PORTFOLIO J E S S DA N C E R
CON T EN T HINGED | Clemson University | 2017
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AGRICULTURAL INFUSION | Clemson University | 2016
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ONE OAK STREET | Solomon Cordwell Buenz | 2014
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INTERLACE | University of Cincinnati | 2015
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ASCENT | University of Cincinnati | 2014
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SUSPENDED SPACE | University of Cincinnati | 2014
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PROMENADE + PAUSE | Clemson University | 2017
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INSERTED IDENTITY | University of Cincinnati | 2015
08 RESUME
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ONE H I N GED CLEMSON UNIVERSITY | AUGUST 2017
Because of its location on the Mediterranean Sea, Genoa, Italy is a crossroads for immigrants entering Europe. Upon arrival, the basic need for shelter is met while the newcomers ingest a transfusion of all the individual cultures brought into this new city. Located in the industrial port of Genoa, the site is sandwiched between the old city wall and a busy highway, serving as the hinge between residential tranquility and the constant bustling activity of the industry. This project strives to enlarge the active downtown port, extending its public life out further along the coastline, creating a beautiful refuge for migrants and Genovese residents to intermingle and share cultures.
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CORE + BRANCHES The three-building complex opens onto itself through negative cores, reducing the noise impact from the street and port beyond the main elevation. Raising the program to the level of the residential street behind the site allows for the implementation of a series of plazas to bring aroundthe-clock life to an otherwise vacant and unused area. A central cultural hub serves as the nucleus of integration and permeation between both residents and non-residents, off which branch the living spaces for the immigrants.
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BREATHABLE SKIN Unconditioned spaces, found where the buildings are cut by the negative cores, allow passive ventilation to cross through the structure at all levels. Both residential and public programmatic spaces .can open into these zones, vertically linking the plaza and building functions. A two-layer, permeated brick facade further emphasizes these passive strategies, while adhering to the traditional Genovese material palette. Mirroring stairs wrap the site, connecting the urban plaza level with the private residential streets beyond.
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SKIN
PROGRAM LIVE
CULTURE
LIVE
PLAZA
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TWO AG R IC U LTURA L I N FU SI O N CLEMSON UNIVERSITY | AUGUST 2016 | PARTNER LAUREN GRZIBOWSKI
Injecting a working culinary and brewing school into downtown Greenville will diversify the age, race, and economic status of the region. Students of the school have the opportunity to work towards their education in order to pay off their tuition and graduate debt-free. The site contains four buildings: the brewery, renovated from the pre-existing Greenville News building, two multi-use educational buildings, and an apartment complex. Open courtyards and interior greenhouses are located in each academic building to fully immerse students within the growing landscape and blur the relationship between exterior and interior spaces. Terraced farm-able land, used primarily to grow the barley and hops for the brewery (but supplemented by other crops), encapsulates the programmatic buildings and stretches into the adjacent park, connecting the park to the urban cityscape.
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1. EXISTING SITE CONDITIONS RETAIN GREENVILLE NEWS BUILDING
2. BREAKUP SITE TO INCREASE ACCESS REMOVE PARKING STRUCTURE
3. RE-PURPOSE FACADE AS SECONDARY SKIN CARVE COURTYARDS + GROWING SPACES
4. MANIPULATE FORM FOR OPTIMUM SUNLIGHT + VIEWS
BIOCLIMATIC FORM Utilizing over half of the site for crops helps to offset the urban footprint and better define the relationship between farm and table for the city’s residents. Creating an agricultural landscape in an urban setting allows the buildings to be shaped by environmental factors such as maximum daylighting and water retention, leading to a low, sprawling form. The two L-shaped buildings are angled so that their long faces align with prevailing winds, maximizing the amount of cross ventilation through the buildings and across the site.
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GREENHOUSE BREWERY
CLASSROOMS TEACHING KITCHEN
RESTAURANT
AUDITORIUM
TEACHING KITCHEN
TASTING KITCHEN
GROWING TERRACES
CAFE
APARTMENTS
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MIXED LANDSCAPES A secondary skin of metal mesh over a glass curtain wall system pulls apart at pivotal programmatic points in the building to create an inhabitable interior space that blends into the exterior landscape. Roof terraces minimize internal heat gains while simultaneously offsetting impervious surfaces for water runoff. The operable polycarbonate panels between the terracing and mesh shading device act as a greenhouse to create a warm pocket around the building while also having the option act as a passive ventilation system to release heat.
