CONTEXT CATALOGUE COLLAGE
JONATHAN ERWIN B.A.ARCHITECTURE PORTFOLIO
Context: To design is to understand; to have an unfaltering curiosity of a problem, its surroundings and its environment, melding an out-of-place perspective with an insider view; to rehash meaning and notice the most sincere moments that define a place, an object, or a time.
Catalogue: To design is to ask “What if?�; to have head-on collisions with ideas, fantasy, utopian forms, and reality; to watch the evolution of a concept, stolen from unrelated and inconceivable places, extracted into new scenarios; list, sketch, and envision the white noise of the world and systematically arrange it; to create a collection of thoughts, strategies, and storylines.
Collage: To design is to place; to generate an existence in a greater composition, resolving connections within a macro to micro detail; to play with a teetering form between organized execution and complete madness; to form a transition in time and moments of being; to create a melded entity that can stand for itself functionally, and formally; to manifest an idea within space.
A collection of works designed, fabricated, documented, and built by Jonathan Erwin. Updated: 12.31.2011
ACADEMIC RESEARCH: SUCCESSION STUDIO MODERN ANTIQUITY DWELLING FOR A MAN OF WORDS CITY AS A HILL
PERSONAL RESEARCH: FORM MAKING & IMAGE PLAY COLLABORATIONS
Dispersed catalyst, Tug in the social fabric, Shows strength of people
SUCCESSION STUDIO INSTRUCTOR: Angela Co Fall 2010 An exploration of program through the act of dispersed elements in Lexington, KY. This project derives from a material analysis of the act of diffusion in suspended liquids, and the observations on how networks are broken down to source, path, and edge conditions. The program elements were deduced through a careful investigation in various grassroots and local organizations. It is in my belief that the program elements used are the greatest common denominators between each of these groups, and can act as new platforms for future groups and individuals. In the spirit of these local organizations, each aspect of the program plays the role of a catalyst for new activity or social awareness. This exploration is done through a series of urban interventions that explore a commonality through a relationship of programs relating broadcast and performance, food, earth, and craft. In the design and implementation of these interventions, a new urban space is formed. This implementation includes, but is not limited to, hijacking current infrastructure, highlighting anomalies in the urban fabric, and an introduction of new elements into the city of Lexington. Precedents/Project Inspiration: Bernard Tschumi-Parc de la Villette Allan Kaprow-“Happenings�
MATERIAL ANALYSIS
SOURCE FORM NETWORK OVERLAY
BREAKDOWN OF SOURCE
RE-ORGANIZATION OF FORM INTERRUPTION OF NETWORK
ZONE OF AFFECT
ORIGIN
GENERATIONAL GROWTH NATURAL PROGRESSION OF APPLIED DISPERSAL SOURCES
COLLECT DIFFUSE COLLECT
DIFFUSE
COLLECT
DIFFUSE
COLLECT
APPLIED CIRCULATION PATTERNS
APPLIED PROGRAM TYPOLOGIES BROADCAST PROGRAM
DIVERGE
EARTH PROGRAM
MEET
MEET MEET DIVERGE
MEET
MATERIAL PROGRAM DIVERGE MEET
MEET
FOOD PROGRAM
Experimental Film Daily Video Blog Community Group Classified Ads Do-it-Yourself Video Remote Concert Surveillance
Public Studio Space Dispersed Case-Galleries Material Warehouses/Libraries Network Collaborations Equipment Rental
Open Kitchen Community Table Public Locker Refrigerators Neighborhood Recipe Databases Hanging Fire Escape Gardens Rooftop Green-Scape Office Lunch Window Boxes Wall Air Filters Drainage Water Gardens Rooftop Farms Curb Odor Gardens
GENERATIONAL FLUCTUATIONS IN PROGRAM PLACEMENT
FIRST GENERATION
SECOND GENERATION
THIRD GENERATION
FOURTH GENERATION
MICRO-SITE VIGNETTES
A catalogue of found micro-sites in the city that are currently underutilized. Here, they have been re-contextualized as possible sites for future developments.
