undergraduate portfolio university of kentucky college of design 2005-2009
geoffreyBELL
geoffreyBELL http://www.geofbell.com/ 4010 lambert avenue louisville, kentucky 40218 +1.502.216.0632 geof@geofbell.com
geof bell graduated from the university of kentucky in 2009 with a bachelor of arts in architecture. his professional experience includes projects and research for the ward hall preservation foundation, the university of kentucky, and the southern baptist theological seminary. geof’s primary areas of interest include digital design techniques and applications, historic preservation, sociology, and sustainable design solutions. while attending the university of kentucky, he was involved in many aspects of the school’s architecture program, including serving as a teaching assistant, participating the school’s submission to the 2009 solar decathlon, and the tau sigma delta architectural honor society. He was also awarded the school’s 2007 digital visualizations award and graduated magna cum laude and with honors in the university of kentucky’s honors program.
table of contents:
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louden + lime
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south farm installation
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a new urban ecology a rural installation promoting discovery
urban landscapes
a conceptual investigation of urban farms
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solar decathlon
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ward hall
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miscellaneous
cover: “scale;” line drawing; autocad 2007 left: “[dis]tortion;” line drawing; autocad 2007
a sustainable outlook
an historic point of view a sample of extracurricular work
louden + lime
a new urban ecology
when architecture is increasingly conceived as a multi-disciplinary practice that is not limited to, and which does not always culminate in a physical building, through what means can we critique design? the louden + lime project addresses this question through form, and how that form affects and responds to abstract ideas such as community, and the concrete necessities of function. the form, an extruded structure, serves as an infrastructure for plant growth, community development, and food production. As an infrastructure, it transforms an area - an urban parking lot, a dense city block, even a desert settlement - turning austere melancholy to lush verdure.
views
centrality
exterior
solar
efficiency
interior
opposite: “night;” render; maya 2008 above: “layouts;” diagram; adobe illustrator cs3 05
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louden + lime
urban growth strategies for food production
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opposite: “5 years’ growth;” render; rhino 4.0 above: “process;” diagram; adobe illustrator cs3 07
louden + lime creates value for a community development project through the production of food from the plant life that grows in and around the structures. Food is at the center of daily life. in the same way, the food produced by the structures and the flora-life of the vegetation becomes the center of the community life that is cultivated by the insertion of these structures into the urban environment. the combination of plant life, human life, and community life, the seeds of which are planted here and fertilized over time, establishes a place of gathering, of connecting, and learning, growing a new urban ecology, ever changing and creating new life.
\\ hydroponics support plant growth \\ prefabricated on-site assembly \\ pylons designed to support armatures \\ clad in rubber from recycled tires \\ perforation supports growth of climbing plants \\ water infused with nutrients piped from reservoir 08
louden + lime
urban growth strategies for community development
opposite: “plan and installation diagrams;” diagram; maya 2008 above: “site and component sections;” diagram; adobe illustrator cs3 09
the prefabricated pieces are arranged to adapt to differing urban conditions and configurations through any number of pre-defined criteria (see diagram, p. 5), becoming a catalyst for community growth, mirroring the growth of vegetation, creating a locus, or focal point, around which both may be able to develop and flourish. the form takes its basic shape from the functional requirements of supporting vegetation, but aspects can easily be found in the existing environment, both natural and man-made, such as street-lamps, tall trees, or a newly emerging bracken fern - branching out and thriving in even the most inhospitable locations.
