Laura Crane—M.Arch
Laura is interested in the expansion of capacities: the building facade and skin are complex interface surfaces, ripe with potential for engagement with the public.
(P)
850.240.7158 (E)
lauralynncrane@gmail.com
Education School of the Art Institute of Chicago Masters of Architecture Enrollment: Fall 2009 — May 13, 2012 NAAB Accredited Abroad semesters in Japan and Peru Over 800 hours of NCARB IDP credit logged Florida State University Bachelor of Science, Interior Design Enrollment: Fall 2004 — Spring 2008 Cumulative GPA: 3.89 Magna Cum Laude CIDA Accredited NASAD Accredited
Experience Software AutoCAD, Revit, Rhino, Grasshopper, Photoshop, Illustrator, InDesign, Microsoft Office. Craft Furniture making/wood working, hand drafting, model making, oil painting, charcoal drawing, leaded glass, CNC routing, and mold making/casting.
Volunteer The Edgar Martinez Project SAIC student project with a goal to implement architectural design to accommodate the Martinez’s family new lifestyle + employment of living with a disability. The project began in Spring 2011, and the first phase of construction was completed in the Summer of 2012.
Activities Facades+Innovation Symposium Fall 2012 AIA Chicago member Spring 2012 — Current Architecture for Humanity member Spring 2012 — Current Tele Vision Sullivnan Galleries Exhibition Summer 2012 AlAS at SAIC President Fall 2011 — Summer 2012 AlAS at SAIC Vice President Fall 2010 — Spring 2011 Phi Kappa Phi Honor Society Fall 2007— Current Phi Eta Sigma Honor Society Fall 2005 — Current ASID/IIDA student member Fall 2006 — Spring 2008
Employment The Bloomingdale Trail Freelance Architectural Designer Employment: Fall 2012 Description: Aide in the Aide in 3d rendered videos as well as materials research to help with the realization of the project.
Williams Electric Co., Inc. Full time CAD Technician Employment: June 2008- July 2009 Description: Produce drawing packages of schematics based sketches from the field. Projects included drawing packages submitted to the Army Corps of Engineers as well as the Smithsonian Institution.
SAIC TA-B Teacher Assistant for the course D.0.3022 Designed Objects Employment: Fall 2009 Semester Description: Assist in the design devlompent and critique of entry level undergraduate object designers.
National Rebuild Day Architecture for Humanity Chicago Chapter SAIC AlAS collaboration. Participated in the April 2011 event, as well as the April 2010 event where an entire day is dedicated to home repairs for the elderly, disabled or those experiencing poverty.
Awards SAIC Exellence in Leadership Award Spring 2012 Faculty nominated scholarship John W. Kurtich Travel Scholarship SAIC Winter 2011 One of nine recipients, award based on merit AARP Livable Communities Phase II National Design Competition Fall 2011 Third Place Winner Project published in the 2012 spring journal of CRIT Betsy Karp Honorable Mention SAIC Spring 2011 In recognition of studio IV work 17th Annual Leadership Recognition SAIC Fall 201 0 Faculty nominated recognition
Built
Technical Drawings/Details
The Edgar Martinez Project—SAIC AlAS Freedom by Design Student
L–Stop Subway Station
Roots—Mixed Use Urban Development
Bio Feras
LIMA
Furnitures
Robert Crown Community Center
Urban Negative—SAIC Thesis 2012
Contents
Studio
Collaborative
Urban Negative—SAIC Thesis 2012
Urban Negative —SAIC Thesis 2012
Urban Negative is a proposed intervention of the Chicago Loop alleyways, responding to the ever-growing distance between the urban dweller and their immediate built environment. Currently, the city registers as noise amongst a mass of junk-space, a continuing distance between edifice and environment.
Urban Negative utilizes adjacent alley spaces by allowing the public an opportunity for the declaration of space that is fostered by an architectural design proposal.