MICRO-SITE PROGRAM DEVELOPMENT HANGING GARDENS
SOLAR COLLECTOR PRESSURE SENSITIVE The backs of billboards contain solar panels and hanging gardens, providing energy for illuminating signs by night, and space to grow fruit by day.
STAGE The central core of a spiral ramp, belonging to a parking garage, becomes a stage, creating a theatre in the round, that is meant to be observed through passing cars.
The covers of manholes and other interruptions in the sidewalk become triggers for peestrians to give way to brief music accompaniment, urging people to stop and listen.
SKYLIGHT
The circulation paths become articulated cinema projections, animated by the motion of transit, and constant change of perspective.
The rooftops of tall buildings, beyond the typical scope of light of the city, become an observatory of the sky.
STORAGE
FRIDGE LOCKERS SOLAR COLLECTOR STUDIO
WATER TANK
The absences in social development become The urban cavities of the city become a place for citizens to share meals and studio spaces for craftsmen and artist create a sense of unity. alike, providing space for galleries, retail centers, and public displays.
Urban renewal, The history rewritten, A new point of view
MODERN ANTIQUITY INSTRUCTOR: Mark O’Bryan Spring 2010 An exploration of the urban context in conjunction with the portrayal of time. This project aimed to transform the ancient city of Knossos, Crete, as if it were uninterrupted in time, and progressed through the future, to a near-modern era. Through the use of collage, assemblage, and chance, the project investigates the potential of what could have been the future of the city. Form was created from a dissection of modern technologies, and the application of these found objects on an urban scale. A narrative emerged giving the city a rich historical and cultural context. Eventually, a set of experiences was created, that through the act of random drawing would begin to describe the journey of an inhabitant through the city. The aim to give each person a different interpretation of a poetic experience, through the use of haiku, creates multiple perspectives of the same place. Mimicking reality, this creates different narratives from similar experiences. Precedents/Project Inspiration: Bernard Tschumi-The Manhattan Transcripts Design Sensibilities of Ikea Brian Eno-Oblique Strategies Francis Ponge-The Poetics of Things
-AMPHITHEATER
MAIN COURT
-KAIRATOS RIVER
ANCIENT CITY OF KNOSSOS, CRETE 1800 B.C.E. (PALACE OF MINOS) (THE LABYRINTH)
-GRAND STAIRCASE
-QUEEN’S MEGARON
PIANO NOBILE-
STOREROOMS-
-HALL OF THE DOUBLE AXES
How to Make a Modern City:
1) 2) 3) 4) 5) 6) 7) 8) 9) 10) 11) 12) 13) 14) 15) 16) 17) 18) 19) 20) 21) 22) 23) 24) 25) 26) 27) 28) 29) 30) 31) 32) 33) 34) 35) 36) 37) 38) 39) 40) 41) 42) 43) 44) 45) 46) 47) 48) 49) 50)
Acquire land. Any site can be transformed into a city. Popular locations are by water or other plentiful resources. Impose law. Create order from nature, nip chaos and anarchy in the bud. Build infrastructure. Roads and a basic street grid will do for now. Populate. (May need to be repeated as time continues.) Prosper. Wait for infrastructure to fail. Make improvements twenty years later. Adjust zoning codes for fun. It keeps things interesting. Impose new regulations and accept minorities. Diversity is power. Begin to pretend to care about the environment. Become dependent on foreign economies, oil, trade, etc. Realize dependence and make effort to become independent via: windmills, hydroelectric, local economies. Invest in new technologies like Apple, Google or General Electric. Rumble a bit with neighboring cities. Host the Olympics. Double points for the Summer Games and hiring famous architects for the new facilities. Survive a natural disaster. Mother nature throws curve balls and likes earthquakes. Rebuild infrastructure, and start a clean-up program. Implement a new education system. Remove physical punishment and recess. Host a university. Host several universities: liberal arts, a flagship, a private, a denominational, a seminary, and