Architecture Portfolio 2019 by Nicholas Rawitscher

Architecture Portfolio Academic and Professional works

Nicholas Rawitscher Torres. Dipl.-Arch, M.Arch

ABOUT ME

I received a Diploma in Architecture granted by the Faculty of Architecture in University of The Andes in Bogotá, Colombia in 2016. I have recently completed my master’s degree at the Design Research Laboratory in the Architectural Association School of Architecture, participating in the studio of Dr. Theodore Spyropoulos.. I have had previous professional experience in renowned offices such as in MAD Architects and 3XN Architects. There, I was involved in large scale projects, mainly focusing on developing façade panel components via Grasshopper. My passion lays at the coupling of computation and design, complex systems, bottom up processes and learning models. . I have a growing knowledge in C# and a drive to keep developing this skill during my career and to find new ways to integrate it as a fundamental tool in the discipline. During my free time I have started to develop my own software which currently uses Rhino/Grasshopper as its Graphical User Interface. In my career, I aspire to participate both in academia and in practice to develop different ways of seeing the profession and the world. I am a very self-driven person, who is in constant search of knowledge. I am interested in how such acquisition can not only serve as an intellectual drive, but also as a medium that aids in new ways of bringing forth ideas.

CONTENTS

Research

O1. A-Life. AADRL research project. 02. Discrete Manifold Assembleges. AADRL Workshop I. 03. Machine Instructions. AADRL Workshop II. 04. Parasite. Grasshopper Plugin.

Projects

05. Anonymous 06. Site/Non site Landmark 07. Vehicle

Professional work MAD Architects. Beijing, China

08. Aegean World Trade Center competition. Izimir, Turkey

1st price 3XN Architects. Copenhaguen, Denmark

Nachi

09. Deutsche Bank competition. Frankfurt, Germany

10. Munich Concert Hall competition. Munich, Germany

4th price

RESEARCH

01. A-LIFE AADRL Thesis. Spyropolous lab Duration: 12 monts Team:

Dahyun Kim (Korea) Didem Sahin (Turkey) Ding Ming Wang (China)

Tutor: Theodore Spyropolous Assistants: Mustafa El Sayed Apostolis Despotidis

A-Life is a dynamic architectural system that can respond to changes in its environment, trough self-awareness, mobility and reconfigurability. Our system will adapt to variations in its surroundings and to its local unit populations. Every individual unit is an autonomous entity that has the ability to move freely in 3-dimensional space. Alife is based on a local communication system between each agent, creating different types of spatial atmospheres changing continuously according to its population, people and environmental forces. Our system has strategies of self-assembly where each individual component can organize and re-organize without any predefined blue prints in order to create different scales of intervention. Computational and physical research was developed to investigate strategies of organization, mobility and communication that demonstrate the ability of the single unit as well as the collective population. Machine learning was used, in order to develop individual unit behaviors without the necessity of being pre-programmed. As well as to investigate different types of cooperative behaviors between units to achieve various goals in mobility and self-organization. With local decision making the system can can be influenced by the user and its environment at different moments in time and rates of influence. We envision a symbiotic relationship between Alife and people where both will learn from each other and evolve as an ecology. We have chosen a Brain Computer Interface as a framework to explore different kinds of man to machine correlations, were the units can understand people through their brain wave activity. A life is a borderless system which is time-based, atmospheric and can operate at any scale. London will be our prototypical site, were Alife will be a new type of architecture that can augment how we relate to ourselves, the environment and machines. A life will use live data collected from the city as well as its local data produced within the system to communicate emotive and atmospheric patterns and to decide its deployment within the city.

