Joseph German - ARCHITECT
table of
Contents
1 Magic Bus: interior design for a custom motor coach 3 Garr Residence: addition and renovation of an existing residence 7 Flows: the Steedman Competition 11 Conference Table: custom furniture design 15 St. Francis Cancer Center: adaptive reuse of an existing hospital 21 First Avenue Station: new light rail transit station 29 EastSide: new urban mixed use development 41 Spec Office Building: study for two mixed use office buildings 47 SUNY Cortland: addition to and renovation of an existing building 53 Indiana Musculoskeletal Institute: outpatient orthopedic center 59 Veterans Administration Clinic: study for new outpatient facility
Magic Bus
with Roger Kraft – Architect 1986-87
Certainly the most idiosyncratic project I’ve ever worked on. The client, a developer, already owned a more conventional custom coach but wanted something contemporary and unique. He ordered a stainless steel coach shell with a turbo diesel engine and commissioned the firm to design the interior fit out. The coach includes a sky lit bathroom, galley kitchen, lounge seating and can sleep four. Materials include leather seating, wool carpeting and lacquer on custom plywood for walls and cabinetry.
Garr Residence with Amato/Reed Associates 1988
A retail executive and his family owned a brick four-square in an urban residential neighborhood. At some point he had added a built-in swimming pool and a twostory addition to the back of the house. The addition was problematic in that it was sheathed in a second-look panel siding with faux half timbering and a hipped shingle roof that intersected with the hipped tile roof of the original brick house. The addition contained a family room on the first floor and the master bedroom on the second. The family had become disenchanted with the addition and desired significant revisions and upgrades to the house. Their program included a new kitchen and breakfast room, new master bedroom suite and a new family/party room more closely associated with the swimming pool. They allowed that the existing addition could either be re-imagined or removed entirely.
SOUTH (REAR) ELEVATION
FIRST FLOOR PLAN 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8
Entrance Pool House Dining Room Living Room Study Kitchen Breakfast Room Pool
The solution was to place a new one story “pool house� on axis with the existing pool and connect it to the existing brick house with a new main entrance that would mediate between the two. The foundation and exterior walls of the addition would remain, but it would receive a new roof and exterior cladding to match the pool house. Both would be clad in white clapboard siding and incorporate a pyramidal roof within a low parapet. The white siding and isolated pyramid roof on the addition helped return the autonomy of the original brick house while presenting a unified composition when viewed from the backyard. A final unifying element, an exterior deck and white pergola, connects the pool house and revised addition.
EAST (SIDE) ELEVATION
SECOND FLOOR PLAN 1 2 3 4
Master Bedroom Balcony Closet Bedroom
NORTH (FRONT) ELEVATION
Flows – Or The Drive-Through Restaurant The Steedman Competition 1992
A simple program of spaces was dictated, as was a thin, elongated site in the middle of a major boulevard. Two traffic lanes can be seen: one following the curve of a glass wall, the other defined by an undulating overhead plane. The composition is anchored by a long straight wall running its length. Lighter, more expressive forms build off of this spine. An assembly line process is suggested, as is movement. The transient, fragmented nature of our lives might also come to mind. The curved wall at the fat end mirrors the site boundary and “deflects� the flow of raw material from the receiving area into storage beneath the low vaulted roof. From this static, rectilinear space the raw materials move into the processing area with its rooftop exhaust units and more dynamic envelope. On one side customers are invited to view the process through a gently curving glass wall. On the other, the are beckoned by a straight shot through the facility, encouraged by the undulating canopy to keep moving, stopping only at the projecting window to receive what they have ordered.
The Steedman Fellowship, granted since 1925, is awarded biannually by the Washington University School of Architecture. The Fellowship includes an appointment to the American Academy in Rome and enables graduates of accredited degree programs in architecture to travel for architectural research and study for a period of nine months. Candidates from all countries who have completed at least one year of practical experience in the office of a practicing architect are eligible for up to eight years after receipt of their professional degrees.
