David babb portfolio sample by David Babb

DAVID STEVEN BABB WORK SAMPLE M. Archiecture University of California Berkeley

HUMAN CENTERED DESIGN

New ways of seeing and empowering people into the design process. Co-Designers Jessica Maley, Jackie Lin and Lauren McQuistion, Alex Fenton

I have adopted new ways of examining context and solving problems by incorporating the human centered design approach into my work. This way of thinking puts the user first in the design process and gives non-architects agency in the project by accepting others as ‘experts’ of their own experiences and abilities. The disabilities studies I have done at Berkeley, working with Chris Downey, have changed my views on ADA and general accessibility. My projects are enriched by thinking of all of the users of buildings and objects I design; rather than being hindered by minimum access codes. The total experience of a project, beyond the image based proposal becomes more important. This study also allowed me to explore new modes of presentation creating tactile drawings and rich narratives. Another method of investigation I have embraced is the user interview and observation. This technique allows the designer to ask the right questions by immersing oneself into a new context and learning from the people who live there. This project below searched for an oral history of Japantown in SF.

“It’s a small enough community that we all know each other... and the 3rd and 4th generations here still feel the need to preserve our culture.” -REVEREND TOLOSA

“In the 80’s there were 12 of us, now there are only 3 authentic Japanese antique stores in the neighborhood.” -PATRICK, MANAGER

ACCESSIBILITY

An installation. Portals into space that is otherwise inaccessible Co-Designers Miko Mendoza, Maria Landoni de Rosa

“Find what exists but is not seen.”This intervention was a critique of the designer’s role in providing not only physical access to space for all users, like those who use wheelchairs, but also the importance of providing a gradient of experience in that space. The intervention was staged at a courtyard in Wurster Hall at Berkeley. This space is off limits to students for multiple reasons, including the fact that the door threshold to enter the courtyard is a full step and therefore inaccessible by wheelchair. The intervention sought to provide new ways of experiencing and accessing the space that was otherwise closed. View portals were constructed at a variety of heights and directed by wires tied in the courtyard to points of interest. Some were distant forms of the tower, others were microcosms of ant colonies who lived in the space. The view portals literally allowed observers to see from different points of view into the same space, to understand the richness that a variety of views can produce. At the other side of the intervention were word plaques that were presented upside down. As the sun moved through the space, the words were projected onto the floor. Understanding space takes time and often a different view.

URBAN EDGES

Integrating light industry in-between a retail street and freight rail corridor for a new, active urbanism. The urban block project was a large 110,000sqft mixed use building located between an industrial district in west Berkeley and 4th Street, a vibrant shopping district. The organization of this block arises from the two dominant systems of the area, the scale of the existing neighborhood and the orientation of the railroad. This block project works to accommodate these two contrasting organizations onto one site. To compliment the scale of the neighborhood retail, the program is split program along Fourth Street into three segments that break down the scale of this block. The three segments are the housing with ground floor restaurant, the retail and commercial space and the food-processing component of the urban farm. The connection to Fourth Street is enriched by the varying storefront and entry edges which vary in transparency and their connection to the street. These segments are punctured by two transitional spaces which function as connections between the programs and entry into the building. The punctures bring light, and circulation into the building. These joints work to relate the segmented building back into one.

Site study diagrams investigated access, light and air.

SECTION 1 | RESIDENCE + RESTAURANT 1/16”= 1’

SECTION 5 | FARM ACCESS 1/16”= 1’

1/32” = 1’

SITE PLAN

DETAIL SECTION AT FACTORY 1/2” = 1’-0”

The main armature of the site is derived from the orientation of the railroad at the western edge. This dominant form is imprinted onto the site with the two wind baffle frameworks. The baffles serve as the vertical circulation from the factory onto the green roof. They also provide enclosure for the site and protect the crops from high wind from the bay. These baffles suggest the dominant orientation through the organization of the structure and the space between themselves and the Fourth Street segments. The three Fourth Street segments plug into these baffles structurally and relate to them through a clear spatial separation. The light and plain appearance of the baffles is juxtaposed to the heavier, more articulated retail facade along Fourth Street.

View of wind and roof access baffles from railroad tracks.

