Architecture Portfolio

we may not love everything we make, but we must always love

m a k i n g .

hana leah bittner

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education

College of Environmental Design, UC Berkeley | Berkeley, California | 2011-2013 Masters in Architecture The Crucible Industrial Arts School | Oakland, California | 2012-2013 Foundry, Blacksmithing, Machine Shop University of Florida School of Architecture | Gainesville, Florida | 2007-2011 Bachelor of Design in Architecture | Magna Cum Laude

publications + exhibitions

Berkeley Circus and Soiree | CED | Berkeley, CA | 2012 Architrave | Volume 19: Stratification | Gainesville, FL | 2011 PI:C Mexico 2010 Student Work Exhibition | UFSoA | Gainesville, FL | 2010 Precise Frameworks and Indeterminate Unfoldings Exhibit | UFSoA | Gainesville, FL | 2010 Luminaire Design Competition Exhibit | UFSoA | Gainesville, FL | 2010 “Urban Fabrications”, Bradley Walters | SCAD | Savannah, GA | 2009 “Knots and Nurbs: Relational Spaces in Variable Fields”, Bradley Walters | LSU | Baton Rouge, LA | 2009 Superintendent’s Advanced Placement Studio Art Exhibition | Museum of Art | Fort Lauderdale, FL | 2007

awards + recognition Malcolm Reynolds Fellowship | University of California | Berkeley, CA Design Workshops Prize | University of California | Berkeley, CA Bright Futures Scholarship | University of Florida | Gainesville, FL Dean’s List | University of Florida | Gainesville, FL

experience Guthrie + Buresh Architects | San Francisco, CA | 2012-2013

worked on small scale design schematic development; edited images for publications; designed and built window installation for office ULI/Gerald D. Hines Student Urban Design Competition | Berkeley, CA | 2012

two week, mutli-discilpinary, urban design and development competition for graduate students Habitat for Humanity | Greater San Francsico Area | 2013-current

volunteer at Habitat Terrace; light weight wood construction, framing walls

skills 2D 3D metal wood other

| AutoCAD, Adobe Photoshop, Adobe Illustrator, hand drawing and rendering | Rhino (V-ray/Rhino Render), Sketch-Up, Form-Z, Basic Revit Knowledge, physical model building | sand casting [aluminum, bronze], lost wax casting [bronze], blacksmithing [steel], basic machining [aluminum, brass, steel] | basic joinery and fabrication | MS Office; proficient on Microsoft and MacOSX platforms

c u r r i c u l u m

v i t a e hana leah bittner san francisco, ca hanaleyah@gmail.com +954 632 6976

references Danelle Guthrie + Tom Buresh | Guthrie + Buresh Architects | architects + professors | danelle@guthrieburesh.com + tom@guthrieburesh.com | +415 940 5810 Bradley Walters | University of Florida | adjunct professor + architect | bradley.walters@ufl.edu | +352 514 7994 Mark Anderson | University of Califonia, Berkeley | professor + architect | mark@andersonanderson.com | +415 606 5455 iii

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house for wine

memory of a place

reframing the city

urban kinematics

interpreting urban scripts

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model making

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unfamiliarities

processes

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vessel

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object

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bloom

drawing

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house

professional

academic 11

not so familiar

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w o r k s thesis “NO T SO FA MI L I A R�

t he uni ve r s i t y of c a l i f or ni a , b e r k e l e y, c o lleg e of env ironmental d esig n 2013 M. A rch critic| mark and erson + d anelle g uthrie

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The thought behind beginning with the door as the site rather than a typical city or lot is to isolate an architectural moment and strip it down. By understanding the fundamental pieces of buildings we interact with every day - the details, the doors - we can begin to understand how these gestures create space, mass, and ultimately form.

I began with a drawing that was not about an itinerary through space – it is about the function and mechanics of a portal and how its constraints and motions suggest what spaces on either side of it may become. But what I soon realized is that where a door is situated has a more important impact on how we interact with it that I had previously believed. It was then that I chose to pick a site, a transitional space, and to strip this site down to its architectural elements.

Program is not considered by titles and labels that have no real effect on a space other than the arrangement of furniture within it, but by the qualities of light and the affect materiality can have on this experience. When you root a building’s meaning in

its program, what you are studying is not architecture, but a commentary on a particular label of space and the constraints that push and pull at this title. Program is defined by how we use architecture, but it is not in itself so.

Site is not a specific place but a quality of space. Form and function relate only in the sense that they should bring reference to the proportions of the human body in both its static and dynamic situation. Architecture is the articulation of the in between, as we only understanding things in reference to other things. This makes sense. The in between is the wall [and the threshold], the surface and/or space that divides two volumes. This surface expresses form and space simultaneously, in interior and exterior realms.

