design portfolio
emily milliman
emily milliman
space design
design portfolio
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villa in a box
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educology [collaborative project]
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clifton library
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urban design proposal for florence
analysis 20
le corcusier
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film and architecture
24
cardwall
mixed media 26
figure, form and order: charcoal and watercolor
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site interpretations from european travels
villa in a box landscapes studio (academic) Fall 2008
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uided by principles of a villa ideology, developed through a series of historical case studies, the design concept for this outdoor retreat space seeks to elevate the human sensual experience through enriched textures and natural beauty. Issues of human scale, interior-exterior edge conditions, and materiality were explored. The design of a small villa retreat and garden on the west coast of Oregon began with an examination of a variety of landscape issues, an investigation of garden and architectural materials, and the exploration of invisible spatial boundaries. In the site analysis phase of the project, an awareness of the richness of the natural Oregon landscape and staccato characteristic of the water line was born. The process combined research, creative thinking and choreography of materials and volumes. The landscape of Oregon inspired a texture watercolor study and the process proceeded as spaces began to take form through a series of study modelsThe oscillation between 2D and 3D media was crucial to the The design of the all-weather pavilion and garden includes a small covered reflection space and a mix of garden spaces, including a wildflower bed with interactive platforms, a reflection pool, vegetable garden, lap pool and outdoor sitting areas.
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educology
Hybrid Media Studio (academic) Spring 2009
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xplorations in sustainability and consideration of current site program with imagination of future use and the lifecycle of a school were the focus this collaborative project for an ACSA student design competition. The site chosen by the design team was Tyson’s Corner, VA, a suburb situated about forty minutes from Washington D.C., with an increasing population and need for new infrastructure. Working in a fluid medium of collage and sketching and bringing spaces to life through digital hybridization with those media enabled the team of three students to collaborate successfully and consider a range of issues, from human usage, population statistics, site characteristics, and environmental factors conducive to learning. Throughout our process, we incorporated a projected timeline 100years into the future and integrated the potential for adaptation into the original design with consideration of the city’s plans for future development. The final proposal not only considers the educational experience of the children attending the school, but the school’s usage and function on a 24-hr, 7-day, 12-month, 1 year, and 100 year cycle.
Built into the design of the school is an ability to adapt and act as infrastructure, connecting local neighborhoods as well as the city of Tyson’s Corner to the nearest Metropolitan area, Washington, D.C. Throughout the collaboration, I worked closely with my peers to develop a site response and we engaged intensely in a dialogue about the formal architectural response that we created as well as the relationship between the school and its respective site. The lifecycle collage was a process sketch that I generated on my own. I was also personally responsible for the site analysis diagrams (excluding the bike path/ transportation diagram); the perspectives on pages 12 & 15; I was also deeply engaged in the development of the plan of the school and developed the concept for the tree-like columns. Our collaborative process was highly fluid and we all contributed design input at the least to every element of the project.
life
of a school
families commute to work and school cleaning staff begins work homeroom wake up sun rises school starts children gather class on playground a class early drop off hours library opens
class
pl yground time
6am 7am 5am exercise classes
8am
9am
class
class
families eat dinner bedtime for kids class class children do homework [with parents help] afterschool care starts lights stay on to illuminate surrounding area a library closes sports teams practice young adults activities parent pic kids up 11pm 1pm 4pm 3pm 7pm 9pm 5pm 6pm 10pm 8pm 2pm
class
class
lunchtime playground time
11am
10am
noon
pl yground time
sports games
meetings once a week at night monday 1
12
2
3
4
wednesday
tuesday 5
6
7
8
9
10
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12
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thursday 16
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18
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saturday
friday 21
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midnight
1am-5am
families take part in recreational activities religious services/ sunday school parents and children attend enrichment classes
community activities 25
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recreation, entertainment, education enrichment
sunday 28
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SUMMER
school ends, summer begins winter break
winter break holiday performances january
life of a person
february
april
march
baby toddler
program possibilities library
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elderly citizens meet for classes class
may
june
july
august
kids(grades 1-5) middleschool age
bike arena
school
theater
gym
september
october
teenager
november
december
young adults
adults/parents
retirement community restaurant/cafeteria park/gardens
early retirement citizens
hospital
existing condition
existing condition
2020
2060
2020
2060
2100
2100
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12
2020
2060
2080
library gymnasium art, music,science and media classrooms classrooms cafeteria and kitchen courtyards/garden administrative offices
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3:55 p.m. 12:05pm class
class class
7:35 a.m.
