Archive by Miranda Middleton

SPRING 2015

ARCHIVE A P rofessiona l P ortf olio: Th e Creativ e Wo rk o f Miranda Middle t o n

TABLE OF CONTENTS 2015 • Professional Portfolio • Miranda Middleton

A temporary bar that follows fashion, & those that inspire it.

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Micro Urban Space

Mobilized Public Space.

A vertical oasis in Shenzhen, China.

A Buddhist temple for Springfield, MO

Interim Whitney. A project on the High Line in NYC.

A tractor house. A second year project.

House in the sky for Joe. Second Year Project.

A DAY AT THE BAR A TEMPORARY BAR THAT FOLLOWS FASHION, AND THOSE THAT INSPIRE IT. The Internet is the perfect location to be heard and to exhibit oneself. Voices, stories, opinions, and the interests of everyday people can now be written, heard, and spoken from across the globe, which connects individuals who would never have been connected. The outcome is the increasing amount of “known” information about others’ interests and beliefs can be startling. This increase in technology and new online interactions has led to a unique phenomenon: the evolution of the para-social relationship. Jeffrey Kipnis has claimed that architecture has “a lot to do with experimenting with the technology of our contemporary lives and how it affects the way we live in a building.”8 My research explored how to create an architecture that facilitates and foregrounds an evolving relationship based on society’s dependency, interest, and increase in online social networks. The design is not intended to change the behavior of the parasocial relationship but rather raise awareness of a relationship that is not always brought to the surface. As social media and online networks transform popular culture it is important for architecture to respond to and appropriate the evolving relationship. The architecture should exploit the behavior of those involved in these relationships. Architecture should respond to our contemporary society and culture. Currently, societies’ past beliefs and ideas have shifted. Society has transitioned from a

A DAY AT THE BAR 1

A temporary bar that follows fashion, & those that inspire it.

former disregard for popular culture, to culture becoming a dominant force in our contemporary lives. It is important to understand how this shift results in new outcomes, culture, and relationships. Three components of my design will facilitate the para-social relationship as well as tell a story about the relationshipâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s

evolution. These components include the following: The bar, a redesigned typology that best facilitates the contemporary para-social relationship. Second, the existing fashion tent, as a reminder of the evolution of this historic relationship, which should hold to its historic values yet reminisce societiesâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; contemporary

culture. Lastly, an exterior catwalk will work as a device that connects the bar and fashion tent metaphorically. It should act as a real time simulator: it will resemble the present. By designing for the evolution of the para-social relationship, the inhibitors will gain an understanding of not only the history behind the para-social relationship but also its evolution. These three programmatic elements will be filtered to indicate design decisions including formal choices,

programmatic conclusions, adjacency, and even different material choices. These filters, which will develop the design formally, conceptually, and programmatically include: Virtual Connections: These connections will connect the personae and the visiting spectators to the outside world and online community. By allowing the outside world to have views of not only the personae but also the invited 7

A DAY AT THE BAR 1

A temporary bar that follows fashion, & those that inspire it.

spectators uninvited spectators will be informed of this para-social relationship.

encounters to occur as well as deciding which relationships should have hierarchy.

Direct Social Interaction: The proximity of each area will be assessed through this filter and will also help when designing and recognizing areas of close proximity that could be spaces for social

Watching from afar: This will include people not only within the site of Fashion Week but people within close proximity to facilitate the three main programmatic spaces: the bar, exterior catwalk, and fashion tend. Public and private spaces will be based on these visual vantage

points. The bar should be redesigned as a contemporary expression of the para-social relationship and act as an environment that facilitates this evolving relationship. The bar will be a place of co-mingling, where the spectator and persona meet. Members of the British Council accredited blogger list will be invited into the bar, giving

the bloggers a change to have direct social interactions with their spectators, a place to greet their readers. It will also be a promotional tool for the persona. The accredited blogger would decide which readers would be invited to attend this event. Perhaps the blogger would choose who is invited based on who has read their blog for the longest, the number comments people read, or it could be a random draw of those spectators that liked, shared, or posted about personaâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s blog. This invitation system does a number of things: First it 9

A DAY AT THE BAR 1

A temporary bar that follows fashion, & those that inspire it.

