VOLLAND, KANSAS
Fall 2017 | Research, Explorations, Inquiries
Contributing Authors Keegan Amos Nicole Bauknight Evelyne Chokkatu Lucas Downes Jonathan Eden Angel Llanes Tanner Lopez Karl Ndieli Dipen Patel Kaydee Seematter Amber Summers Austin Ungerbuehler Aoran Zhang
1.
2.
INTRO
3.
BACKGROUND
RESEARCH
PURPOSE
3
THE BEGINNINGS
21
OVERVIEW
37
STUDIO OVERVIEW
7
POPULATION CHANGE
23
WHY ARTIST RESIDENCY
39
PAST WORKS
8
THE VOLLAND STORE
25
DEFINING ARTIST RESIDENCY
41
PHASE 1: RESTORATION
29
INTERNATIONAL PRECEDENTS
43
THE STUDIO
10
STUDIO PROCESS
12
NATIONAL PRECEDENTS
54
SEMESTER TIMELINE
14
REGIONAL PRECEDENTS
70
INTERVIEWS
83
4.
SITE ANALYSIS
LOCATION
97
5.
PROGRAMMING
6.
ENGAGEMENTS
7.
PROPOSALS
OVERVIEW
113
OVERVIEW
131
OVERVIEW
169
DEMOGRAPHICS
101
SWOT ANALYSIS
120
LIGHTING STUDIES
133
COMPACT CREATIVITY
171
SITE DIAGRAMS
105
RESIDENCY ELEMENTS
122
BRICK STUDIES
141
THE HOUSE OF BRICK
179
MATERIALITY
108
N. HOUSE CONDITIONS
124
COMMUNITY
155
REFLECTING HISTORY
189
N. HOUSE FINDINGS
159
THE PLATFORM
201
CONCLUSIONS
211
1.
1
PURPOSE
3
STUDIO OVERVIEW
7
PAST WORKS
8
INTRODUCTION
THE STUDIO
10
STUDIO PROCESS
12
SEMESTER TIMELINE
14
VOLLAND, KS | A PLACE FOR ART
2
INTRODUCTION
3
PREFACE
This book serves as a synopsis of the work completed during the Fall Semester of Design Make studio. Academically, the book is intended to fulfill credit requirements of the Project Programming portion of fifth year studio, which directs students in laying a solid foundation for the design project. Externally, the book acts as a way to inform interested parties on the details of the project, as well as its progress. This book contains all the exploration, research, and design that this studio has accumulated throughout the semester, showing how we arrived at our final design proposals. Not only is this book a benefit to people uninvolved in the project, but it benefits our studio too. It reminds us of the history we must respect, past precedent studies we have learned from, and design lessons we have discovered.
The 2017-2018 Design Make studio aims to create a project that expands artist’s opportunity to develop their skills and craft in an environment that will impact them, just as it has impacted us. This endeavor hopes to foster inspiration through the beauty of the Flint Hills and the people that live in its landscape. While Volland already possesses a unique and embracing community, the creation of a strong residency program will supplement the creative culture that surround the store and it’s people. Lastly, our studio hopes this project will act as one piece of many to come as Volland continues to develop it’s community, culture, and creativity.
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INTRODUCTION
5
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
We would first like to thank the Department of Architecture at Kansas State University for giving us the opportunity to participate in the Design Make studio while keeping the ongoing relationship between Design Make studio and el dorado inc. The studio would also like to recognize a few key characters who have made the work that has been completed this semester possible. We would like to thank both Patty and Jerry Reece for the focus and design problem for our capstone studio by allowing us to help develop and further their investments. Their passion for Volland has served as a catalyst for design and exploration. Don Hendricks has provided a wealth of knowledge while exploring the houses of Volland. He has given insight into the possibilities of what we may be able to structurally change and what will need to be addressed moving forward. Additionally,
Hesse McGraw and the artists who were interviewed assisted by giving us the artist perspective regarding an artist residency program. Their individual experiences in a multitude of different programs has allowed the studio to focus on the important aspects of successful artist residencies and how the design might be able to better respond to its intended purposes. Lastly, recognition is due to our professor, David Dowell, and the staff of el dorado inc who have contributed to the conversation and schematic design phase thus far. These individuals have helped guide our activities, explorations, progress, and development. This book is evidence of the culmination of passion, contribution, and effort of these individuals and our studio.
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INTRODUCTION
7
STUDIO INTRODUCTION
THE STUDIO This book serves as a synopsis of the work completed during the Fall Semester of Design Make studio. Academically, the book is intended to fulfill credit requirements of the Project Programming portion of fifth year studio, which directs students in laying a solid foundation for the design project. Externally, the book acts as a way to inform interested parties on the details of the project, as well as its progress. This book contains all the exploration, research, and design that this studio has accumulated throughout the semester, showing how we arrived at our final design proposals. Not only is this book a benefit to people uninvolved in the project, but it benefits our studio too. It reminds us of the history we must respect, past precedent studies we have learned from, and design lessons we have discovered. 2017-2018 PROJECT The 2017-2018 Design Make studio aims to create a project that expands artist’s opportunity to develop their skills and craft in an environment that will impact them, just as it has impacted us. This endeavor hopes to foster inspiration through the beauty of the Flint Hills and the people that live in its landscape. While Volland already possesses a unique and embracing community, the creation of a strong residency program will supplement the creative culture that surround the store and it’s people. Lastly, our studio hopes this project will act as one piece of many to come as Volland continues to develop it’s community, culture, and creativity.
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INTRODUCTION
PAST WORKS
FLINT HILLS POOL TRELLIS Elmdale, Kansas
2014 2013
2015
GIRL SCOUT CAMP DAISY BATH HOUSE Dover, Kansas
JOHNSON COUNTY SUNSET PAVILION Olathe, Kansas
9
PRESTON EDUCATION CENTER Elmdale, Kansas
VOLLAND ART INSTITUTE Volland, Kansas
2016
2018 2017
THE WALDO DUPLEX Kansas City, Missouri
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INTRODUCTION
THE 2017-18 DESIGN MAKE STUDIO
AMBER SUMMERS
AUSTIN UNGERBUEHLER
Financial Coordinator, Design+Make
Co-Graphics Coordinator, Design+Make
JONATHAN EDEN Project Designer, Design+Make
DIPEN PATEL
KARL NDIELI
Marketing Director, Design+Make
Co-Graphics Coordinator, Design+Make
Social Media Director, Design+Make
AORAN ZHANG
EVELYNE CHOKKAT TU
Project Designer, Design+Make
Project Designer, Design+Make
Project Designer, Design+Make
ANGEL LLANES
KAYDEE SEEMAT TER
11
KEEGAN AMOS Fabrication Director, Design+Make
TANNER LOPEZ
DAVID DOWELL
Financial Director, Design+Make
Partner, el dorado inc
LUCAS DOWNES
MEGAN ELZINGA
TED ARENDES
Project Designer, Design+Make
Project Coordinator, APDesign
Associate, el dorado inc
NICOLE BAUKNIGHT
RANDI JENNER
HESSE MCGRAW
Communications Director, Design+Make
Project Coordinator, APDesign
Partner, el dorado inc
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INTRODUCTION
Research
Feedback
Design
13
THE STUDIO CYCLE
Design is an iterative process that requires trial and error as well as critiques and adjustments. This studio has been no different, but it’s this repetitive process that produces great architecture. It begins with research, which informs design. After investigating solutions, the product is presented and critiqued. Once feedback is given, the process begins again, incrementally improving the project outcome.
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INTRODUCTION
SEMESTER TIMELINE Research Design Feedback
Studio begins to study artist residencies in order to understand what makes an effective residency program.
The Studio visits Volland for the first time, introducing us to the store, the houses, and other site elements.
Studio visits Kansas City to be introduced to the Mattie Rhodes Organization and present tuning devices at el dorado inc.
PRECEDENT RESEARCH
VOLLAND TOUR
TUNING DEVICE PRESENTATIONS
AUGUST 23
SEPTEMBER 1
SEPTEMBER 8
August 21
August 30
SEPTEMBER 3
SEPTEMBER 11
FALL SEMESTER START
PRECEDENT PRESENTATION
TUNING DEVICES
TUNING DEVICE REFINEMENT
First day of class, studio and project introductions are made.
Studio presents precedents to David Dowell at KSU.
The studio is introduced to tuning devices as a
The studio is introduced to tuning devices as a method of understanding Volland.
method of understanding Volland.
15
Studio begins to collect site data and document existing conditions.
Project is broken into three categories in order to gain a better understanding of the project requirements.
Accurate existing measurements are taken and modeled.
VOLLAND SITE ANALYSIS & DOCUMENTATION
PROGRAM, PLACE, & PEOPLE
MEASUREMENTS
SEPTEMBER 15
SEPTEMBER 22
SEPTEMBER 22
SEPTEMBER 18
SEPTEMBER 29
October 15
CONDUCTED INTERVIEWS
TUNING DEVICE PRESENTATIONS
PROGRAM TEST FITTING
Studio interviews key constituents involved in the project.
Tuning devices are evaluated and groups are formed according to similarities and goals.
Studio evaluates possible program with existing houses.
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INTRODUCTION
Studio sits down for dinner with the Volland board and light study tuning device is presented.
Study of brick stacking possibilities begins and the board decides to move forward with the north house.
Four groups established to explore different possibilities to the north house
LIGHT STUDY
BRICK STUDIES
4 PROPOSAL TEAMS
October 26
October 30
November 13
October 27
November 5
VOLLAND BOARD PRESENTATION
SELECTIVE DEMOLITION & EXTENSIVE RESEARCH
Conceptual proposals and site analysis are presented to the Volland board.
Studio begins exploratory demolition and study of conditions.
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Proposals are individually critiqued by David Dowell at Kansas State University
Proposals presented to Patty Reece to decide which design will move forward.
DESK CRITS @ KSU
SCHEME SELECTION
November 29
December 8
November 17
December 6
December 26
DESIGN CHARRETTE
FOUR HOUSE PROPOSALS PRESENTED
DESIGN DEVELOPMENT & CONSTRUCTION DOCUMENTS
Studio, artists, and el dorado inc conduct design charrette to further develop designs
Groups present each proposal to David Dowell in Kansas City at el dorado inc.
Design will be progressed and construction documents will begin at el dorado inc in Kansas City.
VOLLAND, KS | A PLACE FOR ART
2.
19
BACKGROUND
THE BEGINNINGS
21
POPULATION CHANGE
23
THE VOLLAND STORE
25
RESTORATION SUCCESS
29
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RESEARCH
21
RAILWAY BEGINNINGS
The Chicago Rock Island & Pacific Railway, served the town of Volland located along Mill Creek in the Washington Township of Wabaunsee County, Kansas. In addition to creating a depot, which provided passenger and freight service, the railroad also created a railhead, providing a shipping point for cattle being moved in and out of the Flint Hills pastures. The Rock Island depot also was the home of the Western Union telegraph station which first provided nationwide communication for the town. Telegraph lines ran along the railroad tracks when the telegraph office was established in 1887. Many of the railroad maintenance workers and the section gang members lived along the tracks in Volland in small houses and makeshift barracks buildings crafted from old boxcars. The depot was a popular spot for men to gather, waiting for trains to bring freight and cattle into town. The railroad’s presence was strong in Volland during
the first half of the 20th century. After diesel-powered electrically driven locomotives became standard on the Rock Island line, it was no longer necessary for every passing train to stop to fill with water. So, a pole was erected along the tracks to which outgoing mail bags were attached, allowing mail trains to snatch the bag as they passed. The inbound mail bag was thrown from the train onto the railroad right-of-way. For the first 75 years of Volland’s life, the Rock Island Railway played a major role in the growth and subsistence of the Flint Hills town. An artery that fed the town of Volland, Kansas eventually severed as technology and time advanced, proving to be the end of Volland as it was in the mid 20th century.