an Ivy League. Be open about immigration. Accept people from new places with new ideas. Watch culture develop. Improve city defenses. Nuclear threats are real. Use your city in the movies. Everybody loves movies. Build a landmark. Iconography creates identity. Build a stadium. Make the sports fans happy, and forget about the budget. Find more resources, by force if necessary. Create a recycling program. Improve mass transit. Host a World Exposition, an Equine Cup, or a Forumla-1 event. Become the center of attention: get big, and stay big. Repeat steps if necessary. Destroy parts of historic districts for new building forms. Concrete is cheap. Raise taxes. Improve the landscape. Publicize the city to the masses: Retweet, Like, and Instagram. Create green zones. Connect to major methods of transportation like planes, trains, and automobiles. Host major progressive companies. Forward thinking will launch the city into a new epoch. Attract the gays, young professionals, and empty nesters. Start up a city arts movement. Theatre wows the crowd. Rework road systems, eliminating car transport in major pedestrian areas. Implement the “New Grand Scheme,� teeter with bankruptcy. Become tolerable of new religions. God hates haters. Participate in National Pillow Fight Day. Become a global hub for trade and business: Integrate, synthesize, and participate. Build a new hospital and cure cancer. Implement a city wide Wi-Fi network. Make an iPhone app. Install cameras for surveillance. Catch crime before it happens. Create three-week festivals for meaningless events, like horse races or historical anniversaries. Begin to listen to the citizens.
ANCIENT CITY OF KNOSSOS. 1800 B.C.E. SÜTHNINYBÁL (2100 C.E.)
-R. KAIRATOS -URBAN CORE -MIX USE -AGRICULTURAL FARMLAND PASTURE FLOODPLAIN
FOUND FORM
INDUSTRY TRANSPORTATION HUBS LOW DENSITY: -RESIDENTIAL -COMMERCIAL
DEVELOPMENT OF URBAN CORE
GOVERNMENT HIGH DENSITY: -COMMERCIAL -RESIDENTIAL
DETAILED URBAN CORE
ROW TWO grid iron walls, hold in the labor of men, overflow profits tower of lasers, beaming out of polished weeds, keep crime low gleamed delegation, governed coils of ordered law, order is alive
A SERIES OF NARRATIVES WITHIN THE CITY OF SĂœTHNINYBĂ L
toxic plants stir leaks syrup of pollutant, on to virgin land
(IN NO PARTICULAR ORDER)
institutional, the act of order, through use, practice makes perfect
ROW ONE
ROW THREE
a pieced volume crops out daylight for broadcast, censored brightness
bold edifices, bear heavy vaults, guarded keeps, protects from streets
designed courtyards created from the absence, of looming towers
urban condition stood against the fortress wall, a bleak protection
factory grit, a humming of progression, industry at work verandas reach out, over plazas of people, and fuzz the set lines sterile cityscapes finds monochrome unity, and utility
short circuits systems gear towards new front on labor, keep taxes low diving boards soars void, as the pool drains, cause complain, unhappy children outcropped verandas swirl delicate conversations, with colored martinis
Woven harmony, A filtered reality Metamorphosis
DWELLING FOR A MAN OF WORDS INSTRUCTOR: Elizabeth Swanson Spring 2009 A play on organic form, given material properties of weaving, with applied program. This project investigates the interaction of two material systems, and how opportunity presented within form creates new potential for a given purpose. The program, consisting of a housing and creative space for a writer, was extended throughout the project. Further, it catered, in a diagrammatic approach, to the material systems relating to public and private spaces. The solid, yet restrained, system holds and paralyzes the more fluid weaving system. Meanwhile, the woven system deforms and transforms to the tensions and forces of the restraint system. This dynamism creates a constant dialogue between materials and systems. The solid form and space it creates invests in a more private nature. The fragmented form of the fluid system lends itself openly and invitingly to the public. Precedents/Project Inspiration: Antonio Gaudi-Sagrada Familia Frank Ghery-Disney Concert Hall