resonates Fashion Weekâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s original intent, a place of exclusiveness. It also continues the exclusive nature of the event but in an unpredicted way that resonates with the shift from elite to popular culture. By doing this I am not condemning the para-social relationship but understanding that these relationships happen and

will continue to happen. This decision also provides an outlet for outsiders to see this transition of the relationship. The blogger, who is accredited by the British Fashion Council, must blog about his or her own experience on Fashion Week, which would include this adapted facility and bar. By blogging about this event and program, people from around the world can begin to understand the

relationships through social media and online networks; reinforcing the design response to the para-social relationship. The design is not intended to change the behavior of the para-social relationship but rather raise awareness of a relationship that is not always

brought to the surface. As social media and online networks transform popular culture it is important for architecture to respond to and appropriate the evolving relationship. The architecture should exploit the behavior of those involved in these relationships. Architecture should respond to our contemporary society and culture. Currently, societiesâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; past

beliefs and ideas have shifted. Society has transitioned from a former disregard for popular culture, to culture becoming a dominant force in our contemporary lives. It is important to understand how this shift results in new outcomes, culture, and relationships. The purpose of this thesis is not to define the para-social relationship as an 11

A DAY AT THE BAR 1

A temporary bar that follows fashion, & those that inspire it.

inherent quality of architectural discourse but to use architecture to heighten awareness of these relationships. The design should respond programmatically to para-social relationships and revisit physical spaces where para-social relationships already existing. New adaptations of existing typologies should contribute to existing relationships that

are happening as a result of todayâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s technology. By placing my project during Fashion Week I can improve current para-social relationships that happen due to the event as well as explore how these relationships can attribute to Fashion Week formally. Thus, framing architecture as a viable vehicle to explore social relationships

within the locus of a city and an event.

A DAY AT THE BAR 1

A temporary bar that follows fashion, & those that inspire it.

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MICRO URBAN SPACE THE DETAILING OF AN URBAN INTERVENTION During my 2015 Christmas Break Internship with Suzhou Industrial Park Design And Institute, my team was asked to redesign a skylight that was to be built for a pre-designed project. The client was our internship employer and the skylight was intended to be built as a part of were their new architectural office towers were to be moved in the upcoming year. The client wanted the skylight to be reconsidered because of a few mistakes that happen on site and asked our group if we would come up with a new design scheme. The first design was very minimal and embraced more interior qualities rather than the ground plane. After discussion about what the skylight could be or more importantly what it should be we realized that the interior would not be our focus the ground plane

MICRO URBAN SPACE

would be the primary focus due to the nature of the location within the site. The skylight was on the edge of the buildings front plaza and entryway. Instead of designing this as merely a skylight we decided that we would design it as an opportunity to reach to the public

and those who enter the building. Using the skylight Detailing of an Urban Intervention.

as an opportunity for seating,

of watching the plaza from a raised

is currently under construction in

plantings, and even the gutter for

platform and wooden benches. The Shanghai, China and will be built on

drainage of the plaza. The skylight formal design was composed of one site in Suzhou. itself became a simple gesture to

singular sheet that was bent and

drain water into gutters and the

formed to give shape to the program

highlight becomes the experience

on top of the skylight. The system 19

EBB & FLUX CAN ARCHITECTURE MOBILIZE PUBLIC SPACES WITHIN A SMART NETWORK OF THE CITY? Can Architecture mobilize public spaces within a smart network of the city? Contemporary public space in the Foucauldian discourse is defined by urbanistic actions that simultaneously adapt and transform the built environment. Spatial and temporal dimensions of urban public spaces are increasingly expanded not only by the practice of our everyday urbanism, but also with the development of the smart city network-- that simultaneously interfaces virtual communities with the physical urban communities. While sustainability of the city is centered on adaptive capacities of buildings and infrastructures, the mobilized convergence of architecture and infrastructure in todayâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s public domains emerges as an intervention of adaptive urbanism and plays an active role in stimulating and supporting public activities of a sustainable city.

EBB & FLUX

Mobilizing Public Space.

