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JON HOUCK
DESIGN PORTFIOLO
CONTENTS 01
{PARA}DIGM SHIFT
02
COMPRENHENSIVE STUDIO
03
COMPRENHENSIVE STUDIO
04
MOD MANHATTAN
05
OLD TOWN URBAN WINERY
06
ORIKASO CHAIR
URBAN RESIDENTIAL HOUSING AND MIXED-USE COMMUNITY HUB
TRANS - ACROSS THROUGH BETWEEN - DESIGN PHASE
DESIGN DEVELOPMENT AND DETAIL MODEL
AFFORDABLE MODERN URBAN HOUSING
ALEXANDRIA, VA
FOLDING PLASTIC CHAIR - VELLUM 2012
{PARA}DIGM SHIFT URBAN RESIDENTIAL HOUSING AND MIXED-USE COMMUNITY HUB
01
This project I worked on in conjunction with my thesis on parametric design and its implications in changing the way we design. My thesis explored “Parametric Tools” which are created by the designer to help inform the design. They took the form of a series of vignettes, starting at large scale like the city and neighborhood and eventually focusing in on the details and facade of the building. More about the thesis and parametric tools can be found in my thesis book or online at jonhouckdesign.com. The program for this project was an urban residential housing and mixed-use community hub located in the North Lake Union of Seattle, just north of the popular Gas Works Park. The site, 3310 Wallingford Ave North, was part of the old gas plant that existed at Gasworks Park. Because of this it is an urban brown-field. Nearby lots have had to undergo major rehabilitation and removal of contaminants in order to build on them.
SOUTH ELEVATION
My first decision was to remove the contaminated soil and utilize space below for parking and the mixed-use program of a market, bar/restaurant, and cafe. This program would create a community hub for the neighborhood which has grown extensively over the past couple years but still lacked its own culture and identity. Above, on a man-made topographic strip the housing was placed, tiered up the hillside. Volumetrically discrete units were set into a steel frame that allowed them to be placed diversely with overhangs and balconies. The separation would give the tenants a sense of ownership over their own volume despite being part of a large multi-family structure. The facade’s of each of the units was also exclusive to each unit and allowed for personally customization. It was made up of twisting aluminum ribbons that could be changed with mechanical actuators. Through an interactive digital app, the user could draw on an elevation where they wanted more or less transparency or opacity. The facade would then react to the users wishes. In addition, the system could be put onto an automatic setting which would adjust the facade to optimize solar, day lighting, or ventilation.
THIRD FLOOR
SECOND FLOOR
For more please read the accompanying thesis book titled {PARA}DIGM SHIFT or go to jonhouckdesign.com for more explanation and interaction. FIRST FLOOR
02
COMPRENHENSIVE STUDIO TRANS - ACROSS THROUGH BETWEEN - DESIGN PHASE
2ND FLOOR PLAN
1ST FLOOR PLAN
For the first quarter of 5th year, my studio did a comprehensive studio project to gain experience working in a group and to develop a project further than what normally done in a typical 10 week quarter at Cal Poly. For this project I worked with Charlie Delkeskamp on an infill project for the Engineering West courtyard on campus. This courtyard is adjacent to the architecture department support shop and many 2nd and 3rd year studios.
the digital fabrication lab, shop workspaces, and student lounge. Above we placed a gallery to showcase student work publicly, and a model shop with easy access to the studios on the second floor of Engineering West.
Our approach looked at problems on multiple scales from large campus wide issues, to small localized issues of the Support Shop and Digital Fabrication Lab. The solution came in the form of 3 words with the root word Trans – Transverse, Transparent, and Transmit. The diagrams above, illustrate our massing strategy. We take the existing shop structure and open up the side to give transparency to the shop and allow people to see in. Then we extended the concrete bay structure into a scaffold that holds the discrete program volumes. The first level contains
SECTION
1/16� MODEL
ELEVATION
03
COMPRENHENSIVE STUDIO DESIGN DEVELOPMENT AND DETAIL MODEL
EXPLODED AXONOMETRIC
This large, 2’ x 1’ x 4’ section model (1.5”=1’), was built for final phase of our group comprehensive studio project during Fall 2012. During this phase, we took our previous design that was done in 5 weeks and developed it further over the next 3 weeks, looking at the materials and connections of the building. Our design was composed of discrete volumes set inside a concrete scaffold. Sheathing these volumes were metal screens that slide open and close on a track system. We also continued the screen onto the bridge to allow light to the walkway below.
