MATTHEW COULOMBE Selected Works
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Undergraduate Studies
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NJIT
CONTACT Email: mattcoul@outlook.com
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Cell: (732)-609-5914
250 Central Ave, Newark, NJ 07103 49 Brinckerhoff Ave, Freehold, NJ 07728
EDUCATION Sept 2011 - Present
NEW JERSEY INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY Bachelor of Architecture - Expected Graduation May 2016 - Minoring in Environmental Studies and Sustainability
July - Aug 2014
UNIVERSITA DI SIENA, ITALY
Architectural History & Advanced Graphics - Selected to study abroad in Europe for an eight week design studio
PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE Nov 2014 - May 2015
WILLIAM F. LOFTUS ASSOCIATES
Field Engineering Intern - Recorded foundation measurements and dimensions for $5-12M projects - Inspected foundation pile drilling/driving process to maintain New York City Building Code - Coordinated directly on-site with engineers, architects, construction site managers and laborers May - Aug 2015
ZUBATKIN OWNER REPRESENTATION
Project Management Intern - Exposed to real-time projects at various scales and levels of completion including small-scale renovations, historic restorations, and a large-scale museum expansion - Conducted research and prepared dossiers for various project consultants including civil engineers, geotechnical engineers, lighting, wayfinding, and AV/IT specialists - Prepared RFP (Request for Proposal) packages for project architects, MEP engineers, and civil/geotechnical engineers - Attended weekly design-coordination meetings with all project designers, engineers, LEED consultants and cost estimators
OTHER EXPERIENCE Jan - May 2013
NJIT DESIGN/BUILD MASONRY COMPETITION
Lead Designer, Assistant Project Manager - Collaborated with professional masons to develop design strategies to build a masonry-pavilion design - Explored masonry laying principles and studied contemporary and innovative construction techniques - Completed design challenge and had personal design chosen to be temporarily constructed on NJIT campus Jan - Feb 2015
CTRL+SPACE INTERNATIONAL IDEAS COMPETITION
Porto Pool Promenade - Participated in international design challenge to re-evaluate and re-invent the “public pool” - Designed and submitted entry with academic colleague July - Sept 2015
CHICAGO ARCHITECTURE BIENNIAL INTERNATIONAL IDEAS COMPETITION ChiDesign - Center for Architecture, Design & Education (CADE) - Participated in international design competition to be exhibited in the first annual Chicago Architecture Biennial - Performed site analysis, conceptual studies, and representational experiments with academic colleague - Exhibited in Chicago for jury of architects, artists, and students - Included on ChiDesign website with 100+ other entries
2013 - 2015
NJIT CoAD GUEST CRITIC
Second and Third-Year Presentations - Asked by NJIT professors to attend project reviews to provide design feedback and advice as an upperclassman
CONTENTS Shear: Core & Shell Prototype
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Divide: Rural Education Center
09
Shingle: Vernacular Abstraction
15
Sub: Porto Pool Promenade
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Stadia: Chi-Design CADE Tower
27
Abroad: European Operations
31
Matthew Coulombe
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00
The prototype expresses its formal, programmatic, and structural criteria through the manipulation of the shear planes and the resulting interstitial spaces.
SHEAR: CORE & SHELL PROTOTYPE Siteless
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ARCH 463
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Prof: Thomas Barry
Rhino3D, AutoCAD, Illustrator, Photoshop, Model-making This studio was inspired by the architectural typologies of the renaissance, most notably the Palazzo and Basilica. These common forms were comprised of a series of components that produced successful but expected results. Studying building typologies and their adaptations, the studio explored the threshold between the normative and the spectacular in architecture. The subject of these modern interpretations of classical typologies was the typical core and shell office tower. The development of a siteless prototype became the model for design. The removal of a site encouraged a higher level of thinking into the intricacies and workings of the typology. Our design solution began with a typical core and shell layout and was then split, dividing the tower into two halves. Now with the two half-donut plans, the tower developed a need for more shear strength. Using the opposing inner walls, a reinforced perforated surface was created. These surfaces were then manipulated horizontally, being pulled gradually toward and, in some cases, through the opposite half of the tower. The result is an office tower that becomes injected with moments of unique work environments. The projections of the inner membranes create multi-height, expansive work spaces that encourage interaction between different tenants.
Matthew Coulombe
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Shear
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01
01
02
03
04
A typical office tower uses a donut-plan; the shear planes are formed along the core’s walls, housing mechanical systems and other building services.
The shear planes on the “y-axis” are reconstituted along these cuts as physical surfaces. This creates a new interstitial zone between the two halves.
A split through the core and floor plates is made and the two halves are separated along it’s “x-axis” creating two half-donut plans.