theater
reading
p layg ro und time science
math
class social studies
class
homeroom
6am
7am
8am
library opens children gather exercise classes on playground kids wake up
sun rises
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9am
class afternoon class rotation
10am class class
music class
class
class
11amclass
p layg ro und time
spelling
noon lunchtime
class
1pm
2pm
class
class
early drop off hours children do homework [with parents help]
parents pick k
kids up
interior courtyards serve as outdoor classrooms
function, movement, and natural systems
students teachers
sports teams practice
community enjoys green space
parents
early-late evening: continuing education classes for parents lights stay on to illuminate surrounding area
3pm
4pm 5pm afterschool care starts
6pm families eat dinner
7pm basketball games
8pm
9pm bedtime for kids
cafe and library open to public
10pm
11pm
midnight
young adults activities library closes
volleyball games sprinklers water garden
elderly citizens meet for classes
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film and architecture
Graduate Level 582 Studio (academic) Fall 2007
A
frame in a film is like a step in the procession about and through a building. The exploration of the analogous relationship between film and architecture provided new perspective into the design process. The film La Diabolique was chosen because of its similarity to Alfred Hitchcocks works, which have a reputable and evident complexity to them. The character relationships in La Diabolique are particular dynamic and the plot is essentially suspenseful. The first step in my process was an abstract analytical drawing that provided a geometric representation of several elements of the film. The drawing was produced using symbols and families of representation to portray the relationship between characters across frames, and hierarchy of power/ influence in the outcome of the film. The relationships and observations that were made evident through an in-depth analysis and geometric representation were then used as a framework for considering the multiple program components of an educational theater and the spatial relationships between them. The translation of cinematography techniques and the components of a film into a framework for designing an educational theater provided insight into the design process and allowed me to develop analytical reasoning skills to asses spatial relationships.
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This analysis of Le Corbusier’s Villa Sarabhai engaged professional photographs with an architectural analysis. The visibility was first tracked on the actual photos and then the projected boundaries of the photos became the defining edge of the model below. The model is a construction of the space in the photographs.
sculpting perspective
Sculpting Perspective
Graduate Level 582 Studio (academic) Fall 2007
T he analysis of another architect’s work
can provide insight into one’s own design and transform one’s vision in the design process. In this sequential analysis of Le Corbusier’s Villa Sarabhai, the space was analyzed on multiple levels, both 2-dimensionally and 3-dimensionally. The plans, sections, elevations, and isometric drawings provided an introductory understanding of the villa. The watercolor plan to the left was an expression of interior light, solidvoid relationships, and the spatial organization of the house. Subsequent investigations engaged professional photos of the interior spaces of the villa, and a 3-dimensional translation of those spaces portrayed in the photos was constructed. The model of the villa revealed not only the relationship between the photographs and the villa itself, but also details of scale and proportion.
clifton library Sophomore Design studio Spring 2007
A
library plays an important role in a community as it serves as a place for humans to connect with knowledge and for minds to come together through intellectual and social endeavors. The design of a small local library for the residents of Clifton, Ohio provided for the illumination of the surrounding area, the enhancement of the corner to encourage social encounters, and the creation of curious staccato lighting to transform otherwise generic spaces and provide unique and warm reading and working places. The high level of diversity and eclectic flavor of the town was inspirational in development of the building’s texture. The prominent position on the corner was an invitation for the building to act as a transitioning place or connection between the adjacent neighborhood and the main avenue of shops, retail and restaurants. The curved spine of the building resulted from the recognition of the building as a connective tissue between the avenue and the neighborhood. The library includes a hidden interior light steel frame structure, which supports a lighter exterior shell made of smaller panels that has the ability to open and close in order to adjust to the interior and exterior lighting. At night, the library illuminates the surrounding area, improves the safety of the Clifton residents, and provides an icon for the town to take pride in and connect with.
