MICHAEL SAVALA | work samples B.A. in Architecture Washington University in Saint Louis m.savala@outlook.com issuu.com/m.savala 1.618.334.6003
01_SPACE BRICK SHAPE SHIFTING MACHINE The tool can be compressed, expanded, and warped in an infinite number of ways to shapeshift the space within. Each joint is created to slide, fold, and stretch with simple, elegant movements.
02_HAND DRAWINGS URBAN AND LANDSCAPE
(above) 8.5 x 5, graphite (upper left) 18 x 24, charcoal (left) 4’ x 8’, pastels
03_REVERSE STAR IN SCORPION YOGA STUDIO
INSTRUCTOR: John Mueller
How can the program itself (yoga) be used to inspire the design of the building as a whole (a yoga studio)? This yoga position, the reverse star in scorpion, inspired the form of the program, the yoga studio. The two people are relying upon one another in order to fulfill the yoga position, and if one of them does not accurately position themselves, then the entire yoga position fails. The same concept applies here, in this basic form of the structure. The vertical and horizontal members rely on each other in order to successfully hold the structure together.
04_DETROIT FEEDBACK
NOMAS COMPETITION ENTRY
LANDBANKING
SUSTAINABILITY The program, called the Sustainability Center, hosted exhibition and educational spaces, farm space, food processing, and a hydroponics fishery. Our site focuses on bringing these needs to the neighborhood of Corktown, while focusing all program on the human scale and that which was already established by the neighborhood. The program ultimately serves as an incubator, which can spread local food production across the city.
ANEROBIC DIGESTER
05_PIAZZA PAOLO UCCELLO PLAZA REDESIGN INSTRUCTOR: Zueler Lima
The Piazza Paolo Uccello of the present opened in 2010 in a Florentine suburban neighborhood. With its reopening came a new tram system to connect the suburbs to the city, but alongside it opened a new highway interchange, limiting its pedestrian accessible space and its connectivity to the neighborhoods around it. The plan for the renovated piazza did a few key things to fix these flaws. For one, the highway was pushed underground to allow for more green space and pedestrian pathways. New sidewalks would guide people to and from the bridge to Cascine Park (north), the walk along the river, and the adjacent residences. The piazza now allows for the entire neighborhood to be interconnected.
06_STAGGER
POOL AND SPA COMPLEX INSTRUCTOR: Iain Fraiser
The entire design of the building comes from two elements; the bearing walls, which carry the weight of the building, and the horizontal pools on the ground level. The ground level program consists of a series of individual exercise pools and small subordinate pools for an intimate and very personal experience. The upper level has an open plan with larger pools, for a more communal experience above.
(above) front facade, first floor perspective (left) concept models (below) section, model photographs
07_ISSUES MAGAZINE
COMMUNITY PUBLICATION student initiated community-oriented magazine
Turning the Tide Despite the huge vacancy problem that plagues Saint Louis, the city’s public transit system is one of its crowning achievements. Sure, the Metrolink only takes you along the East-West corridor of the metro area, leaving the North and South sides out, and it takes a little planning to use—trains typically come every 20 minutes. But considering how spread out the metro area is, with only 10% of the Saint Louis Metropolitan area within city limits, and the fact that Metrolink has the 10th highest ridership of light rail systems in the country1, it’s doing pretty well for itself. One area that the Metrolink has fallen short, however, is pedestrian accessibility at certain stations, and there is no better example of this than at Brentwood’s Metrolink station. Thanks to the construction of the blue line which is not even a decade old, I can take the train directly from Wash U’s campus to Target and Trader Joe’s, two immensely popular shopping destinations for everyone, including the college students living in Clayton and University City. When you exit the train you are within a quarter mile of Brentwood’s massive Promenade shopping center, but you are faced with choosing between two difficult and ill-planned paths. You can either walk north along Eager Road—a high speed bypass route of nearby I-170— as well as down a makeshift dirt path down a steep hill, or you can walk south through Hanley Industrial Court—a typically deserted collection of factories where sidewalks did not exist and tight corners require automobile drivers to be cautious while whipping around them. Both of these routes are twice as long, and neither is particularly fun at night. Recently, I took the Metrolink there, knowing full well what I was getting myself into. After leaving the platform (which is designed in itself to trouble pedestrians), I was pleasantly surprised A new sidewalk was constructed that connected the train station to the Brentwood Promenade shopping plaza. Sure, Hanley Industrial Court still isn’t the most inviting location to walk through, but having a right of way for pedestrians is a relief, and it means much more to those who use wheelchairs and have disabilities. The sidewalk is functional, of course, but it makes a bolder statement than the safety of Metro passengers— people are walking around Brentwood and in the St. Louis area, rather than just driving. A suburban town finally sees the relevance of public transportation and the accessibility of its resources to everyone.