The shear planes on the “x-axis” are reestablished intermediately in the building. Program within each half may push the surfaces to accommodate more flexible spaces. These projections create structural connections between the two halves.
The manipulation of the shear planes can create many different scenarios, such as a grand trading floor, or partially enclosed circulation bridges.
Shear
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03
242’
A
B
C
D
135’
When the two halves are independent, each floor plan is designed to maximize desk-space, private offices, and meeting rooms. The interstitial zone between the halves may be left as void, house a winter garden, or accommodate dining/event spaces.
A
Core and shell
B
Structural exoskeleton
C
Interstitial framing
D
Perimeter column grid
When a lateral connection is made between the two halve, the floor plan becomes much more flexible and is capable of accommodating a lecture space, larger breakout rooms, as well as a shared library/lounge space.
Shear
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05
The more normative segments of the tower are comprised of typical half-donut floorplates. This ensures easily occupied and efficient workspaces.
The interstitial space between the cores becomes multi-use and may contain auditorium seating or ramps to link multiple floors owned by a single tenant.
The bottom floors of these projections become expansive office floors which may accommodate showcase halls, shared spaces, or a more unique office environment depending on the occupants.
The interstitial spaces created between the two halves is used for light and fresh-air intake, as well as the opportunity for new, public program.
The steel-frame shear system, in some instances, expands laterally to create multi-storey projections outward to accommodate even larger floor plates.
Shear
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07
The classroom block consists of six enclosed learning spaces connected by a series of staggered platforms as well as a small accessible garden.
DIVIDE: RURAL EDUCATION CENTER Modasa, India
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ARCH 364
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Prof: Silva Ajemian
Rhino3D, AutoCAD, Illustrator, Photoshop, Model-making Sited in Modasa, India this studio project focused on primitive building practices and the harvesting of local materials. The brief called for a new education center for the children of Modasa and required a design that accounted for the harsh dry and rain seasons. The proposed complex is designed adjacent to a new man-made lake that borders the eastern edge of the site to capture the cooled air blowing across it. Running parallel to the shore is a raised circulatory platform that joins the classroom block to the canteen and resource center. Intersecting and perpendicular to this axis is an unprogrammed communal platform. The union of the two axis divide the complex into programmatic sectors, but also unify them implicitly. Along the main axis, structural rammed-earth and concrete walls funnel cool air through the school. A bamboo skeleton is then constructed and frames most of the structure. Staggered, elevated platforms hold classrooms, each with an enclosed and open-air learning spaces. The plan expands outward to encourage the use of the site for recreation, which includes a cricket court. Bamboo roofing, vertical wooden louvers, and local vegetation is used to effectively shade the complex, ensuring a comfortable learning environment that is easy to build and maintain.
Matthew Coulombe
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Divide
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09
01 The school is entered by a raised platform that gradually descends into the recess yard.
The complex is sited adjacent to a new, man-made lake to take advantage of south-eastern winds and evaporative cooling.
02 A series of walls running perpendicular to the shoreline funnel this air through the complex as well as define the programmatic boundaries.
The plan expands outward to a recreational cricket court.
Each classroom is accompanied by an outdoor lecture space.
The administration offices are raised and adjacent to the classroom block.
The classroom block is tiered along its axis and houses a small garden.
Docks project over the lake to allow students and visitors to interact with the water’s edge.
A partially covered recess area divides the plan and directs air circulation.
The canteen and activity room may house larger volumes of students and visitors.
Divide
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11
0
The recess area is directly accessible from the canteen and, during floods, becomes a new feature of the plan.
The classroom block contains six classrooms, each with an enclosed learning space and an open-air collaboration space. The sum of the classrooms create a staggered, shaded space that encourages interaction between classes.
After the communal axis intersects the circulatory path, it steps down to grade where it becomes a partially covered recess or gathering space.
Divide
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13
The Shingle Style is iconic for its playful combinations of shapes and the all-encompassing shingle wrapper.
SHINGLE: VERNACULAR ABSTRACTION Newport, Rhode Island
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ARCH 564
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Prof: Adam Modesitt
Rhino3D, AutoCAD, Illustrator, Photoshop This project is deeply rooted in the unprecedented transformation of residential architecture in late 19th century America. The Shingle Style, as it came to be known, is characterized by recombinations and hybridizations of American vernacular elements, such as gables and porches. The building wrapper, in this case comprised of shingles, integrates building elements into fields of pattern and craftwork. The Shingle Style stretched conventional vernacular systems until they were no longer recognizable, and instead became sets for invention and play. The project at hand is a new country inn sited in Newport, Rhode Island, and addresses contemporary interpretations of the vernacular. The most dominant element in Shingle Style architecture is the roof. This project re-imagines the roof plane as a design tool, rather than an inevitable product. To do this, the roof plane is established as a formal tool that may express program, blur thresholds, and create depth and focus. The notion of the roof plane is abstracted and re-deployed by creating an “unrolled� building surface that contains these planes as a series of oblique lines. The wrapper is then assembled and applied to the massing. The lines permeate into the perimeter of the building to inform and create new depths of spaces and surfaces.
