a collection of works
MICHAEL MEER
01
community
02
connection
03
materiality
04
movement
05
depiction
06
sustainability
Creative City Challenge: Urban Grove Trastevere Community Bike Center
Heath Ceramics Gallery and Warehouse Mixed-Use Development
Hand Drawing
Lake Calhoun Community Pavilion
community Minneapolis is a woven fabric of culture, connection,
and extraordinary history. The city grid represents the organization in a place of chaos, while also symbolizing its connection to surrounding neighborhoods. The Creative City Challenge was an opportunity to express and interpret unique connecting qualities like this. With the goal of developing an installation, which is programmable, intriguing, and engaging to the community, we created an Urban Grove gathering space. A series of trees surrounds an open space, surrounded by seating elements forms an intimate space to accommodate a programmable staging area. A colorful glass and metal canopy reflects an ever changing ground plane shadows extending to all parts of the light spectrum.
01.1
Creative City Challenge: Urban Grove Corey Bandelin, Dave Koenen Minneapolis, MN November 2014
Project Perkins+Will Team Location Date
01.2
One of the cities most common and native plants, the Red Sumac, grows in extensive colonies, which are centered around an initial parent grouping. Each shrub or tree is intertwined with the next through overlapping canopies and connecting root systems. This colony structure conveys many similarities, both literally and figuratively, to Minneapolis and its expansive growth, around the downtown city center. Dichroic glass squares at the end of each branch are emblematic of the bright color of the sumac. I helped explore this glass’ capabilities. We learned Dichroic film diffracts only certain colors of the spectrum as light passes through. When the light angle changes, this color also changes. This leads to a change in the light which is reflected off the glass, thus the changing of glass and shadow colors throughout the day.
01.3
North-south extensions are interpretations of the surrounding neighborhoods, which change, yet stay connected to downtown
The diagonal grid which covers a public gathering space represents the downtown grid, oriented toward the Mississippi River.
01.4
01.5
As a crucial team member, I contributed to the city grid and river orientation inspiration, as a way of organizing our gathering space and trees. The development of all graphics, drawings and pictures was also taken on by me, as part of our final submission.
01.6
connection
02.1
Project
Trastevere Community Bike Center
Instructor
Tom Rankin
Location
Rome, Italy
Semester
Spring 2013
The Trastevere neighborhood of Rome is one of great character and contemporary potential, but community improvements are needed everywhere. The connection to the river from this area is lacking. Bikers and runners, escaping dangerous traffic, move along the river, but for more than a mile at a time fail to find access back up to the city. The new site proposal calls for a new biking and community gathering hub along the river to rejuvenate the river connection. Bikers coming from the city can pass through and down to the river or stop and buy parts or tune up their ride. Community gatherers can come to the local market to purchase daily goods, can visit the community center to interact with bikers, lay out on the river side plaza, and relax at the indoor-outdoor cafe.
02.2
The center is sunken down to the river side, but a glass structure pokes up into the above plaza to present visitors with a hint of what lies beneath. The first floor bike shop and mechanic will attract cyclists from across the city. The river connecting bike path cuts through the center as it ramps down to the river.
02.3
The main entrance opens off a series of staircases and ramps down to the lake, as well as an outdoor patio for coffee shop users.
02.4
Project Instructor Location Semester
03.1
Heath Ceramics Gallery and Warehouse Dan Clark + Martha Mcquade + Andrew Dull Minneapolis, MN Fall 2012
materiality As a studio focused on material exploration and their limits when considering space, the project objective was to design a ceramics gallery and warehouse using materials from concrete to steel trusses. After beginning with a simple MDF box form, we broke, cut and altered material, discovering both its limits and possibilities. After transitioning to a concrete box, new diagnosis of capabilities established a new rule set. Enlarging the scale from a small box to a ceramics gallery instituted a connection to architecture and full scale materiality. An adjacent warehouse was then placed adjacent to the gallery, erected with a steel truss structure. Working with yet another new material, the fink steel truss, new beauty and capabilities led to new discovery.
03.2
03.3
Extrusions for building programs and exploration of truss spacing became important design elements between the two complimentary buildings.
03.4
m ove m e nt A new Light Rail stop at the elbow of University Ave,
between St. Paul and Minneapolis, has turned a once unvalued parking lot into a site of great opportunity. This new mixed-use development will capitalize on the opportunity by combining housing, commercial and various other uses to attract people from all over the metro area. Commercial and professional spaces are distributed throughout the site’s first and second levels. Additional public spaces, consisting of a series of interior atria surround an outdoor space to form a dynamic and welcoming central square. This square will allow for various programming opportunities. Housing units, wrapped in a copper panel facade, extend from the second level up, allowing for separation of privacy, while still appreciating connection to other
04.1
Mixed-Use Development
Project
Cynthia Jara
Instructor
St. Paul, MN
Location
Spring 2014
Semester
04.2
Pedestrian movement, separated into assorted group, became an importing driver of design decisions. Easily accessible residential lobbies reinforce the necessary privacy of the apartments. Points of entry on all sides of the site and through to the square cater to people from around the Midway neighborhood. Extra reinforcement toward the new Light Rail stop, to the southwest helps cater to visitors from around the Twin-Cities.
04.3
Midway
St. Paul
Minneapolis
residence
midway
twin-cities
04.4
The housing blocks’ facades are wrapped in porus copper panels which swing and fold open to reveal various window and balcony spaces. This design tuns the otherwise simple facade organization into an ever dynamic and changing one. A wide variety of changes, from seasons, to time of day, to programming of the site public spaces, would all contribute to a transition in the building appearance.
04.5
04.6
depiction 05.1
Drawing is one of the most under utilized ways of observing architectural forms and their experiential qualities. Qualities of material, light, space, shape and endless others are what make architecture beautiful. When transferring these experiential qualities onto a 2D surface, all of these qualities somehow become more real. Spending time to analyze and interpret experience is the best way for one to truly feel submerged in a space. Whether it be examining various nostalgic locations of the Eternal City or studying the subtle beauty of Rapson Hall, taking time to depict views and experiences onto paper, exposed the hidden beauty most would not find.
05.2
05.3
05 4
sustainability Inspired by the layers and their interactions at Lake Calhoun Park, the park pavilion melds into the flat landscape through emerging roof planes, overlapping of materials, and interweaving of building and site programs. The site’s often unnoticed layers, and their interactions became, not only a way create a strong connection between site and building, but also a way to incorporate sustainable ideas The design reacts to layers of grass, path, sand and water with interweaving materials, programs and forms. Incorporating a bike workshop and bike path that weaves between building layers, encourages and enhances a gas saving and opportunistic form of transportation. Other elements such as local vegetation, Minnesota limestone decking, reclaimed wood slats also help contribute to the
06.1
Lake Calhoun Community Pavilion
Project
Aaron Amosson
Instructor
Minneapolis, MN
Location
Fall 2013
Semester
06.2
Not only does the building physically flow along the site, but landscaping elements such as local plantings, tree distribution and various pathways help the design meld into the park harmoniously. Minnesota limestone decking and reclaimed wood slats also help contribute to a more sustainable environment.
0 6.3
06.4
Layers of interior spaces, comprised of mostly glass, allows for visual connection to Lake Calhoun from the road and beyond. This also allows for the enhanced experience of each program and space.
0 6.5
06.6