Kurt Nelson
E: knelson026@gmail.com T: 716.640.4488 A: 3260 Donelson Road, Jamestown NY, 14701
Kent State University, B.S. Architecture program - Graduating in May 2016 - Minor in Business Management - Accepted into the Honors College at Kent State University - Recipient of the annual Michael Domokur Florence Scholarship - President of Kent State Alpha Rho Chi Chapter, Spring 2014 - Co-recipient of catalyst grant for research collaboration between
Kent State College of Architecture and The Fashion School
Proficiency
Photoshop
InDesign
Illustrator
Rhino
Grasshopper
Sketchup
3DS Max
Revit
3D Printing
KUKA|prc
Summer Intern - Weber Murphy Fox Cleveland, OH Summer 2014 & Summer 2015 - Worked as an intern alongside both the Architecture and Interior Design departments Assisted in managing tenant needs for: - Ohio Savings Bank 1800 East 9th St. Building - Ohio Savings Bank 1111 Chester St. Building Assisted in field measuring and computer modeling for: - Progressive Field Renovations Cleveland Skylift Assisted with design development for: - Progressive Field renovations - Crawford County Courthouse - Answers Cleveland office Helped develop construction documents for: Progressive Field Renovations - Crawford County Courthouse Completed renderings for: Progressive Field Renovations Cleveland Skylift -
Buildings you keep coming back to. During my architecture courses I took I made a habit of looking up the buildings that were mentioned in lecture, searching to figure out how they were being used in the present day. It seemed so much grander to me when the design of a building was able carry out its function for hundreds of years in the future, and led me to realize architecture is not found within form alone. It is the function of the place that draws the line between architecture and sculpture. While form may draw people in, the environment that the building creates for its users its the metric by which it will be judged. This idea of carefully crafting the function of the space has been a common thread throughout my time at Kent State, leading me to study how the end user can interact with the building to shape the environment to their liking, both in active and passive ways.
First Year
Second Year
(independent study)
Third Year
Fourth Year
(research project)
Live+Study
Geodesic Dome
Bike-tel Centro Civico Personal Work Fashion + Architecture Collaboration
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Live + Study
Location:
Kent State University Campus, Kent, Ohio
Live + Study
Prompt:
To reinterpret a painting in Richard Diebenkorn’s Ocean Park series as an artist’s residence.
Professor: David Thal
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Live + Study 2
Live + Study
Ground floor plan
Roof plan
Conditions found within Diebenkorn’s Ocean Park #67 were expanded from a main structure to naturally create live/work modules. These embedded conditions were 3
interpolated to create function that reflects the qualities of the painting. A grey bar that overlays the left side of the painting manifests itself as a sun shade, able to be expanded by the user as needed, anchors the living space just as the grey bar anchors the painting.
Live + Study
Expandable Solar Shade
Expandable Wall Mock-Up
Elevation
Original painting
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Geodesic Dome
Location:
Anywhere (project is portable)
Concept:
The geodesic dome has a long history as one of the first “open source� ideas in construction. Because of its modularity it allows users to tailor its dimensions to whatever their needs may be. The final
Geodesic Dome
product is a geodesic dome connector that is tailored to the 3D printing process by maximizing strength and the number you can print at once ,
and minimizing print time and material usage Lastly, in keeping with the open source spirit, the design was uploaded to thingiverse.com to allow others to take the design and modify it as they wish.
Advisor:
Prof. Brian Peters *The project was developed as part of an independent study course focusing on digital fabrication applied to modern building processes.
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Geodesic Dome
Elevation
Disassembled View
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7 Top View
Geodesic Dome
Geodesic Dome
Number of Connectors Desired Size (Diameter)
Script
Number of Supports Length of Supports
Interior Render
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Bike-Tel
Location:
Boston Mills, Ohio
Prompt:
Bike-tel
Each member of the studio chose a site along the Ohio and Erie Canal Towpath Trail to develop a stand alone, rentable cabin for those using the trail.
Concept:
To take the local vernacular and allow the site conditions to exert their influence, modifying the form to put the emphasis on the context at large while minimizing the effect the architecture has on its surroundings.
Professor: Brian Peters
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Bike-Tel 10
Bike-Tel 11
Winter
Bike-Tel Summer
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Bike-Tel
Site location chosen to maximize East and West shading from trees
Building is bent in response to views and sun path 13
A rectangular box is extruded to allow for extended views of the landscape
Dual entrances align with local typologies while promoting airflow
Roof sloped to align with local vernacular, allow for sky-lighting
A stacked CNC cut wall cites the local art gallery, while creating a core for amenities
Bike-Tel First Floor
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Bike-Tel 15
Physical Model
Bike-Tel Transverse Section
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Centro Civico
Location:
Piazza Brunelleschi, Florence, Italy
Prompt:
For this project we were asked to d esign an addition to the University of Florence, renovating their current humanities library.