HELIUM DRONE PROTOTYPE

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A BORDER-LESS SYSTEM

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RENDERINGS

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SENSORS AND WIFI MODULE

MOBILITY

PCB BOARD DESIGN

PROTOTYPE WIFI CONNECTION TEST

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PROTOTYPE COLOR RECOGNTITION

HELIUM DRONE PROTOTYPE

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HELIUM DRONE PROTOTYPE + FRAME

MACHINE LEARNING

REINFORCEMENT LEARNING. MOBILITY TRAINING

Each unit was trained to be able to use each of its 8 propellors in different moments in time to achieve optimal aerial mobility. G

Nachi COOPERATIVE LEARNING. AGGREGATION TRAINING

Cooperative learning was used as a mehcanism for collective behavior amongst the units when a finite population is trying to achieve the same goal. Each unit has thir own brain but the group of units share rewards and penalties during their training process

Rule 1

Rule 2

Rule 3

Rule 4

Rule 5

Rule 6

Rule 7

Rule 81

Rule 9

Rule 10

Rule 11

Rule 12

Rule 13

Rule 14

Rule 15

Rule 16

Rule 17

Rule 18

Rule 19

Rule 20

Rule 21

Rule 22

Rule 23

Rule 24

Rule 25

Rule 5

Rule 7

Rule 9

Rule 11

Rule 9

Rule 17

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Rule 3

Rule 2

Rule 1

Initial conditions

Body plan

Energy consumption

Network topology

DATA

Assembly time: 0:06:13 Total energy consumed: 298,440.50 kJ Averege energy consumed: 331.60 kJ Cluster density: 30.37% Averege density: 0.034%

DATA

Assembly time: 0:15:12 Total energy consumed: 437,308.70 kJ Averege energy consumed: 485.89 kJ Cluster density: 23.66% Averege density: 0.026%

DATA

Assembly time: 0:09:36 Nachi

Total energy consumed: 321,104.00 kJ Averege energy consumed: 356.78 kJ Cluster density: 37.03% Averege density: 0.17%

DENSITY VARIATION

Rule 6

Rule 9

Rule 13

Assembly time: 0:01:28

Assembly time: 0:01:08

Assembly time: 0:01:20

Cluster density: 36.84%

Cluster density: 40.10%

Cluster density: 37.03%

Averege density: 0.16%

Averege density: 0.19%

Averege density: 0.17%

Assembly time: 0:02:34

Assembly time: 0:02:03

Assembly time: 0:02:11

Cluster density: 26.04%

Cluster density: 29.39%

Cluster density: 25.49%

Averege density: 0.12%

Averege density: 0.136%

Averege density: 0.12%

DISTANCE VARIATION

Rule 6

Rule 9

Rule 13

Assembly time: 0:01:28

Assembly time: 0:01:08

Assembly time: 0:01:20

Cluster density: 36.84%

Cluster density: 40.10%

Cluster density: 37.03%

Averege density: 0.16%

Averege density: 0.19%

Averege density: 0.17%

Assembly time: 0:01:28

Assembly time: 0:02:03

Assembly time: 0:02:11

Cluster density: 5.47%

Cluster density: 57.06%

Cluster density: 32.36%

Averege density: 0.024%

Averege density: 0.26%

Averege density: 0.15%

Nachi

BODY PLAN ADDAPTATION

Rule 12+26+15+16

Behavior Log

Hybrid Body plan

Rule distribution

Communication type

Network topology

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PATTERN EXPLORATIONS ON CLUTSER FORMATIONS

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UNITO TO UNIT INTERACTION

the communication between the units was primarly established through color sensors. Light pulsations and color sensing were how the units recognized each other and influences their individual behavior. Each color sensor was also connected to the individual propellors to influece their collective mobilityG 34

Nachi DRL XX EXHIBITION

02. DISCRETE MANIFOLD ASSEMBLAGES Duration: 2.5 weeks Team:

Ogulcan SulucayTurkey) Omar Kadoura (Palestine) Taeyoon Kim (Korea)

Tutors: Tyson Hosmer

The workshop undertakes a design research into spatial, formal and material expression through 3D-modelling and 3D-printing. Topologically complex polygon meshes will be developed using simple procedural operations developed through design catalogues. These procedures will investigate topological mesh modelling, rind modelling and strategise the role of manifold topologies to define architectural space. These formally complex models must be also developed as closed manifold meshes suitable for 3D-printing. Designs will aim to explore the limits of high-resolution fabrication, modelling and the use of texturing within 3D-virtual spaces and 2D-rendered visualisations. The workshop will operate through a continuous and iterative prototyping procedures.