DIAGRAMS OF ORGANIC FLUCTUATING PROGRAMS
GALLERY STUDIO
ARCHIVE
ARCHIVE STUDIO
GALLERY
ARCHIVE GALLERY
STUDIO
FORMAL CONTOUR STUDY SKIN
STRUCTURE
SECTIONAL DEVELOPMENT OF TWO SYSTEMS
GALLERY
ARCHIVE
STUDIO
DEVELOPMENT OF TWO SYSTEMS
MATERIAL SYSTEM ONE
TRANSFORMATION OF MATERIAL SYSTEM
MATERIAL SYSTEM ONE
AERIAL PLAN MATERIAL SYSTEM TWO
MATERIAL SYSTEM ONE
SECTIONAL DEVELOPMENT
GALLERY ARCHIVE RETREAT STUDIO
ENTERTAIN
Established System, Historical fashioning, Flexible future
CITY AS A HILL INSTRUCTOR: Richard Levine Spring 2011 An investigation into the flexibility found within a given system of order. In reference to the variety of spaces found within given parameters, this project focuses on Italian hill-towns, such as Todi and Sienna, and how the vernacular architecture of the last millennium can be adapted to solve modern problems in urban form, stainability, efficiency, and unified order. This project is a single part of a greater problem, trying to solve various spatial dilemma of the city as a hill system. The focus displayed here discusses the variability of the new urban interior form and resulting program can be categorized and assigned to locations within the city as a hill system. The focus of this project as a whole is to create space, keeping with the context of the established system. Breaking this system is permitted if the conditions and influences are fully understood. Programmatically, the design is divided into three categories encompassing different typologies for each condition in idea of scale: Small, Medium, and Large. Precedents/Project Inspiration: Medieval Italian Hill Towns Yona Friedman-Superstructures
INTEGRATION OF CITY AS A HILL SPATIAL SYSTEM
SPATIAL SYSTEMS These interconnected structural and planning grids define relationships that relate the coupled pan space frame structural system (far left top) to larger modules that make up the sloped streets and building fabric of the city as a hill urban form (far left bottom). As the form is integrated into this system, a structurally sound default condition is created. This condition can be modulated for expansion, and adapted for various site conditions. The opportunity within this system is to create variance in the given modules, and use the flexibility of various planning grids to create new urban forms within a given language of design rules.
SCALAR PROGRAM LARGE
PROGRAM
MEDIUM
MEDIUM
MEDIUM SMALL
With a structured formal language, the program creates opportunity for innovation. Using the order of a gridded system, a new zoning program allows for hierarchy of size and connectivity within the vertical context. This hierarchy gives order to an otherwise chaotic growth pattern of natural development along a horizontal context.
NATURAL DEVELOPMENT
VS. SMALL
PROGRAM HIERARCHY
MEDIUM LARGE
SMALL
MEDIUM
LARGE
SINGLE FAMILY HOME FACTORY LIBRARY PORT AIRPORT BUS STOP RETAIL GROCER TOWNHOUSES PARK HOSPITAL PRE-SCHOOL SPECIALTY SHOPS RESTAURANTS OFFICE FIRM PRISON SCHOOL POWER PLANT AMUSEMENT PARK CHURCH UNIVERSITY WAREHOUSE GREENHOUSE POOL APARTMENTS STADIUM PARKING GARAGE MOVIE MEGAPLEX CAFE
SMALL
MEDIUM
LARGE
SINGLE FAMILY HOME FACTORY LIBRARY PORT AIRPORT BUS STOP RETAIL GROCER TOWNHOUSES PARK HOSPITAL PRE-SCHOOL SPECIALTY SHOPS RESTAURANTS OFFICE FIRM PRISON SCHOOL POWER PLANT AMUSEMENT PARK CHURCH UNIVERSITY WAREHOUSE GREENHOUSE POOL APARTMENTS STADIUM PARKING GARAGE MOVIE MEGAPLEX CAFE
SMALL
MEDIUM
LARGE
SINGLE FAMILY HOME FACTORY LIBRARY PORT AIRPORT BUS STOP RETAIL GROCER TOWNHOUSES PARK HOSPITAL PRE-SCHOOL SPECIALTY SHOPS RESTAURANTS OFFICE FIRM PRISON SCHOOL POWER PLANT AMUSEMENT PARK CHURCH UNIVERSITY WAREHOUSE GREENHOUSE POOL APARTMENTS STADIUM PARKING GARAGE MOVIE MEGAPLEX CAFE
PROGRAM DEVELOPMENT WITH INTEGRATED SYSTEM Glass-Crete With an implementation of specialized materials, the structural space frame can be penetrated by sunlight, offering a reliable light source to the upper levels and interior city as a hill system.
