JOE WHEELER design portfolio
Sam Fox School of Design and Visual Arts Washington University in Saint Louis
2012
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La Biblioteca |04| AquaƟc IncepƟon |16| Prometheus |26| Comic Table |36|
Design Portfolio
Index
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La Biblioteca
This architectural project, designed for professor Iain Fraser in the spring of 2012, is a small public library to be built in the LafayeĆŠe Square area of midtown Saint Louis designed as a public resource for the walkable suburban community.
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concept development
La Biblioteca
IniƟally conceptual sketching explored the benefits of raising the library to the upper levels to shelter the user from external distracƟons while leaving the ground floor open to create an inviƟng public entrance.
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La Biblioteca
The core of the ground floor is lined almost enƟrely with curtain glass to be inviƟng to the public, with a recessed structural system to remain open and create a visual connecƟon to the courtyard in back of the building.
ground floor plan
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longitudinal elevaĆ&#x;on
transverse elevaƟon
La Biblioteca
The second and third story library was clad in slaƩed lumber to control light and define the solid upper level floaƟng volume. Apertures were carved out of the slaƩed lumber to provide viewports to the cityscape and adjacent park.
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longitudinal secĆ&#x;on
La Biblioteca
To connect the open ground floor with the raised library the verƟcal circulaƟon system became a key feature of the design of the building with the central spiral staircase, as did the visual connecƟons from the upper levels back to the public courtyard.
transverse secƟon
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La Biblioteca
The final product, housing as many as 28,000 books, and 44 public computers, creates the illusion of a heavy solid mass floa ng atop an open public courtyard, providing an educa onal and invi ng public resource for the Laaye e community.
sketch photomontage
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Aquatic Inception
This project, also for professor Fraser, is an aquaƟc recreaƟonal center designed for the city of St. Louis in Carondelet Park. The project was required to have a spanning roof structure to enable year round usage, and had to be within a 150 foot proximity of the park’s lake.
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concept exploraƟon
Aquatic Inception
To begin this design process I invesƟgated the various interacƟons users might have with water at the park, which developed into the concept of creaƟng a pool not adjacent to but actually in the lake, allowing users to swim in the pool in the lake.
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longitudinal secƟon
Aquatic Inception
transverse site secƟon
By placing the water level of the pool equal with the water level of the lake and having an entry path that dips below the surface of the lake, the project facilitates mulƟple unique interacƟons with water that would otherwise be unavailable to park visitors.
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exterior perspecĆ&#x;ve
site plan
Aquatic Inception
With the pool located in the middle of the norther Ć&#x;p of the lake, the simple curve of the spanning roof was designed to be minimally visually invasive, emulaĆ&#x;ng a simple bubble rising out of the surface of the lake.
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photomontage
Aquatic Inception
The pool facility is intended to be a simple but dynamic addiƟon to the beauƟful Carondelet Park, providing visitors a new set of phenomenal experiences while interacƟng with the surface of the lake.
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Prometheus
For Sung Ho Kim’s architecture 312 course, students were challenged to design and construct a funcƟoning kite based on the hybridizaƟon of two exisƟng kite typologies over the course of the semester.
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Prometheus
AĹŒer studying the formal elements of the Chinese and Western Dragon Kites, my design aĆŠempted to combine the segmented body of the Chinese Dragon kite with the ridged wing structure of the Western counterpart.
concept development
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the increased air pressure under the wings pushes the kite upward wings collect and deflect wind in a downward direcƟon
string provides tension to maintain horizontal posiƟon of kite
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theoreƟcal loŌ diagram
streamline orthographics
curved orthographics The segmented body allows the kite to curl in low winds creaƟng a larger surface area to catch air and create loŌ, while in high winds the kite would be able to flaƩen out and remain streamline.
front
top
front
side side
secƟon
secƟon
Prometheus
top
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kite rendering
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skin rendering
Prometheus
The proposed design measured 5 foot 8 inches in body length with a wing span, of five feet and weighing less than 2.5 pounds. The dragon kite was made of a light weight bristol paper structural system covered with ripstop polyester skin.
structural rendering
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flight photograph
flight photograph
Prometheus
The dragon kite, nicknamed “Prometheus” by the studio, was able to sustain flight con nuously with sufficient wind. Prometheus was, proudly, one of two kites in the class of 48 students that could flight by the end of the project.
flight photograph
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Comic Table
Professor Carl Safe required students in his furniture design studio to design and build a table no larger that 30 inches in any direcƟon. Being an avid pop culture fan, I added the programmaƟc sƟpulaƟon of a table that could hold my always growing collecƟon of comics.
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Comic Table
The driving concept behind the design of the table was carving storage volumes into a solid block of laminated plywood. The volumes were then torqed at a 5 degree angle to hold the books in place.
concept development
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2’ 5 1/4”
2’ 5 1/4”
1’ 3”
1’ 3”
1 5/8” 10 5/8” 1 5/8”
2’ 5 1/4”
10 5/8”
4 5/8”
1’ 3”
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construcƟon orthographics
Comic Table
The table consits of twenty laminated layers of 3/4” balƟc birch plywood measuring just under 30 by 30 by 14 inches. The porporƟons of the shelving volumes where designed to the dimenƟons of the a comic magazine.
perspecƟve
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cnc rouĆ&#x;ng layers
laminaƟng layers
rouƟng surfaces to level plain
Comic Table
AŌer the layers were milled and glued together, all sides were routed to a smooth level surface to create a flush table top and shelves.
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Comic Table
The final table was coated in a semi-gloss polyurethane to provide a subtle shine to the light balĆ&#x;c birch and highlight the variety of colors in the layers of the plywood.
final table photographs
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