Chair detail
Milled Framing Lumber 22”x22”x30”
Joshua C. Ross 345 W. 50th Street New York, NY 10019 336.580.3682 josh.ross789@gmail.com issuu.com/josh.ross
design approach I’ve known I wanted to be a designer in some capacity since I was 9-years-old when my father found me haphazardly nailing two pieces of scrap wood together in his work shop. I didn’t know it at the time but this singular occurrence would eventually lead into my desire to practice architecture, namely the satisfaction I find in creating. What neither my father nor I fully understood that day I chose to indiscriminately attach the first two things I could get my hands on was that I so desperately wanted to make something tangible from the previously nonexistent. I wanted to hold this object in my hands, marvel at my craftsmanship, and know that it was a manifestation of something that had previously only existed in my head. To the left is a detail of a chair I built in the fall of 2012. This project served me in two ways; first, I needed a chair for my apartment. Secondly, and more importantly, I had become something of an amateur furniture designer and this project was the last in a series of works that was meant to test my abilities and expand my understanding of wood working, design, and my skills of creating details. There is not a single screw in the entire chair, every connection is custom-designed to fit together with wood glue, and dowels when necessary. It took almost 40 hours to build and taught me about patience, craftsmanship, and the beauty of details.
architecture photography furniture design
Museum of Cartoon and Comedic Art Date: Spring 2011 Location: New York, New York Rendering: Rhino, Brazil, Photoshop The Museum of Cartoon and Comedic Art (MoCCA) is both a place to pay homage to the beginnings of the medium as well as demonstrate it’s innovative techniques and display what the future holds. Located in the Lower East Side, MoCCA embodies the essence of the cartoon with it’s heavily emphasized structural system reminiscent of bold outlines, where all cartoons begin, and it’s spiral gallery space, mimicking the linear nature of a story. The gallery terminates with a sweeping view of the Lower East side, reorienting the patron with their location and reality after the highly immersive museum experience.
LEAP Collaborative Date: Fall 2011 Location: Knoxville, TN Rendering: Revit, Photoshop The Landscaping, Engineering, Architecture, Planning (LEAP) Collaborative required a new headquarters in downtown Knoxville that was both space and energy efficient. At the outset of the project we were told the building must achieve at least LEAD Bronze, this design is LEAD Gold. The three story structure features a grand staircase moving through a lobby, common space, and terminating at a double height studio space. A large green screen covers the west and south faรงades to minimize solar heat gain; and a mixture of green roofs and solar panels help to offset heat gain and energy costs, respectively. The building also utilizes geothermal heating and a water recapturing system located underground.
Galleria Cracovia Date: Spring 2012 Location: Kraków, Poland Rendering: Rhino, Brazil, Photoshop Located on the fringe between Krakow’s downtown—an area which ceased development in the 19th century—and the newer, 20th century Kraków, the mixed-use Galleria Cracovia marks not only the transition into a new century and cultural persona, but a gateway both figuratively and literally. The design strives to be as pedestrian-friendly as possible, featuring a large pedestrian street cutting through the site. In an attempt to pay homage to the Błonia, an adjacent green space that has been set aside for preservation, and the rich history of the site on which sits an abandoned hotel built in the 60s that represented to coming wave of modernism and progress that never quite arrived in Poland, the design is highly minimalistic and reactive. The façade features a combination of curtain walls, large Vierendeel trusses, and a dual skin of copper and green wall. The idea being that the transparency of the building allows the focus to shift to the patrons inside while highlighting one of the only parks in the city. A pedestrian bridge connects an underground parking garage and large public plaza for The National Museum of Poland which sits across the street. This bridge helps connect pedestrians traveling on foot or those who have driven to the site, while framing the green space and creating a well-defined, much-needed threshold condition which was previously non-existent.
Three Towers Market Date: Spring 2013 Location: Knoxville, TN Rendering: Rhino, Brazil, Photoshop Due to current unsustainable land-use practices and a swelling population projected to hit 10 billion by the year 2050, vertical farming in urban centers is becoming a more widely discussed solution for the impending food crisis. Through my research into fast food production and popularity, and the consequences of these conditions, I am proposing a model for urban food production that satisfies the need for cheap, healthy, sustainable food that will solve both the need for the mass production of food and America’s addiction to fast food which is detrimental to individual health, local economies, and the environment. It is my goal to create both proper access to healthy food as well as sufficient education in regards to healthy eating and the benefits of the multiple systems I have compiled in this project. The market boasts three large towers with 5.5 acres of vertical pod farming which can subsequently feed nearly 6,000 people a day utilizing a highly efficient aquaponic system. Residential units are scattered throughout the towers offering various views of the roof-level park, grow floors, and the Knoxville skyline. The bar placed beneath the towers operates as a community center that emphasizes transparencies of systems, the ones serving the building and the ones serving the aquaponic system.
Piazza San Marco Venice, Italy March 2012
Abandoned Pill Box Cinque Terre, Italy March 2012
The Pantheon Rome, Italy March 2012
Malbork Castle
Marlenburg, Poland April 2012
Coffe Table White wood 18”x18”x42”
Bar Stool
Milled Framing Lumber 16”x18”x36”