Flexible Facades The ability to alter the elevations of the same structure for various purposes allows for a constant variety of interior space; the form is further influenced by the program hierarchy’s organization. Given Default Condition
CHIMNEY AFFECT TO INNER CITY
SUN
RADIO TOWER-URBAN GARDENS TOWNHOUSE/APARTMENTS-
City Skylight The skylight offers a constant supply of light and fresh air to the interior of the hill. Included within this form is a hotel, townhouses, and a radio tower, as well as urban gardening opportunities.
Transit Center The transit center, located within the lowest level of the interior of the hill, bisects major infrastructure and large scaled program with a constant flow of goods and people via both rail and car; this allows for the city to connect with a larger network of cities.
SMALL SCALE COMMERCIAL-
-HOTEL -VISITOR CENTER
UPPER LAYERS OF CITY AS A HILL SYSTEM
SECTIONAL DEVELOPMENT THROUGH CITY AS A HILL SYSTEM
CENTRAL LAYERS OF CITY AS A HILL SYSTEM
FORM MAKING AND IMAGE PLAY
MOLECULAR MOSH-PIT Spring 2011 Photographic Study Investigation of similar compacting forms in nature. In this example, air bubbles are trapped in the rock’s surfaces under a flowing stream.
MICRO-SCALED ARCHITECTURE Spring 2011 (Basswood, Found material) Formal Play on urban forms on found objects.
PHENOMENAL PERSPECTIVE Fall 2008 (Basswood, Hot glue, Paper) An analysis of perspective and point of view that creates different formal outcomes from a singular viewpoint.
GRAVITRON Fall 2011 (Arduino, Cardboard, Electronic Media) Initially inspired by the German sound artist Christina Kubisch, this device reads electromagnetic waves in an environment, and makes them audible. In doing this, the Gravitron reveals an invisible urban condition, and brings to life an otherwise quiet space.
BAG OF SKY Spring 2008 (Acrylic Paint) At 3:00 a.m. you hit a wall, and sometimes the only option is to use two pints of paint you have been saving for a special purpose, and cover the floor with it. Then you begin thinking radically. A world of color washes over mundane surfaces, creating a diagram of movement. Emphasizing on gesture, inspiration becomes actualized.
OBSERVATION OF KUDZU Spring 2011 (Digital Collage) Kudzu, invasive by nature, covers the sprawling dynamic landscapes of the mountains. The plant, not only taking over, engulfs all under a cloak of uniformed dense green. The plant interacts with the landscape, organizing and setting a system of order to the chaos of the mountains. In contrast, a house stands untouched. It sits matter of factly, a single purity exposed to the world. The house, obviously abandoned by the evidence of decay, stands as a testament of the world that once existed, beneath the veil of the plant.
HAZE Fall 2011 (Digital Drawing, Processing) A random field generator created with a Processing script.
FORMAL PROCESS
SKIN SYSTEM DEVELOPMENT
MASSING MODELS
FLEX Spring 2010 (Rhino, Digital Drawing) A Pavilion modeled after a rotated rectilinear prism.
STREET SCENE REDUX Fall 2011 (Digital Collage, Processing) Using the Google Street View API, and Processing, this study creates a continuous facade that flows up or down a street.
