Nicole Keroack | A Design Portfolio

NICOLE KEROACK ADESIGN PORTFOLIO MASTER OF ARCHITECTURE UNIVERSITY OF VIRGINIA 2012 771 Madison Avenue Charlottesville VA 22903 352.281.5476 ndk4yx@virginia.edu nicolekeroack.wordpress.com

ACADEMIC + WORK EXPERIENCE

2008 | Bachelor of Arts in Cultural Studies | Davidson College NC

Summer 2010 | Vicenza Study Abroad Program

2009 | Intern VMDO Architects | Charlottesville VA 2010 | Intern VMDO Architects | Charlottesville VA

2010 | Teaching Assistant || Archi Plein Air Drawings

SELECTED WORKS

2010 | Waldman Studio | Culinary Institute in Istanbul 2009 | Dripps Studio | Residential College at U.Va

2011 | De

2010 | Cox + Roettger Studio | Roots of Music New

CONTENTS 2011 | Summer Research Project in Istanbul Turkey 2011 | Exhibit: Urban Dissonances: Istanbul’s Dialogue Between Past and Future 2011 | Teaching Assistant | Lessons of the Lawn

2011-2012 | Editor | Lunch: The Student Journal of the University of Virginia School of Architecture

itectural Theory + Ethics 2011 | Soft Surface Operations | Pandora Light Responsive Roof 2011 | Menefee + Moellmann Studio | Urban Voids in Charlottesville VA

2011 | Sieweke Studio | Design Research in Venice esign Development

w Orleans

2011 | Design Research Seminar | Addressing Urban Dissonance: Restructuring the Waterfront in Fener Istanbul

PERSONAL STATEMENT I believe in a vernacular architecture, not in the sense of those sloped roofs that Le Corbusier would have hated, but in the idea that a designed environment should be sensitive and responsive to the cultural, ecological, and environmental climate that surrounds it. Most of my projects are engaged with exploring not only relationships that concern SPACE, the volumes and relationships formally within a building, but that of PLACE, the social interactions that aggregate over time in a given location and give it a specific identity or character. I believe that SPACE is thoroughly enriched in a dialectic with PLACE. PLACE furthermore has a specific environmental or climactic condition-- whether it be a natural characteristic, or as the result of human intervention. These conditions can be leveraged or altered with the addition of a built component.

This vernacular architecture requires tools of analysis and of construction. It requires systems thinking-- the ability to place the specific intervention outside of its own context, or furthermore, to design the parts of the system as well as the interaction between the parts. This requires sophisticated tools of analysis and an understanding of the site and its surround both synchronically and diachronically. For such systemic, responsive thinking parametric modeling techniques are often utilized. Combining this technology with older techniques such as mapping--both with the aid of digital technologies, and making experiential and cognitive maps by hand, as well as creating experiential drawings leads to a rich understanding and empowers the design process.

Lastly, this vernacular architecture should speak to particular social issues in the context. In the case of Venice, the existing water infrastructures were strained to the breaking point, in New Orleans, the students at the Roots of Music needed an environmentally and physically protected area in which to march. In Istanbul, teasing out one of a myriad of problems led to a series of explorations over and over again to discover where the critical point of intervention lay.

The result is a design approach that is highly sensitive and analytical, producing beauty in the exploration of both space and place, by examining the particular and the systemic.

A separated axon shows activity of either side of the central courtyard that defines the urban campus. Mobility paths are outlined in green.

MENEFEE + MOELLMANN STUDIO

URBAN VOIDS IN CHARLOTTESVILLE VA

IN COLLABORATION WITH LAUREN SHUMATE + BEN SESSA, UVA MARCH 2012 A

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VEHICULAR MOVEMENT RAIL MOVEMENT PEDESTRIAN + BICYCLE MOVEMENT MOBILITY FLOWS OVERLAP MOBILITY FLOWS OVERLAP IN SECTION

Diagrams show the paths activating Preston Avenue and then the CSX intersection, and finally the building itself.