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[Pittsburgh AIA Merit Award for Design] Conference Table with Burt Hill Kosar Rittelmann 1997
When a downtown Pittsburgh firm moved to new quarters it was an opportunity for reinvention. The new conference room was smaller than the old one, and was to be rendered in a more contemporary palette. The old dark stained conference table didn’t fit the new image. The configuration of the room and the finish materials were a given. One long wall is glazed and open to an exterior courtyard, the other is bow curved with clerestory glazing above, and there are built-in credenzas at both ends of the room which incorporate glass, satin stainless steel, and painted steel. The adjacent reception lobby utilizes the same materials with the addition of some wood casework rendered in anigre. The solution is a table rendered in the same materials used in the adjacent areas. The top consists of five pieces of clear glass resting on neoprene cushions let into 1/4� steel plates. These in turn are supported by five anigre wood piers which incorporate data and power ports. The five wood and steel supports are connected by two 3� stainless steel pipes which form the spine of the table.
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So what has all this to do with the architecture of a hospital? Fountains and wind chimes, the sacredness of brick, the vitality of wood, the house spirits - these are the fantasies of a mere scribbler who cannot even read blue prints. And in turn I ask, where is the architect who, without sacrificing function and practicality, will think of the hospital as a pregnant woman who suffers the occupancy of a human being who enters, dwells for a time, and passes forth? Where is the architect who, from the very moment he or she begins his or her design, will be aware that in each room of his or her finished hospital someone will die? Where is the architect who, while seated at the drawing board, will pause to feel upon his or her naked forearms the chill wind of his or her mortality? One day he or she, too, will enter this building: not as its architect but as a supplicant in dire need of care. Daniel Willis The Emerald City and Other Essays on the Architectural Imagination
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St. Francis Cancer Center with L. D. Astorino 1999 Collaborators: Victor Beltran Jeff Heiskell Jim Oâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;Toole Tim Powers
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This project was an invited competition to re-purpose an existing general hospital and medical office building into a dedicated cancer center. The existing facilities consisted of a six story 1960â&#x20AC;&#x2122;s era hospital building and a turn of the (twentieth) century office building on Pittsburghâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s north side. A public park containing the National Aviary bounds the site to the north and west. The southwest corner of the site is unbuilt. In addition to the core components of a cancer hospital the new facility was to incorporate a hospice for terminally ill patients and a medical office building with outpatient services. The solution adds a new signature building element in the southwest corner of the site. A large, glazed slot mediates between the new building and the 1906 office building creating a new front door. The southeast corner of the 1906 office building is carved away and becomes part of a new interior atrium that connects the three main building blocks and acts as an extension of the park into the center of the complex. The upper levels of the new building block are dedicated to the neediest patients with chemotherapy on the fourth floor and the hospice on the fifth & sixth along with the chapel. All face the park and have access to outdoor terraces.
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GROUND FLOOR PLAN
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SECOND FLOOR PLAN
THIRD & FOURTH FLOOR PLANS
FIFTH & SIXTH FLOOR PLANS
HOSPITAL SERVICES MEDICAL OFFICES CIRCULATION HOSPITAL (EXISTING) NEW BUILDING - Office/Admin. 1 & 2 - Chemotherapy 3 - Hospice & Chapel 5 & 6 k
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[Pennsylvania AIA Design Citation, Pittsburgh AIA Honor Award for Design] First Avenue Light Rail Transit Station with L. D. Astorino 2000-01 Collaborators: Victor Beltran Jud Herter Jim Oâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;Toole
Perched atop an existing bridge abutment the First Avenue Station serves as a gateway to the downtown business district for trains crossing the Monongahela River from Pittsburghâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s south hills. It also serves as a park-and-ride station for a Port Authority parking garage directly adjacent to the east. Design criteria developed in collaboration with client representatives and public stakeholders include words and phrases like contemporary, progressive, light, open, colorful, distinctive, different, playful, friendly, non-rectilinear, and high quality. Pittsburgh City Planning officials stressed the importance of streetscape, and expressed a desire that the new station compliment its surroundings. m
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The solution incorporates a pair of undulating metal canopies that cover both the tracks and the platforms. The canopies are identical compound curves, but are transposed in opposition to one another resulting in waves out of phase relative to the adjacent roof form. The highest point in each occurs at the entrance to that respective platform. They are evocative of movement, the river and bridge to the south, and the curving lines found in the PNC Firstside Center immediately to the west. Lower horizontal canopies mediate between station entry and the height roof area, providing a measure of shelter at the outer edge of each platform. A partially glazed, internally lit elevator tower serves the outbound platform and acts as a vertical marker or beacon for those approaching the station. Glass windscreens shield riders from wind and driven rain. Vertical structural elements echo the rhythm seen in the PNC Firstside Center and provide counterpoint to the horizontal lines of the rest of the composition. The existing bridge abutment and elevator tower are clad in the same Kasota Stone used on the PNC building. Space between the outer edge of the platforms and the inner edge of the abutment are used for planting that cascades over the edge of the abutment softening the composition and providing natural color and texture often lacking in the urban environment.