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PUBLIC FARMING The altering crop density creates seasonal dimensional spaces and provides a unique agricultural experience within the city. The site is active throughout the year, including the winter, since barley grows best in this climate during those months. Consideration was given to the location of each crop variety The crop fields are open for the public to walk through, giving city residents a chance to see and interact with the farming process firsthand. The restaurant and brewery also allow the public to see the brewing process up close, educating them on how a self-sustainable brewery works from start to finish.
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T H REE O NE OA K ST REET SOLOMON CORDWELL BUENZ | DECEMBER 2014
Solomon Cordwell Buenz is working in collaboration with Snøhetta on a highrise apartment building located at the intersection of Market Street, Van Ness Avenue, and Oak Street, near San Francisco City Hall. SCB is designing the tower and Snøhetta is working on the public ground space/MUNI bus stop. The design (not created by author) is a curved structure that, in plan, takes on the shape of a pinched ellipse. Three giant cuts split the building, providing large-scale amenity space for the residents as well as an outdoor deck to accommodate the lack of individual balcony units. The clients preferred a glassdominated structure to provide optimum views for the inhabiting residents.
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HORIZONTAL UNDULATION
SOLAR INTERSECTIONS
Horizontal mullions are emphasized in a wave pattern to bring more movement into the structure. This allows for a complete floor-to-ceiling view out of the units.
Vertical undulations work with the horizontals to shade interiors during the most intense hours of sunlight. The vertical waves also help to hide mechanical spaces.
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STAGGERED PANELS
TILTED PANELS
Opaque panels break up the regularity of the curtain wall grid without sacrificing the outward view. The mechanical shaft is discreetly hidden with a slightly denser pattern.
Trapezoid panels bend in and out across the facade. The angled glass obscures direct views in by reflecting surrounding buildings.
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FOU R INT ERLACE UNIVERSITY OF CINCINNATI | DECEMBER 2015 | PARTNER TIMOTHY WANG
This project reinterprets the novel, If on a Winter’s Night a Traveler, across another genre: the game. The concept of a dual partnership with multiple journeys, dead ends, and split paths is explored through this playful representation . The game is intended to be played by 2+ players within a 10-15 minute time frame. Each participant has 12 cubes, consisting of either white or black slides. The player must use at least all 12 of his cubes (may use his opponent’s cubes as well) to create a path for a ball to roll through. The cubes have openings in either the top, middle, or bottom, so players must find a way to direct the ball across the board from the top to the bottom level using all of one’s pieces. The first to form a complete path that a ball can travel through wins. A dice with sides of 1, 2, and blank (no turn) that players roll at the start of a turn add an element of luck to the strategic form. There is also opportunity to rotate or replace cubes on the board in order to create a complete path.
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1
2
3 STRAIGHT
6 CURVE
2 SLOPE
1 INTERSECTION
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1. EACH PLAYER PICKS A COLOR. MOVE CUBES FROM BOX TO CORRESPONDING COLORED TRAY.
2. PLAYER WITH HIGHEST ROLL BEGINS + ROLLS DICE TO PLACE A CUBE IN THE TOP ROW OF THE BOARD. PLAYER TWO REPEATS.
3A. PLAYERS CONTINUE ROLLING THE DICE + ADDING CUBES TO THE BOARD.
3B. PLAYERS CAN ALSO CHOOSE TO SWITCH THE PLACEMENT OF TWO CUBES OR REPLACE ONE WITH ANOTHER.
4. KEEP PLAYING UNTIL A PLAYER HAS BUILT A COMPLETE PATH FOR THE BALL TO ROLL THROUGH.
5. ADD IN ALL EXTRA CUBES TO COMPLETE GRID. SEND THE BALL THRU TO WIN.
WOVEN CIRCUITS Initial diagrams of character relationships within the storied chapters of the novel inspired the idea for the game. Each chapter was represented as a triangular relationship, assigned as either an isosceles, equilateral, or scalene form based on the intimacy of the Narrator with the supporting characters within each chapter. The Narrator is represented by a dot,; the thicker line depicts the most prominent relationship between characters in the chapter. These concepts were then combined with a partner to create the game structure.