THE POTENTIAL OF MOBILITY This project works to reinstate a pedestrian scale along the Preston Corridor by creating coexistence of vehicular, bicycle, and pedestrian movement by establishing a more urban condition, engaging the street front with a series of paths that lead to surrounding neighborhoods. We used this urban strategy to identify critical intersections—where local and nonlocal flows of people already existed—and moreover, where there was a strong potential for (1) connections between disparate communities and (2) the coexistence of multiple mobilities. The focus of the exploration along Preston Avenue is the intersection of the CSX cargo train line and a fragmented neighborhood street. Using the existing paths on the site, we developed an architectural strategy that addressed the change in topography with a propylaea that engaged multiple scales of people; a billboard that affirms the movement along the street and railroad, and a hearth that coalesces the movement of local neighborhood flows.

View heading toward downtown on Preston Avenue

Perspective shows traffic moving along a narrower street, bikes and pedestrians move in outer lanes

[above] a chipboard model shows the potential of the site to not only embrace the CSX railraoad as an alternate transit system, it has a ramp that brings visitors up to and into the urban campus complex.

Ramps and stair throughout provide means of engaging with the space.

Perspectives show an interior courtyard-- a place to stop and gather, with access to the street

[below] a section shows increased diversity in modes of transit. Car traffic now coexists with bicycle, pedestrian and eventually light-rail. Expanded scaffolding systems provide extra places to park by increasing density.

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Runners can race the train while moving on the pedestrian overpass.

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bike lanes

vehicular traffic

ramp

market stalls

sunken courtyard

artist’s lofts

porch

coffee shop + pantry

ovens

kitchen

community dining room

covered walk

ROOF 45' - 0"

T.O. COCA COLA 30' - 0"

SECOND FL 20' - 0"

FIRST FL (T.O. PATH) 0' - 0"

private residence

auto mechanic and church i n f o r e g r o u n d (d a s h e d)

classic signs (r e t a i l)

SUNKEN COURTYARD -13' - 0"

classrooms

fitness studios

market stalls

circulation tower

light rail

bike lane

vehicular traffic

pedestrian overpass

PRESTON AVENUE

community library

RAISED PATH

DRIVEWAY

T.O. TOWER R 78' - 0"

ROOF 65' - 0"

FOURTH FL 50' - 0"

THIRD FL 35' - 0" 35

T.O. COCA COLA A 30' - 0" 30

SECOND FL 20' - 0"

FIRST FL (T.O. PATH) PATH 0' - 0"

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ALBEMARLE ST -4' - 0"

SUNKEN COURTYARD C D -13' - 0"

Two transverse sections show activity from Preston Avenue back to the neighborhood. The program serves to engage both the pedestrian and the commuter. 

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RESTRUC

Section diagrams laid over a collage show the multiplicity of ways the neighborhood can be analyzed

DESIGN RESEARCH SEMINAR

CTURING THE WATERFRONT IN FENER ISTANBUL EYUP

SUTLUCE

FENER ISKELESI 1986 | VIEW OF FENER FERRY STATION AFTER LAND CLEARING

2011 | CURRENT VIEW OF THE FERRY STATION Photograph by Michelle Benoit

AYVANSARAY HASKOY

ADDRESSING URBAN DISSONANCE

BALAT

By developing a framework for studying Istanbul as a whole, and then applying that framework to the neighborhood of Fener, connections between political, technological, and social movements and their impact on the built environment can be revealed. Applying these lessons to Fener, we learn that the neighborhood is embroiled in identity politics, spending many years as the capital of the Greek Orthodoxy and a center for the Ottoman Empire’s Greek minority, it is now the home to other, poorer immigrants from the Black Sea regions. The waterfront, which had previously been a productive landscape, bringing both industry and trade to the area, was converted after modernization into a sanitized and denuded park, which was part of a clean up effort in the 1980s.

FENER

KASIMPASA FERRY SCHEDULE FERRY SCHEDULE 7

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Ferry routes and timetables show Fener in relationship to other neighborhoods along the Golden Horn in Istanbul

KARAKOY

EMINONU

Through mapping and diagramming, the relationship of the neighborhood to the water has been explored, as well as the relationship between visibility and topography. As in the rest of the city, important sites are located at high elevations, and minority ones are hidden behind walls or pushed into the slope.

However, at this time, the neighborhood is lacking an identity, and is under threat by the municipality. The faceless waterfront of Fener represents the perfect opportunity to re-establish the identity and visibility of its inhabitants, presenting the neighborhood as a vibrant cultural and economic center.

