Katie Burke
P: 615.812.3165 E: kburke1209@gmail.com
Bachelor’s of Architecture, The University of Tennessee, Knoxville
01_Architecture A_Working in Transition B_Re-Ligare Institute C_Jefferson Media Center D_Living Light
02_Study Abroad A_A New Urban Forum B_Photography
01
A r c h i t e c t u r e
A Study in Prefabricated Housing Systems
The town of Alcoa, Tennessee developed out of the aluminum smelting industry in the early 1950’s. Based on the prevalence of aluminum, the prompt of the project entailed designed prefabricated housing systems to be built in the town. This studio was also the introduction into self-programming, with each student developing their own program, demographic and schematic design. A programming book was produced in conjunction with the actual design of the scheme as a whole. This studio was thus an exercise in design as well as schematic programming.
Project A_Working in Transition Alcoa, Tennessee Fifth Year Studio Fall 2011
View from Courtyard
The city of Alcoa was originally developed as a private industry town for the aluminum smelting business. Being located in the rural Appalachian region of Eastern Tennessee, Alcoa today finds itself with limited municipal functions due to the issue of locality and privatization of industry. The man who finds himself living in this town typically has an occupation relating to the aluminum smelting business; thus, the individual inhabiting Alcoa generates a lower middle class wage. Many industry workers in this region find they are tied to the plant and in many ways stuck to the rather lacking rural town. A stark difference arises in today’s time between the “working man” and the “educated man” that unfortunately leaves a negative stigma for the former. Through the new proposed development, a dichotomy will be created between man and his craft so as a way to emulate him and his work and the work of the hand. The target demographic for the development will be that of the novice worker; being the lowest status within the industry, the novice smelter will need further education in order to promote himself to a stabler status. At the present time, the intended method to achieve this is to incorporate aluminum and other materials used in the industry in innovative, sustainable and apparent ways; furthermore, communal educational facilities will be provided on site.
Above: View to Transition Space Below: Elevation and Sectional Study
The residences are designed for a single individual. Each efficiency apartment is equipped with the basic functions a novice worker may need, including a living/kitchen space, bathroom and bedroom. Each unit includes a ‘transition’ space which provides a threshold for the worker to discard the remnants of the working day before entering into the main living space. Connected by a courtyard, educational facilities are provided on site so that the workers may improve their craft. Specific programmatic elements include a lecture hall, library and classroom. A transition space is located at the entry of every unit. The intent shall be for each novice worker to discard the remnants of the workday before entering into the home (a place of relaxation). Constructed as a modular stair unit, the tenant may place his work boots, lunch pail, welding mask and hard hat (among other items) into designated shelving units. The transitional space also hosts the laundry facilities. Opposite the transition space is the kitchen, making up the remaining section of the stair core. In this section hosts necessary appliances as well as a counter for eating. The core continues to the second level where it takes the form of a desk, a closet and a shelving unit.
Left: Plans of Residential Unit Above Right: Site Plan Below Right: View through Loggia
Left: Entry View Above: Interior of Unit
Above: View from Classroom Below: Site Section through Courtyard
American Institute of Steel Construction
The Re-Ligare Institute was a national competition provided by the American Institute of Steel Construction. In the spring of my third year, the studio I was involved in, partook in the competition. The prompt for the project involved designing a ‘place of retreat’ for the urban dweller; the competition asked for students to incorporate the use of steel in innovative ways as well. The Institute was to include various gardens and auditoriums as well as facilities for aquatic, exercise and meditation activities.
Project B_Re-Ligare Institute AISC Competition Third Year Studio Spring 2010
Street View Elevation
The concept for the Re-Ligare Institute is the notion of Insight as it relates to re-evaluation. We must continually acknowledge our existence before we can start anew, and thus must always reference where we begin. To translate this into built form, a progression will be created around a point of beginning (a void, the music garden) that weaves built program and garden until arriving at an utmost point of realization. This point of complete insight is the silent garden and meditation space, which overlooks the overlapping programmatic spaces below. The meditation space, an immense object hovering over the social garden one level lower, serves as a reminder for the need for balance in our lives: it is a point of destination. The visitor will see this floating, semi-transparent element as a space which begs to be inhabited, and acts as a connecting piece between the doing world and the being world. Once the visitor reaches this destination, an exit sequence through the garden spaces will be encouraged. Providing two circulation strategies provides more opportunities for exploration.