We met with a structural engineering professor to discuss structural systems and sizing. To support the volumes cantilever we added a separate steel wide flange structure. We detailed the picture frame glazing to hide the structure and allow the floor to come up flush to the window. For the sliding screen we inverted the the track, letting it slide on wheels bolted to the roof.
DETAIL SECTION / ELEVATION
04
MOD MANHATTAN AFFORDABLE MODERN URBAN HOUSING
SITE OVERVIEW
EXPLODED MODULE
PHYSICAL MODEL
SITE PLAN
This project was 400 units of middle income, working class housing in Lower Eastside of Manhattan. The site was a urban super block in the style of Le Corbusier with the existing Seward Park Housing Co-Op on the site. We had to make a relevant addition to the site that would boost the value of existing properties. My solution was to use shipping containers, that are stacked in mass quantities in nearby New Jersey shipyards, as housing modules. Each unit would use 3-6 shipping containers joined together to make a whole unit.
4 MODULE UNIT
LEVEL 4 PLAN
LEVEL 16 PLAN
This containers could easily be fit out offsite and placed into the structural frame with minimal disruption to the site and surrounding buildings. The idea was to allow the small, family-owned business located on the site to be able to move back in quickly so as to preserve the local economy. During this project I studied housing on many different scales ranging from the interiors of the apartments to the urban design of the site and the city.
6 MODULE UNIT
OLD TOWN URBAN WINERY
ALEXANDRIA, VA
05
This project was for an urban winery located near the Washington Alexandria Architecture on King St. in Old Town Alexandria, Virginia. While much of Alexandria is historical dating back to the 1700’s I wanted to go back a bit further. My concept for the winery was that of an ancient cave where people would have traditionally made wine. This cave concept developed a tectonic idea of shifting plates and geological forces that created the walls and roof of the building. Developed at the same time as my Origami Chair project, I was very interested in the idea of folding out of a single piece of material. I started by making many iterations of small physical models folding paper.
This then developed into a building of folding concrete walls. These walls intersect creating fissures that go through the building and partition the walls, roof and spaces. Following the cave idea, the working spaces of the winery are located below grade and the restaurant and tasting spaces are suspended above on a catwalk of porous wood decking that allows light to filter below. In the center of the building, pushing through the cave is the tower for wine storage and aging. Inside the tower is a pneumatic lift that can be taken and down it to retrieve a bottle that is ready to drink.
06
ORIKASO CHAIR FOLDING PLASTIC CHAIR - VELLUM 2012
FOLDING ITERATIONS
PARAMETRIC MODEL
MATERIAL FOLDING TESTS
The Orikaso Chair – meaning “folding plastic” (similar to Origami – “folding paper”), was my follow-up project to the chair I designed at the Washington Alexandria Architecture Center. This chair was my entry to Vellum Design Competition held annually by Cal Poly in the Fall. The chair folds out of a single, 4’x8’ sheet of polypropylene plastic. It is then fitted with metal button snaps to help hold its shape both erected and folded up into a travel-size, carry-able package.
went back to my parametric model to simulate how the piece would fold up to a chair, lay flat on the sheet and fold down to travel size simultaneously. This model allowed me to manipulate the design without having to cut and fold paper models over and over again. With this iteration I made many improvements over the previous design, particularly in unifying the back leg portion of the chair, giving it much more stability and strength. I was able to tie it together with the front with a single tongue and groove joint with snap flaps on the ground below the seat.
With this project, I started with the material and did some fold tests to see how it would behave. I CNC routed sample pieces using a plastic cutting bit and a v-bit engraver at varying depths to test the fold. With this information I
STAND
UNSNAP
FOLD
RE-SNAP
CARRY
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