So how the body interacts with this surface is where architecture begins to emerge and define itself. In the site, countless interactions with the same “facade” were recorded, each uncovering a new piece of information about the space and surface. How the individual or group of individuals would interface with these transitional pieces was what I become interested in. Time, light, tension between bodies and their movement were documented and analyzed. Each piece defined what was important in the particular body (or group of bodies’) conversation with the architecture. Each instance was analyzed and drawn in length, putting particular pieces of the space in the limelight. After the existing conditions have been drawn, three interrogations are drawn for each instance, challenging the studied situation but not necessarily stating that there is a right or a wrong way, just that there should be a careful consideration for these details in the design process as they can lead to largely different architectures.

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w o r k s not so familiar A CO NFRO NT A T I O N WI T H RO U T I NE

selected d raw ing s f rom master’ s thesis siteless c r i t i c | ma r k a nd erson + d anelle g uthrie, ucb erkeley CED 2011

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In each chosen situation, there is an increasing number of people interacting with the threshold visually and haptically.

The first scenario allows the occupant to be singled out with the mechanism- the relationship between the human hand, the surface and the space surrounding it is more obvious in this first case study than the rest of them. The body’s relationship to the door was drawn first in an axonometric, as the rest, to map time and movement, but then drawn in section, different than the other two case studies, to emphasize the affect that the body’s relationship “next to” as opposed to “on top of” has on the procession through a space.

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This study is based on the relationship between bodies in transition spaces and the affect that the materiality of this surface has on the interaction and tension between the people and, in turn, on the definition of the invisible volumes of space created by the movement of individuals.

This condition was analyzed and drawn in plan to map the relationship between real space made, and the space made by moving bodies. What was being questioned were the forms and materials of the surface between interior and exterior and the affect they may have on the overall volume of space created not just by walls but also by the relationship of moving bodies with these surfaces.

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This last documented study deals with the tension that is created by all (three) bodies when they approach the surface and move through it and past one another. The alterations are drawn in plan, mapping how changes in the placement and form of the surface can have an affect on how the bodies approach them and, further, how space is created on either side of the threshold, not just by physical objects, but also by how the body interprets things and acts towards these configurations.

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w o r k s academic

PRO JECT S FRO M T H E U FSoA A ND T H E CED t he uni ve r s i t y of f l or i d a , school of architecture 2007- 2011 BD esA rch t he uni ve r s i t y of c a l i f or ni a , b e r k e l e y, c ol l e g e of env ironmental d esig n 2011- 2013 M. A rch

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Because of the importance in temperature and light control in the different steps of wine production, placing the spaces within the ground allows for a more constant thermal environment and a stronger relationship between the process of wine-making and the landscape where the first steps of this process begin.

Conceptually, wine making is extremely reliant on the natural environment – specifically the ground. The roots – the center of production – and the soil that wraps them are the result of the grape that forms. In a sense, all of the important processes happen below ground where climate affects the situation in a much more concealed manner. Much like these natural systems, are the industrial ones – they are most efficient when the environment can be controlled. This particular site is dangerously exposed to the harsh sunlight, therefore making it counterproductive to put a place of production that requires a control in temperature, in a setting which is completely controlled by the sun and its thermal characteristics.

section through production space + tasting room

section through service ramp and entry

section through storage space and entry ramp

section through parking and entry ramp

rammed earth (0-6% cement) rammed earth concrete (10-15% cement) 1’ x 1’ steel I-beam waterproofing membrane gravel soil meadow grass walking surface (light gray concrete) cement board steel angle cleat steel L brackets single pane glass steel joists aluminum mullion double paned glass concrete decking mechanical open air space insulation rebar/steel mesh (reinforcement) concrete footing

After the large amount of ground is dug up, it is to be reused in creating the walls of this intervention, emphasizing the importance of the qualities embedded within the ground. Much like the barrel creates an atmosphere that produces a very specific taste, the ground material has particular characteristics that create a definite atmosphere.

The material of the barrel is wood; the flavor of wood creates the flavor of wine.