The hubs are the interfacing places

for architecture and infrastructure to

between the virtual social network

transform their static and singular

and the physical urban armatures

correlations into new forms of

and enclaves. They develop and

simultaneity and multiplicity. Therefore,

optimize the potentials of mobility of

when these hubs --as public amenity

both the built environment and our

and service buildings along the cityâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s

everyday life. They create opportunities public network-- are also designed

as urban public infrastructural

hosted by these symbiotic unions. As

As the birthplace of US Route 66,

elements, they will host potential

the flux of the virtual social network

Springfield is now the third largest

add-on temporary facilities to

consistently shifting and redefining

city in the State of Missouri with

create symbiotic unions at different

the hotspots of urban events, public

a population of 160â&#x20AC;&#x2122;000 largely

scales. Diverse everyday public

spaces are mobilized within this socially supported by the economy of health

participatory programs will find more

constructed and physically constructed care, education, manufacturing, and

adaptability and flexibility at places

network.

retail. While the historical downtown 23

EBB & FLUX

is still undergoing the long recovery

This project is a prototype that

from its suburbanization, the competing explores the intervention of mobile development of university campuses

capsules as attachments to

and residential and commercial

underused mass transportation

communities has created a polycentric infrastructural devices and transforms network of the cityâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s public domains.

Mobilizing Public Space.

them into architectural vehicles to

mobilize public space. By examining

with existing infrastructural devices

network of adaptive urbanism.

the urbanistic dynamics of the virtual

at these hotspots to ignite and host

-Written by Yong Haung

networks of the city, intersections

temporal interfaces of public programs

of high frequencies are identified as

and events; defining temporal public

the places to develop permanent

space as a self-organized catalyst that

frameworks of urban hotspots.

re-connects the city fabric of the public

Mobile Capsules unfold in synergy

domain and establishes a forthcoming 25

EBB & FLUX

Mobilizing Public Space.

VERTICAL OASIS DESIGNING THE CITY AS A RESOURCE The task o the proposed competition was to create an urban design-based response to a specific brief about mobility related to Shenzhen, China and its local and regional relationships in the Pearl River Delta. The interface of mobility networks with the built environment of the city and region must be considered in a global context. Address the social, economic and environmental challenges presented by globalization and urbanization. Analytical design proposal should use mobility as both a catalyst and conduit for urban change. The goal of the Global Schindler Award is to create an open forum for new thinking about the challenges and possibilities of a global, urban shared future, using mobility systems for greater inclusion, connection and accessibility for all. As part of the Schindler International Design Competition, the goal of this project is to explore ways in which the city of Sungang-Qinshuihe infrastructural resources can be used to turn the city as a resource itself. Located in Shenzhen province of China, Sun-gang-Qinshuihe acts as a border between the industrial zone of Shenzhen and Hong Kong facilitating as a connective

VERTICAL OASIS

node between the two cities.

destinations. The design is composed

The region of Shenzhen focus-

of one linear element that splits, turns,

es primarily on the production of

and intersects with the cityâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s existing

manufactured goods. The citiesâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; cir- resource and infrastructure in order to culation is primarily workers traveling provide as a destination and path for from work to home resulting in a lack the public sphere. Along the proposed

Designing the City of Sun-gang-Qinshuihe as a Resource

of public mobility and recreational

circulation, nodes were selected based

on voids in the city fabric and areas

public use.

that have overlapping programming. A series of urban types were developed that would respond to the programs of each selected node. The nodes act as destinations along a singular path for 31

A BUDDHIST TEMPLE EDUCATION BY DAY AND WORSHIP BY NIGHT. A PLACE OF REFLECTION. In Spring of 2014 we were given our comprehensive studio project. The project was to design a worship space for one of three religions. The religion I selected was Buddhism. This is the conceptual work from mid-review of Spring 2014. Buddhism is seen as a way of life more than a religion. So when studying and researching types of worship, practices, and styles of spaces it was difficult to come to a consensus that was constant in the religion. My concept was derived of the constants I did find including: 1. Buddhism is a way of life. 2. Buddha is a teacher. Not a God. 3. To reach enlightenment it is essential to learn, and education oneself about the eight fold path. 4. Buddhist worship days revolve around moon cycles. I took an eight by eight grid in reference to the eight fold path and developed the programing into portions within the grid. A point was picked from the grid and the education space was rotated 45 degrees addressing sun patterns as well as giving the space a hierarchy. This 45 degree rotation not only gave the space

A BUDDHIST TEMPLE

Education by day and worship by night. A place of self reflection.