URBAN WETLAND TYPOLOGIES

Addressing Sea Level Rise in Oakland Co-Designer Teddy Gustafson

This urban scale plan assessed the potential of coastal resiliency at the Oakland Coliseum site. This site presents the opportunity to thoughtfully infill underutilized land at the edge of the city. A new paradigm must be explored with preparation for forecasted sea level rise if it is to be an example of living densely along the coast for the Bay Area and the country.

HORIZONTAL LEVEE

The proposal creates an urban sports-oriented neighborhood, anchored by new stadiums for the Oakland Raiders and A’s. The site is bisected by the I-880 which directed our design approach. Because of the heavy public investment and importance of maintaining access, the interstates will likely be raised in preparation or reaction to sea level rise. Cal Trans predicted at least a 6.5’ rise on this section of the corridor during storm events. Our proposal directs the highway to be raised as a levee, to protect the stadiums and upper more heavily developed land from surges. The lower half of the site was allowed to become inundated and is less densely developed to allow for marsh space to absorb the water. The site is therefor also divided to receive two different types of flows; flows of thousands of sports fans, and flows of rising tides. This created an understanding of a changing urban and coastal landscape that reacted to the flux of public and natural demand. Six foot sea level rise San Leandro Bay. The floating wetlands in our design proposal focus on restoring San Leandro’s bays water quality. The floating wetlands embrace our gridded architectural language while removing nitrate from the water. This improves the habitat for native fish species and migrating birds.

Normal Conditions

Floating wetland pods.

Flooded

The Horizontal Levee is one strategy to combat storm surge and sea level rise. The constructed wetlands would aid this strategy and would allow use to build a levee half as tall. These flood gates pictured below would combat storm surge events.

The floating wetlands in our design proposal focus on restoring San Leandro’s bays water quality. The floating wetlands embrace our gridded architectural language while removing nitrate from the water. This improves the habitat for native fish species and migrating birds.

Low + high water at creek release -

A framework was created so that easily understandable components could be applied to the site. Floating wetlands occupy the edge and are used to establish otherwise slow growing marsh grasses that would drown in rising sea level. A horizontal levee, which is flatter and more stable than a conventional levee allowed better water management and opportunities to build on higher ground. The land works to manage water in different ways, mostly with soft systems, which add value to the experience of the place and connect the occupants to a dynamic coastal landscape.

DEMONSTRATION KITCHEN

A Culinary school in Charleston for learning, demonstrating and producing for the food. This 25,000 sqft project located in Charleston, SC takes inspiration from the unique and abundant food culture of this city. The project is located just two blocks from the famous Charleston waterfront and was designed to celebrate the

creation and spectacle of the culinary arts. A main architectural feature is the stairway atrium which proceeds from the first floor to the third in one continuous movement with landings at each floor. The atrium works to bring in light and circulate air within the structure. Because the atrium is adjacent to the outdoor courtyard, the interior has a close relationship to the public street life. The plans depict the rich programing of the culinary arts school with resources for students and the public to enjoy their relationship to food and to the building.

Example from construction documents I have worked on. For this city hall project I worked to select materials, finishes and furniture with the interior designer. WJA. A3.1

A3.4

1.1

FINISH LEGEND

CPT-2

12" = 1'-0"

OFFICE CARPET TILE J+J FLOORING GROUP INVISION 7218 CITY BLOCKS MODULAR CONTACT : J+J INVISION SHANE STEED 813 313 0329

CPT-2

FLOOR FINISH LEGEND

COUNCIL CHAMBER FLOOR CARPET TILE SHAW CONTRACT GROUP PATTERN: BEVEL HEXAGON 5T057 COLOR: 55518 PEWTER CONTACT: SHAW CONTRACT GROUP CATHERINE PACIFICI 813.785.9500