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F I VE A SCEN T UNIVERSITY OF CINCINNATI | JANUARY 2015
The site is located in the middle of Vine Street, Cincinnati on the dividing edge between dilapidated structures and vacancy & an up-and-coming downtown district. This project intends to merge the two environments by providing lowincome housing while remaining stately enough to attract new people into the area. Because the site is located on a hill, all southern views above three stories (to see over neighboring row houses) have an uninterrupted view of the city skyline. The adjacent jazz club located on the corner remained intact, so the design also had to negotiate size differences with this two-story structure. The courtyard space in the center of the apartment complex allows for shoppers using the bottom level to mingle with upstairs apartment dwellers. The courtyard is open on two ends to allow a pass through of pedestrian traffic to the bus stop at the back corner.
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1. WRAPPING SITE PERIMETER
2. PUSH FRONT + PULL BACK FOR BEST SOUTHERN EXPOSURE
3. CARVE FRONT FOR INCREASED COURTYARD SPACE
4. ROTATE FRONT FOR OUTDOOR PATIO
5. LIFT MASSING FOR ADDED WINDOW LIGHT
6. FINAL BUILDING MASSING
SINUOUS STRUCTURE The top set of diagrams detail the design steps for the building, creating a structure that is carved from both top and bottom for optimal views and lighting. The lower set demonstrates early massing ideas for the site. The final product results in a continuous mass, wrapping the edge of the site to create an internal courtyard. Perforated corten steel panels are broken across the facade to strategically reveal glazing in the more public programmatic spaces of each apartment unit.
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LEVELS FOUR + SIX
LEVELS THREE + FIVE
GROUND LEVEL
DOUBLE-STORY SPACES The programmatic functions of the building include a sub-grade parking garage, ground level retail, and storage units and a fitness center for residents. All retail is located on the street level on the more-public Vine Street, creating more privacy for the residents. The units are arranged off of a singleloaded overlooking the courtyard. Each apartment unit, consisting of either one, two, or three bedrooms, boasts a double height living space to enhance the quality of the apartment. A top level amenity deck is available to residents.
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SI X S U S P ENDED SPACE UNIVERSITY OF CINCINNATI | AUGUST 2014
The Mount Airy Pavilion is intended to be a campground and training facility for kung-fu athletes. The facilities were designed to physically engage participants with their surroundings. Specific programs are housed in different areas of the site to encourage either privacy or public interaction. The design makes use of a stretchy perforated fabric that is strung between the trees present on the site. By utilizing the surrounding forest, users are subject to a personal relationship with the trees and can interact with and mold their surrounding environment. This system calls for constant movement, resulting in tension while in use or relaxation during other parts of the day. Housing for the participants is found in the form of small pods secluded from public view by a thick row of trees. The main arena space is visible from the parking lot so as to attract participants and guests into its spaces.
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TECTONIC STUDIES The architecture of the umbrella shell curve was regenerated across multiple media to question form and manipulation. A simple paper fold is translated into a 3D print, creating peaks and valleys within a multi-faceted object. This form was then translated to the stretchy fabric form of the pavilion and campsite. The versatility of the fabric structure allows training mats as well as the individual sleeping pods to be opened or closed depending on the need,.
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S EVEN P R O M EN A DE + PAU SE CLEMSON UNIVERSITY | JANUARY 2017
The pedestrian flux through the urban network is a series of juxtaposing motions and directions over a period of time. This urban site creates direct access from east to west while providing repose in the north-to-south orientation. Adding time to this condition curates specific circumstances where views are either subconsciously blurred together or left as vivid snapshots of space Spatial joints of the rooms are integrated together with the formal joints of the walls to create relationships between user and space that are never the same based on time spent, interactions made and perceptions generated in each location. A sensory intimacy bonds the user to the occupied space, rooting him into his surroundings.
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MATERIALS + TEXTURES This series of corridors and rooms is defined by materiality--where linear movement is desired, wooden pathways and stone pavers guide the pedestrian through. Conversely, where meandering and pause is preferred, gravel and grass are used to slow the user down. Trees and vegetation are also strategically placed to form walls or to help define the boundaries of a room, such as providing a “ceiling� of shade.