AXONOMETRIC DRAWING

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COMPONENTS

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COMPONENTS

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RENDERINGS

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PHYSICAL MODEL

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03. MACHINE INSTRUCTIONS Duration: 3 WEEKS Team: Tutors:

Cesar Fragachan (Venezuela) Chu Jian Fei (China) Simon Rosa (Spain) Shajay Bhooshan

Instructing machines workshop explores digital and analog processes in a 3D printing Clay tool-chain. Working with Nachi-robot constraints and computational tools we explored a design space taking into consideration various geometries, robot interpolation types, accuracy and speed. In a period of three weeks, we constructed a custom clay extruder suitable for the Robot Kinematics, made several tests of clay mixes consolidated a digitalphysical workflow and 3D printed models enhancing the material qualities and performance.

NACHI

Nachi

PIPE LINE

453.0 mm

d/s d/s ad/s d/s d/s d/s

720.0 mm J3

J1 J5 J6

0d e

s 642.68 mm

3m m

s J3

NACHI KINEMATICS

J1: 7.85 rad/s J2: 6.63 rad/s J3: 9.08 rad/s J4: 9.60 rad/s J5: 9.60 rad/s J6: 17.5 rad/s

625.0 mm

0d e

290.13 mm

54.12 mm

-Z

END-EFFECTOR COORDINATE CALIBRATION

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EXPLODED EXTRUDER DIAGRAM

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Clay extruder design

CLAY EXTRUDERS

Centre leg female tee 212343

Coupling PCL STD 212281 Plug PCL 212294 PVC U-CAP 021,223.07

Sealing washer Nickel plated bulkhead 219963

PVC adaptor 023.202.05007K

Transparent acrylic pipe 50mm

PVC adpater ABS Socket 011.013.06 PVC adapter 023.202.05006K

Ball valve 206853

Hose Tail 203495 SPECIFICATIONS

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C2 8P C1

Input

Interpolation type assignment

Geometric transformation

Isometric

interpolated point data

interpolated robot paths

P (Linear joint) C1 C2 8P (Robot pause)

Interpolated robot paths

Interpolated robot path layers

Geometric data Total points: 876 Total curve lenght: 4674.12mm Physical height: 210 mm Digital height: 230.49 mm Printing data Total used clay chambers:

Nachi

Total Kg of clay: 3.95 Kg Printing speed: 90 mm/s Colored vertex by distance offset

C1 8P

P Input

Isometric interpolated point data

Interpolation type assignment

Geometric transformation

Isometric interpolated robot paths

P (Linear joint) C1 C1 8P (Robot pause) C2

Interpolated robot paths

Texture shift

Geometric data Total points: 2000 Total curve lenght: 5142.76 mm B Splitting point A

Physical height: 255.0 mm Digital height: 260.30 mm Printing data Total used clay chambers:

Nachi

Total Kg of clay: 4.5 Kg Printing speed: 90 mm/s

Texture definition Robot pausing points 63

04. PARASITE Grasshopper plugin - Forsquare Data Work partner: Dr, Roland Hudson 2015

The contemporary city can be understood as a collection of different organic emergent systems. Examples of emergence can be the movements of crowds, traffic jams, a group of migrating birds or markets. The assemblage of a multitude of individual actions and decisions generates outcomes which cannot be described of the point of view of individual elements but as a collections of systems. These islands of high density interactions can be mapped using emergent data from location based networks as in Forsquare. By visualizing this data produced by the digital medium, we can see how social activity in an urban space is distributed and new emergence of spatial relations are formed. It creates a digital global urban pattern whoâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s DNA varies depending on each cities activity and information density clusters. Parasite is a plugin for Grasshopper developed with Prof PhD Roland Hudson. Parasite retrieves social data from Forsquare, itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s a tool that aims to swim into the digital behavior of cities around the globe. Data. The data was collected calling Forsquare API which returns a maximum of 50 results per query. Since this is an overwhelmingly low rate, it was decided to construct a grid (granularity) from within the grasshopper component. In order to divide the search region into smaller cells, so that every cell will get 50 results. This method permits to optain 200-800 requests per city, producing 10,000 to 40,000 results. The result limit can be stretched but there has to be a consideration that the API limits search results to a maximum of 5,000 per hour. Tools. Visual studio was used in order to write the code to call the Forsquare API using the Newtonsoft.json.dll in order to read the API data in JSON format. Also, it was used to create the grasshopper component and adding a direct link to the Rhino-Grasshopper environment. For coordinate conversion Ghowl was used to get de latitude and longitude data to the model.