Urban Negative—SAIC Thesis 2012
The Chicago Loop was the site selected for this design proposal due to the cyclical program of the Loop and the 500,000 commuters traveling to and from the greater Loop area every weekday.
Urban Negative—SAIC Thesis 2012
The design proposal is a modular canopy system, composed of different components that enable the alley to retain its utilitarian function and conform around existing program while facilitating a new public space. The five different components vary in form based on their function, from a lighting component, to a planter component, to an air-filtering component that is coated with titania nanoparticles to help remove allergens from the air. The placement of the components is indicative of the program beneath.
Urban Negative—SAIC Thesis 2012
Below from left to right: air cleaning component, interactive swing component, planter component, lighting component, basic component.
Urban Negative—SAIC Thesis 2012
The Loop’s cyclical nature parallels that of the alley’s cyclical nature as they transition from a utilitarian program, to a potential threat of danger during the night in a similar 24 hour cycle.
Urban Negative—SAIC Thesis 2012
Urban Negative—SAIC Thesis 2012
Right: Layers of research, including a detailed crime analysis, traffic congestion, bike paths, existing program, wind analysis, and density were addressed for this project.
CNC 3 axis vacuum form
thermoform plastic over base
CNC 2axis abs thermoforms
Urban Negative—SAIC Thesis 2012
CNC 3axis rigid foam base
Urban Negative—SAIC Thesis 2012
Television exhibition installation
Urban Negative—SAIC Thesis 2012
Urban Negative—SAIC Thesis 2012
Urban Negative—SAIC Thesis 2012
Robert Crown — Community Center
Robert Crown Community Center
The Robert Crown Community Center design proposal was executed based on the RFP guidelines provided by the City of Evanston. The city of Evanston has outgrown the existing complex and is asking for additional space as well as an additional ice rink. In addition to the RFP requirements, based upon site interviews, there exists a need for 24-hour accessible programs, as well as the request for the potential to host development EXISTING IMAGE Grasshopper HEIGHT FIELD community events was addressed in the resulting design proposal. In an effort to connect the two main groups of stakeholders, as well as to link the community center to the immediate community, a scoreboard is positioned on the exterior to allow community involvement in the game, even if they cannot attend; whether it is a hockey, tennis, or basketball game.
SKIN DEVELOPMENT
HEX ATTRACTOR
PLAN VIEW
DETAIL VIEW
Robert Crown Community Center
This notion of visual involvement that is conveyed on the exterior via the scoreboard as well as the front porch is also continued on the interior; with every program providing a peek-a-boo view onto another program in an effort to further promote involvement through the sense of inclusion and accessibility throughout the new Robert Crown Community Center.
Robert Crown Community Center
The design proposes the building to be raised, permitting the building to function as a canopy and viewing platform over open to air programming beneath. This gesture mimics the existing vernacular of the adjacent housing with raised front porches. The open program below allows 24-hour access for immediately surrounding residents to amenities such as a basketball court, a playground, a skate park, a skating rink, as well as the opportunity to host farmer markets.
Robert Crown Community Center
Robert Crown Community Center
Robert Crown Community Center
Robert Crown Community Center
Above: section Right: structural diagram
The front porch dictates the building’s orientation and takes advantage of the Southern light, with the East and West walls covered in a perforated skin to control heat gain through daylight.
This gesture of placing the rink underground allows for maximum green space above, as well as the introduction of topography from the displaced dirt to provide additional programming including sledding and an integration of stadium seating for outdoor sporting events. The placement underground also allows for a more energy efficient temperature regulation, as well as crowd control with separate entrances that can be open for events, or private key card access for those commuting users.
Robert Crown Community Center
A consequent problem that must also be addressed is the implementation of the different needs of the different stakeholders: the immediate resident and the commuters from the greater Evanston and Chicago area that use the ice rink, as well as the Northwestern Men’s Hockey Team. Upon site interviews it was easy to obtain that those users who commute for the ice rink, only use the ice rink while many immediate residents have never even stepped foot inside; this influenced the design decision to place the new ice rink under ground.