GREEK ORTHODOX PATRIARCHATE Originally the center which generated the neighborhood, the Greek Orthodox Patriarchate is now the home of a community in exile; much of the neighborhood is now occupied by immigrants from the Black Sea regions.

According to an older tradition established in the Ottoman period, this church is both hidden behind a high set of walls and lacking a dome or significant marker. The contrast between both the construction technique and the visibility of this church and the Bulgarian church indicates a shift in mentality toward religious toleration and the advancement of industry.

ST STEPHEN OF THE BULGURS

Drawings on site show the relationship of the church to the topography

Bulgarian church with Greek School behind, highly visible on the waterfront [left] A series of maps explore the development of the neighborhood over time, from early insurance maps by Jacques Pervititch in the 1930s to contemporary satellite photos. Efforts to understand the neighborhood in section, in relationships to key monuments that define the neighborhood, and to access and public spaces have been identified and explored.

axonometric shows the courtyards of the church as they mediate changes in elevation

[right] Drawing shows the development of the neighborhood over time, and attempts to explore more dynamically the relationship of three major monuments to the development of Fener: The Patriarchate, St Stephen of the Bulgurs, and the Greek School. When triangulated, they define the extents and the major thoroughfares in the neighborhood, as well as flows of people on the site.

GREEK SCHOOL ST STEPHEN OF THE BULGURS St Stephen of the Bulgurs GREEK ORTHODOX PATRIARCHATE Fener Iskelesi FENER ISKELESI Greek Orthodox Patriarchate

PROPOSED programs include aquaculture, fish market, ferry stop, and community center

current roads + parks

CURRENT | 2012 introduction of a four-lane highway and a poorly designed park disconnect neighborhood from waterfront

JACQUES PERVITCH | 1929 insurance maps show a thriving neighborhood and a live-work condition with factories on the water

ALMAN MAVILERI | 1914 maps show the major public monuments that define the space

roads + parks | 1929

TOPOGRAPHY hills and slopes to the waterfront

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REUSABLE CONTAINERS

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TRANSPORTATION SYSTEMS

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RAINWATER HARVESTING

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SALTWATER EVAPORATION

SIEWEKE STUDIO

DESIGN RESEARCH IN VENICE

IN COLLABORATION WITH ALEXA BUSH, UVA MLA 2012 TOP 10 AECOM URBANSOS COMPETITION 2011

WATER AS URBAN IDENTITY + URBAN CRISIS This plan proposes to reimagine the hydrologic infrastructure of Venice by cultivating local or ‘guerilla’ methods of harvesting water rather than depleting distant freshwater sources.. It leverages the tourist industry to help support these new systems and empowers a more sustainable tourism through eliminating plastic water bottle waste and reliance on distant aquifer supples.

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FOG HARVESTING

Our proposal would restore the network of cisterns in Venice, making them available as public fountains. The sand filter would be repaired and brought into line with modern standards, and water filter would be added above ground to bring water to drinking quality. A lever on the pump would pull water through these filters. Cistern fountains would collect rain of city surfaces and could be supplemented with freshwater gathered throughout the lagoon.

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Local water production could benefit and catalyze several of the industries in Venice. These industries could help subsidize each other through investments in mutually beneficial infrastructure. foggy days/month

rainfall (cm)

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HYDRO-ECONOMY

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rainwater

fog

brackish water

channeled by roofs and campi

condenses on meshes collects in tubes

evaporates condenses and collects

filtered and stored in cistern drinking water

TRANSIT ALONG VAPORETTO ROUTES

collects along transit routes agricultural use

FRESH WATER

BRACKISH WATER ballast water for ships industrial use

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SALT

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[below] Current use of wellheads, diagram showing the rooftop watershed that feeds a campo, and their one-time ubiquity in Venice [right] Section shows the past functionality of the cistern, its current state of disrepair, and at bottom an envisioned future in which the water culture is revitalized.

