P O R T F O L I O by Jacob Spence

2029 NE 15TH AVENUE PORTLAND ORE. 97201 MAIL@JACOB-SPENCE.COM 214 499 4726

JACOB SPENCE

Portland Music Academy Portland, Ore

INSTRUCTOR: HOWARD DAVIS FALL TERM 2012

There is a liveliness which can be experienced at night along west Couch street in Portlandâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Old Town / Chinatown / Japantown. Historically a neighborhood of immigrant and transient populations related to the shipping industries on the Willamette River, the district is unique to the city yet has always been in search of its identity. It is a prime location immediately adjacent to downtown and the Pearl district with numerous modes of transit and even serves as a visitorâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s first take of the city, travelling by light rail. Yet continues to be stifled by constraints and stereotypes: low permanent resident population, concentration of social services, historic architectural infrastructure needing expensive seismic upgrades, small lot sizes, limited building height, low floor-to-area ratio requirements, perception of crime and noise on weekends, all which restrain typical growth and development which has been seen in other parts of the city. NW Couch Street & Third Nightlife

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This proposal on Bock 19, between Burnside and Couch, and Second and Third Avenues looks to embrace the existing conditions by cooperating with and maintaining social service establishments, preserving historic facades through adaptive reuse and retaining the nightlife and entertainment scene for which the area is known. The primary arcjotectural component is a new Portland Music Academy, providing youth musicians an urban institute for classical education. T ’S

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A single-story existing building along Third Avenue, lacking historical significance served as the point of departure and new face for the academy. The site is narrow at 25 feet so the adjacent conAnother strategy was to open up the facade along demned building, the Glade Hotel was incorpoThe block is currently completely occupied by ex- Couch Street to accommodate a public perfor- rated into the project. The school is designed with isting structures and so it is through a qualitative mance / events hall which has the potential to spill a vertically hierarchy: lobby and events space and conversation about integrity and a quantitative look at metrics that led to decision about how to interject. It was also the intention to make a development project pencil out, so different programs are proposed to both help activate the block and be realistic economically. Retail is suggested at the ground floor of the converted buildings, commercial office space above and in the northeast parcel, shop houses with 3 added levels of housing. out onto the street if necessary. Going alongside this space, and opening to the rear of the academy is an enclosed alley, connecting to Burnside and providing an intimate gathering space for events and circulation to residences above.

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a small performance auditorium at the base and institutional rehearsal and practice components above.

With each architectural addition to the block, of primary concern was how to appropriately address the historic building, especially in elevation. The existing facades have a real and tangible thickness, relating to past construction methods but project a certain meaningfulness. This depth served as precedent for the treatment of the new facades, seeking to design a respectful, formalistbased, yet distinct insertion.

Facade Articulation / Interior Atrium

North Elevation along Couch Street

West Elevation along Third Avenue

West Elevation Studies

North Elevation Studies

Ground Floor Gallery to Alley / Public Auditorium

West Elevation Studies

Museum of Underwater Antiquities Piraeus, Greece PROJECT TEAM: DON GENASCI, SEAN CHO, JACOB SPENCE, ALICE PETERSON, LAUREN BRUNI, ELIZABETH MANSER, SARAH LUNDY SUMMER 2012

The project was to convert an existing cereal silo structure on the coast of the city of Piraeus, Greece into a Museum of Underwater Antiquities. Piraeus serves to this day as the port city of Athens, where historically the two cities were connected by a system of stone walls for protection. If Athens were to come under siege, the capitol could still receive supplies via Piraeus. Our design responds to this unique adjacency by introducing a new orientation to the existing silo structure, facing a preserved archaeological site of Roman wall fragments and towers. The grid shift is a point of departure for visitor movement throughout the museum: a processional ramp links the main exhibit galleries along a north wall, a blown out portion of the original structure, acting dually as a beacon and prominent entrance to the city from the Aegean Sea. Northwest Evening View

The south-facing mass walls are largely maintained with punched openings for conservation laboratories and offices. Both treatments, the opening up of the north walls and the maintaining of the original vertical planes, weave together at the main entrance, merging to create bay windows and views from the gallery spaces to the city. Another unifying element is the vertical light wells and solar chimneys which, utilizing existing storage chambers, divide the floors programmatically, bring light down into gallery spaces and ventilate the large spaces at night. It was desired to maintain a considerable amount of the existing mass and personality while also introducing a human scale, material warmth and a strong link to the city; both itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s historic urban fabric and the proposed future development at this site and along the entire cultural coast.