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RESEARCH
Pictures by: Otto Kratzer
Pictures provided by: The Volland Store
23
POPULATION
Volland is one of the few small towns within Wabaunsee County, Kansas; it is located nearby the community of Alma which has a population of 802. The population of Volland started as 26 people in 1910. However, in 1913, the Volland Store drew in residents and the town grew greatly. The store became a lifeline for the town as ranchers used Volland as a gathering place. The population of the Washington Township (area surrounding Volland) peaked at about 400 people. The Kratzer family was forced the close the store in 1970, due to Otto Kratzer’s death, and the town experienced a decline in population. However, over a hundred years after the store was built, the town began renovating the dilapidated store and celebrated its history and the spirit and charm of Otto was revitalized thanks to Patty and Jerry Reece.
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RESEARCH
Picture by: Dave Leiker
Pictures courtesy of: The Volland Store
25
THE VOLLAND STORE Volland, Kansas was founded in the late 1800’s when Rock Island Railroad built a depot at the town’s southern edge. On October 18, 1913 Kratzer Brothers Mercantile opened in Volland, built by brothers Otto and Bill. Filled with merchandise and serving as a post office with two telephone lines, the store quickly became a cultural hub for the surrounding community. On Thursday evenings couples came to shop and stayed to visit. Sunday afternoons families came to picnic on the west lawn under the trees. The teacher from the nearby one room school stopped in almost every afternoon, and children walked to the store for penny candy. The Volland Store was a centerpiece of the community until the early 1970s when it closed after the death of its storekeeper, Otto Kratzer. But the memories remain strong, and the building is still known as The Volland Store. After the store closed in 1971, the building sat empty for 30 years.
Source: El Dorado Inc. Picture by: Otto Kratzer
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RESEARCH
Old Store Then & Now Photo by: Tom Parish
Community Then & Now Photo by: Tom Parish
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Depot Then & Now Photo by: Tom Parish VOLLAND, KS | A PLACE FOR ART
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RESEARCH
Pictures courtesy of: The Volland Store
29
VOLLAND STORE RENOVATION
Source: El Dorado Inc.
In 2013, Patty and Jerry Reece purchased the building, and decided to turn it into an art gallery with a small living space serving as an artist’s retreat. While the roof, second and third floors had collapsed, the masonry shell was left structurally intact. The design team laid out a floor plan similar to the original: a large, open space at the front for events and exhibitions were the general store was, and a second-story living space at the back, above a catering kitchen and restrooms. The majority of the second story was not rebuilt, leaving the gallery open, flexible and filled with light. The design solution was simple, relying on clean forms and honoring the integrity of original materials and context of the surrounding tallgrass prairie.
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RESEARCH
Pictures courtesy of: The Volland Store
31
VOLLAND STORE EVENTS The Volland Store is not only an art gallery, but it is a place for the community to gather and share memories, experiences, and each other. Being an intrinsic piece of Volland’s history, the store is the perfect place for people to gather. Whether patrons have been in the area for decades, or whether they stumbled upon Volland; these gatherings are what gives Volland it’s charm and appeal. Countless events have been held at the store, and this residency aims to offer many more events to bring the community together in order to continue the wholesome culture in Volland. Pictures courtesy of: The Volland Store
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RESEARCH
Pictures courtesy of: The Volland Store
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VOLLAND STORE ART EXHIBITIONS The Volland Store has been home to a multitude of artists’ work in the short time it has been established as a gallery. The subject matter has ranged from Kansas Cellars to Vintage American Quilts. Regardless of the medium or style, the community is drawn in by the art shown at the store. This residency will produce countless new exhibitions that will continue to impact the local community.
Pictures courtesy of: The Volland Store
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3.
35
RESEARCH
OVERVIEW
37
WHY AN ARTIST RESIDENCY
39
DEFINING ARTIST RESIDENCY
41
INTERNATIONAL PRECEDENTS
43
NATIONAL PRECEDENTS
54
REGIONAL PRECEDENTS
70
INTERVIEWS
83
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RESEARCH
37
RESEARCH
Research is arguably the most important aspect of the work flow process. Attempting an intervention of any kind without obtaining a solid foundation of a place inevitably results in a product that does not belong in its surroundings. Investigation into the history of a place tells its story, adding context and understanding to what makes a place unique. History also informs us on mistakes made in the past, and helps us to avoid repeating any such events. Knowledge of the past is vital to shaping the future. Becoming familiar with a project’s surroundings, both immediate and extended, is a common task for architectural designers; however, this commonality does not reduce it’s importance. Site analysis reveals relationships and conditions that otherwise could not be observed. It breaks down an area into key elements, allowing designers to improve, replace, hide, or expose them. This analysis
reveals opportunities to exploit, as well as challenges to overcome. All of these facts and characteristics make up a place’s physicality, and they are all things to respect and consider. Gaining insight through interviews and personal interaction can be extremely beneficial to design. Interviews bring an outside perspective to the design, as well as insight into an unknown field. Conversations with relevant people can improve the understanding of a place as it sits in the present. All these elements contribute to the design process and, ultimately, the final product. Effective design cannot happen without this important step in the work flow process.
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RESEARCH
39
Finding the proper fit
Photo courtesy of the Volland Store
There are many opportunities to further engage the community in Volland, Kansas. There are a multitude of factors that support the integration of an artist residency. The first is that the Volland Store provides the connection and basis for art and community. Artists that come to the residency will be supported and encouraged by the Volland Store and will be entering a community that supports and welcomes art and art exploration. The Volland Store provides information and inspiration to incoming artists which serves as the larger institution to govern the artist residency. Secondly, the location of Volland is the ideal location for such a residency. A majority of artist residencies are set in rural communities and are still in high demand by a variety of artist backgrounds. Volland has the attractive attributes of being surrounded by prairie landscape, being set in the infamous Flint Hills, providing the
isolation, and the solitude that artists desire with the open space for creativity. Our analysis shows that the components for sustaining a successful artist residency are located within and around Volland, making it an ideal location for artists to come and explore themselves further through their art in the Volland artist residency program.
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RESEARCH
GROWING SUCCESS OF ARTIST RESIDENCY PROGRAMS
OTHER SPECIALTY
URBAN
COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT
RURAL
90% have public programs that engage their local communities
60% are in rural areas and small towns, while 40% are in urban areas
ARTISTS NATIONALLY
ARTISTS INTERNATIONALLY
More than 30,000 artists are provided residencies each year (~10,000 in the U.S.)
Source: www.artistcommunities.org
MULTIDISCIPLINARY
70% are multidisciplinary, serving visual artists, writers, composers, filmmakers, choreographers, and others
NATIONAL PROGRAMS
INTERNATIONAL PROGRAMS
There is an estimated 500 artists communities in the US and more than 1,500 worldwide
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WHAT IS AN ARTIST RESIDENCY? An artist residency is a program that allows artists to experience a new location and environment to foster his or her form of art. It is an opportunity for new influences and inspiration to infiltrate the artist’s work. Many artists seek and apply to programs that are different from their normal studio or creative space. The draw is the challenge of creating with the resources that are provided and the escape from the every-day life they are used to living.
Artist Residency in St.John’s, Newfoundland
Some support one artistic genre while most are interdisciplinary, welcoming visual artists, writers, composers, choreographers, scholars and other creative individuals. There are programs that are active centers for public programs and others that offer solitude and retreat. Many provide room and board as a home-away-fromhome; others offer not a place to live, but a community for local artists in which to work and be supported in the creation of new art.
Artists’ residencies (also called artists’ communities, colonies, retreats, workspaces, and studio collectives) provide dedicated time and space for creative work. Beyond this core value, these creative communities are a diverse group, and provide artists of all disciplines with many different styles and models of support. Residencies can be found in urban or rural areas, serving one artist at a time or multiple.
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RESEARCH NEW FOUNDLAND, CANADA
TONDELA, PORTUGAL
SINTHIAN, SENEGAL
BAHIA, BRAZIL
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INTERNATIONAL PRECEDENTS
HAKODATE, JAPAN
International artist residencies are popular for their content, atmosphere, location and unique perspectives that they bring. There are varying experiences and qualities combined with a unique location and potential for international connections. These programs provide artists with rare options and incentives to develop themselves and their art with new outside perspectives. These selected international examples were beneficial for our research as they provided an understanding of differing spaces, programs and attributes for us to learn from.
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RESEARCH
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ARTIST RESIDENCY IN SENEGAL
Program Title The Artist Residency in Senegal
Location Sinthian, Senegal
Interviewers Keegan Amos
Summary Located in the rural village of Sinthian in south-eastern Senegal, this cultural center and artist residency offers artists a diverse range of programs that provide the people of Sinthain opportunities to discover new forms of creativity and cultivate skills. The community center and artist residency functions as a hub for markets, education, performance, and gathering for the local community and artists in residence. The center and residency was constructed using only local materials such as bamboo, brick and thatch. The inverted pitched roof incorporates an innovative design using locally grown and harvested materials that provided a low cost and sustainable design. The thatched roof is capable of collecting 40% of the village’s domestic water usage during rainfall . The retained rainwater is siphoned into a reservoir where it is readily available for the needs of the community. It is also recycled for agricultural projects during Senegal’s eight month dry season. By utilizing the local materials for this project it provided a cultural and social extension for the people of Sinthian. The design is cost effective and easily maintained due to the obtainable materials located in the surrounding environment. The idea was to retreat from vernacular architecture to 21st century engineering while maintaining the use of local materials that the community is familiar with to create a piece of architecture that speaks to its local occupants. All photos by Iwan Baan
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RESEARCH
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OLD RUSSIAN CONSULATE
Program Title The Artist Residency in Hakodate
Location Hakodate, Japan
Interviewers Austin Ungerbuehler
Summary The Old Russian Consulate is a charming historical building located on the Mount Hakodate slopes. The project aims to enhance its potentials as a first class destination in the city. Surrounded by temples and at the edge of the Mount’s forest, its garden is a generous retreat and meeting place for artists inspired by the stupendous view toward the city bay. On the model of the Villa Medici in Rome, the Consulate will host an International Artist Residency in Hakodate. Artists will be hosted for a short to mid-term stay while creating pieces. The stay is concluded with the display of their work in the new exhibition rooms. Exchange between international and local designers is organized into workshops with top end equipment. A sharp, glass facade, reflecting the bay landscape and the consulate’s garden, creates a strong architectural gesture. The private artist residency program is dispatched on a strip along the south retaining wall. The five artists’ studios, made of solid wood panels, are composed of a working room with a terrace opening through the garden and a living room on tatami at mezzanine level oriented toward the south. Two small baths for artist concentration and wellbeing are embedded into the garden’s topography. Workshop skylights and the street shop complete the plan. A café conceived as a translucent winter garden offers a generous deck for events above the Hakodate famous scenery. All photos by Lucien Puech
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RESEARCH
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FOGO ISLAND
Program Title Fogo Island Arts
Location New Foundland, Canada
Interviewers Karl Ndieli
Summary Fogo Island is an elemental place of subtle and abiding beauty, a place where time is not obliterated by the circulation of everything. Its people are inextricably bound to this place where they belong. They are a culturally rich and resourceful people who live in close connection with each other and with their people who have come before them. The Shorefast Foundation works with the people of Fogo Island to find ways to preserve this special place and this special culture. The five structures of the Fogo Island Arts represent one of the methods by which the culture of the Newfoundland natives are preserved and sustained. Designed by Saunders Architecture for the Shorefast Foundation, the project is the basis for an artist residency program that started in 2010. The studios are built in remote settings on Fogo Island in conjunction with traditional Newfoundland salt-box homes in various communities. The idea behind the forms of the various studios was to create a bold geometric structure to starkly contrast, yet lay silently in the strikingly harsh, natural environment. The studios are all oriented towards the sea and elevated above the ground to provide the resident artist with a feeling of being unobstructed and unbound. The materials and construction methods chosen reflect that of the local architecture of Fogo Island. The environment will leave its marks on the studios by weathering the structures over time. All photos by Fogo Island Arts
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INSTITUTO SACATAR
Program Title Instituto Sacatar
Location Bahia, Brazil
Interviewers Amber Summers
Summary Through its Instituto Sacatar, centered on the Island of Itaparica in Bahia, Brazil, Sacatar supports residency fellowships for creative individuals of all nationalities and ages working within and across their respective creative disciplines. During their two-month residency period, Sacatar Fellows are encouraged and supported to utilize their creative practice to engage with the local Bahian communities in Salvador and Itaparica, resulting in rich intercultural collaborative exchanges that are shared through public programs locally and across the world. Since its inception in 2001, the Instituto Sacatar has hosted more than 300 residency Fellows from over 60 countries and has been involved with more than 400 community-based partnership programs and exchanges in Bahia and abroad. Sacatar is generously supported by public and private foundations, corporations, governmental agencies, and individuals like you. We welcome your support of and engagement with the ideals found in the practice of creative inter-cultural exchange and promoted through the Sacatar Foundation and its programs. Bahia embodies a dynamic, ever-evolving, and endlessly inventive culture inextricably linked to its natural environment, where indigenous, African, and European traditions and histories combine and cross-pollinate in rich complexity.