office
children’s reading area
ad ing
area
mechanical space
ad ult /tee
n re
office
office
children’s stacks
adult/teen stacks
community space/ art gallery
fiction/non-fiction
adult/teen stacks
adult/teen reading area
adult/teen reading area
multipurpose room
shipping/recieving reading space
level 0
level 1
level 2
level 3
level 4
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card wall: a techtonic study Graduate Level 582 Studio (academic) Fall 2007
T hrough a multiple-stage project, the struc-
tural properties of paper were explored and the translation of formal geometries across several mediums was conducted. The initial phase was a series of individual card folds. The most dynamic condition was replicated multiple times and a few new elements were added. The compilation resulted in this wall of cards that was constructed to support itself and stand independently. After constructing the wall, a light study was completed and a material investigation was performed. In considering the wall at a larger scale, I imagined it would be constructed from copper and through the two drawings on the right illustrated the effect of weather and time on the structure. The project crossed mediums yet again and the essence of the card wall was translated into a basswood model to convey the inhabitable interior potentialities. The layers of geometry that combine to create the complexity within the wall became evident in this final phase.
mixed media studies Florence Progam and Sophomore Graphics (academic/personal) Fall 2006 & Spring 2008
V isualization,
interpretion, understanding and creative invention, skills critical to an architect’s success are facilitated by the act of drawing. Throughout my undergraduate experience, drawing has allowed me to understand the surrounding environment and analyze space, light, form, and geometry. The drawing on the left of this page is a portrait of a bust that was created during my time in Florence, Italy. Situated next to it is a formal ionic column watercolor study that was created during the last part of my sophomore year as part of the development of graphic communication skills. The following page contains exerpts from my travel sketchbook that accompanied me in my adventures while studying abroad. Drawing, sketching and painting- facilitated the understanding of new spaces and the understanding these new places has etched in my mind the memory of their essence; which in turn allows me to see the spaces I returned to in a new light.
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f2: urban mixed-use proposal Architecture and Urban Design Studio (Florence, IT) (academic) Spring 2008
A
rchitecture should not only be great independently, but it should contribute to and enhance the spaces around it and communicate successfully with its urban context. Faced with the challenge of preserving the historic character of the city while feeding a natural demand for modernization, I developed an abstract representation of the historic palazzo and considered the process by which that model would be transformed into its inverse. That inverse model of negative space shaping solid masses became the central concept in the design of a large site about the length of five football fields. The spatial conditions and patterns experienced in my daily routine while living in the city of Florence became so familiar that they naturally became an essential part of my design palette. Oscillating between multiple scales was exciting and challenging. Drawing in perspective became crucial to the translation of my spatial experience into a formal language in the design proposal. The program calls for a large moden art museum and hotel, offices, residence halls for the nearby university, retail space, several green spaces, and a double story piazza. The proposal ties the historic model of design together with modern materials and ideas.
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theater/performing arts center
hotel and conference center weekly produce market space apartments atrium adjacent to residences by station commercial near station contemporary art museum
multi-use space:commercial+offices student housing main restaurants/cafes corner grocery market
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EW Se
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2
1
ce
theater/performing arts center
hotel and conference center weekly produce market space apartments theater/performatrium adjacent to ing arts center residences by hotel station and conference center
ion
weekly produce commercial near station market space
ation
apartments contemporary art atrium adjacent museum
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contemporary art museum
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multi-use commercial near station space:commercial+offices student housing multi-use
ffices
space:commercial+offices student housing
main restaurants/cafes
main restaurants/cafes
corner grocerycorner market market
afes
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1
to residences by station
grocery
NS Sections
NS Sections
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e.milliman
B.A. in Architecture Miami University emily.milliman@gmail.com 314-229-2408