a hierarchy but also gave

light to fill the classrooms & library.

direct views of a nearby park

The worship space, lobby, and work

that was to the south of the

core were sunken underground to block

site. This allowed the learning distractions away from the spaces. space/ education space to

Instead of having views to the outside

feel as if it is a creative space

grass and landscape voids were cut

and allowed abundant natural

out inward to an interior courtyard that

was filled with water. This was one to

through looking a the reflection that this is on the cycle the Buddhist is expected

prevent distraction but mostly to but a

a place for learning and self preservation

to learn or gain new information

hierarchy on the reflections made on

and reflection.

about them-self or the religion. This

the surface of the water; the individual

By pushing these masses underground it is another reason that the education

looking into it, the changing sky, and

also begins to hint at the realm of rebirth.

space is higher than the actual worship

the education space being reflected

A wheel that is significant of the religious

space. One could argue that the

from above. Those who reside know

stage of any Buddhist. In order to go up

ultimate way to enlightenment would

A BUDDHIST TEMPLE

be to continuously learn about

the concrete walls. Some elements

Buddhist faith and oneself.

were covered in wood. One to provide

Concrete was used to further

a hierarchy to religious monuments like

enhance the views through a

the alter. And two, wood was coated

strong juxtaposition of a stark wall on surfaced that would be touched or

Education by day and worship by night. A place of self reflection.

and the glistening water moving

walked on by the inhibitors to provide

in light casted on the walls of

a level of comfort opposite of the stark walls and shadows.

A passage way crossed the water to the reflecting on them-self. The water and

to invite outsiders in through the sunken

those who cross begin to become the

form and gentle ramp that tucks into the

community space to the lobby space.

This is to allow those who enter to have sign-age for those entering the premise. an experience with the water rather

hillside.

On site by sinking the majority of the

than solely views. When one enters the building the parks surface is continued building they have direct views of the

onto the site embracing the surrounding

water and those crossing the water and nature and landscape. This also begins

INTERIM WHITNEY THE PAVILION SHOULD SYMBOLIZE ITS CONTENT AND THE POPULAR CULTURE OF THE CITY. The Interim Whitney was a project explored in a Master Level class, Critical Use of the Precedent. In this class our final objective was to draw a set of parti diagrams that represented multiple precedents researched within the semester. Our first precedent was the High Line, in New York City. After researching this we were to choose a container that had a specific typology and research what made it unique and function properly. My choice of container was a first aid kit. In summary, this vessel is quite simply, a box with no interior views with bold graphics on its facade that reads as a universal symbol to many people around the world. The next objective was to find 3 artworks displayed in the Whitney to best represent the Whitney as well as the chosen container. The genre I chose was Pop-Art. Pop art symbolizes mass production and popular culture while contradicting painterly styles of eras before. The Whitneyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s initial vision was to display work of similar ideas. The final objective was to design a parti diagram for a pavilion that would sit atop of the High Line. This pavilion would display the three of the chosen artworks while the New Whitney, by Renzo Piano, is being built. Next, we chose a section of the High-line that corresponded with the beliefs of previous precedents for the site of the pavilion.

Views in from exterior

Views from interior

INTERIM WHITNEY

The pavilion should symbolize its content & the popular culture of the city.

The synopsis concluded that the design of the Interim Whitney should market the key beliefs of the Whitney and the chosen artworks through the use of strong graphics, hybrid programs, and marketing strategies. Monitoring people, events, trends, and the art are all a necessity for the design. The pavilion should publicize the artwork and be visible in the crowded city, while still protecting it against multiple elements including people, harsh weather conditions, and direct sunlight. The exterior of

the vessel should boldly represent the art displayed and should be easily spotted in the fast pace rhythm of the New York City. The interior space should not overwhelm the artwork but clarify it. The interior should expand upon the main concepts of pop art including mass-production, mass-media, advertisement and upcoming trends. A public square, the proposed location, allows for direct public access from the High Line and street level. This location

provides manageable publicity, views to the site, and views from the site. Designs strategies for the pavilion should incorporate trends of popular events, mass-media, massproduction, marketing for the product, and hybrid activities, and should be visually interesting for the pedestrians on ground level to those in skyscrapers. This space should be straight-forward, known, and work as a symbol for the artworks within it. 41