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house for wine CU LT U RA L + NA T U RA L PL A CE- MA KI NG wine p rod uction + tasting sonoma, calif ornia critic|d anelle g uthrie, ucb erkeley CED 2011

[rammed earth + concrete] wall section

[rammed earth] wall section

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The site sits between the end of a road of residential homes and the Sonoma Regional Park but acknowledges neither one of them. It is also across a parking lot from a complex of buildings that lacks the public space that the environment created seems to merit. The site of this project has the potential to offer a space to connect the city back the landscape by breaking the edges in the southwest-northeast axis and offering a connection to the process of wine-making, a practice that roots in the physical and cultural topography of Glen Ellen and the greater Sonoma Valley.

s e l e c t e d

w o r k s house for wine

CU LT U RA L + NA T U RA L PL A CE- MA KI NG wine p rod uction + tasting sonoma, calif ornia

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Lineaments and fracture traces are important in controlling karst topographical geological conditions and solution processes. They are often expressed as sinkholes or depressions. Paynes Prairie is unique in its size and behavior; when the drainage solutions are clogged, the whole depression becomes a lake and creates an entirely different environment. The temporality of the natural conditions must be considered, as a building not prepared for the change will not survive. By etching directional marks, built as thick concrete walls, to map the paths for human occupation, the idea of trace surfaces - these traces will remain as the waters ebbs and flows, less permanent materials will deteriorate and in time, the architecture will be only the remnants of what it once was.

memory of a place CU LT U RA L + NA T U RA L PL A CE- MA KI NG wild lif e research center p ay nes p rairie, g ainesv ille, f lorid a critic|f rancesco cap p ellari, U FSoA 2009

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memory of a place CU LT U RA L + NA T U RA L PL A CE- MA KI NG wild lif e research center p ay nes p rairie, g ainesv ille, f lorid a

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reframing the city C O N T EMPO RA RY CO NCEPT S I N H I ST O RI CA L CO NT EXT S

This project was an investigation in reframing public spaces in Venice while preserving the existing fabric of its history - Campo dei Frari locates itself at the center of flux of movement within the city. Circulation through the site tends to remain rigid in its chosen path, direct and myopic to the remainder of the campo. Transparency and a dispersion of visual/physical interests are needed to reinvigorate the campo as a whole, so that conversations between the many programs surrounding the site may once again commence.

museum of mod ern ar t camp o d ei f rari, v enice, italy critic| g uy p eterson + tom smith, U FSoA 2011 collab orator| ian sv ilokos

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Years of history are buried below the layers of paint and stucco upon walls that line Venice’s streets, each wall with windows peeking into and framing the current moments of those who live within them. These facades are what make this city so beautiful. In an effort to situate this new public building within its context, the elevations of this new museum took strong reference to their surroundings, while reinterpreting what it meant to actually look through these punctures, using layers of glass to create a new lens to view the city through.

reframing the city C O N T EMPO RA RY CO NCEPT S I N H I ST O RI CA L CO NT EXT S museum of mod ern ar t camp o d ei f rari, v enice, italy

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urban kinematics SCA L ES O F MO V EMENT + O CCU PA T I O N hotel + commerical retail new y ork city, new y ork critic| b rad ley walters, U FSoA 2010 collab orator| ian sv ilokos

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urban kinematics SCA L ES O F MO V EMENT + O CCU PA T I O N hotel + commerical retail new y ork city, new y ork

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Often programming large sites such as this consists of blocking each activity or type of room into masses with little interaction between them. What this proposal begins to represent is a “borderless� program. One where school children will walk through hotels in order to get to their parents, where a movie plays on the wall of an office space and viewers lounge in a park that sits atop a restaurant.

This type of development encourages contemporary lifestyles and rescripts our architecture to correspond with our modern habits. There is less of an emphasis on the permanent and more on the ebbs, flows,and fluxes of our current technological era.

interpreting urban scripts D ECO NST RU CT I NG SYST EMS O F L I V I NG mi x e d -use d w elling |commercial, resid ential, cultural new y ork city, new y ork critic| b rad ley walters, U FSoA 2010 collab orator| ian sv ilokos

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interpreting urban scripts D ECO NST RU CT I NG SYST EMS O F L I V I NG mi x e d -use d w elling |commercial, resid ential, cultural new y ork city, new y ork

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w o r k s professional

WO RK FRO M GU T H RI E + BU RESH A RCH I T ECT S junior d esig ner 2012- 2013 d anelle g uthrie + tom b uresh d a ne l l e @g uthrieb uresh. com + tom@g uthrieb uresh. com 415 940 5810

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For this residence, I worked directly under principal Danelle Guthrie to develop a series of schematic strategies that would be attuned to many different particulars - the client and their formal and financial desires, the codes and regulations of Princeville and the climate and site specificites of beautiful Hanalei Bay - option C (lowest on the page) was chosen to continue design development.

house PA T T ERNS O F L I V I NG resid ential p rincev ille, hanalei, kauai, hawaii Guthrie + Buresh A rchitects 2013 collab orator| D anelle Guthrie