All photos by Instituto Sacatar
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RESEARCH
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ARTERRA ARTISTIC RESIDENCY
Program Title Arterra Artistic Residency
Location Tondela, Protugal
Interviewers Amber Summers
Summary This space for creativity and artistic training comes from a need for physical spaces where artists can meet and reflect on the art processes, and develop them in an intensive and focused way. The ARTERRA is a private initiative working since 2010. The artists find in ARTERRA a house with a series of facilities, and a “creation yard”, where there are several spaces and studios to create and develop an artistic work. They seek to provide artists and projects all the conditions for the development of the creative process. The ARTERRA has physical and technical conditions to be realized by several outbreaks of artwork, from design exhibitions, theatrical creation, studio, workshops and training. This program facilitates the communication with nature , to foster a dynamic group strictly for work in residence in a rural environment. ARTERRA’s goals include: to diversify and decentralize the cultural offer, and to develop training activities and contributing to the qualifications for the arts. This space is intended for professionals from different artistic areas, groups or independent creators, Portuguese and international artists. Artists can also receive exceptional training projects for the general public and for children.
All photos by Artist Communities
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NATIONAL PRECEDENTS
Artist residence programs are growing on a large scale and there are many more new programs popping up across the nation weekly. Some provide artists with the solitude and natural landscapes that stimulate creativity while providing them with space to explore and create. Rural and small town artist residencies are in high demand with growing interest on an international scale while more urban based programs focus on connection within a larger artist community. Every residency is unique in its charge and founding purpose and each provides an individual approach to the formation and social integration of these communities.
HOUSTON, TEXAS
55
BELLAIRE, MICHIGAN
MADISON, MAINE
PETERBOROUGH, NEW HAMPSHIRE
SHANGHAI, WEST VIRGINIA
ATLANTA, GEORGIA
CAPTIVA, FLORIDA
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FOOD FOR THOUGHT
Program Title Rauschenberg Artist Residence
Location Captiva, Florida
Interviewers Evelyne Chokkattu
Summary Part of the enticement of a rural artist residency is its disconnect from the rest of the world. In order to sustain this separation from the urban environment the artist program needs to seek means of standing alone as a community. At the Rauschenberg Artist Residency, the Chef-in-Residence Program (CIR) was created in January 2016 partly in response to the resident artists’ appeal for fresh, locally-grown Florida food, and to prioritize the Foundation’s emphasis on environmental conservation and stewardship. The position as a CIR is for one year, beginning January. The chef prepares meals for the artists in residence, while continuing to implement and maintain sustainable practices and has the opportunity to pursue personal culinary interests and research. This inaugural program aligns with the Foundation’s focus on environmental conservation and stewardship, stemming from Robert Rauschenberg’s long-standing concern for the safekeeping of the environment, the notion of individual responsibility, as well as a love of food and cooking. The selected candidate must have at least five years of experience working in a commercial kitchen, with a minimum of two years in management. Volland could consider expanding and utilizing the existing vegetable garden to its full potential and broadening the residency program to include culinary arts.
All photos by Rauschenberg Artist Residence
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CONNECTION TO NATURE
Program Title Crosshatch Center
Location Bellaire, Michigan
Interviewers Jonathan Eden
Summary Offered residency programs at the Crosshatch Center for Art & Ecology include performing arts, visual arts, design, writing, and the Edible Trails Project. It is the center’s goal to build strong communities through the intersections of art, farming, ecology and economy. Imagine our public spaces full of plants that produce an abundance of fresh, delicious food each year, edible forest landscapes of fruit and nut trees, berry bushes, and more. Imagine kids, adults, local businesses, and organizations all working and learning together to repair the ecosystem while increasing access to local, sustainable food. The Edible Trails Project exists to facilitate this transformation. Preservation Station, an enclosed cargo trailer that unpacks into a high-efficiency, three-season food preservation kitchen and workshop space is able to travel to different locations and venues. The trailer can be pulled onto farms, community gardens, farm markets or your own backyard for canning classes. Preservation Station is currently outfitted for hot water bath canning of high acid foods, as well as pickling, fermenting and jellying. In the future, the trailer will include equipment for pressure canning, meat curing, drying, freezing, smoking and other traditional preservation techniques. Artists who are selected for this residency program are encouraged to participate and learn in these interactive events to increase their knowledge on the importance of sustainability and ecology. All photos by Crosshatch Center
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CONNECTION TO SOCIETY
Program Title Macdowell Colony
Location Peterborough, New Hampshire
Interviewers Aoran Zhang
Summary MacDowell Colony is one of the oldest artist residencies in America, and it is located at Peterborough, New Hampshire, with a pleasant view of Mount Monadnock to the west. The mission of The MacDowell Colony is to nurture the arts by offering creative individuals of the highest talent an inspiring environment in which they can produce enduring works of the imagination. MacDowell is well connected with the society in a way that people can always learn about events and activities through multiple forms of social media. This is significant to Volland since it is located in an isolated place and since it will be a new program there will be a need to get the word out for more artists to become interested. As for the colony, artists are getting information from social networks, like Twitter, Facebook, Vimeo. These platforms are continuously updated by showing the latest activities and highlights of the artists’ lives there. Updating is necessary so that it doesn’t feel inactive to the public. Their website is well organized, and audiences can easily find everything they need on the website. Also, their web page on Alliance of Artist Communities is easy to find which helps them promote their brand.
Photo on Left by: Paul Rocheleau Photo on Top provided by MacDowell Colony
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SKOWHEGAN SCHOOL
Program Title Skowhegan School of Painting & Sculpture
Location Madison, Maine
Interviewers Nicole Bauknight
Summary The Skowhegan School was established in 1946 by four artists that desired to create a space for art development and cross collaboration between art fields. The school has since become a haven for artists of diverse medias to come and develop his or her art while receiving feedback from professionals and their peers. The summer residency hosts 65 students from diverse backgrounds for nine weeks. The residency sits on 350 acres of historic farm land with a nearby lake and woods to enjoy. Each artist gets their own studio space with access to multiple open studio creation spaces and a well stocked library. During their residency, established artists come for one week visits to give individual critiques as well as a lecture aimed at furthering the residency artists education. The program is designed around fostering peer collaboration in order to advance the artists’ individual creations. Artists come without a preconceived program and leave with works of art that are stronger because they were created in community. At the end of the residency the artists get the opportunity to showcase the art that was made during the residency in downtown New York. This is an invaluable opportunity for growing artists to establish themselves as professionals and become recognized by well known art figures.
All photos by Skowhegan School
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NORTH MOUNTAIN ARTIST RESIDENCY
Program Title North Mountain Residency
Location Shanghai, West Virginia
Interviewers Angel Llanes
Summary North Mountain is located on 400 mountainous acres of apple orchards and woodlands in the Eastern Panhandle area of West Virginia, near the small town of Shanghai. From the middle of the 19th century until the beginning of the 21st, the property was one of many active apple farms in the region. Now dormant and unkept, the apple trees of the orchards primarily feed wildlife, along with the occasional passing resident. Walking trails on the property lead to old orchards, a pond, and forests of oaks, maples, and sycamores. In addition to the grounds, the residency maintains a library with collections of literature and reference; graphic arts, typography, print making, and photography; architecture and urban planning; and ecology and Appalachian culture. The residency is focused on trying to increase equity and accessibility in the arts for those of different backgrounds, perspectives, and practices. This goal is achieved by privileging certain types of applications through a jury and curatorial process. They are also strengthening their connections within the cultures and ecologies local to West Virginia’s Eastern Panhandle. They highly encourage their residents to focus on the geography, culture, and ecology of the site. In doing so they also work in collaboration with neighboring organizations to curate, direct, and facilitate research at the residency. They currently provide residents and staff with comfortable living and working space, access to material resources, research assistance, documentation, and opportunities to publicly share their work. All photos by North Mountain Residency
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CREATIVE COMMUNITY
Program Title The Creative Community Housing Project
Location Atlanta, Georgia
Interviewers Amber Summers
Summary The Creative Community Housing Project’s mission is to enrich and strengthen local communities through quality arts-based education and outreach, while celebrating and elevating the city’s visual and performing artists. The community functions as an open network where artists interact daily, collaborate, and build diverse connections. Each resident artist also receives customized professional development workshops and teacher training sessions. This platform not only enables artists to create powerful pieces, but also to become advocates of social change and educational leaders in their respected fields. In exchange for housing and training, artists give back to the local community through Community Arts Programs. The Creative Community Housing Project is a vital force in Atlanta’s arts community. TCCHP strengthens and unites arts, education, community, and commerce by creating an arts ecosystem that empowers eager citizens to recognize Atlanta’s potential. TCCHP patrons donate subsidized housing and free studio space to support the artists as they serve in Atlanta neighborhoods to generate vibrant and fertile communities poised for economic growth and development. They encourage the learning and teaching among peers who specialize in different forms of expression. Upon acceptance into the program there is opportunity for the artists to join a mentorship program. This links an emerging artist with a more established local artist to share knowledge and to create the most powerful collection as possible. All photos by Creative Community Project
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PROJECT ROW HOUSES
Program Title Project Row House
Location Houston, Texas
Interviewers Lucas Downes
Summary Project Row House (PRH) is an artist residency rooted in the Third Ward in Houston. Founded by Rick Lowe and a group of colleagues and friends, it is a residency immersed in the culture and history of the neighborhood. It is that exact community that directly influences the work produced by the artist residency. Though the program was only founded in 1993, it is nestled in one of the oldest African American communities in the city affording the residency a historically rich neighborhood. PRH holds two biannual events each year, one starting in March and the other in October, which they call Rounds. The Rounds last 4 months and are held in a series of seven Row Houses that are opened up to the public for viewing. These Rounds help connect the community and keep the town’s history thriving. Round 45 demonstrated the historical focus of the Residency. This Round consisted of seven different artists deeply rooted in the artist community in Houston. The artists produced work acting as a narrative for the culture, place and identity of African Americans in the neighborhood. Each of these 46 Rounds are all different in artist, media, and delivery method, but they are all intended to help the area’s culture and history continue to flourish.