IPE WOOD DECKING MAS 5/4 X 4 CONTACT: UNIVERSAL BUILDING SPECIALTIES INC. 863-967-1131

CONTACT: TRINITY TILE : LISA HODGE 904-477-7949

TRINITY TILE : LIFESTYLE GRANADA WALNUT

CONTACT: TRINITY TILE : LISA HODGE 904-477-7949

TRINITY TILE : LIFESTYLE CAMBRIDGE

CPT-1

CARPET TILE

WOOD FLOOR, IPE

RVP - 2

RVP - 1

RESILIENT VINYL PLANK

MATSINC SOFT GRID COLOR: GRAY CONTACT: PAUL SCHIFFMANN 781-573-0234

PFT-1

DALTILE FABRIQUE PART # : P68512241P SIZE: 12"X24" COLOR: UNPOL P685 BLANC LINEN CONTACT : DANIELE PENDLETON 813-267-4038 DALTILE PERMABRITES MESH MOUNTED SIZE: 2" X 2" X 3/8" COLOR: DESERT GRAY 6464 CONTACT : DANIELE PENDLETON 813-267-4038

PFT-2 (SHOWER TILE FOR FLOOR AND WALLS)

BURKE FLOORING ECOFITNESS FLECKSIBLES, 48" ROLL COLOR: MOCHA CONTACT: 800-447-8442 PFT-1

PORCELAIN FLOOR TILE

RF-1

PFT-1

CPT-2

DUR-A-FLEX SPEC: DUR-A-QUARTZ / COLOR: Q28-21 / FINISH: ORANGE PEEL CONTACT: DAN VOSS 904-334-3413 DANV@DUR-A-FLEX.COM

REF. REF.

RUBBER FLOOR (RESILIENT SPORT-FLOOR)

PFG - 1

PVC FLOOR GRATE

RESINOUS EPOXY FLOOR

CPT-2

REF-1

SEALED CONCRETE

1/8" = 1'-0"

CPT-2

LEVEL 1A - FINISH PLAN

CPT-2

PFT-1

CPT-2

CONCRETE

FLOORS

1 A3.4

PFT-1

CPT-2

PFT-1

PROVIDE SHOP DRAWINGS.

ALL VENEERS SHALL BE PREMIUM GRADE. ALL TRANSPARENT AND SEMI-TRANSPARENT MILLWORK SHALL BE AWI PREMIUM GRADE.

EXCEPT AS OTHERWISE SHOWN OR SPECIFIED, COMPLY WITH PROVISIONS OF THE ARCHITECTURAL WOOD WORKING INSTITUTE QUALITY STANDARDS MOST RECENT ADDITION. WORK SHALL BE PERFORMED IN THE HIGHEST GRADE APPLICABLE.

MILLWORK

LAY PLANKS WITH GRAIN RUNNING IN ONE DIRECTION.

LAY PLANKS FROM CENTER MARKS ESTABLISHED WITH PRINCIPAL WALLS, DISCOUNTING MINOR OFFSETS, SO THAT PLANKS AT OPPOSITE ENDS OF ROOM ARE OF EQUAL WIDTH. ADJUST AS NECESSARY TO AVOID US OF CUT WIDTHS LESS THAN 1 / PLANK AT ROOM PERIMETERS. 2

EXTEND RESILIENT FLOORING INTO TOE SPACES, DOOR REVEALS AND INTO CLOSETS AND SIMILAR OPENINGS. SCRIBE, CUT AND FIT FLOORING TO PERMANENT FIXTURES, BUILT-IN FURNITURE AND CABINETS, PIPES, RECEPTACLES AND PERMANENT COLUMNS PRIOR TO INSTALLATION.

ALL FLOOR FINISH CHANGES SHALL OCCUR UNDER THE CENTERLINE OF DOORS IN THE CLOSED POSITION. VINYL PLANK

ALL EXPOSED SURFACES SHALL BE FINISHED. WHERE THE FINISH IS NOT INDICATED OR UNCLEAR, VERIFY THE FINISH WITH THE DESIGNER.

PROVIDE ALL MANUFACTURER'S STANDARD WARRANTIES TO THE OWNER.

UNUSED MATERIALS FROM OPEN PACKAGES ARE TO BE TURNED OVER TO THE OWNER AFTER THE INSTALLATION HAS BEEN COMPLETED AND ACCEPTED.

RETURN UNUSED, UNOPENED MATERIALS TO THE MANUFACTURER OR SUPPLIER FOR CREDIT TO THE OWNER AFTER THE INSTALLATION HAS BEEN COMPLETED AND ACCEPTED.