This diagram shows the direct route to Dierberg’s (grocery store) and Target in orange from the Metrolink Station (green dot), with the pedestrian paths to each in purple. Dierberg’s is the shorter one. The pedestrian paths are about twice as long as the direct distances.
Thankfully, this sidewalk is not the end of Brentwood’s efforts towards accessibility. This project, which was completed in 2013, is part of the Brentwood Pedestrian and Transit Improvement Project, which is a project funded federally through the East West Gateway Council of Governments. Originally conceived in 2010 with construction starting months after, the $2 million project aims at making Brentwood a more walkable city, starting at its busy commercial district2. The new sidewalk, which is one part of the project, connects the Brentwood Metro station with Brentwood Promenade (the location of Target and Trader Joe’s) and on through to Memorial Park, a public park that lies beyond Hanley Industrial Court, farthest from the train station. This new addition will bring Brentwood one step closer to being a more accessible city. The recent city trends are moving away from automobiles and towards buses, light rail, and bicycles as primary methods of transit. In Saint Louis, these are especially new—the Metrolink itself just celebrated its Twenty Year anniversary, which doesn’t even include the seven-year-old blue line. The collaboration between the Metrolink station, suburban shopping districts, and public parks to create more accessibly for everyone shows strong indication of smarter design in the future—one that prioritizes pedestrians over autos.
ISSUES Magazine is a publication started at Washington Univ. by three students (myself included) that aims to seek the intrinsic link between architecture and urban problems existing in Saint Louis. The magazine has covered a variety of topics, including homelessness, vacancy, and education accessibility. We’ve also connected with many noted Saint Louisans such as political activist Jamala Rogers, What’s Up magazine creator Jay Swoboda, and 21st Ward Alderman Antonio French.
Nationwide Ridership Statistics: http://www.apta.com/resources/statistics/ Documents/Ridership/2013-q2-ridership-APTA.pdf The Brentwood Pedestrian and Transit Improvement Plan: http://mobrentwood2.civicplus.com/DocumentCenter/View/5304
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Written and Photographed by Michael Savala
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SENZA DIMORA : homeless I was walking from Italian class towards the Duomo, Florence’s most iconic building. The plaza is always crowded with many people: some are tourists, some residents, and some overwhelmed students such as myself. I look both ways before entering the plaza for bikes, taxis, and determined pedestrians flying through the intersection on a daily basis. I get a glimpse of a bike—a man on a mission rushing to get somewhere—and I stop. He makes some sort of disgusted noise with his tongue sticking out. I was confused until I looked around and saw an olive skinned woman wearing a brightly colored head wrap, blue jacket and floral ankle-length skirt turn with an angry look on her face. She knew that the noise was directed at her. She dressed in stereotypical ‘gypsy’ garb, which provokes an offensive yet widespread term used towards olive-skinned ethnic people who tend to wear floral skirts and are have a reputation to beg, pickpocket, and steal. And those who dress the part unfortunately have to deal with other people’s perception of them.
it exists in Florence, not entirely unlike Saint Louis’s own What’s Up magazine. In addition, Florence’s Ospedale degli Innocenti (“Hospital of the Innocent”) has been the site of charity for hundreds of years, with today’s Ronda Charity donating food, blankets, and supplies to the area every night. Although homelessness is a large scale problem in Florence, there are many efforts to stop its spread and help out those who need it. In Florence, the issue of homelessness and poverty have reached an extreme scale; from clothing identification and persistent begging to nightly charities and literature on the manner. Socially, I feel that it will take a while for the greater society to accept this as a problem, but solutions exist, and they are on the rise.