All photos by Project Row House
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RESEARCH Marquette, Nebraska
Volland, Kansas
Matfield Green, Kansas
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Kansas City, Missouri
REGIONAL PRECEDENTS
Kansas City, Kansas
There are several established local artist residencies surrounding our project site. Researching them was imperative to gaining knowledge on how these residencies could influence our project directly and indirectly. Since every program is distinct in its goals and attributes, these residencies are located anywhere and everywhere. The strong focus of each new program is to define what makes them special whether this be the location, operation, or atmosphere. They each flourish in their own characteristics and will draw attention based on its most unique aspects.
Lawrence, Kansas VOLLAND, KS | A PLACE FOR ART
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THE ART FARM
Program Title The Art Farm
Location Marquette, Nebraska
Interviewers Tanner Lopez
Summary Art Farm is a compilation of 17 buildings that were salvaged from nearby farms. Central to Art Farm is a 12,000 SF barn complex. A project lasting seven years has joined them into one unit. The barns range history and character which tells a visual story of the owner’s attempt to adapt with the changing times. These structures follow the tradition of vernacular architecture in the region based on programmatic observation and function. Barn builders adapted a plan and a shape from a general concept and then individually modified it to serve their needs. Using this same practice as a model, the work at Art Farm includes restoring, repairing, and converting barns for living and studio space. Art Farm is located in Marquette, Nebraska, 80 miles west of Lincoln, Nebraska. The nearest shopping centers are Aurora (12 miles south) and Central City (12 miles north). The population of Marquette is around 230 people. The landscape varies from flat, to gentle rolling hills, to shallow wetland basins mainly hidden by cornfields. Two miles north of Art Farm is the Platte River where the flat landscape changes into clay bluffs. There is not much elevation change for miles allowing one to look up and experience the basic forces of nature. All photos by The Art Farm
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PRAIRIESIDE COTTAGE & OUTPOST
Program Title Prairieside Outpost Artist Program
Location Matfield Green, Kansas
Interviewers Kaydee Seematter
Summary The Prairieside Outpost Artist Program is located near Matfield Green, Kansas, which resides in the heart of the rolling Flint Hills of Kansas where it serves as an artist retreat. The Outpost portion of the program includes a studio that is located adjacent to the house where visiting artists have a space to create. The cottage and outpost space are surrounded by eight acres of land, which allows for the visiting artists who typically live in an urbanized environment to be able to isolate themselves into the beauty of the surrounding landscapes. Like the Volland Store, Prairieside Outpost Artist Program works in conjunction with the Tallgrass Artist Residency to provide its invited artists with an opportunity for connection within the Great Plains of the Midwest. Prairieside Cottage + Outpost invites in artists of varying mediums and allows them to have a peaceful, nature oriented experience. The Tallgrass Residency Program seeks to create connection and conversation across the Great Plains by inviting applicants who currently live in a place that is ecologically considered prairie even though they might be urbanized. Since there is only a fraction of the unique tallgrass ecosystem remaining, the Tallgrass Residency Program helps to educate through the impacts that it has on the artists, their works, and getting presented to surrounding communities.
All photos by Prairieside Cottage
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LAWRENCE ART CENTER
Program Title Lawrence Art Center
Location Lawrence, Kansas
Interviewers Amber Summers
Summary The Lawrence Arts Center offers a 12-month artist residency program to select artists in ceramics and print making. They also offer shorter term project based residencies throughout the year. The visiting and resident artists program at the Lawrence Arts Center offers community members a unique opportunity to study visual arts with practitioners of varied backgrounds and diverse skills. New artists are invited each year to become a part of the Lawrence community and share their professional skills with Lawrence Arts Center students and artists. These 12-month programs are designed to provide a creative and supportive environment in which artists may immerse themselves in creating new work and expanding their own understanding of their medium and other media available at the Arts Center. The residencies are a multi-faceted experience including teaching, community outreach, interaction with other artists, and studio care, and culminate in an exhibition of new work. The Lawrence Arts Center, built in 2002 and located in downtown Lawrence, Kansas has 40,000 square feet of programming spaces. The Center’s mission is to enrich individuals and the community by nurturing a love of the arts through education, exploration, and expression. The facility consists of five exhibition galleries, a 300 seat theatre, two dance studios, two arts-based preschool classrooms, seven visual arts studios. The Center, sustained by a thriving membership program, offers programs to the public and all visitors to Lawrence, attracting 100,000 people annually.
All photos by Lawrence Art Center
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KANSAS CITY ARTIST COALITION
Program Title The Kansas City Artist Coalition
Location Kansas City, Kansas
Interviewers Amber Summers
Summary The Kansas City Artists Coalition (KCAC), an artist-centered, artist-run alternative space, brings artists from around the world together in order to build friendships and improve inter-cultural understanding. Artists are provided with a supportive environment, time, and a large studio space to create art that others in the Kansas City community will be able to view and/or learn. The program seeks to enrich the resident artists’ experiences by encouraging travel and the importance of inter-cultural connections, promoting the value of exchanging ideas among art-producing peers. The program seeks applications from dedicated artists who create visual artwork (of any medium) of exceptional quality, and whose work and career are at a level to benefit from an international exchange with peers. The program is especially geared toward artists from abroad who have never before worked in the United States. This program will provide time and space for at least four weeks of residency (and up to 3 months of residency). International visual artists will receive priority for the residency. All photos by KC Artist Coalition
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CHARLOTTE STREET FOUNDATION
Program Title Charlotte Street Foundation
Location Kansas City, Missouri
Interviewers Amber Summers
Summary Charlotte Street’s Studio Residency Program advances the organization’s vision of Kansas City as a dynamic home for artists in various career stages and disciplines to thrive, while serving as natural catalysts for an exciting, innovative, and culturally rich city. The residency provides free studio work and rehearsal space, and related support that enables exceptional artists of all disciplines to advance their art practices and artistic careers. Over the past fourteen years, Charlotte Street Foundation’s Studio Residency Program has supported the development of hundreds of artists. Artists accepted into the one year residency term have access to the studios beginning each September. The residency studios are housed in a re-purposed corporate office space on the 6th floor in Town Pavilion, which is located in downtown Kansas City, Missouri. The artist studios include dedicated spaces for visual artists, writers, and performing artists (composers/musicians, choreographers/dancers, theatre artists). Each resident has constant access throughout the term. The program aims to support creative production, artistic experimentation and collaboration, professional development, and close connection and exchange among the multi-disciplinary community of participating artists. Components include annual open studios, exhibition and performance opportunities at Charlotte Street’s other venues, monthly all-resident group meetings with guest presentations, studio visits, and mentorships. All photos by Charlotte Foundation
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ARTIST & RESIDENCY INTERVIEWS
Pictured Left: Works from Vintage American Quilts Collection by Elizabeth Wilson Photos provided by: The Volland Store
In order to form a creative environment that influences artists, it is vital to gain an understanding of the way they work, think, and see the world around them. Multiple artists have been interviewed and given insight into their lives and work. From this information, a more interesting, impactful, and effective residency can be designed. We reached out to curators, program administrators, and a variety of artists to garner this valuable insight. Every artist residency allows for the free expression and creation of artwork in it’s own unique way. Expectations and requirements vary greatly; however, it is the relationship between the resident and the host that is often an important aspect of a residency program. They provide a time of reflection, research, presentation, production and immersion into a new culture while
often allowing an individual to explore their practice within a new flourishing community. Some residency programs are incorporated within larger institutions such as museums, universities, galleries, studio spaces, theaters, artist-run spaces, municipalities, governmental offices, and even festivals. Many others are independently operated entities that provide their own interpretation of a residency program.
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PATTY REECE The Volland Store
Title
Founder of The Volland Store
Occupation
Artist, Teacher, Philanthropist
Other Accomplishments Founder & Manager of Warnoll House Retail Store Chairman of Harris-Kearney House Board Exhibit Director and Chairman of Society for Contemporary Photography Board on Board of Symphony in the Flint Hills
Interviewers
Summary
Nicole Bauknight Lucas Downes Angel Llanes Amber Summers
Peers from the Design+Make Studio had the opportunity to interview Patty Reece. Without Patty, along with her husband Jerry, the mere existence and condition of Volland, Kansas, would still be in disarray. After coming across the store for the first time by word of mouth, they both realized and saw the potential the store possessed. The walls, made up of brick, were in exceptional condition, and the building itself was an anomaly in the vernacular architecture of Kansas. Hesitant at first to rehabilitate the town, Patty and Jerry kept their interest in the property. It was the Symphony in the Flint Hills that brought further light into the Volland Store and its history. Learning of the towns own photography Otto Kratzer bolstered their passion for the history of the store and the town. Ultimately, it was this passion that delivered the property to them, placing Patty and Jerry into the very history of Volland that intrigued them in the beginning. Graduating from the University of Oklahoma with a degree in French and minor in History, Patty later went on to University of Missouri-Kansas City to obtain a Masters in Education. Although she never received a teaching position, she substituted for teachers on occasion. Though teaching never caught on for her, Patty spent much of her time volunteering. She first started working with People To People and the Pi Phi Alumni Club. Through her three children she found more organizations to volunteer for, including United Way, Boy-scouts, PTA, and Junior League. After her children moved on from their activities, she helped manage and create a retail store that acted as a fundraiser for the Warnoll House. The Warnoll House Retail Store, coupled with a chairman position in the Harris-Kearney House, started Patty on her path of historic preservation. Through her interest in photography, she became involved in the Society for Contemporary Photography in Kansas City serving as their Exhibit Director Chair. After going on to practice photography for some time, Patty joined the Board of Symphony in the Flint Hills, serving during their second year until their tenth year of existence. Patty later found the Nature Conservancy, and further onto the Volland Store.