Furnitures
Furnitures
The profile of the dipping table is milled in multiple materials that are attached internally through a dowel system.
Furnitures
Materials plywood, maple, cherry, walnut, acrylic — This table was produced for a CNC fabrication class that focused on output by two and three axis milling. This piece is a study on a mass laminating process, a process that is enabled by the advancement in digital output.
Furnitures
Furnitures
Materials solid maple with a grey wash — This table was produced for a fundamental furniture course. The design is from predetermined drawings and the intent is to produce a nail and screw free table by utilizing wood joinery.
Furnitures
Materials fiberglass — Four late 1950 to early 1960 Verner Panton chairs were found and restored after years of abuse. The fiberglass repair process included a lot of sanding, filling, and the use of auto paint to return them back to their original luster.
Tool path
Furnitures
CNC router
Materials walnut, medex, polypropylene — Pixel is a case-good produced for an advanced furniture class. The piece continually evolved around the idea of producing a tactile drawer face. The drawer faces that serve as the moments of interaction were made via digital output that utilized the CNC machine. The drawer face was then vacuum-formed by a polypropylene plastic. The piece is an exploration in fabrication and the marrying of materials, while conforming to standard hardware and parts.
Furnitures
Furnitures
Furnitures
Materials solid walnut, mdf painted white, threaded 1/4� rods and bolts — Pet step was designed for a small space. The piece needed to be stackable and multifunctional. The step has a u-shaped base that allows the step to function as a lap table. The hardware assembly makes the step collapsible for easy assembly and disassembly.
Furnitures
Materials plaster — Hex tile was created as a project for a fitting lab. The tile was purely an experiment on casting and joinery. After the plaster was cast, airplane hinges were drilled and inset into the tile to allow 270-degree rotation to allow the objects to conform to any surface.
Lima PERU
Micro Lima
Macro Peru
LIMA
Site
included developing sustainable Urban Agriculture facilities that provide the foundation (social, cultural, economic and ecologic) for the adaptation and preservation of historic buildings in the Cercado. LIMA
An interdisciplinary SAIC studio in partnership with the city of Lima, Peru, has been asked to design urban agriculture installations for the Cercado de Lima, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, and a significant urban historic district in Peru. The project scope
LIMA
of recycle, plant, and repeat. A reclaimed interlocking seating system is proposed with the notion of educating the youth and allowing them to participate in their government/community. Children at the local public schools are to collect plastic 2-liter bottles, which will then be upcycled into self-watering planters for seedlings. Upon a trip to the Municipal Palace, students
can drop the 2-liter into the reclaimed honeycomb containers that can function additionally as storage or seating when not filled with seedling planters. Once the seedlings reach maturity, they can be relocated to the deeper planting beds, and the next class of students can partake in the green roof development. All green roof additions to the Municipal Palace coincide with
consideration for the historical preservation of the building and does not impend the initial view from street level.
LIMA
The first project is proposal for a green roof design for the Municipal Palace in the historic Plaza Mayor next to the Governmental Palace. The difficulties of the project developed into the inspiration for the proposal, the notion of lost in translation. The simplistic design is meant to be read diagrammatically so the intent is not lost: the simple notion
Bio Ferias
Bio ferias are a market stall proposal that was a collaborative project in Lima, Peru. The stalls are a design solution addressing the need for instant markets for vendors selling a range of craft items to vegetables and meat/ dairy products. The original installation is for implementation in the sites La Molina, Miraflores, and Barranco; with a potential for stalls to be used throughout the greater metropolitan area of Lima.
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Bio Feras
The stalls needed to be transportable, easily manipulated and provide storage.