It is a common tendency in America to fear and distrust homeless people—a lot of it is based on stereotypes from select instances, but in today’s society, where social classes live and work so separately, these ideas are fairly mainstream. Though, despite this perception, a certain sympathy exists in the conversation between the needy and the wealthy. An actual conversation may never happen, but a charitable spirit is very popular in American society—‘give to the needy’. Here in Europe, or at least in Florence, that sympathy does not exist at all. In fact, much of Western Europe displays hatred towards those who beg. No sympathy exists even on a superficial level; Western Europeans avoid people who visually fit the stereotype altogether and teach others to stay far away from their reach. These affected people are, as a result, severely discriminated against and judged as pickpockets, criminals, and all around undesirables. While it’s true that people pickpocket and that women in typical ‘gypsy’ floral dresses do go around the tourist areas begging for money, not all of these people are pickpockets, and certainly not every woman wearing a floral dress is begging for money.
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In Western Europe, or at least here in Florence, a huge stigma exists against the visibly poor and those who blend in, but progress is being made to include those left behind. Here there exists a newspaper called Fuori Binario (meaning “Off Track”) that focuses on issues of homelessness as
Written by Michael Savala Watercolor by Audrey Cole 14
RÉSUMÉ EDUCATION
Michael Savala
Washington University in Saint Louis
Washington University in Saint Louis, Aug 2010 - May 2014, expected
Bachelor of Arts with a Major in Architecture / Minor in Urban Design Cumulative GPA: 3.42/4.0
Florence, Italy Study Abroad Program with Washington University in Architecture
Santa Reparata International School of Art, Jan 2013 - May 2013
HONORS AND ACTIVITIES
Co-editor, ISSUES Magazine, Aug 2011 - present Co-founded the city-wide community oriented magazine (Aug 2011)
Coordinated finances for printing and advertisement of the magazine (Aug 2011-present)
Led activities of the group as president (Aug 2013-May 2014)
Member, National Organization of Minority Architecture Students, Jan 2012 - present Participated in Washington Univ.’s entry into the student design program (Oct 2012) Tutor, Hope House in Saint Louis, MO, Aug-Dec 2011 Taught GED classes to adults through the Campus Y program (Aug-Dec 2011) Eagle Scout, Boy Scout Troop 307, awarded in Nov 2009
Coordinated the financing, design, and installation of upper closet shelves in Fall 2009 for Aldersgate United Methodist Church in Montgomery as the Eagle Project
RELEVANT COURSEWORK
The Study of Cities and Metropolitan America, taught by Prof. Yeakey Studied urban problems through novels such as Gang Leader for a Day and The Jungle Community Dynamics, taught by Andrew Faulkner
Presented to the Mayor of St. Louis proposals to “design out crime” in city crime hotspots
Urban Development Seminar; taught by Mike Naucas, Barbara Levin Worked with the Saint Louis Metropolitan Sewer District to design green infrastructure solutions Community Building, Building Community, taught by Bob Hansman Studied Saint Louis, its vacancy and abandonment problems, and the causes of them EXPERIENCE
Draftsperson at PWBA Architects, Inc.; Montgomery, AL
May - August in 2009 - 2012 Worked in the latest version of AutoCAD and drafted for the Alabama Wildlife Federation Nature Center Measured in the field and drew in AutoCAD existing buildings for future development
Student Intern at the Creative Exchange Lab non-profit; Saint Louis, MO
May - August in 2013 Designed furniture for CEL’s main space and did community service for CEL Worked with various people involved in projects that encouraged community-oriented design
KNOWLEDGE
Fluent in Design and Office Software AutoCAD (7 years)
Rhinoceros 3D (2.5 years) Microsoft Office (over 6 years) Adobe Photoshop, InDesign, and Illustrator (4 years)
Knowledge of Autodesk Revit Architecture (2 years) Knowledge of the Italian language (5 months)