Concept:
Centro Civico
When you first arrive at the site the tension is tangible, with anti-fascist slogans and posters are built up, one on top of the other, as a result of years of the student’s discontent with the status quo. This “status quo” is a 40% chance of not being employed after you graduate, and not achieving economic independence until 35. So the question is, how can building a humanistic library do its part to better the situation that Italy’s students find themselves in?
Professor:
Paola Giaconia
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Centro Civico
Stages of Learning 01. Questioning
02. Researching
03. Contemplating
04. Debating
05. Informing 18
Centro Civico
Media Viewing
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Section Perspective
Centro Civico Site Plan
Ground Floor
2nd Floor
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Centro Civico
The News Feed: For the situation in Italy to improve, we must amplify the voice of the youth so that their struggles are heard beyond just those who encounter the graffiti. To do so, this site should become a center of media and a political hot spot. The piazza will act as a catalyst, fulfilling its purpose as a space meant to induce questions by depicting presenting the current goings on of Italy to those passing through, in order to prompt a response.
The benches, clad in screens continuously rolling through news feeds will spur questions from the general public, and the building behind will facilitate the answering of those questions.
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The typical lecture/debate hall has been modified so that individuals are able to control the focus of their attention. Swivelling seats are mounted on rails to be moved and angled at will, which allows the spontaneous creation of smaller discussion groups.
01. Lecturing
02. Debating
03. Collaborating
Centro Civico
Auditorium Configurations:
04. Relaxing
Acoustic Canopy: Cells in a hexagonal structure can fold shut, increasing the amount of reflected sound and leading to a livelier atmosphere for rallies, or open up to absorb the sound, suiting itself to a more relaxed environment.
Louder
Electric Actuators Acoustic Damping Material Metal Framework
Quieter
Louder
Quieter
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Centro Civico
Centro Civico View from the Street
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Personal Work
Personal Work
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Personal Work
Parametric Bench, built with the help of Zach Butler
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Personal Work
The Tinkham-Veale Student Center at Case Western Reserve University
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Personal Work
Campanile of Florence Cathedral
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Personal Work
Texture Exercise - Watercolor Collage
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Personal Work
Figure Ground - Permanent Marker
Color + Shape Blending Exercise - Watercolor Collage
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Fusion Fashion + Architecture Collaboration
Prompt:
Collaborating with the School of Fashion through a grant from the College of the Arts, our team was tasked with taking the influence of architecture in fashion beyond inspiration, with the end result being four cohesive looks.
Concept:
When beginning this project, one of the first things we realized is that at their most basic level, fashion and architecture serve the same function. They provide a “screen� for the user to isolate themselves from the environment. The main aspect
that differs between the two is scale.
Advisors:
Professors Betsy Carr and Jon Yoder *Collaborated with architecture student Zach Butler and fashion student Julien Remi Nguyen, funded by a Kent State College of the Arts Grant
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Fusion Fashion + Architecture Collaboration 32
Fusion Fashion + Architecture Collaboration
In selecting our materials, we wanted to continue exploring the idea of shifts in scale. Take, for example, wood. It is one of the most common materials used in construction, but if you were to take a 2x4 and stand it next to a tree there is no immediate recognize-ability between the two. The 2x4 is a natural material that has been sculpted into a synthetic form. But what
would it look like if you reversed the roles? Is there a synthetic material that takes a natural form?
Design Iterations (sketches by Remi Nguyen) 33
Form:
Raw Silk
White Oak
ABS Plastic
Fusion Fashion + Architecture Collaboration
Materials:
First we needed to define what exactly would be considered a natural form. For this we looked to the process of growth, which gave us the voronoi diagram. On a 2D plane, this defines the optimal spread of cells based on center points, so that all the points within a cell are closer to that cell’s center point than any other. By taking this strategy and applying it to 3 dimensional space we begin to mimic the cellular structure of wood. 34
Final Looks
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Fusion Fashion + Architecture Collaboration
Fusion Fashion + Architecture Collaboration Final Looks
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“A concept is a brick. It can be used to build a courthouse of reason. Or it can be thrown through the window.� - Gilles Deleuze
Model completed for the eVolo Skyscraper Competition in collaboration with Zach Butler