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ABBEY BLAKE Print Making Artist
Title
Art Student
Occupation Graduate Art Student
Other Accomplishments Has attended multiple artists residencies
Interviewers Nicole Bauknight Angel Llanes Amber Summers
Summary Abbey is a young developing artist who’s media focus is the abstraction of environments through printmaking, and robotics. She is currently finishing her collegiate education, which brought her to the Tallgrass residency program, located in Matfield Green. She seeks residencies that take place during her school breaks and do not disrupt her responsibilities in her home setting. She explained that the location of the residencies in which she has attended is important to her which, in many cases, she draws inspiration from unique natural settings to provide ideas for her future pieces. She has completed two residencies in her short career, one in the Flint Hills of Kansas and one in a mountainous region of Chile. She spoke about both of these experiences with the same level of appreciation and merit. From her point of view, residencies that are unique and provide a once in a lifetime experience spark curiosity and encourage exploration for her work. Her fascination with nature and the outdoors has established her creative work in the natural environment and allow her to experience new regions and social interactions. Tallgrass provided a special experience because it was her first time visiting the rolling prairie landscape of Kansas, which in turn influenced the artwork she created during and after the residency program. At the current stage in her career, the time spent at Tallgrass was the proper amount for her, because it allow inspiration and thought provoking experiences, influence the creation of works after the residency period. Another major positive experience for her was the isolation and independence that the residency program gave her. She wished that the program would have focused more on community outreach; however, she enjoyed coming back months later to showcase her work at The Bank Art Space.
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RESEARCH
HESSE MCGRAW Artist Curator Principal at Eldo
Title Partner at el dorado inc
Occupation Curator
Other Accomplishments Chief Curator Bemis Center in Omaha, NE Founding director and curator of Paragraph KCMO
Interviewers Jonathan Eden Angel Llanes
Summary Hesse, a renowned artist, curator, and critic, is currently a partner at el dorado inc in Kansas City, Missouri. He has worked closely with many upcoming and accomplished artists, such as Michael Jones McKean. From 2008 to 2013 McGraw served as chief curator at the Bemis Center for Contemporary Arts in Omaha, Nebraska, where he developed an exhibition program focused on site-specific, immersive, cross-disciplinary, and socially engaging projects. The exhibit has included major projects with artists such as Theaster Gates and Michael Jones McKean. He holds a Bachelor’s of Fine Arts from University of Kansas and a graduate degree from European Graduate School in Saas-Fee, Switzerland. Hesse serves as a consultant on artists and artist residency programs to Patty Reece and el dorado inc. His expertise with artist residencies makes him invaluable in the organization and programming of the potential Volland Institute residency program. Some insights provided by Hesse on residencies include: engagement of local artists, curator expectations, connection between artist and community, scale, and place making. The major attributes of the residency must include community events and engagement through food and social interaction via art talks, open studios, Pecha Kucha (brief 6 minute) presentations, and/or gallery events. To foster community engagement with the artist, many programs utilize food as a bridge for social interaction with the creators. He notes that the most successful programs provide stipends for their residents. These funds can be raised through a variety of sources including grants, application fees, and private donors. Many artists in resident experience the best production of work by being provided freedom without expectations and the ability to explore their creative potential through various mediums. He explains that the outreach to communities should be lightly structured to allow for impromptu interactions. In his vision for Volland, the environment needs to become a destination by creating density. He recommends between six and eight artists to be in residence at a time to create this atmosphere. Through phasing the program can eventually reach this scale of on-site residence. To create place, Volland requires amenities as it acquires residence over time. These amenities may be subject to the types of artists Volland attracts, regardless of their level of expertise. 1
“Hesse McGraw.” San Francisco Art Institute, SFAI, www.sfai.edu/bios/hesse-mcgraw.
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COREY SMITH Performance Art
Title Artist
Occupation Digital Marketing
Other Accomplishments Performance Exhibitions in Chicago
Interviewers Nicole Bauknight Angel Llanes Amber Summers
Summary Corey is a young artist, based in Chicago, who’s main media is interpretive, theatrical performances. Corey explained the challenge of transportation to the isolated residency, indicating that this is the main issue for many artists who may not have the funds to visit a residency such as Tallgrass. His art was inspired by the residency, itself, rather than the work produced during the residency. He found that the residency fits within a larger community outreach project that he has been working on for multiple years now. He expressed that his time at the residency was lonely but not debilitating, as it allowed him to experience the landscape surrounding Matfield Green. Though interaction with his surroundings was impactful, he was not able to interact with many residents of the Matfield Green community. An important characteristic of artwork for Corey is it’s relationship between art, culture, and the place where art is created. He also noted that the short time span of the Tallgrass residency provided good pressure to encourage the development of his work and allowed him to integrate it into his professional work schedule.
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LEVI ROB Artist & Architect
Title Independent Artist
Occupation Architectural Project Manager
Other Accomplishments Frenetic Pause Exhibition at The Volland Store Flint Hills Installation - Alma, KS
Interviewers Karl Ndieli, Tanner Lopez
Summary Levi Robb is an artist from Des Moines, Iowa, specializing in printmaking, sculpture and installation. Having spent a fair amount of time in Volland, Levi had a couple of things to say about creating in the Flint Hills. He was attracted to the small world feel of the Wabaunsee community because it reminded him of his small town origins in Iowa. In terms of maximizing the aesthetic of the surrounding landscape, Levi thinks that the buildings on the site already pay sufficient attention to the context of the environment. The way the structures complement the area in such a historically accurate aesthetic is valuable when it comes to comprehending the context and character of Volland. As a result of his site specific work, Levi is of the opinion that Volland could be a gold mine of subject matter for any artists interested in contextual work. Levi responds to the spatial conditions he comes across through observation and analysis. Context, people, and setting are of the utmost importance when he searches for residencies, along with the opportunity to interact with various artists of different mediums. Creating an avenue for optional seclusion while simultaneously fostering the opportunity for interaction is valuable to creating a strong residency experience. In terms of accommodation, the amount of comfort provided to an artist would directly depend on the length of the artist’s stay. However, no matter the length of the artists stay, accommodations (like natural lighting and sufficient space) should be made to ensure that the artist is able to fully express themselves. While preferences vary, most artists don’t seem to mind creating in their living spaces. Having a workshop in close proximity to one’s living space can help bolster productivity. Considering how remote Volland is, provisions need to be made to ensure the artist’s creative process is not hindered in any way. Streamlining the process by which an artist may be able to receive the materials needed for their work will be extremely beneficial to the work-flow of the entire residency. With the current gallery space in the store, it’s a little challenging to ensure that displayed works are appropriately lit. To combat this, augmented lighting in an entirely different space may be a solution. In conclusion the most important aspect of Volland is it’s context, the people, and how or where they live. The final aim of the created program should be to further foster that sense of community that is already so neatly stitched into the community.
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DEREK & KATHERINE HAMM
Title
Coordinator at Tall Grass Artist Residency
Other Accomplishments
Coordinator of Tallgrass Artist Residency
Occupation
Designer/Curator
Manager for the Bank Art Space
Interviewers
Nicole Bauknight Angel Llanes Amber Summers
Summary Derek and Katherine Hamm took over management of The Bank Art Space in 2016 and have been acting as coordinators and curators of the gallery. The Bank is an inviting place where locals, travelers, and visitors meet. They are accompanied by fresh coffee, internet access, and contemporary art on display. Derek and Katherine are both native Kansans, graphic designers, and enjoy living in the prairie. They love sharing the experience of the prairie with other artists through the Tallgrass Residency Program. Their involvement with the Tallgrass residency is an extensive management position where they provide residents with lodging information and coordination. They also organize artist events with the Tallgrass Prairie National Preserve, and provide general hospitality support for the artists. The programs lodging is channeled through local AirBnB and vacation rental housing by the allocation of funding from Tallgrass. This provides ample living space for the artists throughout the duration of the program. They also provide transportation, reimbursement costs and a stipend given to the artists. Derek and Katherine act as local guides for the residents during their stay, pointing them to inspiration and connecting them with local people that are beneficial to their works. They are an essential part to the day-to-day operations of the Tallgrass Artist Residency and look forward to their growing involvement within the program.
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KELLY YARBROUGHFRASIER
Tall Grass Artist Residency
Title
Tallgrass Artist Residency
Occupation Artist
Other Accomplishments
Founded the Tallgrass Artist Program in 2015
Interviewers
Nicole Bauknight Angel Llanes Amber Summers
Summary Kelly is an artist educator who founded the Tallgrass Artist Residency in Kansas. Her efforts on the residency program has brought a major grant from the Kansas Creative Arts Industry Commission to fund the Tallgrass program. She has a long history of creating art and working as an educator at Kansas State University where she also obtained her master’s degree in fine arts. She has held a variety of exhibitions throughout the Midwest and has proven her capabilities as a residency director with the increasing popularity of the Tallgrass program. As a native from Plano, Texas Kelly found herself in Manhattan, Kansas and was surprised of all the activity going on in the region. Her residency program transpired through the partnership with the small town of Matfield Green and the Tallgrass Prairie National Preserve. Tallgrass Artist Residency functions on an annual bases that brings around eight to ten resident artists in the Spring and into the Fall. The program starts around late March or early April and runs through September with closing events that hold group exhibitions and talks with the artists. Tallgrass brings artists that are currently living in a what is ecologically defined and considered a prairie. It ranges all across North America and even into Canada. Their first year as an artist residency, Tallgrass received roughly 30 applicants, which then jumped to 99 applicant in their second year. This past year the applicants came from a wide range across the US, with applicants from 16 different states and some from Canada. The Tallgrass Artist Residency program is a young but flourishing program that will continue to expand and become more successful through the coming years.
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LAURA BERMAN Prairie Side Cottage
Title
Prairieside Cottage and Outpost
Occupation Artist
Other Accomplishments Kick started the Prairieside Program in 2014
Interviewers
Keegan Amos Dipen Patel
Summary Laura Berman, along with her husband, is the founder and director of the Prairieside Cottage and Outpost located in the Flint Hills of Kansas. She is a native of Barcelona, Spain, where she discovered her love for pattern, design, and bold colors. Her work primarily focuses on the relationships and combination of forms that relate back to her nomadic history of relocation and travel. Laura’s work has been featured in many books such as The Book of Probes by David Carson and Marshall McLuhan, Printmaking at the Edge by Richard Noyce, Contemporary American Printmakers by Roone, Standish, and A Survey of Contemporary Printmaking by Ehlers, Ehlbekc and Muise. Prairieside Cottage and Outpost started in 2014 operating as a two-tiered business, which allows artists to attend but also openly invites regular families to rent the space as well. During their first year in business there wasn’t any applications to attend, except for relying on word of mouth to bring in an artist residence. Networking was a big part of how their program functioned in its early stages. It wasn’t until after the first two years that Prairieside accepted applications for entire year periods. Prairieside Cottage is a very experimental artist residency and, at the time, they allowed artist to attend for free or at a reduced stay. The Prairieside Cottage and Outpost is a partner with other artist residencies under the larger group called the Tallgrass Artist Residency.
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SHREEPAD JOGLEKAR Photography Professor
Title Associate Professor of Photography
Occupation Photographer
Awarded Artist Residencies National Center for Contemporary Art, Kronstadt, St. Petersburg; Weir Farm National Historic Site, Branchville, CT; the Millay Colony for the Arts in Austerlitz, NY; A.I.R. Studio in Paducah, KY.
Interviewer
Summary
Aoran Zhang
Professor Joglekar is a lens based artist from Mumbai, India. Having spent extensive time at four artist residencies, he felt that a month is a relatively suitable amount of time for an artist residency. However, it may vary between disciplines. Most of the residencies that he attended encouraged interactions between artists of different mediums. During his four week stay in St. Petersburg, there was a flow of at least two different artists in and out of the studio during his stay to encourage collaboration across mediums. He finds that this type of program strengthened the artist residency as a tool for networking. In his experience, isolation provides a break from the day to day environment, and for an artist, this can be crucial to really understand what your work could become. He also noted that when you’re in the environment that you’re familiar with, you may be oblivious to the connections in between your ideas, which you begin to identify outside of your familiar environment. It gives you the opportunity to look at your work from a different perspective. Photographers are often attracted to places that can become a hub for traveling around. Joglekar stressed the fact that a place is always different before reading, watching, studying and after physically experiencing said environment. Part of the artist residency experience is immersing yourself in that new environment, becoming familiar with the local life and interacting with the people who live in that part of the world.