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Looking northwest from inbound platform
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Platform Plan
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Bridge Study
East Elevation x
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[Pittsburgh AIA Honor Award fo
] EastSide Urban Mixed-Use Retail Center
or Urban Design, Pittsburgh AIA Merit Award for Architectural Design, Urban Land Institute Award of Excellence
with The Design Alliance, 2003-06
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Neighborhoods EastSide was conceived as a “stitch” between the two adjacent neighborhoods of East Liberty and Shadyside which are separated by Pittsburgh’s east busway and a railroad right of way. The intent was to draw patrons from both despite a significant grade difference and the perceived barrier of the transportation corridor.
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Pedestrians The development draws pedestrian traffic from Shadyside to the north via Highland Avenue and a new pedestrian bridge that joins the upper level deck with the Ellsworth Avenue retail district. East Liberty patrons access the site on the ground level via Centre Avenue. The upper level presents a “front door” to Shadyside while the Centre Avenue elevation presents a “front door” to East Liberty.
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Landmark A vertical sculptural element incorporating signage is strategically embedded within the site at the intersection of the extension of Ellsworth Avenue from Shadyside, the entry from Highland Avenue and a view corridor from Centre Avenue in East Liberty.
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Vehicles Ground level vehicular access is provided at multiple locations along Centre Avenue. Upper level access is available from Highland Avenue and from a ramp joining the upper and lower levels near the pedestrian bridge and landmark element.
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Speculative Mixed Use Office Building with The Design Alliance, 2006 Collaborator:
Wolfgang Spengler
A developer requested design concepts for two prime riverfront lots remaining in an active urban development on Pittsburghâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s south side. He planned to market the ground floor of one building to one or two high end restaurants and the upper floors to the Pittsburgh office of an international law firm. The ground and second floors of the second building were to become a fitness club with the upper floors as spec office space. Multilevel structured parking would connect the two buildings below grade. The design solution for the first building is derived from recognition of major view corridors, acknowledgment of existing service drives and a desire for a vibrant, active pubic zone at ground level. The building turns its back on the service drive shared with its neighbor to the east. A C-shaped section contains the office floors perched above the glass plinth of the ground floor restaurants. The office block is enclosed by an rotated C-shaped curtain wall that opens views to the river to the north, the plaza and sister building to the west, and the heart of the development to the south. The design of the second building is informed by the first. Taller and with a larger footprint the sister building starts with a similar, smaller C-shaped section but arranges three such sections around an internal atrium in a pinwheel arrangement. Each section addresses one of the major views: river, plaza or the heart of the development. The pinwheel office blocks and associated atrium are again perched on a glass plinth, this time occupied by the two story fitness club. The second building too turns its back on its neighbor to the west and their shared service drive. In both cases the building core and services are located toward the back of each building,
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SUNY Cortland Science Building with IKM, Inc., 2009 Collaborators:
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Matt Hansen Phil Light
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The university was contemplating a major physical upgrade of their existing undergraduate science building. Primary concerns included a deteriorating exterior skin, a dearth of lecture space, an undersized greenhouse, and a mechanical system that had reached the end of its useful life. In addition a new planetarium to accommodate an existing Zeiss star projector was desired. The new building skin acknowledges building orientation and passive energy concerns. Active systems that incorporate energy saving strategies such as using off-peak energy to produce ice for use with a system of chilled beams were also proposed, as was a translucent north-facing faรงade incorporating nanogel insulation to aid day-lighting while providing an effective thermal envelope. New program elements which included two lecture halls, a greenhouse and the planetarium were arrayed as individual objects in a new exterior plaza that acts as an outdoor room for the campus. Inside, a new student commons serves as break-out space for the lecture rooms on the ground floor. The new planetarium, expressed as a perfect sphere, is suspended within the commons and is the focus of the composition. t
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Indiana with IKM, Inc.,
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Musculoskeletal Institute 2010-11 Collaborator: Natale Cozzolongo Adam Warner
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The Indiana Musculoskeletal Institute is a 45,000 SF outpatient orthopedic center. An orthopedic and sports medicine practice teamed up with a developer to build a stand alone facility near a regional hospital that incorporates hospital-based physiciansâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; practices, a physical therapy gymnasium and an imaging center. A planned phase II will include an outpatient surgical center. While the physicians desired a synergy with the hospital, they did not want to mimic its restrained brick facade. The skin of the new building is primarily zinc, along with some painted metal plate panels, cast in place concrete, ground face concrete block and aluminum curtain wall. Custom fabricated diamond shaped zinc shingles provide a rich textured surface which is further articulated with vertical zinc reveals and zinc shadow box windows. Metal plate panels rendered in a bright yellow clad the imaging center and help serve as a visual cue to the main entrance. The gymnasium and interior atrium are defined by warped high roofs and clerestories, and a masonry mass containing mechanical equipment and toilet/locker rooms anchors the composition.
