Erik B. Stratmeyer M Arch I Candidate Harvard University, GSD Fall 2013
This portfolio contains the design work of Erik B. Stratmeyer
Projects: Kinetic Wind Sculpture
Parasitic Urban Machine
FourFold Chapel
3-D Dress Pattern
Old Glory
San Francisco “Information Traffic”
Found Object: Bicycle Bell
Internship: Anderson Anderson Architecture
Kinetic Wind Sculpture
Armature & Pendulum Sails Prototype # 1
Armature & Pendulum Sails Prototype # 2
Armature & Pendulum Sails Prototype # 3
Metal Fabric & Tags Prototype
Objective: To explore and challenge the notion of a “mobile�. The design must respond fully to the site and express the seen and unseen about the designer. Concept: The armature and the methodical swing of the pendulum sails are a response to the rational internal self. The metal fabric and tags are representative of the external self that is at times excitable and at times tranquil, these elements are far more reactive to fluctuating conditions. The armature provides the structure for both systems to simultaneously thrive. The unexpected flowing extensions of the armature reach out and attach to the tree for structural support. Information: This was my first design project. The sculpture was individually built and engineered on site at City College of San Francisco for Arch 101 (design studio) in the fall of 2011. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XqaUBZ9Ga9c&feature=share&list=ULXqaUBZ9Ga9c
Kinetic Wind Sculpture (Detail)
Armature Sculpting
Kinetic Wind Sculpture (10 mph Gusts)
Armature Isometric
Kinetic Wind Sculpture (20 mph Gusts)
Friction Fit Yolk Connection
Armature Connection
Pendulum Sails’ Axle
Metal Fabric and Tags / Pendulum Sails (Detail)
Kinetic Wind Sculpture
Parasitic Urban Machine
Sketch Model #1
Sketch Model #2
1/4” Scale Site Response #1
1/4” Scale Site Response #2
1/2 “ Scale Circulation and Program View
Program: The client requests a physical structure that is limited to 300 ft2 that serves a minimum of 2-5 people and maximum of 20 people for an October event which hosts a month of dance classes, poetry readings and a San Francisco film festival. The project requires: one piece of ‘built-in’ street furniture, a shade device, outdoor gallery, dance floor and movie screen. The event site is Gold Alley in San Francisco’s North Beach district. Concept: There are three significant concepts that drive the design. The principal concept is the ability of the floor structure, movie screen and built-in furniture to move, adapting to the needs of the event’s poetry and film programmatic elements. The day starts with the three floor components joined for the dance classes. As the day progresses, the platforms sequentially move along a rail system providing distinct spaces for the afternoon poetry slam and evening film festival to occur. Secondly, shade is provided by stacking linear elements in a curvilinear trellis structure which provides the dancers relief from the harsh mid-day sun as well as blocking the waning evening sunlight from creating a glare on the movie screen. Finally, the design utilizes all available buildings on the site to create a parasitic structural relationship for the urban machine’s structural and rail system. Information: This project was individually designed and modeled for the final project at UC Berkeley’s [IN]ARCH program in the summer of 2012.
Parasitic Urban Machine (Scale: 1/2” =1’)
Mortise and Tenon Joints
Vertical Support Layout
Early Design & Program Sketch
#1: Salsa Dancing (11am - 2pm)
#2: Poetry slam (3pm - 5pm)
#’s 3a & 3b: SF film Festival (6pm- 11pm)
Parasitic Urban Machine Digital Model (5:55 pm)
Salsa Dancing (11 am - 2 pm)
2:30 pm
Poetry Slam (3 -5 pm)
Plan (Poetry Slam)
5:30 pm
SF Film Festival (6-11pm)
Parasitic Urban Machine
FourFold ChapelChapel
Gesture Model #1
Gesture Model #3
1/8” Scale Site Response #2
Program: The client has chosen to build a non-denominational meditation chapel. She is an aficionado of Martin Heidegger and asks that the relationship between the building and site metaphorically evoke the notions of Heidegger’s fourfold. The site is the rocky coastline of central California. Concept: Heidegger’s fourfold is composed of four components: mortals, divinities, earth and sky. The primary structure’s slightly curving vertical planes reference the lines of the human torso. The structure that projects out over the sea and the parallelogram shapes found throughout the model are symbolic of the rockiness of the site. The sky is represented by the arcing wing structures. Finally, the pathway that creates circulation throughout the site is an allegorical nod to a circuitous spiritual journey. The bridge completely blocks access to the island, which is representative of divinities, participants on the journey may experience the island through contemplation but will never physically occupy the space. Information: This project was individually designed and modeled for the final project of Arch 102 at City College of San Francisco in the spring of 2012. The design process is intended to be unfinished, the project is revisited in Arch 103.
FourFold Chapel (Scale 1/4” = 1’)
1/8” Scale Site Response #5
1/8” Scale Site Response #6
1/4” Scale Site Response #2
1/4” Scale Site Response #4
1/4” Scale Site Response #5
North View
West View
South View
Plan (Drafted)
East View
Framework and Skin (Detail)
FourFold Chapel
3-D Dress Pattern
Objective: Design a complex surface that encloses space and is architecturally evocative. This is accomplished by developing a module and compositional rule system to develop a compelling two and three-dimensional work of art. Concept: The module is derived from the construction lines found in the drawing Found Object: Bicycle Bell (2nd to last project). The application of the module becomes less congested and polluted as the composition slowly engulfs the 40” x 24” canvas. This creates more opportunities for vertical movements as well as larger openings to allow in light. The slow lengthening in space between module applications is used to create increased spatial opportunities as well as a crescendo in the complexity and variation of the surface texture as the modules envelop the paper. Information: This project was individually designed and modeled for a project at UC Berkeley’s [IN]ARCH program in the summer of 2012.