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Interstate 70
I-3
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Volland, K
In te rs t
at e3
5
I-135
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LOCATION
KS Volland, KS Major Hwy Network Minor Hwy Network
The Town of Volland is located between Alma and Alta Vista, about 20 minutes south of I-70. The original Volland Store was established as a place for commuters of the railway to stop for refreshments along their journey. Located in the rural Flint Hills of central Kansas it is among the few towns that embrace the tallgrass prairie. Volland Kansas is located just 10 miles from I-70 Hwy. I-70 Hwy is a major interstate that runs East to West across Kansas connecting the state to nearby Missouri and Colorado. It provides a fast route to major cities such as Kansas City with speed limits of 75 MPH. Other interstates include I-35 and I-135 that is 24 miles long that connects other highway junctions to cities such as Wichita, Emporia, Manhattan, Dodge City, Garden City, etc.
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SITE ANALYSIS
Volland, K 20 miles
40 miles
100 miles
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MAJOR TOWNS AND CITIES
KS TOPEKA, KS
EMPORIA, KS
127,000 POPULATION 45 MILES 50 MIN DRIVE 24,800 POPULATION 60 MILES 75 MIN DRIVE
WICHITA, KS
390,000 POPULATION 123 MILES 129 MIN DRIVE
KANSAS CITY, MO
480,000 POPULATION 110 MILES 107 MIN DRIVE
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SITE ANALYSIS
Manhattan
Junction City
Alma
Volland
Alta Vista
Council Grove
35 to 40 minute drive
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LOCAL TOWNS
MANHATTAN,KS
55,000 POPULATION 26.5 MILES 40 MIN DRIVE
JUNCTION CITY, KS
24,000 POPULATION 33.7 MILES 45 MIN DRIVE
ALMA, KS
792 POPULATION 10 MILES 15 MIN DRIVE
ALTA VISTA, KS
422 POPULATION 9 MILES 17 MIN DRIVE
COUNCIL GROVE, KS
2,000 POPULATION 25 MILES 35 MIN DRIVE
LAKE WABAUNSEE, KS
6,891 POPULATION 19 MILES 30 MIN DRIVE
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SITE ANALYSIS
DEMOGRAPHICS
KANSAS Median Age - 36 years Household income - $50,972 House Value - $129,700
Gender Demographics
Race Demographics
Females (50.6%) Males (49.4%)
Caucasian (83%) Hispanic (10%) African American (5%) Other (2%)
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ALTA VISTA
ALMA
Median Age - 40.4 years Household income - $42,484 House Value - $53,638
Median Age - 38.6 years Household income - $37,733 House Value - $88,689
Gender Demographics
Females 214 (49.1%) Males 222 (50.9%)
Race Demographics
Caucasian 418 (94.1%) Hispanic 19 (4.3%) Other 7 (1.6%)
Gender Demographics
Females 443 (54.4%) Males 370 (45.6%)
Race Demographics
Caucasian 783 (94.1%) Hispanic 31 (3.7%) Other 18 (2.1%)
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SITE ANALYSIS
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SITE CONTEXT
Volland Store Houses Additional Buildings Out Buildings Blacksmith Shop Potential Additions
Almost all of the houses are oriented towards Volland Road, with the Volland Store and its supporting buildings breaking that rule. They are facing the railroad tracks, in a way pointing towards Volland’s humble beginnings. Currently the most activated part of the property is the immediate area surrounding the Volland Store. When arriving and leaving, the parking area itself is an informal meeting place. After having arrived, visitors proceed to events and exhibits that normally take place in the store and occasionally in the blacksmith shop. Lawn chairs under an awning at the South entry of the store provides a seating area boasting a gracious view to the south and activating the lawn between the store and the surviving ruins of the old Kratzer House. VOLLAND, KS | A PLACE FOR ART
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SITE ANALYSIS
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ROAD NETWORK
Old K10 Road Volland Road Property Boundaries Existing Structures Railroad Track
The most common approach is from the north, turning from Old K-10 onto a gravel road, passing the houses to the west along Volland Road and turning into a gravel parking area on the north side of the Volland Store. Parking on the street is typically avoided to keep the road clear for farming vehicles or tractors to pass by. The houses are a short walk north of the car park. This approach does not allow visitors to experience the front facade of the Volland Store which was once the front of the town.
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SITE ANALYSIS
MATERIALITY
LIMESTONE Limestone is a key feature for the Flint Hills area and is present in Volland as an influence of context. Although limestone is abundantly used throughout the region its use in Volland is currently minimal. Usage includes non-structural elements such as the newly built flower bed and the existing retaining wall.
WOOD SIDING The wood siding found on all the support buildings is natural, exposed wood adding an additional layer of natural materiality to the overall character. Consideration should be given to the type of wood used for possible future material palettes. The wood siding found on the existing houses is painted white, making these structures cohesive elements of the same architectural vernacular.
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IRON The railroad, being an important feature of Volland, echoes the historical character to the site through it’s combination of wood and iron elements.
RED BRICK Found on the exterior facades of the Volland Store. The original brick is part of the existing historical character of the town. The store is the only red brick building in all of Wabaunsee County. This material should be respected in future material considerations since it is so special to the enduring Volland Store.
STEEL & GLASS The incorporation of steel and glass in the restoration of the Volland Store adheres to the historical character of the time period of Volland’s establishment while incorporating a modern aesthetic. Future material consideration could include continued use of these two materials.
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PROGRAMMING
OVERVIEW
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SWOT ANALYSIS
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RESIDENCY ELEMENTS
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NORTH HOUSE CONDITIONS
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THE BEGINNINGS
Our journey began with acquainting ourselves with Volland and researching our project topic: artist residencies. These initial steps were broad overviews of information on Volland as a town, culture, and place; as well as understanding what an artist residency program includes. This place making and precedent study was our first introduction into the project at hand and was our first attempt at gathering applicable information that would guide us down the right path to the final design proposal. As our research continued to mature and be refined, they led to more investigation into Volland’s culture, history, current state of affairs, community, site and existing structures. This research informed ideas on how an artist residency could work in the rural community of Volland. We began conducting indepth research into residencies from around the world, extracting traits that could be translated and applied to this specific site.
With the knowledge of Volland secured and a firm grasp on the variety of artist residencies that exist, we started to critically think about what aspects of artist residencies Volland required to be successful. The initial, preconceived program included housing and space for multiple artists, support spaces like studios and workshops, as well as communal spaces such as kitchen and library. Though this was not the finalized program, it helped us understand the possibilities of what Volland’s artist residency could become in future expanding phases.
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CONNECTING WITH VOLLAND
To confirm what programmatic elements were necessary to our specific design problem we visited a local artist residency and conducted interviews with artists, coordinators, art curators and members of the local community. Our goal was to understand, from their perspectives, which quality elements of an artist residency program could better inform and refine the program for Volland. These interviews gave insightful perspectives that allowed us to refine the needs and spaces of our program, ultimately leading to a more successful project. At this stage, an understanding began to form about how the program is influenced by the existing structures on site. Ideas were presented on how the program could be dispersed throughout the three houses on site working together as a campus. Production of schemes toggled back and forth between individual design concepts and group design
development. Working on both individual and collective levels we produced a broad range of ideas to be explored, as well as the grouping of similar ideas to make them stronger. In order to successfully implement designs in the houses, the documentation of each house in detail, recording dimensions, heights and topography specifics, better informed the design process. The culmination of research, design, and collaboration resulted in a Test Fit of the program which comprised of placing each design scheme into the houses and showing how the program would fill the gaps of Volland’s culture. These schemes showed how the program would function and impact the community.
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TUNING INTO VOLLAND
Tuning Devices were the first thinking tool used in our quest to understand Volland. The purpose of a tuning device is to get a better and deeper understanding of place that, in turn, leads to a design intervention meant to reflect the environment and amplify it. This activity began with our initial analytical research of Volland which informed us on how to create a design that develops the character of Volland while serving a necessary function. Individual proposals were produced with these objectives in mind. As the tuning devices were resolved into a final few categories, the proposals were planned and moved to an implementation stage. Of these, only two advanced on to further design development. The lighting study came to fruition and was presented to a group of Volland Board members and became a provocative success.
The remaining device, The Signal, required some more research on how it could be executed to its fullest potential. In maintaining the unique material palette of Volland, The Signal is imagined to be constructed out of bricks. The studio began stacking bricks in order to become familiar with the material. This practice revealed further understanding of how bricks function, their limitations, and their possibilities. Valuable lessons were gained through this exercise that informed the continued design of the signal. The realization of the signal has not yet become a reality, however it is still in design development, pending finalization and completion.
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DISCOVERY & CONCLUSIONS
After presenting to the Volland board, the master plan of the Volland Institute program was reduced from three house proposals, down to the northernmost structure. The refocusing of the project scope was reduced to the realistic time constraint of the Design + Make studio. Focusing solely on House One allowed the Design + Make Studio to create and accomplish a high quality project. This focused direction encouraged the measurement of the North House in explicit detail and the conducting selective demolition of certain components to determine the properties and structural integrity of the house. During the exploratory demolition, it was discovered that the house was most likely a 1930’s kit house. Markings found on the wood studs indicated that the house was purchased and brought to Volland via the railroad as per common practice of new homeowners of that time period.
With this new program, more research on precedents that combined living and studio spaces were required. Research was also conducted into precedents of tiny homes and how we could modify the program to only include the essentials of living space and creative space to fit within the house. The evolution of the program led to more group design which divided the studio into four groups. Through this process the studio rested upon four potential solutions to satisfy the program requirements, as well as a detailed list of spaces and amenities needed to satisfy an artist residency. This process then produced two themed categories; All-In-One vs Duplicate. These two categories directed the current four proposals. There are two proposals in each category.
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PROGRAMMING
Strengths - Isolation / silence - Middle of everywhere - Space to work with Landscape - Nearby towns - Existing structures - Train culture - No light pollution - Rich history - Wildlife / livestock - Natural ecosystem - Lack of cell service
Opportunities - Existing houses/ structures - Isolation - Renovation - Creation of new structures - Fill residency need - Farmers market - Nature/Landscape
Weaknesses - Off-site / dilapidated buildings - Difficult to reach - Lack of signage - No immediate amenities - Lack of cell service
Threats - Location - Pests - Funding - Natural disaster - Local community pushback - Dying rural communities - Residency competition - Chemical compounds from railroad
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SWOT ANALYSIS
As with any project, the characteristics of the site need to be assessed in order to reach a cohesive result. We conducted a SWOT analysis of Volland, identifying its strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats, to better understand how the elements could work with and against the project. This analysis formed an understanding of what Volland, as a site and community, has to offer. In analyzing the lists, the development of a program that enhances Volland’s strengths of isolation and landscape, addresses the weaknesses of accessibility and amenities, capitalizes on the opportunities of culture and existing structures, and responds to natural and communal threats. This insight provided us the ability to shape a program that incorporates the results of the SWOT analysis, a program that fosters artist creativity and community engagement.