GENERAL FINISH REQUIREMENTS

FINISH NOTES:

1 2

A3.2

7.1

/ 12 " 1"

CPT-2

0' - 6"

8.1

9.1

CPT-1

A3.4

8.2 9

10.1

9.2

10.2

180 Mirror Lake Drive North St. Petersburg, Florida 33701-3214 (727) 822-5566 fax (727) 822-5475 www.wjarc.com AA0002277

Wannemacher Jensen Architects, Inc.

THE ARCHITECT'S COMMON LAW COPYRIGHT AND OTHER PROPERTY RIGHTS ARE HEREBY RESERVED IN THE IDEAS, DESIGNS, PLANS, DRAWINGS, AND SPECIFICATIONS PRODUCED BY THE ARCHITECT. THESE IDEAS, DESIGNS, PLANS, DRAWINGS, AND SPECIFICATIONS SHALL NOT BE REPRODUCED OR CONVEYED IN ANY MANNER NOR ASSIGNED TO ANY THIRD PARTY WITHOUT FIRST OBTAINING THE EXPRESS WRITTEN PERMISSION OF THE ARCHITECT. CONSENT IS HEREBY GRANTED TO GOVERNMENTAL AGENCIS TO REPRODUCE THE CONSTRUCTION DRAWINGS IN COMPLIANCE WITH THE STATE STATUTES.. TO THE BEST OF THE ARCHITECT'S OF ENGINEER'S KNOWLEDGE, THE PLANS AND SPECIFICATIONS COMPLY WITH THE APPLICABLE MINIMUM BUILDING CODES AND THE APPLICABLE FIRE SAFETY STANDARDS AS DETERMINIED BY THE LOCAL AUTHORITY IN ACCORDANCE WITH CHAPTERS 553 AND 633 OF THE FLORIDA STATUTES.

Project number

A2.7

FINISH PLAN - Level 1 Area A

09.24.2013

Date

Distribution

50% progress set

Issue

1218.01

MADEIRA BEACH CITY HALL COMPLEX City Hall

Base render exported from Revitt, rending in Photoshop. Design WJA. City of Madeira Beach

Design Internship | Wannemacher Jensen Architects St. Petersburg, FL 300 Municipal Drive, Madeira Beach, FL 33708

I have been an intern on a diversity of projects from conceptualization, to research and design proposals. My internship with the City of Largo focused on collecting precedent research and creating some design solutions for the city as it creating the long term vision for its bicycle network. At the City of Gainesville I worked to inventory histories and information on the buildings in the downtown in an effort to create an historic overlay zoning. This Fall, I was a research student conducting research paid for by the California Energy Commission investigating pedestrian infrastructure and factoring in what influenced pedestrian behavior. This study was focused on small scale aspects such as tree canopy, buffer zones and facade articulation. To our knowledge this type of investigation it was the first of its kind for creating a pedestrian level of service model. My two summer internships at Wannemacher Jensen Architects in Florida allowed me to focus my skills on construction documents, design conceptualization and technical correspondence. I have worked on new constructions, historical retrofits, LEED certification, zoning and entitlements, client outreach and product research. This was a small firm with about 10 employees, so as the intern I was exposed to every project in the office and the variety of roles the architect assumed throughout the projects. ©Wannemacher Jensen Architects, Inc.

PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE

9/24/2013 4:35:31 PM

BOA LOW-INCOME HOUSING CHALLENGE Interdisciplinary Design Competition

Wesley Harkonen, Maira Sanchez, Lach Ritwer, Rohit Abraham, Dafne Espinoza, Kyle Due

The Bank of America Low Income Housing Challenge is an interdisciplinary competition to create a full development proposal for a residential project with at least 60% of residences below market rent. Students from Haas School of Business and the College of Environmental Design here at UC Berkeley worked together for six months to create out proposal. Our project focused on the need to house homeless populations and low income families. We carefully selected a site in Downtown Berkeley where the project was feasible. Our team worked to integrate this two disparate populations into one complex that comfortably accommodated all the residents, and the need to provide ground floor retail and maintain 100 parking spaces for public access. The architectural design was produced after understanding and negotiating our entitlements and having a clear project goal. I worked closely with another architecture student to design the project our team had envisioned. Our project emphasized shared open space, and gradients of private outdoor spaces including balconies, shared porticoes and a large central plaza which ran through the entire site at the third floor. The plan emphasized access to light and air and integrated the unit mix for active street and interior plaza.