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afternoon
METAL
evening
morning
WOOD
evening
CONCRETE wall_furniture
wall_portal
wall_garden
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NARRATIVE SPACES A stepped topography allows the user a range of perspectives across the site, while walls are specifically placed to obscure views until a particular line of sight is desired. On top of forming the boundaries for promenade + pause, the walls themselves are programmatic, serving as storage, frames and seating. The massing is specifically designed to wrap the site and provide the “outer wall� that binds the design together, cementing the form into the existing urban network while initiating the urban pulse to new areas of the city
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E I GH T INS ERT ED I DEN T I TY UNIVERSITY OF CINCINNATI | DECEMBER 2015
Cincinnati is home to about 400 sets of steps that are used as hillside connections between streets and parks. Many of these steps are still used as a transportation mode for pedestrians, however many are also dilapidated and closed off from the public due to their disrepair. This particular redesign to a set of stairs balances four existing stair paths. Based on the book, If on a Winter’s Night a Traveler , the existing direct path represents the Reader while the new, twisting path takes on the role of the Other Reader. The form of this new stair provides a slow, comfortable journey up the hillside instead of a straightforward route that leaves the user exhausted and out of breath. This image depicts the hillside view of all four sections of the redesigned steps, demonstrating the dominant relationship between proposed and existing. The new passageway winds above and below the existing steps, often crossing over and linking the two paths [Readers].
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8 8
DORSEY ST
6
7 6
5
5 GOETHE ST
4
3
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SEITZ ST
2 1
MULBERRY ST
2
1
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ALTERNATE EQUIVALENCIES At times, the proposed design mimics its partner and in other instances ventures into its own direction, much like Other Reader’s actions in the novel. The path is intended to be a relaxing journey from start to finish, with countless resting + viewing spaces at the height of the tree canopy as well as tunneling spaces beneath the terrain. A destination cafÊ is located at the center of the set of steps. The up + down, in + out motion of the form is an attempt to disorient the user and cause him to question which path he is actually on.
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TUNNEL + HOVER The insertion is made of paneled corten steel, broken up by glass sheets. This image depicts the new path carving through the hillside beneath the existing stair. A glass nook unifies users with their surroundings, putting them at eye-level with the landscape. At the top of the image, a private path breaks off from the main passage, providing a paused vantage point for users. This space sits above a carvedout portion of the course, and therefore reads as two-level room from the street.
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EDU CAT I ON CLEMSON UNIVERSITY Clemson, South Carolina Master of Architecture Candidate 2018 3.90 GPA UNIVERSITY OF CINCINNATI Cincinnati, Ohio
Bachelor of Science in Architecture 2016 Certificate in Historic Preservation 2016 3.89 GPA, Dean’s List
SPRINGBORO HIGH SCHOOL Springboro, Ohio 4.2 GPA, weighted
H O NORS + ACT I VI T I ES AIA Ohio Competition Charrette 2015, Honorable Mention Cincinnatus Scholarship Recipient American Institute of Architecture Students College of DAAP Tour Guide
SKI L L S DIGITAL Adobe Creative Suite, Revit, Rhino, AutoCad, SketchUp, Grasshopper
HAND PHONE | 937.287.3822 EMAIL | jessdancer3@gmail.com
drafting, sketching, model making, 3D printing, laser cutting, CNC milling, photography
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E X PE R I E N C E FREDERICK + FREDERICK Intern Architect | May 2017 - present Created custom details for residential homes Redesigned the office storage room Worked on as-built drawings for future renovations GRADUATE ASSISTANT Clemson University | August 2016 - May 2017
Taught 1st year students basic architectural skills + techniques Led critiques, provided feedback + graded assignments
RWA ARCHITECTS Intern Architect | May 2016 - August 2016 Drafted full building sections Designed interior elevations (including cabinetry) + details Created foundation + electrical plans EARL SWENSSON ASSOCIATES Intern Architect | May 2015 - August 2015
Site + spacial planning Updated Nashville Bicentennial Master Plan Designed building massing for an RFP Revised construction documents
SOLOMON CORDWELL BUENZ Intern Architect | August 2014 - December 2014
Designed expansion joint system + waterproofing details RFI’s + submittals in the construction administration phase Communication with developer + subcontractors Building skin/facade experimentation + analyzation
HORD COPLAN MACHT Intern Architect | January 2014 - May 2014
Modeled + printed 3D apartment units. Created site plans for new + existing projects Project time line documentation Schematic design renderings Updated the in-house library for apartment units