Through the design, certain elements will be explored in order to achieve this sense of conceptual insight. The first of such elements is the use of reference points. The institute’s program begs to be organized into a progression-like series, which highlights the importance of the design to establish points of awareness, so to ensure the visitor’s acknowledgement of the journey being made. These “points” are moments of pause that materialize themselves in the cascading gardens and end with the meditative, hovering spaces.
Left: Concept Sketch Above: Street View Perspective
The next elements to be equipped are natural screening and varying degrees of opacity, which allow for this search while also providing awareness of the outside world. Throughout the design of the Re-Ligare, there will be a continuous awareness of the “doing� side of life, while the visitors escape into the transcendentalist state that the institute encourages. This awareness will be achieved through the use of ivy and lilac screens that divide the urban fabric of downtown and the institute. These materials were chosen because of their ability to show time; as time changes, so do our abilities to interpret ourselves.
Left: Wall Section Above Right: View from Exterior Garden Below Right: Longitudinal Section
University Campus-based Design Solutions
During my second year at the University of Tennessee, College of Architecture and Design, each studio focuses their design projects on a specific university campus other than our own. My specific studio project focused on The University of Virginia’s Charlottesville Campus (specifically the Jeffersonian Lawn). The program, a “Jefferson Media Center” was a media library located adjacent to the historic lawn. Being some of the earlier work in my design education, the representation of this project was all handdrawn, specifically with ink on mylar.
Project C_Jefferson Media Center Charlottsville, VA Second Year Studio Spring 2009
Exterior View: Watercolor Pencil
The University of Virginia’s Campus is one steeped in rich history. The site chosen for this particular project locates itself in close proximity to the historic Jeffersonian lawn, and in clear view of the Rotunda. Second year studies at the University of Tennessee have a primary focus on site analysis, which is cause for each studio to choose a site located a great distance away from Knoxville, TN. Because of its close adjacency to such famous landmarks, I chose to have my design for the Jefferson Media Center to be sunken into the ground. This allowed for an apparent subtle impact into the landscape. The program of the center included a large physical library, a media library equipped with computers, a lecture hall and various classrooms. Circulation played an important part in the schematic design, as the programmatic elements are arranged in a comparable manor to that of typical city blocks. Pathways, or “avenues� dissect the elements so that partition walls are kept to a minimum.
Above: Floor Plan Below: Section through Library
Above: Entry View: Graphite
Above: Interior View: Graphite Below: Section through Inner Courtyard
2011 Department of Energy’s Solar Decathlon
In the Spring of 2010 students from the College of Architecture and Design began the schematic design for the Solar Decathlon Competition. Sponsored by the Department of Energy,the Competition’s objective is to design and build a solar powered home tp be displayed on the National Mall in Washington D.C. 19 student teams were selected as finalists with the University of Tennessee being amongst them. The University of Tennessee’s Living Light team comprised itself of over 200 students in 9 various disciplines ranging from architecture and engineering to graphic design and culinary arts.
Project D_Living Light Washington, D.C. Fourth Year Integration Fall 2010-Fall 2011
Exterior Rendering
My contribution to the project included construction documents, Master Format specifications, BIM modeling and leading tours. Conceptually, the Living Light design finds its inspiration from the historic cantilever barns indicative of the East Tennessee, Appalachian Region. The Tennessee team chose to adapt this precedent to an open “loft-like” design consisting of 2 cores at either opposite end of the home. A major design goal for the team was to showcase the ability to live compactly; thus, the home is only 580 square feet. Other concepts that derived the design included: capturing the sun’s energy to its fullest potential, maximizing views and transparency through a large glass double facade, and allowing space to adapt to form and function. The Living Light home is a fully integrated design. Architecture and engineering merge to form an innovative prototype home fully equpped with state of the art features. One of such features includes the double facade system that comprises the majority of the building envelope. Within the design development, the Living Light team divided into 4 separate teams of structure, interiors, roofing, and envelope to fully develop the design to its maximum potential. The envelope team was my focus (as well as lighting and HVAC)
Far Left: Wall Section Near Left: Elevation Detail Below: Concept Diagram
Above: Plan Below: Elevation Photograph Right: Double Facade Wall Section Detail
The facade acts as the home’s natural ventilation system. A fixed louver resides at the base which allows for air to be pulled into the 4 inch air gap. This ventilated air then transfers to the Energy Recovery Ventilator for preconditioning before being sent to the Ductless Minisplit System. This ventilation process is indicative of the season; for instance, in summer months air is pulled through the north facade (opposite for winter) for conditioning purposes. The facade process exemplifies a portion of how the home is fully integrated. Another innovated material featured in the home includes the roof array. Being a solar competition, solar panels were a necessity; the Living Light team chose to use cylindrical PV tubes so as to better track the sun’s path and ultimately collect more energy than necessary to power the home. The intent for this excess then was to power an electric car or to sell back to the electrical grid. Structurally, the home equips a steel frame construction. This structure was designed as a single module so as to ease transportation from Knoxville to Washington. The easy transportation module will allow for the home to travel around the southeast to various schools which is the intent after the competition.