A TRACTOR PROJECT EVOLVING SPATIAL ENVIRONMENTS THROUGH ARCHITECTURE Fall of 2013 our studio was assigned a two week design charrete to design a “pavilion” for a historic tractor. We were told to pick a tractor that would inspire the design concept of the project. The only restriction was that the tractor had to be built before the 1920’s. The Horsby Oil Tractor is the first tractor to run primarily off of oil. One of the things that attracted me this tractor is its flywheel. Graphically the flywheel interested me as it was a major piece of the overall composition of the tractor. After researching flywheels, how they work and why they were invented, I discovered that a fly wheel is a kinetic piece that is used to keep the engine running smooth when there is excessive power or when the tractor is running low on fuel. gas. This flywheel’s continuous movement was the things that began to inspire me on formal design decisions involved in the process..

A TRACTOR PROJECT

I carried forth the notion of a kinetic movement that originally attracted me to the tractor in the design of the structure that would programatically house this tractor. The exterior space ideally should engage with its surroundings and react to the kinetic movement that would interact with the space itself. I designed the space keeping in mind who and what would be moving within the space. Like the Horsby Oil Tractor, I wanted

the movement from these elements to directly influence how the space

Evolving Spatial Environments Through Architecture.

looked and felt. The main idea is that the elements engaged

of the measurements of rows of crop that a tractor plows.

with the space would result in changing the space and the

Overall this projectâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s goal was to create an evolving spatial

users experience when they are within the site. The kinetic

environment that was continuously kinetic and moving. The

pieces surrounding the space are engaged with the elements

users that inhabit this space should have a more interesting

as well as people. The movement of these elements will

experience and also learn about the past of this historic

directly influence the concrete spaces through harsh shadow

tractor, as the space reflects its essence and composition..

lines and pathways. The grid pattern was organized based off

A HOUSE IN THE TREES A SECOND YEAR PROJECT This project started by choosing a Drury University faculty members to design a work retreat for on Table Rock Lake. The site that was chosen is located at the end of a peninsula located along the coast of Table Rock Lake. When we were approached with this project our professor informed us that we were to pick our faculty member. The client I chose is a women of many talents but this work retreat would be directed to her soul passion, writing. Overall Joe is a very creative women. She draws, paints, but her main priority is writing. She is a professor of literature and has been with Drury University for quite some time. She has a very kind and gentle personality. Often when we were discussing her lake house retreat her answers were always very consistent. She wanted expansive views of the water and surrounding environment but it was important that she still felt secluded and was non-distracting so she

HOUSE IN THE TREES

A Second Year Project.

could focus on her writing.

writings. This would be a small space solely

The final design resulted with

for a desk, books, and Joe. Her eye level

many unique qualities and

while sitting at her desk would gaze over

spaces. One space in particular

the tops of the trees. When designing this

was Joeâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s nest, a tower used

project I thought of the different layers of

to get away from the rest of the

trees as different layers of privacy. So when

world and to focus solely on her

designing each space and programatically

arranging the spaces this was always in my mind. This project pushes and pulls the boundaries of tectonics to enhance the overall mood of individual spaces as well as creates multiple functions within the three main spaces; public, private, and a place of solitude. 49

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could focus on her writing. The final design resulted with many unique qualities and spaces. One space in particular was Joeâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s nest, a tower used to get away from the rest of the world and to focus solely on her writings. This would

A Second Year Project.

be a small space solely for a desk, books,

and Joe. Her eye level while sitting at her

This project pushes and pulls the boundaries

desk would gaze over the tops of the trees.

of tectonics to enhance the overall mood of

When designing this project I thought of the

individual spaces as well as creates multiple

different layers of trees as different layers of

functions within the three main spaces; public,

privacy. So when designing each space

private, and a place of solitude.

and programatically arranging the spaces this was always in my mind. 51

PHOTOGRAPHY

A Second Year Project.

be a small space solely for a desk, books,

and Joe. Her eye level while sitting at her

This project pushes and pulls the boundaries

desk would gaze over the tops of the trees.

of tectonics to enhance the overall mood of

When designing this project I thought of the

individual spaces as well as creates multiple

different layers of trees as different layers of

functions within the three main spaces; public,

privacy. So when designing each space

private, and a place of solitude.

and programatically arranging the spaces this was always in my mind. 53