BALD AESTHETIC

WRINKLE AESTHETIC Elephant Wrinkle , Alex....87, 2013 look, no eyes, 2005, Philippe Tarbouriech Wrinkly hands Wrinkly shirt Untitled (Fold), Acrylic on canvas, 2011, Tauba Auerbac

Mt. St. Helen’s, 1980, not listed Empty parking Happy Bald Man, Fred Jenkins, 2011 Head of a Wood Stork, Dorothy Manera, 2012 Christian monk

WRINKLE

BALD

noun | a slight line or fold in something, especially fabric or the skin of a face

adjective | having a scalp wholly or partly lacking hair | not covered by usual fur, hair, feathers | not covered by usual leaves, bark or vegetation | not having any extra detail or explanation; plain or blunt

/riNGk(ə)l/

/bôld/

verb | make or cause lines or folds | form or become marked with lines or folds.

The Aesthetic of Aging

WRINKLE MATERIAL

WRINKLE ARCHITECTURE

Printed metal panels Rough sandstone blocks Charred wood

BALD MATERIAL

Treat Hall, 1909 Johnson + Wales University Denver, CO

Opposite | Walker Art Center, 2005 by Herzog & de Mueron Minneapolis, MN

Smooth Concrete Terrazzo Concrete

Sandstone School, 1901 Sandstone, MN

Opposite | Congresso Nacional do Brasil, 1957-1961 by Oscar Neimeyer Brasilia, Brazil

The Aesthetic of Aging

BALD ARCHITECTURE Brasilia Palace Hotel ,1958 by Oscar Neimeyer Brasilia, Brazil Traditional Japanese bedroom

Bald is only second to wrinkle as the most dreaded of the aging aesthetic. Bald is not hairy and not furry. It implies that it used to be; but is not any longer. Unlike the other aesthetics of aging, bald is the removal of a condition; not like the addition of wrinkles or spots. Bald landscapes, like empty parking lots or the forest after the Mt. St. Helen’s explosion, are places that have lost their fur. Buddhist monks and Franciscan monks shave their heads to be bald as a rejection of worldly aesthetics. Differently than baldness through aging, intentional baldness is valued.

Wrinkle is the most obvious of the aging aesthetic because it is deeply ingrained in the collective consciousness as a first sign of aging. As an architectural device, it is a versatile and transformative aesthetic because of the multiple ways to interpret what it is. There are a few types of wrinkles; but all depend on the slight folds and tiny lines that make them. Wrinkles can be honest about what made them. The old woman on the previous page is the perfect definition for an honest wrinkle because her wrinkles are clearly from years of smiling; years of wrinkling up her face with joy. A wrinkle on paper or fabric could be evidently from a folding process. Wrinkle can express an intent or process that made it. It can also be a mysterious artifact with no particular motivation for its tiny patterning. The wrinkly cotton shirt is a good example of this, as no intentioned force encouraged those wrinkles into being; yet they are.

Bald could also be something that never had hair or fur, or doesn’t yet. Another type of bald describes something plain or blunt without additional ornamentation. These types of bald have less to do with age but are constructive in creating an architectural vocabulary of bald. In these readings many modernist or minimalist spaces can be considered bald.

Wrinkles can be pervasive and articulate a surface down to its very being; like the elephant’s skin. This type of wrinkle has sharp dimensions and a sensational, rich surface. Others can be merely surficial, or weak wrinkles that can easily be replaced, stretched or ironed out. These both have dimension and can be felt. A photograph of wrinkle though, feels smooth, but looks wrinkly. This feature demonstrates the versatility of the wrinkle aesthetic.

The example of the Congresso Nacional in Brasilia is doubly bald.This photo shows the building before occupancy. It is bald before the furniture and human inhabitation occupy it. This type of baldness is temporary. The permanent baldness is arises from the glass and concrete and potentially the curved geometries, which simply exist without explanation. This aesthetic reading of bald again shows the beauty in intentional baldness.