Left: Night Perspective Above: Lgog Detail Below: Transverse Section
02
S t u d y
A b r o a d
Semester Abroad to Krakow, Poland 2011
The College of Architecture and Design at the University of Tennessee has a long withstanding study abroad program. Arranged for the spring semester of a student’s fourth year, opportunities to travel to other universities abroad becomes available; in the spring of 2011 I was given the opportunity to travel and chose to spend my semester in Europe with a home-base in Krakow, Poland, study at Polytechnika Krakowska. While there for 4 months, I was able to continue my classes in architecture as well as travel the lengths of Europe to experience other architectural cultures.
Project A_A New Urban Forum Krakow, Poland Fourth Year Studio Abroad Spring 2011
Approach to Plaza
The studio portion of my semester abroad included an urban design exercise. The studio was asked to develop a proposal for a particular district within Krakow. We were then asked to program those spaces with functions that were suited for the community. This project displays an exercise in representation. With many drawing restrictions placed on the project, perspectival views and plan based diagrams provided the best tools for presenting the project. The project was based in the Debniki district of Krakow, southwest of the Old City Center. This site displays the remnants of socialist housing (still in use today) with contemporary architecture being constructed all around. The goal of the “New Urban Forum� was to bring some of the charged energy existent in the Old City to the Debniki district through the establishment of a plaza, connecting the 2 districts through views.
Left: Urban Scheme, Site Plan Right: View from Plaza
Concept Diagram
Many challenges arose within this studio, one of the most prominent being able to adapt to different architectural styles. Designing within a historically rich city produced restrictions that we as American designers are not as familiar. This project displays an interesting study in contrasts: the medieval, the socialist and the contemporary are all situated within the city, displaying a timeline of sorts. The timeline shows the lineage of architectural design within the city of Krakow. .
Far Left: View from Plaza Left: Plan Detail Bottom: Elevational Study
Travel Documentations from Study Abroad
The spring semester of 2011 led me to study abroad in Europe, with a residence in Krakow, Poland. Throughout my studies abroad, I was given the opportunity to travel extensively; the countries visited include: Poland, Austria, Italy, Czech Republic, Spain, Ireland, The United Kingdom, The Netherlands and Belgium. In order to capture the experiences, vast documentation through photography and sketching were taken.
Project B_Photography Krakow, Poland Fourth Year Travel Abroad Spring 2011
City Center: Krakow, Poland
My stay in Krakow began in February and lasted until mid-June of 2011. While residing in the city, I continued my architectural education while also having the ability to experience the European lifestyle. By photographing virtually everything that I experienced, I was able to extensively document travels so as to compare each culture that I encountered. Architecture was not the only thing captured on film, but also moments of human interaction and environments.Throughout this section, a portion of said photography was selected so as to share some of those experiences.
View to St. Mary’s: Krakow, Poland
Above Left: Wawel Castle: Krakow, Poland Above: View from Palladio: Vicenza, Italy
Left: Tides_Howth, Ireland Above Left: Eye_London, UK Above Right: Ben at Night_London, UK
Left: Shutters of Amsterdam, Netherlands Above Right: Change; Prague, Czech Republic Bottom Right: Hibernation; Vienna, Austria
Fight; Valencia, Spain
Above: Approach to Antiquity; Rome, Italy Above Right: In Transit; Krakow, Poland Bottom Right: Lady Royalty; London, UK
Katie Burke