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south farm installation
a rural installation promoting discovery
“at the rim I paused and waved to my companion, then I scrambled over the edge and stood upright, staring ahead of me. you must understand that until this very moment I had been almost completely convinced that there could be nothing strange or unusual for me to find here. almost, but not quite; it was that haunting doubt that had driven me forward. well, it was doubt no longer, but the haunting had scarcely begun... probably no emotion at all filled my mind in those first few seconds. Then I felt a great lifting of my heart, and a strange, inexpressible joy.� arthur c. clarke, the sentinel 11
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legend: a. small hill, near site of recent construction b. abandoned farm equipment c. pine grove in center of large field d. small wooded area, used for botanical research e. grove of trees, next to supply railroad
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urban landscapes
a conceptual investigation of urban farms
while an urban growth boundary, such as that which was put in place in lexington, kentucky, is enacted to prevent the urban development from encroaching upon rural landscape, all to often, the inverse of this occurs as well. that is, urban is urban and rural is rural and the two shall never mix. in a city like lexington, which is defined by its farmland, residents within the city are removed from the city’s context, only experiencing it when they leave, and then only by highway. urban landscapes proposes a new programmatic form, a blending of the urban and rural which maintains the density of the city but brings with it the positive effects of the natural. 17
urban landscapes
a conceptual investigation of urban farms urban landscapes is a short conceptual project to examine the potential for a new type of urban farm. lexington, kentucky is widely known for its farmland, however only very rarely is the farm allowed to encroach upon the largely arbitrary limits put in place by the urban growth boundary. what was set up to prevent the development on kentucky’s surrounding horse and agricultural farms has also had the effect of separating us from the very landscape that gives us our identity. i propose a hybridization of farm and city
life in a new building type that combines farming, commerce, and community life into a single iconographic structure that mirrors the rolling landscape of kentucky and works with, rather than against lexington’s urban growth policies. shown are conceptual images which illustrate the ways in which this model would transform itself to fit the characteristics of the space that it inhabits. its flexible nature would allow it to squeeze into forgotten, disused, and unconventional spaces or spread out to brown- and grey-fields where space permits. in tandem with
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this project i developed a small marketing campaign for the nearby community to demonstrate the potential that this or a similar project would bring towards revitalizing the area. i compiled film of several of the farms around lexington and projected these images onto an abandoned building in the heart of the community. there was a great response from residents and many expressed interest as they viewed these projections and at the community meetings which i attended.
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solar decathlon
a sustainable outlook
the university of kentucky’s submission to the 2009 solar decathlon was titled “s•ky blue,” making a connection between the iconographic kentucky blue and our sustainable vision for the commonwealth of kentucky. our entry was designed to exceed the USGBCs LEED for Homes Platinum standards, incorporating native, drought resistant vegetation, rainwater harvesting, pulse-irrigation, efficient fixtures and appliances, solar-thermal hot water heating, geothermal cooling, and a highly efficient thermal envelope (R-40 walls and R-60 ceiling/floor). the house achieved net-positive energy use during the competition.
photo credits: jim tetro photography/us department of energy 21
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51' - 7 3/4" 2' - 4 1/4"
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solar decathlon
a sustainable outlook
my research focused specifically on the structural design, thermal efficiency, performance modeling, and material surface effects of the building envelope. additionally, i served as a team leader in charge of specifications for the design development phase of the project. working with actual products and materials to develop a built project, i gained a deeper understanding of design and construction methods, and an intimate knowledge of alternative energy and sustainable design solutions. our multi-disciplinary approach gave me the opportunity to work alongside students and professionals with backgrounds in architecture, engineering, and marketing.
photo credits: top: steve patton/uk college of agriculture bottom: greg luhan/uk college of design 23
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results: 9th place overall finish 2nd in people’s choice project credits: overall project leader: donald colliver architecture faculty leader: greg luhan marketing faculty leader: chike anyaegbunam
opposite: “elevations;” line drawing; revit 2009 above: “study model;” model in wood; “construction details;” line drawing; rhino 4.0 25
more information and a complete list of participants can be found at: http://www.uky.edu/solarhouse
ward hall
an historic point of view
believed to have been designed by the greek revivalist Thomas Lewinski (c. 1800 - 1881), ward hall is one of kentucky’s most significant historic homes, often cited by architecture historian Clay Lancaster. ward hall has been referred to as “the finest place in kentucky at that time, a veritable palace surrounded by a fairy garden.” before my involvement in the project, no accurate drawings of the building existed. ward hall was built for Junius Ward just before the civil war, and since then has stood as a landmark in georgetown, kentucky. it was purchased in 2004 by the ward hall preservation foundation, rescuing it from destruction by nearby development. 27
ward hall
an historic point of view
as the principal member of a small group under the direction of Anthony Eardley, ARIBA, FRAIC, Hon. AIA., i measured and documented every aspect of ward hall’s construction, eventually compiling a set of twenty-one drawings for the ward hall preservation foundation: a perspective, site plan, building plans, sections, and elevations in both their present and restored states. these drawings will be used to move forward with and complete building restoration along with some new construction nearby, to provide detailed building information to visitors, and to generate revenue through the sale of prints.
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geof bell
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opposite: “revolution;” line drawing; autocad 2007 above: “growing;” model in strathmore 33
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geoffreyBELL http://www.geofbell.com/ 4010 lambert avenue louisville, kentucky 40218 +1.502.216.0632 geof@geofbell.com
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