Northeast Elevation

Northwest Elevation

Museum & Urban Design Proposal

Entrance Hall to Atrium

Southwest Elevation

Southeast Elevation

Main Entrance

Ground Level Plan

First Level Plan

Typical Main Floor Plan

Atrium & Ramp

Roof Terrace Plan

Main Exhibit Gallery

South View at Plaza

Northwest School of Visual Arts Portland, Ore

INSTRUCTORS: DON GENASCI & SEAN CHO WINTER TERM 2012

At a transit crossroads and physical edge of the city, the idea is to create a new landmark which vertically and visually links Northwest Portland to the waterfront district and to create a public and educational experience which activates civic involvement and creative experimentation. An effort has been presented to redevelop a large portion of Northwest Portland along the Willamette River between the Broadway and Steel Bridges. Spurring from the need for a condensed art school, gallery space and community auditorium, the Northwest School of Visual Arts will be the catalyst for a new type of riverfront urbanity. Along the river, the existing McCormick Pier Crescent residences will be removed. While they have served the city for thirty years, the urban potential for a clear, accessible and dense neighborhood drastically contradicts the existing presence. The new development is inspired by Dutch waterfront Southwest View along Naito Pkwy / Front Ave

row houses and responds to adjacent housing for maximizing views and access. The linear design encourages pedestrian continuation along the river and creates a hierarchy of public opportunities. The project physically links across the Union Station heavy rail lines as these are viewed to be unsafe for frequent human crossing. A new pedestrian corridor will bridge up and over the tracks, creating steps and seating for views of the city, a public entrance the building, and a crossing down to Naito. To the Southwest of the site, a new civic plaza is created with the reorientation of MAX lines and increased building density. To the Northeast, a waterfront square greets the river and is flanked by cafĂŠs, shops and housing above. The existing Portland Firestation No. 02 is preserved on the site, converted into a vertical sculpture / winter garden and enclosed by a transparent glass enclosure. It becomes the jewel of the plaza. The art school itself is densely organized to take advantage of panorama views around a centralized service core. Louder, raw spaces for metallurgy, woodworking and pottery are located at ground level, flanked by the rail tunnel. These are double-height spaces with mezzanines and open to a student lounge and computer lab. Above are the public-access galleries for general art, film and photography. The top levels contain the institutional spaces, classrooms and professor studios. The auditorium links the ground sculpture garden with the raised entrance level / cafĂŠ with the library resting above.

Existing Figure-ground

Proposed Figure-ground

Temporary Exhibits Galleries

Northwest View along Naito Pkwy / Front Ave from Steel Bridge

Proposed Site Plan

Ground Level Plan

Ground Mezzanine Plan

First Level Plan

First Mezzanine Plan

Second Level Plan

Second Mezzanine Plan

SOUTH ELEVATION ALONG GLISAN STREET 1/16” = 1’-0”

South Elevation along NW Glisan Street

NORTHEAST ELEVATION ALONG NAITO PARKWAY 1/16” = 1’-0”

Northeast Elevation along NW Naito Pkwy / Front Ave

Second Floor Partial Plan

Partial South Elevation

Enclosure Assemblies: Glass Louver / Metal Panel / Masonry

Section A — Core & Terraces

Section B — Gallery & Studios

Section A — Core & Terraces

Section B — Gallery & Studios

Cross-Laminated Timber Institute / LK Colombo, Sri Lanka

INSTRUCTORS: SUSAN JONES & JOSHUA HILTON SPRING TERM 2012

After visiting Sri Lanka, our visiting professor, Susan Jones of atelierjones introduced the studio to this country and culture. As much as possible, we immersed ourselves into this foreign place through readings, precedent studies and discussion. How do we design in a climate very different than our own, for users who understand space very differently than we do? And all the time realizing the islandâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s rich, almost ancient history and natural beauty. The project was to explore these concepts while proposing to help local communities of crafts people and laborers to train, build, and distribute building products from locally grown natural materials, creating lasting economic opportunity, cultural identity and beautiful environments through the vehicle of a newly created NGO: The Woodworking Institute of Sri Lanka. The studio split into two

project groups: one to design the production-based woodworking facility on the Madu Ganga river in Balapitiya, and the other to design the headquarters component in an ex-urban region in Colombo.