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RESIDENCY ELEMENTS
There are many elements that can be incorporated into an artist residency program. For the Volland Artist Residency Program, certain features took hierarchical precedent over others and the program is condensed to provide only the necessary elements to thrive and create. The most important spatial feature is a sizable, flexible studio with wall space, storage compartments and a cleaning sink, with room for a table and chair. This singular studio space comprises the necessary spaces for working conditions while all other support spaces fall under necessary living conditions. These are the basic elements one needs for a short stay: a bed, small bathroom and kitchenette with minor support storage space.
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NORTH HOUSE CONDITIONS
House one sits on a slightly sloped plot of land, with the front facade facing Volland Rd. At only approximately 600 square feet, the single story house currently has two bedrooms, a living room, kitchen, one bathroom, an open front porch and an enclosed back porch. The 1930s kit house is set on a shallow stone and concrete foundation, with structural exterior walls and a gable pitched roof with a small attic. The exterior facade is painted wood siding with double hung windows on all four sides and thin asphalt shingles.
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ENGAGEMENTS
OVERVIEW
131
LIGHTING STUDIES
133
BRICK STUDIES
141
COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT
155
NORTH HOUSE FINDINGS
159
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ENGAGEMENTS
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ENGAGEMENTS
Engagement is a key aspect to the development and the learning of the site, community and overall project. Without the engagement aspect of a project it would be difficult to begin to grasp the nature of the surroundings and the effects the project will have on a community. Throughout the semester the studio was tasked with a multitude of problems concerning what Volland is as a place and what best represents Volland as a town. To begin the engagement process we started to create “tuning devices� that reflect the existence and characteristics of Volland. We then began to further our understanding of Volland as a town by interviewing multiple residencies from nearby communities as well as Patty Reece, who is the key stakeholder in the future development of Volland.
As we began to better understand Volland as a place we eventually pin-pointed an existing structure on site that eventually lead to our Design Make project. By deconstructing the house it allowed us to learn how the structure was built and how it functions in its original form. It also helped us to realize the future potential of what not only the house can become, but Volland as well.
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SITE ENGAGEMENT Lighting Studies A way the studio began understanding Volland was by conducting a lighting study. As it sits today, Volland houses multiple intriguing elements that can be emphasized. This is due in part by the low light pollution that not only Volland posses but most of Wabaunsee County because of its seclusion from larger metropolitan areas. The town of Volland already holds successful stargazing events because of the extreme seclusion from surrounding towns. This sets the stage to create a lighting study to highlight key locations and characteristics of Volland as a town. The overall objective of this tuning device was to utilize light to help artists and locals to view Volland in a controlled environment. The process of the lighting study was documented throughout the entire progression, this is to further inspire future artists to see what Volland has to offer.
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ENGAGEMENTS
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ENGAGEMENTS
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ENGAGEMENTS
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SITE ENGAGEMENT Brick Studies If Volland is known for anything, it is known for the Volland Store. The primary material used in the Volland Store is red brick. Throughout the course of the semester the studio has been exploring the process of brick stacking. The intention of this investigation was to further our understanding of how a material works, in this instance, bricks. Each individual study of brick stacking allowed us to push the limits of how a common brick can be manipulated in the normative stacking method. This allowed us to grasp a fuller understanding of a very essential part of Volland and itself as a place.
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ENGAGEMENTS
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ENGAGEMENTS
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ENGAGEMENTS
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ENGAGEMENTS
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ENGAGEMENTS
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ENGAGEMENTS
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COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENTS
To help the Design Make studio better understand the surrounding community, we had the opportunity to interview residencies from Alma Kansas. Along with the residence interviews we also interviewed Patty Reece, who is the sole reason why this project and Volland exists. We also had the pleasure of having dinner with the Volland board, gracefully hosted by Patty and Jerry Reece at their home to allow us to get to better know the people who commit a piece of their lives to Volland and its future. The closest town to Volland is a small commuter town named Alma, Kansas. The town is a short 10 minute drive on Hwy K10 and a recent census put the population of Alma at 851 residents with a total of 7051 residents in Wabaunsee County as a whole. The county mainly consists of older individuals and couples. Recently however, there has been an influx of
recent graduates, young parents and recently married couples. After the interviews were conducted in Alma a large majority felt that the community would benefit from more community held events, recreational activities, a sit-down restaurant and a place to stay overnight.
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ENGAGEMENTS
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CONVERSATIONS Volland Board Chili Dinner Members of the Design Make studio spent an beneficial evening with the Volland board enjoying conversation and a chili dinner hosted by Patty and Jerry Reece. The night began with members gathered around a Ramford fireplace sharing jokes, experiences, and stories. It then proceeded into the comfort of Patty and Jerry’s beautiful home that is tucked away in the Flint Hills of Kansas. Inside and away from the strong Kansas winds, chili was awaiting to be served to the dinner goers. Overflowing with guests we gathered around tables set up throughout the dining and living room to enjoy more conversation over warm chili.
The night concluded with the Volland Board and the Design+Make Studio in Volland to partake in the light study set up by the Design+Make Studio. The purpose of the dinner was to create a dialogue with members of the Volland Board and allow to see Volland in a new way before a pivotal presentation the following morning.
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ENGAGEMENTS
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DEMOLITION
After pin-pointing the most northern structure on site as the catalyst for the Design Make project, the studio conducted a carefully methodized order of deconstruction. The purpose of the demolition was to allow the studio to better understand how the house was assembled. After conducting three demolition experiments throughout key areas of the house, the studio effectively learned how the house functions. Tearing back plaster and lathes on a portion of a wall uncovered that the house was constructed using 2x4 milled studs laid out on 16 inch centers. After tearing back a portion of the ceiling and upper wall revealed that the trusses were constructed out of 2x6 wood member laid out 2 inches on center. Lastly, we unveiled a portion of the wood floor to reveal the floor joists which were constructed out of 2x10 wood members also laid out on 16 inch centers. After these methodical
demos were completed we came to realize that the house was a Roebuck house, a popular style of construction for a lot of homestead houses such as the ones that exist in Volland. These types of houses would arrive on site via train car in a kit-of-parts and were then assembled by hired contractors or the owners. By furthering our knowledge of how this house functions the studio was able to move forward in a realistic manner for creating a new purpose for the house.
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ENGAGEMENTS
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ENGAGEMENTS
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ENGAGEMENTS
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ENGAGEMENTS
7.
167
PROPOSALS
OVERVIEW
169
COMPACT CREATIVITY
171
THE HOUSE OF BRICK
179
REFLECTING HISTORY
189
THE PLATFORM
201
CONCLUSIONS
211
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PROPOSALS
169
DESIGN PROPOSALS 4 SCHEMES The following design proposals
It was discovered during
presented are potential solutions based
preliminary demolition studies that the
on the evidence and research gathered
existing interior walls of the kit house
throughout the initial schematic phases
are deteriorated beyond reclamation.
of project development for House
All the proposals indicate a removal
One. The conclusive identities of each
and reclamation of materials from the
proposal are split into two general
spatial partition walls and from the
sections; All-in-One and Duplicate
70’s addition on the west side of the
(additive additional structure). The main
house. These proposals emphasize
process for all the proposals have been
the reintegration of newly designed
drawn out, evaluated, and consistently
spaces to accommodate the structured
re-evaluated to reach the current
program detailed in the previous
solutions.
section.
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PROPOSALS
Plan 0
2
4
171
COMPACT CREATIVITY
Type
The main goal of this proposal is to
and finally to the further secluded
integrate a compact living environment
environment of the western facing
within the original structure of the
outdoor living space. The formal
house while providing ample space for
organization and separation of spaces
a working studio. This provides all the
allows the living space to remain
necessities for living without any of
secluded as a private environment for
the distractions for working, allowing
the artist to inhabit while the studio
the artist to fully integrate themselves
space has the potential to engage the
in their work and the surrounding
public with the artist’s work.There is,
environment.
however, provided outdoor relaxation
The orientation indicates a formal
space where individuals can step away
procession of space from public to
from their work environment and settle
All in One Structure
private. From the entrance, in the
themselves within the landscape.
Team
eastern side of the house, guests
Nicole Bauknight Angel Llanes Kaydee Seamatter
proceed through the public studio space into the more private living space,
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PROPOSALS
Sections 0
2
4
173
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PROPOSALS
Process
Process
Process
Process
Existing Exterior Exterior Living interior Space space living walls
Existing CompactExisting Interior interior Walls service core walls
1
3
Process
2 Design + Make Studio 2017
5
Design + Make Studio 2017
Compact Existing Service Exterior Exterior Compact interior Core service core living space living walls space
Compact Exterior Compact service core service core living space
Exterior living space
4 Design + Make Studio 2017
Design + Make Studio 2017
Existing interior walls
6 Design + Make Studio 2017
Process diagrams
175
Spatial Layout
Diagramming the process
Spatial Layout
patial Layout Exterior Living
Interior Service Living Core
Private Spatial organization Private
The placement of the compact service bar provides a natural and functional separation of the working and living spaces with it’s offset position creating a larger studio space and slightly smaller living space. The studio is prioritized in spatial volume to accommodate a variety of mediums and working space configurations for the artist during their residency. With all possible functions for Private met between the creation of art being the services provided within the bar: sink, wall space and storage, and the rest of the studio being left open for artistic creativity. The highly efficient approach of the compact service bar provides the Design + Make Studio 2017 necessary spatial elements for living but does not necessarily encourage a large amount of casual lounging space for
Studio
Public
residents to focus on their work. The major service living functions settle themselves within the service bar offset of center in the house. The design incorporates what are considered minimum necessities for living such as: bed, bathroom, shower, and kitchenette containing a small stovetop, refrigerator and sink. These elements make up the entirety of the living accommodations for individuals Public staying for up to 10-14 days.
Spatial Layout
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PROPOSALS
1’ 1” 1’ 1”
2’ 0”
9’ 0”
5’ 6”
1’ 6”
4’ 0” 3’ 1/2”
5’0” 3’ 0” 0’4”
Core
2’11”
11’ 8 1/2”
2’11” 0’4” 3’ 8 ”
5’5” 1’11”
0’2” 3’ 1/2”
3’1/2”
Led lighting Led lighting Translucent paneling
Design + Make Studio 2017
Translucent paneling
Storage space
Flush sliding door
Queen bed
Studio wall space
Toilet Shower
Compact kitchenette
Studio support storage
Flush sliding door
Core Sections
Details
177 5/8” gyp. board 4x12 wood beam roof tiles 5/8” roof sheathing vapor barrier 2x8 wood rafters 2x4 wood blocking cement board siding air barrier 1” rigid insulation cavity insulation 5/8” gyp. board 2x4 wood blocking stainless steel flashing polished floor slab
Details
concrete foundation wall
5/8” gyp. board 4x12 wood beam roof tiles 5/8” roof sheathing vapor barrier 2x8 wood rafters 2x4 wood blocking
Sections 0
2
4
6
12
cement board siding
Wall Section
air barrier 1” rigid insulation
concrete footing
cavity insulation 5/8” gyp. board 2x4 wood blocking stainless steel flashing polished floor slab
Design + Make Studio 2017
concrete foundation wall
concrete footing
Sections 0
2
4
6
12
Design + Make Studio 2017
0
2
4
6
12
Cross Section VOLLAND, KS | A PLACE FOR ART Design + Make Studio 2017
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PROPOSALS
179
THE HOUSE OF BRICK
The first inclination for the re-envisioning
with two things in mind: prioritizing the
of the north house was to remove the
spatial quality and functional needs of
addition on the west side and return the
the artist and preservation of the original
house to its original historical integrity.
house.
