tyler brant sells
a design portfolio 1
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Architecture
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Living Building Challenge Center for Sustainable Design Elyria, Ohio
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The Making of a Meaningful Place Studio Residence Sedona, Arizona
2011
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Ponte Urbano Gastronomy Center Florence, Italy
2010
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Winery at Debonne Vineyards Madison, Ohio
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Cleveland Waterfront Revival Ferry Terminal and Sports Park Cleveland, Ohio
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Independent Film Center Kent, Ohio
2012
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2010 2010 2009
The Cube Kent, Ohio
Foreign Studies Florence, Italy
Artwork Selected Works
Tyler Brant Sells • 106 Shady Lane, Barnesville OH 43713 • tsells2@kent.edu • 740.296.3334
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Sketchbook
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“For me, architecture is an art...the same as painting is an art or sculpture is an art. Yet, architecture moves a step beyond painting and sculpture because it is more than using materials. Architecture responds to functional outputs and environmental factors. Yet, fundamentally, it is important for me to stress the art in architecture to bring harmony.� -Santiago Calatrava
architecture
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01 Center for Sustainable Design The site in Elyria, Ohio is an example of a small town with a famished local economy. More and more people are leaving and every year there is a decrease in population. In order to reverse this trend, this new Center for Sustainable Design will act as a catalyst in revamping the currently economically stricken region. One of the core concepts of the Living Building is that it harnesses the power of nature to become energy independent. This new living center will also become an educational hub that will create and exchange a dialogue that will inform and even completely change people’s paradigms. In an ideal case, this new Sustainability Center will become a pilot program that establishes a framework that influences other areas of the city. As more and more projects pop up, this neighborhood is transformed into a showcase area for adaptive sustainable technology. It is hoped to become a place that exhibits how we at one hand ensure the cities to future climate challenges, and moreover upgrade our urban spaces.
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Human activities often inflict harsh and irreversible damage to the environment. Balance needs to be maintained, and the fundamental relationship between humans and the natural world needs to be rethought. The structure will transform the current conditions of the site and assume the role of the negotiator between nature and man. The design in Elyria, Ohio becomes a dynamic threshold in the link between Ely Park and the Falls. The connection blurs the boundaries between nature and manmade, outside and inside. The end result will point Elyria in direction in revitalization of once a truly great place to live.
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Auditorium Circulation Urban Agriculture Education Business Vertical Circulation
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Restaurant
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Solar Thermal
Greenhouse The rooftop greenhouse is designed to not only to collect solar energy during sunny days but also store heat for use at night or during periods when it is cloudy.
Solar thermal takes advantage of using radiant heat from the sun to directly warm the facilities’ water.
Conventional PV
Adds additional electricity gain. Location dependent on orientation and programs of high energy use.
Urban Agriculture Urban agriculture is an essential element into the urban and ecological system. One of the main qualities of a living building is that it does not consume more than it produces. This building will provide fresh fruits and vegetables to be sold directly to the local populous resulting in keeping the money that normally would be spent on imports, in the local economy. Program elements such as the Cafe and Restaurant will implement the fresh produce into their signature dishes.
Thin-film PV
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Converts solar radiation into electricity while maintaining flexibility and translucency. These are applied to the uppermost part of the energy shell. This automated system of PV panels adapts to the changing atmospheric conditions by choosing its degree of face orientation.
Roof Garden
The roof garden serves multiple functions including the regulation of the building’s temperature, creation of a new wildlife habitat, as well as filtering and cleansing of rainwater while maintaining storm runoff.
Rainwater Collection/Greywater Treatment The roof system relies on gravity flow to direct the water down into tanks where it is then filtered to provide potable water. Then the water used from the showers flows down into another storage tank where it then can be utilized once again for the toilet water. From there the water is filtered through the living machine which utilizes the natural cleansing function of the wetlands. Any extra runoff is designed with the landscape and gravity flow in mind. Pathways were opened up to allow the water an acceptable discharge to the falls.
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02 The Making of a Meaningful Place The client is an individual who is seeking healing. Not healing in the physical sense, but that of the soul. He is in search of answers. In search of liberation, he needs to get out of the city and into nature. Outside Sedona, a studio space is constructed. The cliff-side site is detached from the local population, the noisome cars, all of society. Temporarily isolated in nature’s wilderness, the client obtains residence in a newborn structure that blends seamlessly among the flowing contours of the red earth. The client finally obtains his place of peace, his place of reflection, his sanctuary. 13
The architecture is highly efficient in optimizing the natural elements through proper orientation, form, and material. In an attempt to lessen this structures impact on nature, design will be articulated through many passive strategies including: thermal mass, sun shading/ direct gain, as well as rainwater collection. Given the local materials of Sedona, rammed earth construction was integral to the design solution. Specific angle and depth of roof overhang allowed to prevent unwanted gains in the summer while still allowing the low winter sun to penetrate. Implementation of a rainwater collection system takes advantage of the sloped terrain and becomes the life support for luscious vegetation.
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Thermal Mass Diagram
Site
Solar Optimization Diagram
1. Entry 2. Living Room 3. Kitchen 4. Studio
5. Bathroom 6. Guest BR 7. Master BR 8. Sanctuary
light wall lattice structural penetration bonsai tree rainwater optimization
Natural Ventilation
continuous bookcase thermal transition
Rainwater Collection
views
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West Elevation
East Elevation
South Elevation
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North Elevation
In the client’s new studio, there are directed views of both the vast valley and humbling red sculptures beyond. The spaces provoke a cleansing introspection.The combination of the open plan along with the architecture being nested into the side of the cliff creates the feeling of the space extending off into the infinity of the desert. The sanctuary doubles as a “community type space where wandering travelers can commune. Numerous bike paths near the site permits higher integration of this cool lush environment for the bike riders seeking a place of refuge to recover.
