michael keller
architect 2012
Living in Brazil, I was struck by the country’s embracing of modernist design. The inspiration for the Corporate offices came from a mixture of mild climate design ethos and a love of mid-century design. My architecture has progressed over the years from iconic images to an architecture which reflects a quiet, less obtrusive poetry of space. Architecture should enhance the lives of people and serve as a backdrop for the unfolding life and not try to be the protagonist in the theater, but rather be the theater. Steelbras is a modular steel framing company which has opened up the housing market of brazil, and freed it from the heavy confines of concrete construction. The growing economy of Brazil has created a housing shortage of over 2 million homes. This need was instrumental in the government of Brazil awarding two contracts with the state of Paraiba and Baire for an initial run of 40,000 houses each. The single family designs of the casa popular series harken back to the vernacular architecture of brazil and stay true to the less is more aesthetic of modernist design. The structures are created on a 60cm grid and an exterior grade beam is poured and the entire home is erected in a day. With the hi-rise apartments, I wanted to connect with the history of brazil’s penchant for bright colors, and the modular box construction of the individual floors, led me to the twisting, cantilevered effect. Each floor is unique and the unit types are all variations on the original first floor layout.
brazil projects
steelbras corporate headquarters
casa popular single family
steelbras modular hi-rise apartments
in looking back on this project, i realize, i’m not finished with the design yet. i’m pleased with the cantilevered effect of the stacked floors, but i look at the earlier elevation studies and i want to revisit the voids i created. using bim has really changed my approach to design, i am no longer so plan oriented. my process is much more sculptural today. the sketchy renderings have also taught me to loosen up my own hand when it comes to drawing.
hotel and boutique condo projects
this was my first opportunity to work on a hotel deign. this was an old holiday inn that was and still is today an eyesore on the skyline of downtown houston. my concept was to lighten the heavy concrete feel of the building with an influx of glass. i wanted to lighten the building further by introducing screening elements. the year was 2008 and the economy tanked, the project died, the developer disappeared, and i was lucky to collect half my design fee.
holiday inn hotel redesign
this was an existing tenement building located in midtown. my concept was to join all 3 buildings together with glazed floating connection elements. i also wanted to preserve the ornate stone work at the main entry to the buildings. the year was 2008 and the developer went bankrupt, so the project was never realized.
holman rehab
eado lofts 29 units
la branch 29 units
residential projects
this project is located in the camp logan neighborhood by memorial park in houston. my favorite part was the post and beam solution for the covered back porch. it was too progressive for the client, so it was axed. the stucco finish at the front door combined with the minimal post and stained beam give a modernist almost japanese feel to the entry. Notice the lack of trim boards at the corners.
second
west 25th rowhouses
the infamous value engineering phrase that plagues my architectural expression is all i see when i look at this project! i wanted a few of these facades to have a concrete finish to break up the monotony of repetition. As usual the power of the purse won. So Hardi board it was, over and over and over and over. This is one of the few projects located in the Heights of Houston that actually has guest parking. the lots are 32’ wide by a 132’ long, so by locating the houses at the back of the lot and utilizing the alley for parking a great sense of drama was created.
south hampton update
south hampton is an affluent neighborhood adjacent to rice university. I had the good fortune to work with a talented builder and together we worked on our design aesthetic together and this particular project was the beginning of what i would later call minimalist americana. for me the kitchen can be serene and still be the cneter of activity in the home. again, less is more. creating space that invites, soothes and welcomes.
These two homes were done on a spec basis, and I had a lot of fun designing them. The bathrooms had small outdoor private gardens that the shower looked onto. It gave the experience of showering outside. The larger unit had large interstitial spaces that gave the home a unique quality and lent itself to the use of glass handrails. The stainless framing was designed by me and it was quite pricey, but I was pleased with the outcome. This project was built in 2008 and I was in a period of creating rhythm with windows and used the facade to create a lyrical quality. These homes used recycled glass countertops, but the real green feature was the double wall with air cavity that also had cool-ply sheathing on the walls as well as the attic. So air flowed in from the bottom and out through the parapet.
lennox lewis houses
houston is a developer driven town. It is full of overstuffed, overpriced, under crafted 3 story townhouses. The one detail that is ubiquitous throughout builder grade to million dollar homes is the application of stucco beyond the exterior grade beam. This detail has always bothered me and it’s why here I am showing the proper way for stucco to meet the grade beam. This reveal is the intake for my cavity wall system.
kellerarc.com
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