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p r e s e n t a t i o n

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m o d e l p r e s e n t a t i o n

These two models pictured were created for presentation, respectively, for the Emerging Voices Publication and an exhibit at the University of California, Berkeley.

model making H A ND - CRA FT ED D ESI GN resid ential ann arb or, michig an | china Guthrie + Buresh A rchitects 2013 collab orator| D anelle Guthrie + Tom Buresh

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SU PPL EMENT A L WO RK I N T WO D I MENSI O NS ha nd d raw ing | ink, g rap hite, charcoal, p astel, etc. c omp ut e r d r a f t i ng | C AD , r h ino, sketchup , ad ob e illustrator and p hotoshop p ainting | watercolor, acry lic, oil

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Wind roses, like most data presented in graphical form, are hard to decipher to those without knowing eyes. Bloom was an attempt to make this information more legible and intuitive to people who don’t know how to interpret more technical drawings. In order to gather the data, 20-30 wind ribbons were placed throughout the site. Each was recorded on video and then trend information was documented, including wind strength and direction at all these points. The drawing directly to the left is the result. The points that have similar directional patterns are linked and the intensity of the lines is adjusted based on the strength of the wind.

This was the first pass at this study.

bloom REI NT ERPRET I NG T H E WI ND RO SE p atricia’ s g reen, san f rancisco, calif ornia an ex erp t f rom a series of site stud ies stud io | CED 2012

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This set is a reinterpretation of the figure-ground drawing - typically this type of drawing is used in large scale representations of cities to identify the formal fabric of what is solid and what is void. However this set is analyzing much more intimate data - the human bodies contact with a surface. What is black is the space of the door - the space of the handle, the surface and the tension between the body and the surface what is white is the positive form of the hand and surface as a resultant of the motion. In this drawing, what is typically the ground acts as the figure and what is being carved into by the space of the body’s movement when it comes into contact with its surface. It is a way to visualize the negative space of the hand and the body when it comes into proximity with architecture, allowing us to actually see its potential impacts and existence.

unfamiliarities REI NT ERPRET I NG FI GU RE/ GRO U ND siteless | moment of contact w ith d oor an ex erp t f rom “not so f amilar” masters thesis | CED 2013

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In an attempt to organize how to build these objects, these drawings became documentation of the decisions made throughout the process of building them. Though this is not a new concept, drawing them in a more technical fashion helps to emphasize that our computer drafted drawings do not always have to be drawn in convention standards. These drawings are very technical, down to the motion of the hinge to the tolerance of the tap, but they are representations of the process, of the messy stages of the design.

processes D RA WI NG PRO CESSES O F MA KI NG s i t eless | the w atch b ox , the cup , and the hammer an ex erp t f rom “not so f amilar� masters thesis | CED 2013

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s e l e c t e d

w o r k s object

SU PPL EMENT A L WO RK I N T H REE D I MENSI O NS me t a l | s a nd c a s t i ng , l o st w ax casting , b lacksmithing , b asic machining w ood | b asic joinery and f ab rication p hys i c a l mod e l i ng | w oo d , p ap er, metal, p lasic, etc at v ariety of scales

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Simply, this project was an attempt to make a beautiful architectural object from “undesigned� pieces. It was an experiment in DIY construction - no laser cutters or 3D printers: it was made from three pieces of folded steel found in a junk yard, L-brackets, bolts, nuts and washers; the plates were formed around the bulb, creating a vessel for light.

vessel A CA PSU L E FO R L I GH T A ND SH A D O W siteless env ironmental technolog y | U FSoA 2010

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The first step to the drawings called “unfamiliarties” (pages 40-41) were these 3D physical forms. These models were created to visualize the relationship between the hand and the door, our first tactile contact with a building. Each piece was first imagined as the motion the implies its particular form of “twist, pull forward, pull down, push in, push up, etc.”. All of these motions were interpretted into their physical form. The positive form of the negative space of the hand when grasping the handle was the result. It was literally the physical mold of the first point of contact with an architectural surface amd/or mechanism; each of these molds would have an impact on how the body would react to the surface because they caused the hand to hold them in a manner that was unique to a movement of the hand and/or body. Slight modifications in the form would have an affect on these motions, so it was important to iterate many different pieces. The motion “twist” is the mold demonstarted on the left .

unfamiliarities, continued REI NT ERPRET I NG FI GU RE/ GRO U ND siteless | moment of contact w ith d oor “tw ist” | an ex erp t f rom “not so f amilar” masters thesis | CED 2013

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