using using using using

System; System.Collections.Generic; System.Net; System.IO;

using using using using using

Grasshopper.Kernel; Grasshopper.Kernel.Types; Grasshopper.Kernel.Data; Rhino.Geometry; Grasshopper;

using Newtonsoft.Json; namespace Cheeta { public class CheetaComponent : GH_Component { /// <summary> /// Each implementation of GH_Component must provide a public /// constructor without any arguments. /// Category represents the Tab in which the component will appear, /// Subcategory the panel. If you use non-existing tab or panel names, /// new tabs/panels will automatically be created. /// </summary> public CheetaComponent() : base(“Cheeta”, “Cheeta”, “Contact forsquare and get some data.”, “Cheeta”, “Forsquare API”) { } public string client = “”; public string secret = “”; public int nResults = 2; /// <summary> /// Registers all the input parameters for this component. Nachi /// </summary> protected override void RegisterInputParams(GH_Component.GH_InputParamManager pManager) { // Use the pManager object to register your input parameters. C# CODE PREVIEW

DATA

50,845 venues, total chekings. Nightlife, food, arts, parks, shops and transportation

Nachi

DATA

7,910,264,5 total chekins from each venue

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DATA

7,910,264,5 total chekins from each venue

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DATA

118,896 possible 400m distance links to each venue.

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C# CODE PREVIEW

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C# CODE PREVIEW

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PROJECTS

05. SITE / NON-SITE LANDMARK Site landmark competition. Sagrev, Portugal Duration: 1 month Individual work 2016

The proposal investigates and takes inspiration from the processes of deformation of a natural object in a sea side weather condition and in its capacity to preserve its structural efficiency by supporting the materials selfweight. The Project also attempts to question the relationship between building and landscape and proposes a thesis which is a duality between being a site and a non-site landmark condition. The interior spaces resemble a cave like spatial experience where the users will feel as they were inside the cliff or inside a natural object that has been eroded over time. The complex natural form of the spaces that are inscribed in the project resemble a site and a non-site landmark proposal due to its organic shape but at the same time its powerful â&#x20AC;&#x153;contrastâ&#x20AC;? to the surrounding landscape. The materiality of the buildings makes reference to Peter Cook`s Sponge City in 1974 as a philosophy of buildings as landscape. The facade is made up of reflective aluminum panels which will mirror the surrounding landscape and change along with it driven by different local weather conditions. The Project in its whole seeks to be an object which is enveloped by natural coverage and is in its core a new morphology that is entirely complementary to the existing site.

AXONOMETRIC DRAWING

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f ITEARATION DATA

a. initial model Green = self weight , dark green = local wind forces red = structural supports , white = spacial limits Nachi

b Iteration Material destribution/ Deformation c. Iteration d. Iteration e. iteration f. Iteration smoothing g. Data extraction Vector curvature directions 83

Nachi

06. ANONYMOUS Evolo 2016 Furniture Design Competition Duration: 1 month Individual work 2016

The proposal seeks to embrace Peter Eisenmans concept “space of becoming” in order to trigger a different way to think about furniture in today’s post fordist societies. The concept of space of becoming is the condition of multiple audiences with multiple perspectives and respectively divergent readings of the same space. This differentiation was also related with the idea of fluidity and liquid as a representation of contemporary culture. With this theoretical premise the objective is to create an anonymous piece that is open to multiple interpretations from the user and it’s not just a lamp a table or a chair. Instead of having one object designated to one specific function, appearance and nomenclature the liquid analogy suggests continuous smooth transitions where its parts flow into each other but at the same time have a gradient of differentiation. Anonymous pretends to be a smooth topographic transformation from a lamp to a chair to a small table and conform one piece of furniture, that will also have different relationship with its setting and users.

