Maria Tjäder
Portfolio
Selected works 2015 | 2017
My name is Maria and I am a 25 years old student at the Architecture and Civil Engineering program at Chalmers university of technology in Gothenburg, Sweden. Through curiosity and a will to challenge myself to progress, my student life has taken me on a lot of experiences. My greatest driving force is the interest in ďŹ nding sustainable technical solutions for the built environment. The Architecture and Engineering program uniďŹ es design with natural sciences and technology. The projects arise through sketching, modelling and physically experimenting and it makes a good basis for master studies in both areas. For me, the program is a good way to combine my interest in design with mathematics and problemsolving.
MARIA TJĂ„DER +46730569072 maria.tjader@hotmail.com /mariatjader
My hope for the immidiate future is to have an internship before doing my masters. During one year I want to learn more about sustainable architecture, urban planning and the use of virtual tools in the design process.
contents 1. Sea Swallow Dance Studio Iterativ model building process
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2. Parametric design Projects using virtual tools
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in the design process 3. Kvarteret Hackspetten Energy eďŹƒcient row houses
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in Gothenburg
Concept model from model building course
4. Naturum Skalet Visitors Center and exhibition hall of nature reservations Reection
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17
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Sea swallow dance studio The project is made on the theme of optimized structures. It is part of a preparatory course for the subsequent bachelor’s exam. An iterative design method as an optimization tool of complex architectural structures was used. Shown in the portfolio is the model building process.
IDEA The dance studio project is a public project situated in Liverpool. The site is in a suburb of brick houses and an open dance scene is thought to be built in a ruin of a train station. The entrance is made on the other side of the tunnel, 2 kilometers away. Focus of the project is optimized structures and my focus is to optimize a roof for different uses. The project is developed by the making of physical models in different materials as well as sketching by hand and making models in grasshopper. Photo of Edge Hill cutting, train station ruin, Liverpool
Area:
The main thoughts for the design of the project has come from analyzing the building site and from experimenting with physical models. The conceptual idea is the feeling of freedom when getting out of a 2 kilometers long tunnel. Also, travelling by train is often connected to the feeling of freedom. To represent this feeling is a bird spreading its wings to fly, which gives the form.
Public space, Performance hall
Location:
Liverpool, UK
Focus:
Model building, Parametric design, Communicating ideas by hand-made sketches
Software:
DESIGN PROPOSAL
Rhino/Grasshopper
Group constellation: Individual project Level of education: 5:th semester Initial idea sketch
What? - To make a roof covering a dance stage, the entrance tunnel and the audience - To connect with the surrounding areas and build up a curiosity of what is under the great roof - To make an organic motion through the area and also on dierent heights - To use the roof as a plateau to walk on or as a cover for being under - To design a scene and seats for the audience in a wavy form
REFLECTION If more time was given to the project, focus would be on how to optimize the model form even more. Thoughts during the process was how to make the model able to get open, and mechanisms for this could be explored. Drawings of the garden design and connecting paths from the area could be done. Choice of materials are not shown.
Why? - The stage gets open to the people and is also transparent for people to see eachother - The roof gets used in dierent ways and it can be movable and formed for dierent situations
How? - By optimizing the form of the surface (the roof) - By having stairs connecting the direct area with the stage area - By keeping the entrance tunnel and the scene central under the highest point of the roof - By integrating vegetation and trees in openings of the roof and at uncovered parts of the site
Grasshopper modelling of the form. Three curves are bend by mathematical functions in y- and z-directions.
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parametric design These projects focus on using digital models as tools for exploring architecture. Each assignment is about developing ideas and proposals in scripting and designing.
Structural analysis
Grasshopper modelling from model building course
Working with data trees, a structure of beams was built up from a set surface. When a base structure including diagonals was made, two extra levels were added. Later on, the model was analyzed by adding loads and material characteristics.
Solar radiation on facade
A façade created by a three-dimensional pattern was made. The grade of opening of the “windows” depended on the distance from them to a movable attractor point. The attractor point moving like a sun through the day made it possible to make studies on insolation in different angles of the facade.
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kvarteret hackspetten Energy efficient, brick facaded row houses in a suburb of Gothenburg. Besides climate concerns, a great focus on social sustainability and multifunctional floor planning was used in this project.
Area:
Residential buildings
Location:
Sävenäs, Gothenburg
Size of plan: 80/115/140 m2 Focus:
Energy efficiency, Residential standards
Software:
Revit, Autocad, Indesign, Excel
Group constellation: Group of four Level of education: 4:th semester Vizualization of the daily life in the area
IDEA The project of designing row houses was combined with studies in building physics. Around 15 households were to be planned. The main ideas of the project is to make a varied district of modern housing. Our focus was to create social and ecological sustainability. It came through making cooperative areas for everyday life such as a park settings, facilities to rent for meetings or parties and common cultivation stations in the area. An important thought was to make an area that feels safe. That was created by placing the kitchen window towards the main street to get “eyes on the street”. Also, lightened entrances were created with a lot of windows.
