NICOLE BRITTANY KIEL
PORTFOLIO
contents preface //
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undulate //
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undergraduate studio I
fracture //
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undergraduate studio IV
ingress //
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advanced studio V
atmosphere //
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self-directed research
biomimetic //
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thesis //
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team-based research
self-directed honors thesis
cabin //
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trade-show models
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preface //
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This portfolio shows my best work throughout my undergraduate career. I am applying to the University of Minnesota for further study at the graduate level. A Master’s of Architecture at UMN would enhance my understanding of the physical environment and give me an opportunity to research under esteemed professors. Each project in this portfolio shows different perspectives or obstacles I had to overcome. Every design challenge I talk about helped me grow as a designer, and, even if I failed, those experiences are what created my current interests and ambitions. I am eager to see how graduate school makes me change and develop into a curious researcher and devoted professional to the communities I serve.
Nelson Cultural Center, HGA Architects Section Perspective, Graphite 1st Runner-Up in Drawing Competition
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undulate // Project // Powderhorn Park Community & Recreational Center Studio // ARCH 3281: Arch Studio I // Fall 2015 Professor // Kris Mun The Powderhorn Park neighborhood is a small area in Minneapolis with one of Minnesota’s many beautiful lakes. This proposal was to design a community center with changing rooms and a gathering space to encourage full use of the surrounding green space and lake shore. The lattice wood structure is inspired by Shigeru Ban’s Centre Pompidou-Metz in Metz, France. Its undulating form is composed of thin, wooden beams held together by split ring connectors and anchored to the foundation below. On top is a semi-transparent PVDF sheet. These two components create a feeling of floating and brings imagination back into the Powderhorn neighborhood. Although I am proud of the design from my first undergraduate studio, I am disappointed in the lack of community engagement brought on by the project and my own endeavors. Although appropriate for Metz, France, this type of design is not well-suited for the Powderhorn park neighborhood. Looking back on this project, I regret not exploring the neighborhood, learning about their community, and talking about what their neighborhood wants for a community center. At UMN, I would dive deep into the community engagement aspects of all projects I tackle.
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fracture // Project // St. Peter Business District & Master Plan Studio // ARCH 4284: Arch Studio IV // Spring 2017 Professor // Matthew Byers This project revolved around Highway 169, which completely cuts through the central business district of St. Peter, Minnesota. Our goal was to develop a city-wide master plan that could make Highway 169 safer for pedestrians, rejuvenate the central business district, and create stronger connections to the highly influential Minnesota river. My design is composed of five different sectors that tackle various problems throughout the city. We were able to talk to the city mayor, a couple municipal workers, and a family who lives there. I acknowledged their concerns and desires to create a design that slowed car traffic, introduced new storefronts for local businesses, and developed a parkway system for bikers and pedestrians. Additionally, the design “fractures� the city grid in several places, causing slower traffic and encouraging interaction between pedestrians. An example is the new city square, centralized around their only pond. This promotes year-round activities, including ice skating, a boardwalk, and amphitheater. The locals had expressed a clear desire for more outdoor activities and engagement, so the recreational pond is the main component of my design. This project was one of my favorites throughout my undergraduate career because it allowed me to engage with the community and city officials. I visited frequently to experience the life and activities that happen throughout town. I was able to propose ideas and get actual feedback from locals. This was definitely a project that helped me grow as a social engagement designer.