AXONOMETRIC DRAWING

Nachi

MINIMAL CURVATURE VECTORS

190.0 cm

51.60cm

65.50cm

56.30 cm

87.13 cm 78.50 cm

144.75cm

18.90cm

165.65 cm

160.53 cm 160.53 cm

160.53 cm

27.19cm

46.92cm

57.10 cm

64.78 cm

40.49 cm

136.0 cm

50.97 cm

84.29 cm

38.0 cm

65.0 cm

59.0 cm

44.53 cm

Nachi

07. VEHICLE Indivudual work 2019

This project is a short speculation about the potential aesthetics of a new type of vehicle design.

VEHICLE INTERIOR VIEW

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100

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101

102

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PROFESSIONAL

WORK

07. MAD ARCHITECTS Aegean World Trade Center competition. Izimir, Turkey 2016 Status: 1st place Duration : 4 months

This project was an invited high rise competition and the client was seeking a new Icon for the city of Izimir consisting of a mixed used high rise building of Offices and Housing and a Podium with parking spaces, retail and amenities. The project is surrounded by a very beautiful natural landscape, with mountain ranges and very close to de Aegean Sea, and it’s also connected to important transportation hubs and to the biggest park in Izimir. For the competition it was decided by the team to deliver two proposals, the proposal that won it’s the “bundled tubes”

Main responsibilities My work was constantly supervised by senior designer Jordan Kanter. In the beginning stages of the project I was responsible for building a very detailed digital site model, from detailing the facades of the surrounding buildings to incorporating a great area of the mountain ranges and the Sea. I also developed a massing proposal that I got to present in a meeting with founding partner Ma Yan Song with the approval of Jordan Kanter. In addition I also worked in producing most of the diagrams for in-house presentations, meetings with clients and for the final submission. Furthermore I assisted in developing the podium massing along with the roof landscape design. I also developed various grasshopper scripts which included a gradient fabrication logic for the balustrades of the towers for a physical model, and a privacy, park view and sea view, although this tool was used on a previous form.

*Rendering credits: MAD Architects

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PHYSICAL MODEL

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PANELS

a. Density of points clustering around maximum curvature areas of balustrade surfaces b. Balustrade surface curvature c. Unrolled ballustrade surfaces - Big tower d. Unrolled ballustrade surfaces - Small tower

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2 2

0 F47

0 F46

0 F45

F44

1 3

F43

F42

F41

F40

F39

F38

F37

F36

F35

F34

F33

F32

F31

F30

F29

F28

F27

F26

F25

F24

F23

F22

F21

F20

F19

F18

0 F17

F16

F15

F14

F13

F12

F11

F10

Nachi 0

F26

F25

F24

F23

F22

F21

F20

F19

F18

F17

F16

F15

F14

F13

F12

F11

F10

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Isometric View

Elevation

Isometric View

Elevation

Isometric View

+ Privacy <=0.00

PRIVACY ANALYSIS DEVELOPED WITH GRASSHOPPER 3D

1.20

2.40

3.60

4.80

6.00

7.2

+ Privacy <=0.00

1.20

2.40

3.60

4.80

1.20

2.40

3.60

6.00

+ Privacy <=0.00

114

Elevation

4.80

Unrolled facades

Elevation

Unrolled facades

- Privacy 4.80

6.00

7.20

8.40

9.60

10.80

<=12.00

- Privacy 4.80

6.00

7.20

8.40

9.60

10.80

<=12.00

- Privacy 6.00

7.20

8.40

9.60

10.80

<=12.00

115

116

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117

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08. 3XN ARCHITECTS Duration : 2 months 2016 Deutche Bank competition. Frankfurt , Germany Team: Jan Admudsen - Partner in charge Lola Rieger, - Project leader Kenn Clausen - Parametric designer Ryan Newman, Max Nemeuster, Juras Lavosky - Designers