With this first step towards preserving
the original aesthetic of the house, this
extension of the Volland Store program;
proposal seeks to continue refining the
therefore, the material choice of brick
house in ways that celebrate and highlight
for the new partition wall strengthens
its existing character and features, as well
the connection. Brick is an existing
as that of Volland’s.
anchoring symbol of Volland. Used in
The re-purposing of the existing
the design, it functions as a division
Type
house to accommodate an artist in
between the studio and living space and
All in One Structure
resident will require a shift in the provided
encases private spaces between the two
amenities
more public sides of the house.
Team Austin Ungerbuehler Evelyne Chokkattu Karl Ndieli Jonathan Eden
within
the
structure.
All
The residency will become an
changes to the house, that are made to accommodate artists’ needs, are designed
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PROPOSALS
1. SEPARATE LIVING & STUDIO The feedback from multiple artist determined that there needs to be a clear division of space in the house, in order to provide a separation between clean and dirty.
2. MAXIMIZING THE STUDIO Due to the nature of the program, the studio space is hierarchically more important and the space distribution reflects this. A living space designed as efficiently and compact as possible will allow for this.
3. PRESERVING CHARACTER In order to maximize on the efficiency of the footprint, the porch becomes an enclosed part of the living area.
Floor Plan Process diagrams
181
The Bricks
The studio began stacking bricks in order to become familiar with the material. This practice revealed further understanding of how bricks function, their limitations, and their possibilities. Valuable lessons were gained through this exercise that informed the continued design of the signal. The information gained through many iterations of brick stacking methods could be implemented in the brick wall, the major move of the proposal. Perforated brick stacking, for example could create a much more interesting back drop for the studio and even be used to bring in more ambient light from the living side of the house. The brick wall is a nod to the heart of Volland which is, of course, the Volland Store.
Interior Rendering VOLLAND, KS | A PLACE FOR ART
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PROPOSALS
Section A
Sections B & C
Sections D & E
183
Sections The brick wall not only separates the living and studio spaces, but it also separates the public and the private creating a “privacy bar;� this bar extends across the house which includes the bed room and the bathroom. The old facade will be untouched and the windows will be bricked-in. Again, the bricked-in windows will implement various brick stacking methods, possibly even glass brick blocks. In order to provide more space for the living portions and, as a result, the studio portion of the house, the porch was enclosed and the kitchen and dining/living program was placed within this space. In addition, the back wall of the studio space was opened up to allow for the transportation of larger materials with a large sliding door created by the existing west facade.
Reference Floor Plan VOLLAND, KS | A PLACE FOR ART
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PROPOSALS
Living Space
Bed Platform
185
Front Facade Glazing
The Sliding Wall VOLLAND, KS | A PLACE FOR ART
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PROPOSALS
187
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PROPOSALS
Site Plan
189
REFLECTING HISTORY
This proposal attempts to satisfy
interesting dynamic between the two
programmatic needs through an
buildings, clearly separating the historic
additional, separate structure to the
from the new. The spacing between the
west. This additional space allows the
structures creates a datum, all matching
existing structure to contain all of the
the footprint of the existing house.
living program, while giving ample space for studio structure in the new addition. The studio space is designed to cater to any artist needs, providing wall space, work space, and storage. This separation results in a more generous living
Type 2 separate structures
Team Amber Summers Keegan Amos Lucas Downes
space, allowing more comfort for any guest occupying it. The aesthetic of the addition is meant to complement the existing house in form, and contrast it in color. This delineation allows for a more
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PROPOSALS
DIAGRAMMING THE PROCESS
1. REFINING THE FORM With the removal of the western addition, the house is brought back to its original proportion and geometry. The existing interior walls cause the house to feel confined. By removing both walls and the ceiling, it creates an expansive experience.
2. MIRRORING In order to achieve the desired living and working conditions, the usable space must be expanded. By mirroring the house, the new structure will utilize the same proportioning and space as the existing house.
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3. CREATING A DATUM
5. ESSENTIAL CORES
The new structure will be placed 24 feet away from
In both forms there are essential elements
the existing house on the site. This spacing between
to the success of the building as a whole.
structures creates three spaces of the original building
These necessary elements will be placed in
proportion in a row.
a concentrated space that will open up the remaining areas within the structures, as well as define the used spaces that surround them
6. CORE ADJUSTMENTS 4. FACADE REFINEMENT
These essential cores will be adjusted to meet
The original house will maintain its historical
the unique requirements of their spaces. The
integrity. While the new structure will receive
living core will be shifted north to allow for
a new facade in respect to it’s interior space.
a more open space. While the core in the studio will be divided in two and spaced out to provide the most usable area for creation. VOLLAND, KS | A PLACE FOR ART
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PROPOSALS
7. REFORMING THE ROOF
9. CONTRAST THROUGH MATERIALITY
The roofline of the new structure will follow the same height
The materiality of the new structure will be directly
and form of the existing structure. However, the studio will
contrasted to the existing structure. The house utilizes the
become more simplified by removing the eaves and creating
white, horizontal linear elements as enclosure, while the
a seamless connection between the roof and the walls.
new studio will use similar horizontal elements, but it a darker material, in order to show a distinction between new and old.
8. DAYLIGHTING THE STUDIO
10. GATHERING SPACE
The studio requires even daylight within the space. There
With the space between the two structures there is an
will be clerestories on the north and south facades to bring
opportunity to incorporate a new programmatic element.
in natural lighting. These openings wrap the edge of the
There will be an exterior hearth that will serve as a
roof and transition into partial skylights for optimal lighting
gathering space and will encourage interaction with
for the artists.
nature and other artists and visitors.
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VOLLAND, KS | A PLACE FOR ART
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PROPOSALS
South Elevation
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Longitudinal Section VOLLAND, KS | A PLACE FOR ART
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PROPOSALS
WALL ASSEMBLY
Interior core wall assembly - existing structure
Exterior wall assembly - new structure Double-pane glazing 2x4 rotated, 16” o.c wood stud framing
Steel mullions Wood blocking
Gypsum board Plumbing Wood finish
Flashing Wood slats Vapor barrier OSB Plywood
Vanity surface Sink storage
2X6, 16” o.C. wood stud framing Gypsum board Concrete slab
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Having a large workspace is a key requirement of multiple artists. Whether their specialty’s be in sculptural art or in more literary arts, a large flat work area is beneficial. This surface can be utilized by multiple medium specialties.
A large amount of pin-up wall space is a requirement for visual artists. The work desk will fold up into the wall to maximize on linear wall space. Being able to put up work and step back to view its entirety is a vital aspect of their process.
Performance artists have their own set of requirements in a studio space. Certain cabinet doors will rotate 180 degrees to provide a mirror to artists who cannot view their own work without a reflective surface. VOLLAND, KS | A PLACE FOR ART
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PROPOSALS
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VOLLAND, KS | A PLACE FOR ART
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PROPOSALS
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THE PLATFORM
In the early 20th century, Volland was
one of the important train stop in Kansas,
team decided to keep the exterior of the
which provides necessities to passing
historical house and turn the interior
trains. The existing was built back then
into a generous studio space. Inmates
for a family who lived upon train.
and utilities are placed inside the new
structure which connected with the old
Nowadays, with the development
Therefore, for this proposal, our
house by a concrete platform.
of technology, Volland no longer serve as a train stop, and the family sold their house to the Volland Store. When we first went to visit the site, we were inspired
Type
by the beauty of the historical house and
2 Separate Structures
the unique experience of seeing a train
Team
passes by.
Aoran Zhang Dipen Patal Tanner Lopezr
VOLLAND, KS | A PLACE FOR ART
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PROPOSALS
1. Original footprint
5. Remove all the interior walls to create a open studio
2. Lift up the house
6. Mirror the footprint of the house
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3. Add new concrete-steel platform, then put the house back
4. Highlighted are the existing interior walls
7. Gable roof provides a more uniform space in the living structure
8. Open up the living structure to bring in the natural light and view VOLLAND, KS | A PLACE FOR ART
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PROPOSALS
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THE INTENT
Kitchen
Mechanical Bathroom
Studio Bedroom Dining
Entry Living
Located in the Flint Hill of Kansas, the
houses. By renovating the old house into
sloped site offers views of the capacious
a studio, artists can enjoy their private
prairie. The footprint of the existing
working time there. Living, dining,
house is a 24x24 feet square with a 6 feet
bedroom and utilities are located in the
wide porch on its east side. As an artist
new house with a open view on the west
residency / Airbnb. The design intention
side to enjoy the prairie sunset.
of our team is to create a comfortable and
spacious living and working space that
studio allows the stakeholder to rent
serves multiple functions. It is spacious
the apartment out individually, or can
enough for an Airbnb and provides all the
provide artists a different environment
amenities that are needed for an artist
to live in.
The separation of living and
residency.
The Houses on the Platform is
essentially two separate free standing parts linked together by a common steelconcrete foundation. This platform offers a outdoor living space between the two VOLLAND, KS | A PLACE FOR ART
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PROPOSALS
0 1
5
10
20
N
Floor Plan 1/4" = 1'-0" 0 1
5
10
First Floor Plan20
N
1/4" = 1'-0"
First Floor Plan
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VOLLAND, KS | A PLACE FOR ART
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PROPOSALS
View West from the kitchen
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View West from the bedroom
View West from the Studio VOLLAND, KS | A PLACE FOR ART
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PROPOSALS
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RECAP
The 2017-2018 Design Make studio
The value of teamwork is yet
project has transformed the way each
another valuable lesson this studio has
studio member thinks about design,
afforded us. Contrary to the format of
community, and the impact of art. We
past studios, this project can only be
have learned the importance of research
accomplished through an integration
into the history, site, and community;
of collective thought and effort. Only
and how greatly it can affect a design’s
through this harmony can this project
outcome. Even the characteristics we
be accomplished.
study have expanded beyond our usual
research including the study of materials
appreciate Volland, and the incredible
by brick stacking.
things it has to offer. Truthfully, many
The way in which we communicate
of us were hesitant when we first arrived
has evolved as well, adjusting to the needs
on site, but over the months Volland has
of a certain goal or audience. Whether it is
been a teacher itself. It has educated
a formal presentation or a small meeting
us on its rich history, its surprisingly
with the Volland board, we have learned
flourishing
to tailor to any occasion. This project
and its potential to impact countless
has taught us how to communicate as a
lives.
Most of all, we have learned to
surrounding
community,
single professional entity, utilizing logos, letterheads, and social media. VOLLAND, KS | A PLACE FOR ART
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PROPOSALS
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LOOKING AHEAD
In the coming semester, and quite
more to come. We hope that Volland will
possibly the summer following, our studio
continue to grow, and become known
plans to assimilate all the work we have
for what it truly is - a place for art and
done over the entire scholastic year. All
community.
of the research, engagement, and design will lead to one final product. Having presented our proposals for the house and what it could be, one design will be chosen, and the assembly of construction documents will begin.
The Spring semester will be a
busy and exciting few months as we realize the architectural idea into which we have put so much of our heart. While our role in Volland will be finished upon the completion of the house, we hope that this residency will be only one of many
VOLLAND, KS | A PLACE FOR ART