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03 Gastronomy and Cultural Center During my stay in Florence, ‘AND’ International Magazine hosted a design competition for the architecture and environmental design students at Kent State University. The goal was to redelevelop one of the most difficult and controversial places in Florence, a big empty space in Largo Annigoni, in the popular and historic district of Sant’Ambrogio.The competition proposed each student to submit an A0-sized board as a culmination of the semester’s studio works. Judging was based on layout, graphics and clarity of concept. The following project was chosen as one of the eight publication winners.
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I proposed a new urban landscape, to offer a fresh and diverse experience to the city of Florence. A structure that at the same time unifies the city but also in a way gives back by raising up and preserving highly sought after open ground space. This urban bridge performs as a social attractor as well as urban infrastructure. A bridge is an agent of connectivity, giving people the opportunity to move no only from point A to point B, but A to D, B to E. An urban bridge gives people choices and experiences. This Gastronomy Center at Piazza Annigoni bridges the gap between cultures and feeds the city with vibrant energy.
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Ponte Urbano has the ability to contribute more to the city than just a crossing or formal icon. It has a dual purpose beyond the function of transport when it becomes habitable. The bridge is thickened with program and layered with additional uses. The densification is exactly why people will be drawn and will travel this elevated street of urban life; creating a whole new series of connections between space and culture.
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04 The Winery at Debonne Vineyards The architecture at Debonne Vineyards achieves a synergy between the natural landscape and the built form. The design does not rest as a still life on an undifferentiated site, but its potency is realized when embedded within a setting. Programmatic schemes articulate a distinct dichotomy between work and play, production and entertainment. The production spaces are organized around performance and optimization of the wine-making process. Zones include grape receiving/crushing, pressing, fermenting, processing, storage, and bottling.
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The architecture is strongly influenced by the idea of transparency. The relay of information formed from visual connection between spaces allow for a heightened experience for the user. The tourist can view unobstructed moments of the production spaces before they physically arrive creating anticipation. Along the wine making path, spaces were created and revealed to cause moments of pause so that the visitor can learn the history of wine while sampling and tasting.
Visually colliding overhead, perpendicular to the production program, the architecture transforms into this seamlessly flowing form bending to the slope of the hill and extends into the vineyard. Most wineries contain only the production aspect. By integrating history, retail as well as entertainment, the generic topology of a winery is extended into an experience of wine beyond the winery itself. The architecture not only informs, but entertains.
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05 Cleveland Waterfront Revitalization The project objective was to redesign Dock 28 and provide Cleveland with a new and attractive Ferry Terminal. Unique to my project, I chose to include the development of a Sports Park as well as a string of retail along the main axis point to and from the city. Contextually Dock 28 is directly adjacent to Cleveland Browns Stadium. The huge scale difference led the need for sensitive site placement. At this moment, the site is nothing more than a concrete graveyard. However, with the right vision, this site has a huge potential and is a perfect location for waterfront revitalization. A site is not empty of meaning, but is embedded with possibility. In the early stages of design, there was emphasis placed on program elements of the Terminal itself. It was key to understand the many different active processes that were going on in concurrent fashion. We had to consider how the users would arrive, where they would park, how check-in and customs function, as well as how the users get on the ferry. At the same time we had to route how trucks load and get in and out of the area.
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Cleveland Waterfront Revival: Ferry Terminal and Sports Park
physical connection Diagramming model
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Dock 28
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06 Independent Film Center Located downtown in Kent, Ohio, the site for the new Independent Film Center was chosen as an ideal spot in the urban fabric that would be able to spark the downtown expansion as well as serve the continuation of the esplanade. The program given was divided into three main sections: nonprofit filmaking organization, education, and shared public space. The Independent Film Center allows for a great opportunity to integrate new technology that lets the building interact with the public. There are endless possibilities, whether it is as simple as little nodes you can walk up to and watch previews of shows that are playing to something more entertaining, such as a big screen recording and playing back video feed from people dancing in the summertime.
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In solving the problems of the narrow site, the architecture is lifted up into multiple connecting forms. This not only reduces the buildings footprint but allows for more open green space interaction underneath. I became interested in film as a medium of transformation and how the architecture could compliment that transformation. I first explored routing and integration of various user paths as different people go to see a film. The main circulation route was viewed as a way to create a type of journey for the users. Along the path they are given the ability to explore, weaving in and out of the structure. The path is embedded with framed moments of pause. The cinema below ground proliferates the idea that the users are metaphorically transformed after they watch the inspiring film. As they leave the dark lower level the users find themselves at the end of their transformative journey. Out onto a viewing platform, opposite to where they began, they are rewarded with the awe inspiring views of the river.
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The Cube Extension/Expansion
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foreign studies travel sketches
Santissima Annunziata Pencil
Journey to Michalengelo Pencil
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Santa Maria Novella Pencil
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Santa Maria del Fiore. Interior. Pencil
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Piazza Della Signoria Watercolor
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Kitchen Silverware Black and White Charcoal
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The Old Barn Charcoal
Train-wheel Ebony Pencil
At the Depot Ebony Pencil
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The Colosseum Scratch-board
Venice Ebony Pencil
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Thanks for your time!
The Vatican Pencil
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Tyler Brant Sells • 106 Shady Lane, Barnesville OH 43713 • tsells2@kent.edu • 740.296.3334