proximity; a subterranean ski slope, a botanical garden, a zoo, a beach, an ethnological museum and a thermal spa. A promenade connects these interventions and curates a climatic route across abrupt and extended atmospheric thresholds, climbing through vapour clouds to the hottest air masses at high level and descending to the polar climate of the ski slope below ground.
Christopher Paxton
5
2014
Christopher Paxton
6
2014
grimshaw architects, london [2011 - 2013] Architectural Assistant, 07.2011 - 07.2012 and 06.2013 08.2013 London Bridge Station Redevelopment Project
A key member of a close-knit project team designing the redevelopment of London Bridge Rail Station, London. Over a two-year period, I was involved in the scheme’s conceptual design, planning approval, detailed resolution and, most recently, the first construction stages that commenced last spring. It was great to experience so many stages of the building design process, and I was very happy to return to the office last summer during my Masters studies. The new station’s design is driven by an increase in rail capacity; more through tracks and fewer terminus platforms. Indeed the geometry of the engineer’s track alignment is a key driver of the entire scheme. A series of viaducts carry the tracks and platforms over a generous concourse at street level that connects Tooley Street and St Thomas Street on either side. At platform level, the ribbon canopies diverge and curve upwards to allow natural light to pass through voids and illuminate the concourse below. My role focussed mainly on the design and setting-out of the canopies, but also included visualisations and responsibility for the 3D computer model which gave me a unique grasp of the entire scheme, useful for considering any part of the project.
Christopher Paxton
7
2014
Christopher Paxton
8
2014
museum of musical instruments, bath [2011] Final year design project, University of Bath, 2011 Awarded 2011 BSc Prize for Innovative Integrated Design Tutor: Anne Claxton
The project examines three separate notions of sound; noise, music, negative music - silence. These notions are manifested as three building elements: Incidental Soundscape The city soundscape is extended into the building across an articulated ground plane. It is a sounding board for noises - conversation, movement, everyday sounds, singing and musical performance. Musical Display The visual exhibition of instruments and their sound. Its arrangement into sets defines a vertical rhythm that is displayed to the city as an elevated visual set piece. Lacuna The ground plane rises upwards to surround a negative void a gap, an extended period of silence within the building.
Christopher Paxton
9
2014
3
3
>90 x 20mm larch battens >20mm diameter timber support rod >20 x 20mm cross battens >100mm steel support - sealed around membrane >DPM >19mm plywood boarding >200mm rigid insulation >180mm prefabricated Eurban roof panel >Suspended timber ceiling >Lighting fixings >150 x 20mm sound absorbing perforated timber slats
C
SHADING ENCLOSURE
A
4
OPENING ACCESS
4
>12mm larch boarding >12mm battens >DPM >19mm plywood boarding >200mm rigid insulation >145mm prefabricated Eurban wall panel >40mm sound insulation >12mm internal finish
B Steel pulley system for adjusting timber partitions expressed on the outside of exhibition chambers
SECTION THROUGH EXHIBITION CHAMBER FACADE CONSTRUCTION 1:100
SECTION THROUGH EXHIBITION CHAMBER
C
1:100
1 1
2
>90 x 20mm larch battens >20mm diameter timber support rod >20 x 20mm cross battens >100mm steel support - sealed around membrane >DPM >19mm plywood boarding >200mm rigid insulation >180mm prefabricated Eurban roof panel >Suspended timber ceiling >150 x 20mm sound absorbing perforated timber
2
>150 x 20mm larch slats >180mm service void - pocket for sliding doors, maintenance, drainage >19mm plywood boarding >DPM >150mm rigid insulation >12mm boarding >140mm service void - ventilation ducts, pulley system for suspended partitions >19mm internal timber boarded finish
A Christopher Paxton
B 10
2014
mother greenhouse [2014] Rooftop Extension 05.2014 Initial design and Planning Application With: Jack Minchella
Feasibility study, design and planning application for a rooftop greenhouse above Mother Restaurant, Kodbyen, Copenhagen. The greenhouse will be used to grow fresh herbs for use in the restaurant all-year round. A lightweight steel frame structure rests on the existing column grid of the restaurant below. The design maximises sunlight with its main glazing facing South/South-West. A North-facing insulated wall provides thermal mass to modulate seasonal temperature changes.
Christopher Paxton
11
2014
A LONDON BENCH [2012] Bench for London Pleasure Gardens Festival Park Winner, RIBA Pews and Perches Design Competition, 2012 Published: Wallpaper Magazine With: Jack Minchella
Design and manufacture of a park bench for the 2012 London Pleasure Gardens Festival Park, Royal Victoria Docks, London. Following our successful competition entry, we made the bench for less than £200 - RIBA’s competition budget. The design is inspired by typical scenes in London’s many parks and a desire to encourage strangers to sit a little closer together! We photographed locals on park benches in the East London area and then combined their silhouettes into a single outline. The final bench was made entirely from slotted CNC plywood enabling it to be easily assembled on site. After the summer festival ended, the bench was donated to a community garden in Bermondsey, where it still stands.
Christopher Paxton
12
2014
Tham & Videgård Arkitekter, Stockholm [2010] Architectural Internship 07.2010 - 09.2010 KTH School of Architecture, Stockholm Konserthuset Revelopment, Stockholm Angstromhus, Microscope Building, Linköping It was fantastic to experience the design approach and culture of an overseas office. With Tham & Videgård I was involved in a number of different projects, modelling, testing and experimenting with design ideas. I investigated the form of a rooftop extension to Ivar Tengblom’s neo-classical Stockholm Concert Hall, developed the modular cor-Ten facade of the new KTH School of Architecture, and resolved the unusual geometry of a twisting cylindrical form of the Angstromhus - a building to house a highly sensitive electron microscope.
Christopher Paxton
13
2014
Christopher Paxton
14
2014