A Filter for Light and Air

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BANGLADESH I have designed an NGO around the production of INDIA cross-laminated timber, or CLT. This wood panel MYANMAR fabrication method is relatively new, beginning MUMBAI in Austria and Switzerland in the 1990s which involves the alternating of boards being laid perpendicular to oneBANGALORE another, adhered either by an interlocking method or a wood dowel system. I believe the introduction of this construction method in this location would be an industry generator and one solution to disaster-stricken SRI LANKA and outdated methods of concrete construction in a tsunami zone.

TRIP VIA CAR TO COLOMBO CITY CENTER 4.6 MILES, 15 MIN CAR TRIP

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My concept was concerned with the idea of transition and the resultant interstitial spaces. I was interested in the blurring of these boundaries, between indoors to outdoors, concealed to open space, dark to light. It is a common phenomena in tropical and especially eastern cultures that nature should penetrate the traditional western idea of interior space. The project seeks to explore those soft lines with the creation of interstitial zones in a working environment, primarily in the building’s circulation corridor. The building’s core functions are removed from traditional central placement CHINA and instead run along the east side. It is a permeable wood-slat structure housing the vertical circuAKISTAN NEPAL NEW DELHI wells and lation, light service areas BHUTANwhile reading as one mass.

615 BIYAGAMA ROAD, PELIYAGODA WESTERN PROVINCE, SRI LANKA

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CROSS LAMINATED TIMBER INSTITUTE, COLOMBO, WESTERN PROVINCE

TEAK TREE PLANTATION, MEEGAMA, WESTERN PROVINCE OFF-SITE FABRICATION FACILITY, BALAPITIYA, SOUTHERN PROVINCE

BUS #135 TO CITY CENTER CEYLON TRANSIT BOARD (CTB)

Context The building site is bounded by the busy Biyagama Road and a narrow side street. Traffic is often heavy and street life, diverse and busy so concentration inwards is important.

Interstitial Circulation Core

Extrusion

Breezeway

Parking

Courtyard

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Program Adjustments

The maximum building envelope is determined respective of adjacent massing and programmatic requirements. Similar to typical Sri Lankan construction, the ground floor is set at 12’-0” floor-to-floor with the above three levels at 11’-0”.

A narrow slice separates the extrusion into three: a larger mass for program, a service core, and between, the open-air circulation breezeway serving as the building’s primary circulation.

At ground level, the larger mass is raised to allow for occupant parking accessed through the side street via a gate in the service core.

The center of the larger mass is subtracted, increasing daylight and opening to a vertical courtyard. Office workstations are oriented outside thus creating a sense of community with the workshop under the canopy of a lush tree.

Connecting all the program spaces along the breezeway is a circulation tower. This interstitial space contains the main stair and enlarged landings for impromptu meetings or small outdoor gatherings.

A set back at the lower level opens up the institute showroom to the public. The front facade is also accentuated to reveal the main entrance.

Site Plan

Ground Level Plan

First Level Plan

Second Level Plan

Third Level Plan

CLT

South Elevation

East Elevation

North Elevation

West Elevation

Section A-A

Section B-B

Section C-C

Section D-D

To inspire local communities to action, both in Sri Lanka and the United States, and create lasting communities and powerful environments of deep beauty, sustainably designed and built.

List of plates

U-BAHN STATION PL ATFORM APRIL 2008 – Dortmund, Germany

ROMAN DOMES MARCH 2008 – Chiesa del Santissimo Di Maria & Santa Maria di Lreto, Rome, Italy

VIEW FROM ST. DENIS JANUARY 2008 – Rue de la Boulangerie, Saint-Denis, France

HIGH LINE TUNNEL MARCH 2010 – High Line Park, New York City, United States Featured in Winter COLUMNS magazine, Dallas

OREGONIAN PACIFIC JULY 2011 – +42º 9’ 52.82”, -124º 21’ 37.48”, United States

SWISS CHEESE APRIL 2008 – Zollverein School of Management & Design, Essen, Germany

MY KIND OF RED JULY 2011 – Golden Gate Bridge, San Francisco, United States

TOP FLOOR MAY 2008 – National Gallery, Prague, Czech Republic