FLOOR PLANNING A lot of effort was put into the making of floor plans. The design is alike on the first floor of the apartments but the roof height of the buildings varies. Therefore the smallest apartment (80 sqm) has one floor and the other two (115 and 140 sqm) has two floors. It was important to make plans that could be suitable for different families. Spacial qualities as light and open areas were considered.
First floor
Second floor
BUILDING PHYSICS The ambition climatically was to reach passive house standard. Passive houses uses a collection of construction techniques to create energy efficient houses. Through a building physics paper one of the row houses was analyzed and compared with Swedish regulations. The maximum energy of passive house regulations is 55 kWh per year and square meter. The same number of BBR, Swedish building regulations, is 90. The calculated energy required for the biggest and most vulnerable house of the row houses, with three outer facades, is 51 kWh per year and square meter. The maximum effect used of passive house regulations is 17 W per square meter, for a building of the size of a medium row house. The calculated effect was 23 W per square meter, and the building did therefore not reach passive house standards. The calculated airtightness as well as the R-values (thermal resistance) for walls, windows, roof and ground matched the regulations for passive house standards.
SUSTAINABLE DESIGN Through minimizing outer walls and choosing to place windows carefully although the glazing takes on a great area, energy results improved. Since the entrance is made in two phases it prevents heat from getting out. The windows thermal resistance was good, but a problem were the thermal bridges which contributed to the high effect results. Heat exchanger is used and improves the result. Solar cells were planned but are not taken into account.
REFLECTION A great start-up process of sketching and model making led to many ideas to sort and put together. The collaboration in the group of four students worked incredibly well and one of the factors was great organization. The conclusion from making the studies in building physics is that a deep thought of construction must be considered early on in the design process to minimize energy use.
Facade drawing of the three types of apartments
Interior perspective of the middle sized house
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naturum skalet A center for receiving people who visit the natural environment of the park Slottskogen in central Gothenburg. The building is meant to hold exhibitions, meetings and research and be open for all who seek to explore the surroundings.
Area: Location: Size of plan: Focus: Software:
Commercial Architecture Slottskogen, Gothenburg 300 m^2 Structural analysis Autocad, Sketchup, Revit, Photoshop Group constellation: Individual project Level of education: 3:rd semester Vizualization of the park life around the exhibition hall
STRUCTURAL CONCEPT The construction is divided into nine frames that are divided into two segments each and joined together in the ridge. Great horizontal forces are made and they were thought to be taken care of by straight horizontal beams under the roof pushing the construction together. This would have ruined the architectural impression and the forces are taken care of by binding together the outer beams under the ground.
Detailing of ground, beam and outer wall
Physical model of construction
IDEA The project to build a visitor´s center of nature in Gothenburg was oriented on how to unify design and wooden structure into a building with large dimensions. Explorations on how to create rooms with different spans were made. The concept for the project is connected to nature by using shells of different sizes. To use repetitive shapes but scale parts up and down. “Skalet”, the shell, makes an oasis close to the city, and by making an outer roofed area it creates a gate to the great park of Slottskogen. The path is tied together to the tram station and the park. The room constructed under the great roof gets natural sunlight through the beam grid and the sheltered space can make room for a extended exhibition. The entrance is made in the middle of this room and this makes people able to get to the entrance easily on their way to or from the park. It gets as public as it is thought to be. The main characteristics of the piece of architecture is the compactness having different levels, the repetitive but asymmetric form and the wooden material that ties together the roof and walls. Also the two glass facades that are partly closed due to sunlight makes a playful design. Inside the giant beams building up the structure in walls and roof are most characteristic. Inside, the exhibition area is facing west to have the best view through the windows towards the park. The administrational areas are facing north towards the city and the tram station.
Background drawing: Siteplan Lower drawings: Facades
REFLECTION The conceptual sketch model had volumes of same shaped parts as well as ideas of lightning by a grid of beams. Working from the sketch models, circular forms became angular and shells arose. The different shells gave outdoor and indoor rooms, and this was connected to the site by making the outdoor areas a pathway under the great roof. The plan took form as a reaction to the outer form. Due to the size of the plan, it was suitable to make the building two levels high. The connecting stairs inside are a quality as it can be used as a place to sit. The construction of a physical model of a cross section of a part of the wall and drawing details of connections of roof/wall and wall/ground was made. This made great understanding of the way wooden houses are built and how they work. The top quality of the project Is that the building has strong graphic features to make it recognizable from a distance. Looking back, the structural construction is doubtful due to big forces when using non-straight angles. Also, the area between the inner and the outer roofs makes no point and therefore the design concept is untenable. Also, lightning inside the outer room could be developed, aswell as the entrance situation and the building´s placement on the site.
First floor
Second floor Section drawing: A-A
Moving forward... Three years at the Architecture and engineering program has given me great knowledge in many areas. I have found my driving forces. I chose the program to be able to combine my analytic side with my creative passion. Tight deadlines and intense parallel working methods has improved my skills to work independently and prioritize. Now I can call myself an architect and an engineer and use the two ways of thinking as one. I am ready to use my way of working in coming projects and I am eager to learn more. Thank you for you consideration Maria Tjäder
Sitterviadukt, St. Gallen, Switzerland