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ingress // Project // Minnesota State Fair North Gate Redevelopment Studio // ARCH 5212: Arch Studio V // Fall 2017 Professors // Jeffrey Mandyck, Dan DeVeau This project was the main focus for our entire advanced architectural studio. We worked with Cuningham Group on the Minnesota State Fair. This included analyzing their current proposal and then coming up with our own. The task was redeveloping their smallest entrance at the North Gate. Development at the North end of the fair has slowed, and our client wanted a design that could reconnect the North Gate back to the South Gate. This included a new amphitheater, food venue, arts & education building, and several temporary merchandise tents. Since the North entrance is so underutilized, I looked at ways to incorporate ticket entry through the arts & education building. This would increase interaction between the guests, displays, and presentations going on. Additionally, I wanted to utilize the North Gate year-round and to better incorporate it into the surrounding urban context. Currently, the state fair is enclosed by a chain-link fence, preventing all pedestrians, bikers, runners, and others from entering offseason. I proposed to use temporary vendors as the fence, increasing engagement during the fair, and creating porosity off-season. I sketched and modeled multiple iterations to test out how porosity, threshold, and boundary conditions would impact entry into the state fair. My final design creates a processional experience through the arts & education building, view sheds, and fence porosity, while still protecting the security needed to lock up at night. Additionally, I designed an observation bridge and a central plaza that can be accessed all day by the home owners and apartments across the street. Unlike the current state fair’s design, which is constricting and closed-off, this design would encourage more foot traffic and a healthy urban environment integrated into St. Paul’s greater urban context.
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atmosphere // light
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Project // Self-Directed Research on Peter Zumthor Focus // Lighting Analysis of the 2011 Serpentine Pavilion Presented // Spring 2016 at Undergraduate Research Symposium Research Statement: The goal of my research was to discover the inherent qualities of architectural atmosphere and how Peter Zumthor uses aspects such as material, light, nature, and form to enhance particular atmospheres. Analyzing Daylight The Serpentine Pavilion is open from July 1st through October 16th. Both its open roof form and 54o orientation allow direct light into the inner courtyard during the summer solstice and equinox. Because of the immense light that enters the inner courtyard, the garden is typically in the IES Illuminance Category G. This category is mostly for visual tasks near thresholds. In contrast is the hallway, which is typically in the IES Illuminance Category E. This category is mostly for visual tasks of high contrast and small size. Both categories work well for the intended use of the pavilion. Concept and Atmosphere: Completely exposed to the elements, the interior courtyard, containing wild vegetation designed by Piet Oudolf, creates a strong, contemplative atmosphere. Zumthor achieved this through using climate, daylight, materiality, and form to provoke the senses and heighten the experience of individual journey. The circulation from exterior, to skinny interior hallway, to expansive, interior garden creates various thresholds enhanced by light.
Exterior Garden
Hallway
Interior Garden
Light Atmosphere: Diffuse Low Light Intensity High Light Level Visitors enter the building through the organic looking concrete pavement. The dark material contrasts heavily with exterior green landscape.
Light Atmosphere: Dynamic High Light Intensity Low Light Level Visitors then enter the dark hallway which lines the pavilion’s perimeter. The openings along the hall heighten the dynamic contrast of light.
Light Atmosphere: Direct Medium Light Intensity Medium Light Level Finally visitors arrive upon the interior garden, which is wild and tall. The roof gives coverage while views of the sky give a sense of openness.