Bio Feras
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Roots — Mixed Use Urban Development
Roots—Mixed Use Urban Development
* This project placed 3rd in the AARP and AIAS hosted Liveable Communities National Design Competition and was published in the 2012 spring journal of CRIT
The project accordingly titled Roots signifies the need for a community to ground itself and perpetually grow. The current median age of the community is 30, with the majority of dwellers renting studio units. The design goal of the building is to connect low, mid, and high-rise units to create a community within. The designs of each unit type are to meet the individual needs of the capacity of the family that would reside there, whether it be a couple, family, single student or elderly resident.
Unit floor plans
Micro River North
Massing diagram
Existing site conditions/view
Demographic information
Roots—Mixed Use Urban Development
Macro Chicago, IL
Additional programming is proposed in particular areas of the development, based on the residential needs of the surrounding units to promote community development and connections through designed moments of interaction.
Roots—Mixed Use Urban Development
The proposed additional programming offers an opportunity for resident-to-
resident relationships, as well as the designed opportunities to build relationships with the surrounding community in moments of interaction, work, and education. The building wraps the perimeter of the unique shaped lot, creating a community courtyard. An elevated pedestrian walk, coffee shop, and an introduction of topography in the courtyard provides
recreational opportunities for both summer and winter for the entire community. A proposed green house offers interactive educational experience for both residences and the three near by schools, as well as provides produce for the grocery and pharmacy located directly below.
Roots—Mixed Use Urban Development
The building design is sloped on a North to South axis to take full advantage of the Southern light, while offering opportunities for both private and public roof top gardens to further the notion of designed environments for residential interaction.
Roots—Mixed Use Urban Development
The entire building is wrapped in a wooden brise soleil to provide visual privacy for residents as well as help naturally regulate interior temperatures from the direct sunlight on the East and West façade. The brise soleil also acts as a visual queue of wrapping and physically the community into one.
Building model facing East
Roots—Mixed Use Urban Development
L–Stop Subway Station
L–Stop Subway Station
A collaborative interdisciplinary studio with teams consisted of three disciplines: architecture, interior architecture, and designed objects. The proposal is for an added circle line that would connect the outer extremities of the red and blue rail lines.
Macro Chicago, IL
Micro Ukrainian Village
L–Stop Subway Station
L–Stop Subway Station
The project is both a renovation of the existing station of the Division blue line station as well as a design proposal for the new circle line that would run underneath the existing blue line. The design solution addressed the notion of layers of information, and how the user continually circulates through visual information in a place that is purely a transition point, not a destination.
L–Stop Subway Station
Concept puzzle / model
The Edgar Martinez Project—SAIC AlAS Freedom by Design Student Project
The Edgar Martinez Project —SAIC AlAS Freedom by Design Student Project A SAIC student project with a goal to implement architectural design to accommodate the Martinez’s family new lifestyle + employment of living with a disability, that began in Spring 2011. Project scope included fundraising, rebuilding the home’s South façade, replacing windows, installing a remote control lock/ entry, and sealing Edgar’s ADA ramp. My role as team leader was an immense responsibility, but the experience and collaboration was by far the most rewarding work in my career to date.
The Edgar Martinez Project—SAIC AlAS Freedom by Design Student Project
Edgar Martinez
The Edgar Martinez Project—SAIC AlAS Freedom by Design Student Project
Left: repaired wall with new insulation, plywood, building wrap, and siding Right: volunteers sealing ADA ramp
Above: initial damage/condition to the South facade, water damage and completely exposed
Left: new window installed to replace the existing struck by bullet
The Edgar Martinez Project—SAIC AlAS Freedom by Design Student Project
Above: volunteers cutting lattice
Technical Drawings/Details
Systems Detail
Technical Drawings/Details
Technical Drawings/Details
Thermal Analysis
An existing building in Calgary Canada was analyzed utilizing Ecotect software. A daylight study as well as energy analsis of the envelope construction determined the building efficiency.
Technical Drawings/Details
Technical Drawings/Details
Envelope Details
Building section detail/study from a study of Werner Sobek’s Energy Efficient Glass House
Technical Drawings/Details
Building section detail/study from Heren 5 Architecten’s Borneo