Wrinkly materials besides skin, fabric and paper include a myriad of architectural materials. Metal panels can be bent or manipulated to resemble wrinkles and relate to the process of wrinkling. Other materials like rough sandstone, or charred wood look and feel wrinkly but are not, actually made of wrinkles. The tiny lines and folds formed by these rough surfaces can appear to be wrinkles when assembled on a building scale. Wrinkle can also be suggested through printing material. The printed metal panels used on the Walker Arts Museum by Herzog and de Mueron are flat but look wrinkly.

The Aesthetic of Aging

Bald materials are less easily defined. Concrete, especially polished concrete seems bald. But then, it never was furry.The formwork impression on some cast concrete is actually the opposite of bald as the details and transferred materiality of the impression makes the concrete furrier. Bald materials then are, dependent on their lack of detail. They are flat, smooth, uninterrupted. The Aesthetic of Aging

WRINKLE CUBES Advertisements from “Lifestyle Communities”

80 70 60 50 40 30 20 10 0

ACTIVE ADULT COMMUNITY Also called Active Retirement Community or Adult Lifestyle Community

noun | real estate developments that offer independent, relatively maintenance-free to residents aged 55 and older | Can be age-restricted, or age-targeted | all AAC’s have a clubhouse | typically have amenities such as pools, courts, community rooms, golf courses |exist at multiple scales with a variety of housing types | the larger developments have their own shopping and churches | invented by Del Webb, an American real estate developer in 1960, with the creation of Sun City Palm Desert, Arizona | common in Arizona, Florida and California, but exist in every state 64

SUN CITY ARIZONA

The Aesthetic of Aging

“Sun City Cheerleader,” Todd Anthony, 2013 Sun City, AZ, Stephen Tamiesie

Sun City, Arizona was the first of Del Webb’s active retirement communities. It was opened January 1, 1960; significant because Arizona’s mild winter is part of the Sun City appeal. Over 100,000 visited this development the first weekend it was opened, with hundreds of housing purchases that week. The main reason for moving to Sun City is for the abundant and diverse recreational spaces. All of these facilities were completed before the opening date to ensure the Sun City lifestyle was available from day one. Sun City is part of the Phoenix metropolitan area and is home for close to 40,000 residents. The adjacent Sun City West has approximately 25,000 residents. Sun City has been heavily researched academically in sociology, psychology and health care. Photographers and the media have also documented the residents and lifestyle of the community. The architecture of Sun City is very typical of any 1960s suburb with the majority of the housing being 2 bedroom single family homes. The community is different in its planning from an average suburb as walking trails, green spaces, golf courses and club houses are easily accessible by the residents. Known as the “City of Volunteers,” Sun City residents assist in elderly care centers, theater programs, grounds maintenance and animal rescue within the city.

THE AESTHETIC OF AGING Creating an architectural vocabulary on aging for the active adult community.

Wrinkle. Bald. Shrink. Blur. The aging aesthetic describes the appearance and sensation of the aging person. Society places value on the young aesthetic; which is not having wrinkles, not loosing hair, and not being slow. This study abandons the typically negative cultural connotations of aging skin, hair and bodies for a more ambivalent reading on the markings of the aging aesthetic. Evidence of this aesthetic was assembled to develop an architectural vocabulary adaptable enough to translate the human condition into material and architectural sensitivities. This aesthetic was defined and materialized to offer new insights into its surficial, pervasive, formal, and iterative limits. The site to articulate this aesthetic, as architecture, is the ‘Active Adult Retirement Community (AAC).’ These places, which resemble much of modern suburbia, are more perfect constructions than their age-inclusive counterparts. The active retirement village offers a sense of community and abundance of amenities beyond the typical

suburban development and is successful in confronting the single biggest societal issue of aging; isolation. However successful it is in providing social and active opportunities for its residents, the AAC conforms to and thrives from the societal notion of the ageless self. The notion the ageless self prolongs middle age, as the “leitmotif of contemporary society, conveying little about change and what it means to grow old.” This project searches for an ethic of aging where the personal and societal importance of growing old can be experienced and valued. The architecture of this ethic of aging articulates the appearance and sensations of aging into a transformative space that allows the occupant to find value in being old. A likely point of intervention is the clubhouse. All active retirement communities have a clubhouse, and sometimes a dozen. The clubhouses are the life and cultural centers of the AAC. The diversity of programs, and intersection of the landscape around the clubhouse emphasizes its importance to the community.