12 Sunny Skies // Illuminance Plan Analysis
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9:00
July 21st
August 21st
September 21st
October 21st
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15:00
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View B - August 21st at 14:00
View C - August 21st at 14:00
View B - August 21st at 14:00
View A - August 21st at 14:00
View C - August 21st at 14:00
View A - August 21st at 14:00
biomimetic // Project // Biomimetic Solar Glazing System Class // Grand Challenge: Bioinspired Approaches to Technology Professors // Marc Swackhamer, Emilie Snell-Rood, Abdennour Abbas This project was part of a Grand Challenge course. Each team was prompted to find a problem that biomimetics could solve. I was part of a four-person team who designed a glazing system that would improve the capture of solar energy. We researched numerous animals and plants that capture sunlight. Most interesting were the oriental hornet and the elephant hawk-moth. The oriental hornet contains a brown pigment, melanin, and a yellow pigment, xanthopterin. The latter can convert sunlight into photo-electric energy. Thus, the xanthopterin pigment is a main component of our glazing system. Additionally, the nano-structure of an elephant hawk-moth’s eye allows light through and prevents it from escaping back out. This structure gives the elephant hawk-moth a major sight advantage over other insects. Our team wants to replicate that nano-structure and apply it to the building scale to bolster the capacity of our solar capturing system. To develop these curtain walls in real life, the back layer of glass would need to be pigment sensitized with the xanthopterin nanocrystalline granules. This would need to be dissolved in a medium such as TiO 2 which is a clear conducting metal that is able to help harness the solar energy into the pigment. This pigment is unique since it absorbs light in the UVA and UVB range which has a higher light energy density, increasing the possible electricity production of the window. The second layer, exposed to the outer face of the window would need to have laboratory synthesized nano-structure replicating the elephant hawk-moth eye. This would be either synthesized on a film and attached to a clear pane of glass, or be synthesized onto the glass itself. This of course wouldn’t be visible to the human eye. Making these nano-structures would most likely be done using the top-down method of photolithography and microprinting. The two layers described would then be combined, in parallel face to face as a double pane window. Implementation of this window ideally would be used as a complete glazing system for skyscrapers and other large urban structures, providing electricity for the city while keeping the interior cool.
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Oriental Hornet
We extracted the yellow pigment, diluted it in a solution, and applied the pigment to our glazing system in a frit-like pattern. Then, we used solar lamps to heat the glass at timed intervals. Afterwards, we measured the heat of the glass and recorded how well the xanthopterin was able to hold in the heat. We came to the conclusion that xanthopterin did indeed store heat at a high capacity compared to our control.
Elephant Hawk-Moth
The nano-structure of our glazing system is inspired by the structure of a moth eye. With our resources, we could not actually apply this nano-structure onto our glazing system, however, we collected enough data to confirm that it is possible to replicate.
thesis // Project // Wasted Urban Spaces & Marginalized Neighborhoods Presented // April 2018 in Pursuit of Summa Cum Laude Committee // Gail Dubrow, Greg Donofrio, Mary Guzowski In my senior year, I have been working on an honor’s thesis as part of the UMN University Honor’s Program. I am working with my adviser, Gail Dubrow, and two committee members, Greg Donofrio and Mary Guzowski, to complete research in pursuit of Summa Cum Laude. This project was inspired by a book I’ve read by Alan Berger titled Drosscape. He discusses lost spaces within cities and suburbanization that hinder growth, take up space, and harm surrounding neighborhoods. It hurt to see photos of surface parking, decrepit infrastructure, abandoned malls, and other empty, wasted spaces. My goal through this research is to understand how the lost space phenomena came to be, how it affects marginalized communities, and what we as designers can do to tackle such a problem. Starting next semester, my fellow researchers and I will study St. Paul, Minnesota in depth to understand where its lost spaces are. I am particularly interested in this intersection of a worn-down neighborhood near downtown. The first two pictures show some of the last low-income apartments available for the old community who flourished there in the industrial era. The last picture shows new development taking over and impacting the surrounding residents. I hope to discover what lost spaces are being redeveloped and what can be done to preserve the community and culture of marginalized peoples impacted by urban redevelopment in St. Paul.
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cabin // Project // Lake Home & Cabin Show Model Display Presented // Minneapolis Convention Center // February 2017 Firm // CityDeskStudio, Inc. // St. Paul, Minnesota I was comissioned by CityDeskStudio to fabricate two physical models. The two cabin home models went on display during the annual Lake Home & Cabin Show at the Minneapolis Convention Center. These are two of CityDeskStudio’s featured homes for 2017. Each model was made with a 3D printed base, basswood, and plywood at a 3/32” = 1’ scale.
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UMN // thank you for considering Nicole Brittany Kiel kielx025@umn.edu (612) 360-8996 10141 Yukon Ave S Minneapolis, MN 55438