Matthew Coulombe
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Shingle
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15
Plywood Sheathing & Shingles
Joist/Stringer
Rigid Insulation
Vapor Barrier
Metal Hanger
Floor Joist
Cavity Insulation
Plywood Risers & Treads
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ROOF
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STAIR
OPENING
The intersection of the oblique lines presented the opportunity to create hybrid elements, where, in this example, the performative and functional criteria of a roof, stair, and opening create a new system all together. The result is a hybrid of function, aesthetic, materiality, indoor, and outdoor.
A
B
A
B
Early studies investigated the effects of oblique lines, abstracted from roof planes, on typical balloon/stick style framing. An understanding of tectonic consequences from the conceptual operations was established.
1-D Operation Simple Extrusion
3-D Operation Unrolled Continuity
North
West (Water)
South
East (Entry)
The process transformed as it began to engage building scale. Rather than a simple 1-D extrusion, the oblique lines are now deployed on an unrolled surface that may be reassembled to form the massing. These lines permeate into the building perimeter and dictate depth, materiality, and user experience.
Shingle
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17
10
Where the envelope is recessed, a system of vertical wooden fins shade the interior spaces, while creating contrast from the shingled walls.
3
The shingled skin creates a portico directly accessible by the main lounge that overlooks the bay.
Sited in Newport overlooking the bay, it was important to maintain sufficient views to the west. Accordingly, this facade was manipulated most to provide multiple layers of transparency and occupation. The exploded building section at right shows the two areas that house the rent-able units (on the ends) and the common center which includes the lobby, lounge, and upper balcony.
The water-facing, southern edge of the inn opens up to accommodate a partially covered exterior event space.
Shingle
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19
1
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Gable Queen 600 sq ft
Criss Loft 550 sq ft*
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6
Shingle Suite 800 sq ft
Corner Pocket Loft 600 sq ft*
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Crow’s Nest Loft 700 sq ft
Newport Queen 520 sq ft
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4
Cross Loft 550 sq ft*
Shingle Single Plus 320 sq ft*
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Shingle Single 320 sq ft
Gable King 680 sq ft
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Fishtail Loft 680 sq ft*
Captain’s Loft 720 sq ft
Shingle
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21
As the boardwalk meanders between the buckets, it descends into the sunken plaza which allows users to gather and view the depths of the Duoro.
SUB: PORTO POOL PROMENADE Porto, Portugal
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Competition
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CTRL+SPACE
Rhino3D, AutoCAD, Illustrator, Photoshop The Porto Pool Promenade was an international ideas competition created by the architectural platform CTRL+SPACE. The brief called for a design of a public pool that allowed the city of Porto to reconnect with the Duoro River. With a growing presence of tourism in the city, the design must offer new and innovative interactions with the water. Conducted with a like-minded colleague, our design proposal SUB was a conceptual exploration of the limits to which the users could occupy the site. The proposal was inspired by the childhood act of submerging oneself under water with a bucket placed over the head. The pressure differential created presents the opportunity to “breathe under water.� Similarly, the design consists of three buckets that are submerged partially beneath the surface of the Duoro. These buckets allow users to occupy below the water level and gain access to private pools and spaces. Above the surface, the buckets are sculpted to form shallow play areas that spill directly into the river. A circulatory boardwalk links the masses and, at their junction, also sinks and again allows the users to experience an explicit visual connection to the world beneath the surface of the Duoro. The design promotes unique interactions with the river and offers a variety of different spacial qualities fit for leisure, recreation, and exploration.
Matthew Coulombe
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Sub
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23
Shallow Pool Electrical Housing
Conductive Heating / Cooling Pipes
Boardwalk Sunken Path / Pools
The “buckets� consist of pre-cast concrete shells that are anchored into the river bed. When submerged, the resulting air pressure differential creates an occupiable air pocket. Voids within the shell hold electrical, mechanical, and pressure regulating equipment. The boardwalk continues into the buckets and defines small pools that have views up into the river. This unique experience occurs within the three masses along the path, each capable of housing a different program, and are all accessible via the sunken plaza.
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03
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Sub
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25
The main exhibition space for the Tall Buildings Council was designed to accommodate towering models and massive crowds.