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Veterans Administration Outpatient Clinic with IKM, Inc. 2011 Collaborators:
Natale Cozzolongo Phil Light
Faced with a growing need for additional facilities to serve the nationâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s veterans, the VA embarked on a series of design-build competitions between teams composed of a developer, general contractor, architect and engineers. The goal was a turnkey facility built to VA specifications that would be owned and operated by the developer and leased back to the VA. The VA hired an architect to define the parameters to be given to the design teams. In this case floor plans were provided, but without accompanying sections or exterior elevations. The tasks were first, to alter the plans enough to stack efficiently and work with the site; second, to provide building elevations compatible with the plans; third, to develop a cohesive site strategy that met VA criteria and complimented the building concept; and fourth, to create a sense of arrival and entry appropriate for such a facility. The facade treatment became a composition of fiber cement panels, ground face CMU and ribbon windows, with a deep ribbed corrugated metal penthouse. The major design moves were restricted to the main entrance and a truncated cone skylight element located toward the middle of the building. The floor plans provided were very deep, so in addition to the large truncated cone skylight the team added three smaller skylights along with openings in the floor below in order to bring natural light to the interior of the building and to help in wayfinding.
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PROFILE Award winning, NCARB Certified Architect with over 20 years of broad based experience ranging from custom furniture and residential design to work on a major international air terminal. Roles have included Project Designer, Project Architect and Project Manager, but primary focus has been on design and detailing.
A building should reflect its time and place. Every project is a unique opportunity to express and celebrate the intersection of program, technology, physical context, culture and aspirations. Further, great architecture requires the active participation of an interested and informed client. Strengths include strong interpersonal and team building skills, proven design and graphic presentation abilities and excellent verbal and written communication. Broad familiarity with construction systems, materials and detailing. Enthusiastic mentor to less experienced staff. Advocate of a non-hierarchical team structure characterized by mutual trust, ownership and responsibility.
EDUCATION Bachelor of Science â&#x20AC;&#x201C; Geology, University of Missouri Bachelor of Architecture, University of Kansas
TEACHING Adjunct Asst. Professor of Architecture, Carnegie Mellon University 2007-08 Guest Juror, Carnegie Mellon University 1996-present Guest Juror, University of Kansas School of Architecture 1986-87
EXPERIENCE IKM Inc. Pittsburgh, Design Architect, Project Manager 2008-13 Carnegie Mellon University, Asst. Professor of Architecture 2007-08 The Design Alliance, Pittsburgh, Design Arch., PM 2003-07 L.D. Astorino & Associates, Pittsburgh, Design Architect 1999-2003 Burt Hill Kosar Rittelmann, Pittsburgh, Design Arch., PM 1995-99 The Christner Partnership, St. Louis, Project Manager 1993-95 Perkins & Will, Chicago, Architect III 1989-91 Amato/Reed Associates, St. Louis, Staff Architect 1987-89 Roger Kraft-Architect, Kansas City, Staff Architect 1986-87
View from the Malastrana Bridge Tower, Prague ink on watercolor paper
Josef Grman - ARCHITECT jgrman@verizon.net