The first phase of the Deutche bank competition was a masterplan proposal of the four towers which was one by UNStudio. The brief of the second phase was to design in detail the towers following UNStudioâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s massing plan and their proposed site boundaries. One half of the towers will be a residential program and the other two will be office space. The podium on the ground floor is composed of retail, amenity spaces and a small hotel. 3XN`s proposal aims to work with the 4 buildings as a family of towers which will be a new iconic space for Downton Frankfurt. The individual tower volumes are created by displacing each chunk individually, to give the overall massing a lighter and dynamic design. Green terraces are proposed in the podium and in parts of the towers to integrate urban life in to the project to create different public environments. Responsabilities: I was part of the competition team since the beginning of the project. I helped to develop different massing proposals and design ideas for the overall form of the 4 towers. I also modeled in a very detailed way part of a historic building in the site that had to be integrated with the design. However, my focus on the competition was to work together with the design computation specialist for the facade development of the towers. I focused on developing the office towers facade through and incremental development of a robust grasshopper script together with simple custom python and C# components to enhance flexibility and functionality. The grasshopper definition allowed a variety of different iterations in the local scale (panel) and global scale which permitted the team to test different facade patterns and panel morphologies. *Rendering credits: 3XN Architects *Facade detail credits: 3XN Architects

AXONOMETRIC DRAWING

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122

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PANEL FAMILY DISTRIBUTION

FACADE PATTERNS

124

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DATA

a. Inputs & parameters b. Slab generator [part 1] c. Grid generator [part 2] d. Grid generator [part 3] e Panel component generator [part 4] f. Facade Analysis components [part 5]

126

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PANEL MORPHOLOGIES

128

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FACADE DETAIL. PLAN VIEW

Selbstragender Rahmen - hochisoliert variable Winkelgeometrie

Manuell betĂ¤tigt

system AWS

PUBLIC SPACE, GROUND FLOOR 9

Beb auun

gspl anen

twur

chlafen

Essen/ Wohnen

chlafen

sen/ hnen

afen

Beb auun

gspl anen

twur

Essen/ Wohnen

Schlafen

Ab.

Schlafen

ohnen

Mit dem neuen Deutsche-Bank-Areal entsteht ein lebendiger und vielfĂ¤ltiger Stadtraum mitten im Herzen Frankfurts. Das neue Quartier, welches sich durch seine Funktionsvielfalt auszeichnet, ist ein urbaner und erlebnisreicher Ort, der sieben Tage die Woche rund um die Uhr pulsiert.

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FACADE DETAIL. SECTION

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09. 3XN Architects Duration : 2 months 2017 Concert Hall Competition. Munich , Germany Team: Jan Admudsen - Partner in charge Audun Opdal - Partner in charge Jesper Bork, - Project leader Kenn Clausen - Parametric designer Jes John Tonsgaard, Christian,- Designers The beauty of music is created by the harmony of stringent rhythms and Playful variations of the sounds – between the space where the music is created, And the people who experience them. The tools and systems of music, regardless of the styles, are Composers and eras, the same while their expression and feeling in Constant change and renewal. This harmony between The rational and the sensual – what is logical to explain and the, What can only be experienced – is our proposal for a new concert hall. Under-based in Munich. Our proposal is based on the basic idea that a concert hall A practical building with as rational a business as possible Should be, as well as a special poetic place in the city, which will make people Inspired and seduced. Music is a special space in which we humans A space that can be used to meet the dreams and longings of our lives Space offers. Responsabilities I was part of the competition team since the beginning of the project. I assisted Audun Opdal, partner in charge of the project to design the interior of the main concert hall and the foye. I also developed custom tools to distribute chairs and people in the seating area accordingly, as well as scripts so the team could quickly evaluate sight lines. In addition I also developed a tool to produce the acustic paneling of the main hall

*Rendering credits: 3XN Architects *Physical model credits: 3XN Architects * Facade detail credits: 3XN Architects

PHYSICAL MODEL

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MAIN CONCERT HALL

136

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137

Seating types

Seating distances and circulation

Site line evaluation tool

Acustic panel generator

Facade detail 138

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Architecture Portfolio 2019

Articles inside

ALife