STADIA: CHI-DESIGN CADE TOWER Chicago, Illinois
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Competition
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CHI-DESIGN
Rhino3D, AutoCAD, Illustrator, Photoshop The CHI-DESIGN competition for a new Center for Architecture, Design, and Education (CADE) in downtown Chicago was conducted as a featured competition for the first annual Chicago Architecture Biennial. The brief called for a new facility the to house the Center for Architecture Headquarters, the Tall Buildings Council Headquarters, a design and allied arts high school, and flexible learning spaces for out-of-school-time youth programs. The project aimed to be a new kind of vertical campus that simultaneously functions as a welcoming center for thousands of Chicago visitors and architecture lovers. Our proposal was inspired by the Colosseum, and other similar theatrical structures, that are centralized around one focal point. This simple notion was abstracted to meet the needs and status of the Chicago skyline and was re-imagined vertically, creating various moments of spectacle. These moments are expressed through the removal of a centralized portion of the floor slabs, creating an interconnected system of occupation. The building begins as a display area for public showcases, and works its way up through the allied arts school and exhibition spaces before terminating with rentable office space. The vast stone arches of the building flood light into the large gathering spaces and differentiate these moments from the internalized stadia of learning/working spaces.
Matthew Coulombe
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Stadia
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27
e
d
The project was derived from the idea of vertical procession through an abstracted Colosseum-like structure.
c
The void in the floor slabs unify the study/lecture spaces and establish learning as the spectacle at hand. b
a
Creative expression in other mediums is also encouraged. Spaces such as the graffiti room allow contemporary expression within classical boundaries. The system of vertical stadia created by the floor slab removal not only links the adjacent program, but also the main event/exhibition spaces from above or below.
Stadia
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29
Our artistic skills were challenged on a daily basis -- above is a one minute drawing of my classmates, done without looking at the paper or picking up the pen.
ABROAD: EUROPEAN OPERATIONS Europe
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Universita di Siena
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Prof: Ersela Kripa
Rhino3D, Illustrator, Photoshop, Hand-drawing, Watercolor Having been selected by NJIT’s CoAD Siena Study Abroad Program, I had the amazing opportunity to attend an eight week design studio in Europe. The program focused on exploring and comprehending the history of European cities and how the architecture itself evolved the cities’ cultures. We resided primarily in Rome and Siena and traveled to Florence, Venice, Tuscany, Paris, Barcelona, and other cities. The structure of the program consisted of a design studio, an analytical history course, and an advanced graphics course. We mapped historical and contemporary urban fabrics and created complex diagrammatic drawings to understand the cities’ change over time. An emphasis on hand produced material expanded our general knowledge of representation and challenged our most basic or artistic skills. The final project for the studio was a renovation of the Sienese hospital-turned-museum Santa Maria della Scala. With a growing collection of received artwork and artifacts, the museum was in need of an expanded gallery that engages the public to experience all that the museum has to offer. The proposed design respected the existing structure and subtly modified the historical architecture to open up the museum and create a circulatory loop that gently responds to the site’s topography.
Matthew Coulombe
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Abroad
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31
The primary mediums for the program were sketching and hand-drawing. Watercolors, however, became a vibrant method of recording the physical and emotional qualities and the spaces visited. My series of watercolors was inspired by Surrealist artwork. As I traveled across Europe, I typically found myself at a loss of words; the architecture and scenery seemed almost dream-like. Thus, surreal, monochromatic renderings of the structures became my concept for recording my experiences. I was also interested in the use of negative space to define and accent the subjects.
Abroad
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33
A secondary entrance adjacent to the Piazzetta della Selva is re-imagined as an interior piazza with an open plan.
D
The existing atrium is extended to include the circulatory path. A physical connection ins made as the ceiling is removed to create a multi-height union of the two spaces.
E
B
C
F
An underutilized passageway is reinvigorated with the construction of a traditional loggia.
A
The renovation of Santa Maria della Scala required a delicate approach to century-old problems of circulation and user experience. Our design solution inserted classical architectural elements -- such as the loggia, piazza, courtyard, etc. -- into the plan of the museum. The result was a continuous circulatory path that expands intermediately to accommodate large volumes of visitors, and at other points returns to the original width to allow access to the exhibits. These corridors are manipulated to provide visitors with small seating elements that peer into the adjacent showcases. The continuity of the plan enables the museum to once more hold parades through their hall for the famous horse race, the Palio di Siena, at right. Before out departure, a public exhibit was held inside the museum displaying our final projects, sketches, and watercolors and was critiqued by local artists, architects, museum directors, and historical preservation officials.
Abroad
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35