SWATCHES OF BERLIN Summer 2011 (Paper, Found Material, Collage) A series made from recovered trash, refuse, and scraps, collected, collaged and catalogued, display 100 instances of Berlin, forming a discussion on color, design, and culture. You can tell a lot by what people throw away.
COLLABORATIONS
PERFOROMA_08 INSTRUCTOR: Mike McKay Graduate Seminar, Spring 2009 “This work seeks to create multi-performative material systems utilizing optimization, aggregation and efficiency. Simple units and semifinished materials were physically tested in order to extract potential performative characteristics and limits. These limits were negotiated through rigorous digital and physical techniques in order to produce strategies of fabrication. The formal systems have inherent structural capacities, as well as an ability to adapt to changing conditions. Meaning although the system is adaptable, they must be self-structural and fabricated using off-the-shelf material that can weather. Because of the system pliability, variation can occur within a seemingly homogenous system.� -Mike McKay PRESS: http://archinect.com/ http://www.suckerpunchdaily.com/ http://www.designafterhours.blogspot.com http://www.spaceinvading.com PHOTOS BY: Jon McCallister PART IN PROJECT: Fabrication Assistant
DUNE ARTIST: Daan Roosengaarde Fall 2009 With assistance and funding provided by Idea Festival and Art Without Walls in Louisville, KY DUNE is a public interactive landscape that interacts with human behavior. This hybrid of nature and technology is composed of large amounts of fibers that brighten according to the sounds and motion of passing visitors. This version is filled with hundreds of interactive lights and sounds. DUNE investigates nature in a futuristic relation with urban space by means of looking, walking and interacting. PRESS: http://www.design.nl/ http://www.artdaily.org http://visculture.com/ http://www.LouisvilleMojo.com PHOTOS BY: Madelynn Ringo Christopher Hall PART IN PROJECT: Fabrication Assistant Site Context Designer
ZIP-TIE MASSIMAL ARTIST: D.O.T.S. Spring 2011 “Massimals are 1:1 design objects that serve as prototypes to examine how physical form can engage the public realm. These constructs are mass abstractions of animal forms fabricated in systematic fashion from one material. The suggestive forms and their specific arrangement imply docile behavior similar to animals in a petting zoo, augmenting the way visitors approach and engage built form. For the installation in the 2011 Beaux Arts Ball, this Massimal blends in with the lively atmosphere of the party by creating a spectacle in the form of a glowing volume comprised of over 20,000 zip ties.� -D.O.T.S. PRESS: http://www.notcot.org http://www.suckerpunch.com http://www.Archinect.com http://www.todayandtomorrow.net http://www.designboom.com http://anthologymag.com http://www.juxtapoz.com http://www.zillamag.com/
PHOTOS BY: GLINTstudios PART IN PROCESS: Fabrication Assistant
ORGANIC CONCEPTS ARTIST: Shih Chieh Huang Fall 2011 With assistance and funding provided by Art Without Walls and the Idea Festival. “The undulating, gossamer-light sculpture scaling the steps of the Kentucky Center for the Performing Arts beginning on September 21st is the work of New York-based artist Shih Chieh Huang. While it may resemble a caterpillar, a cloud, and a number of other forms and creatures found in nature, this artwork is made from simple, everyday materials—plastic sheets and box fans. Huang’s Organic Concept was conceived in the artist’s imagination, in response to this unique site in downtown Louisville. In recent years, Huang’s Organic Concept works have appeared in a range of urban and rural settings—growing from a field in France, filling a barn in Belgium, crawling from a car hood in New York. In each instance, they are designed, says the artist, to explore “how to use simple materials to create something beautiful and fun.” Surprising, delightful, and innovative, the Organic Concept transforms this public entryway into a site for contemplation, inspiration, and connection.” -LEO WEEKLY PRESS: http://insiderlouisville.com/ http://leoweekly.com/ PHOTOS BY: Jonathan Erwin PART IN PROCESS: Fabrication Assistant Fabrication Photographer