Dress Pattern (View #2)
Iteration #2
Iteration #4
Dress Pattern (View #1)
Module (Detail #1)
Dress Pattern Rules
Dress Pattern (Detail #2)
Spatial Crescendo
3-D Dress Pattern
Old Glory
Objective: To create a wood sculpture that is an abstract representation of an animal or an aspect of that animal. Concept: The animal chosen for this project was an eagle, specifically an eagle’s wing. The eagle was chosen for the bird’s aesthetic beauty, as well as its iconic and symbolic recognizability. The flag is composed of an abstracted broken eagle wing and a worn flag. The threadbare flag acts as a sling cradling the broken wing. Information: This project was individually designed and hand crafted for the final project of Sculpture 101 at City College of San Francisco in the spring of 2012.
Armature (Detail)
Feathers (Detail)
Wrapping (Detail)
Connection (Detail)
Old Glory
Objective: Create a “territorial quilt” utilizing data from present day and historical San Francisco. A day long walk along the current Embarcadero Waterfront as well as following the historic path of the “Barbary Coast” waterfront of the 1800’s is used to develop a non-traditional map of San Francisco in hopes to discover something previously ‘unseen’ about the city of San Francisco. Concept: Thoughts and ideas created this city yet their origins had never been compiled on one map. The places, modes and methods of historical and present day information traffic mapped are: the “Gold Coast’s” buried boats and wharves, historic coastline, original telegraph line, schools, newspapers, postal zip codes, historic and current rail system, freeways and main roads, Sutro Tower signal and the world’s third largest computer server system. This map is a mixture of both objective and subjective data. The primary discovery from this mapping project is that aside from the expected growth of a metropolitan area over the course of two centuries, the location of the city’s economic hub, as well as the most densely populated residential and cultural area’s is still closely associated with the San Francisco waterfront. The appearance of the data points decrease in frequency as the city grows outward from both the historical and modern day coastline. Information: The map was individually researched and designed for a project at UC Berkeley’s [IN]ARCH program in the summer of 2012. San Francisco “Information Traffic”
“So in America when the sun goes down and I sit on the old broken-down river pier watching the long,long skies over New Jerseyand sense all the raw land that rolls in one unbelievable huge bulge over to the West Coast, and all that road going, and all the people dreaming in the immensity of it, and in Iowa I know by now the children must be crying in the land where they let the childrencry, and tonight the stars’ll be out, and don’t you know that God is Pooh Bear? the evening star must be dropping and shedding her sparkler dims on the prarie, which is just before the coming of the complete night that blesses the earth, darkens all the rivers, cups the peaks and folds the the final shore in, and nobody, nobody knows what’s going to
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Servers, Soma, Schools & Telegraph
Land & Sea Idea Paths
Schools & Postal Codes
Newspapers, North Beach & Sutro
Historic Coast & Buried Ships/Wharfs
Servers & SOMA
San Francisco “Information Traffic”
Found Object: Bicycle Bell
Bicycle Bell Objective: Create a composition that includes six measured elevations and three sections of a found object in a 1:1 scale. Construction lines and superimposition are to be used to create a more compelling composition. Lastly, show the mechanical movements of the found object. Concept: The found object used in the composition is a bicycle bell. Bicycle bells can be used to notify others that the rider is looking to clear a path through congestion. The representations in the bottom left corner are grouped in a congested space and share more superimposed moments. As the individual drawings climb the page, the space between groups increases as well as share less superimposed elements. At the top of page the objects appear to begin breaking free of each other and the pace increases as the final superimposed elevation views appear to rush down the page following the pathway cleared by the construction lines. The mechanical movements and pace changes are shown through the technique of ‘ghosting’. Information: This composition was individually designed and drawn for a drafting project at UC Berkeley’s [IN] ARCH program in the summer of 2012.
Found Object: Bicycle Bell
Composition Sketches
Superimposition (Detail)
Objective: Create physical study models of current and prospective projects for Anderson Anderson Architecture in San Francisco. The models are built using plan sets and sketches from the team. Insights: This internship has been an invaluable experience. Gaining knowledge of how the creative process works in a professional practice, as well as developing technical skills have helped to confirm my passion for process. The experience and skill sets I have developed during the internship should prove integral in my design work in graduate school. Information: The project designs and plans are intellectual property of Anderson Anderson Architecture. The internship began in August of 2012 and continues to present.
Housing for Electrical Components (Personal Contribution)
Light Designed for Gallery Show
Pool House (In Process)
Sebastopol House (East View)
Sebastopol House (Exposed View)
Sebastopol House (West View)
Pool House (Sketch # 1)
Pool House (Sketch # 2)
Pool House (Sketch # 3)
Internship: Anderson Anderson Architecture
Free Hand Drawing, Tadao Ando, Collezione
Erik B. Stratmeyer / M Arch I Candidate / Harvard University, GSD / Fall 2013