PRE-1884 CISTERNS AS SOCIAL SPACE

POST-1884 WATER MOVES TOWARD PRIVATE COMMODITY

PROPOSAL RETURN WATER TO PUBLIC REALM

LOCATION OF 5991 CISTERNS BASED OFF 1857 SURVEY

Only 231 well-heads remain to mark what has become an invisible infrastructure

Diagrams show the current and traditional process of rainwater harvesting on Venice

RAINWATER HARVESTING TENSILE FABRIC ROOF STEEL SUPPORTING RIBS STEEL POLES

BRASS SUPPORT FOR WATER BASINS

FOUR TIERED WATER FILTRATION SYSTEM DRIVEN

BY HAND PUMP DOWNSPOUT DIRECTS WATER FROM ROOF TO WELL DRAIN EXISTING WELL HEAD PIPE WITH HIGH PRESSURE PUMP STEPPED SEATING AREA FOR WATER INFILTRATION

EXISTING SAND FILTRATION STRUCTURE

The flexible fabric roof was developed parametrically and can be adapted to any campo configuration

LEVERAGING NATURAL SYSTEMS IN A SPACE FOR LEARNING Sited at the top of an incline, all water collected on the roof is stored below, while water on site is directed to a low lying retention and infiltration area where it will slowly seep into the ground, just beyond the section for the geothermal wells.

The vertical horizon is a learning center located in Charlottesville Virginia. It is made out of precast insulated concrete panels analogous to those manufactured by thermomass.

The concrete in combination with the insulation provides a great deal of thermal massing to help with cooling, in addition to the strategic placement of fins on the west and east sides to prevent solar heating at undesirable times of the year. Windows are set in deep casings and are also doubly insulated. All mechanical systems are located behind a dropped ceiling above the mezzanine. Passive ventilation is also used extensively.

A combination of daylighting and electrical systems allow the building to achieve minimum footcandles for reading and writing. Clerestory windows above and strategic fins help to filter direct sunlight.

DESIGN DEVELOPMENT

A LEARNING CENTER Geothermal wells [black], radiant floor heating [orange], air conditioning [blue], and passive ventilation [yellow] combine to form a comfortable thermal environment.

[left] a detail shows the construction of the staircase in relationship to the precast concrete panels. A set of steel joints act as a belt to cinch the panels together, while simultaneously holding up the staircase. At the top, a dropped wood panelled ceiling conceals mechanical systems. [below] A series of perspectives shows the life of the building, and though it looks relatively austere from the outside, the concrete panels help filter the light; inside it is bursting with life and activity.

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The building is designed to insulate and retain heat-- large amounts of concrete plus insulation give it a great R value. Extra heating is gained from the radiant floor slab, cooling from ducts hidden beneath the dropped ceiling. Windows [not shown] are double-paned and insulated also.

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MATERIALS 1.THERMOMASS INSULATED PRECAST CONCRETE PANEL 2. COPPER FLASHING 3. RIGID INSULATION 4. PRECAST HOLLOW CORE SLAB UNIT 5. HIGH DENSITY PLASTIC BEARING STRIP 6. WOOD PANEL DROPPED CEILING 7. FIBER COMPOSITE CONNECTOR AT 16” O.C. 8. STEEL REINFORCING 9. GRATED STEEL DECK 10. STEEL ANGLE WELDED TO STEEL PLATES CAST IN CONCRETE PANEL 11. SYNTHETIC RUBBER BEARING PAD 12. GYPSUM WITH SEMIGLOSS STUCCO COVERING 13. VAPOR BARRIER 14. CONCRETE FOOTING 15. GROUT AS NEEDED 16. EXPANSION JOINT 17. EARTH 18. COMPACTED FILL 19. GRASS 20. SLAB WITH EMBEDDED HEATING PIPES 21. DOUBLE GLAZED WINDOW 22. STEEL MULLION 23. HEADER 24. ROOF MEMBRANE 25. 6’ DIAM. STEEL DUCT 26. EXHAUST FILTER

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COX + ROETTGER STUDIO

ROOTS OF MUSIC NEW ORLEANS CREATING AN INTERIOR STREET

The problems of New Orleans require a careful consideration many factors— the creole culture, flooding and land subsidence, and the hot and humid climate. This school for the Roots of Music program provides a space for community building and cultural expression.

By creating an boulevard, the building provides a perfect space for marching while providing areas for eyes on the street. In addition, passive design strategies are utilized to provide a level of comfort, and water catchment systems allude to the waterborne nature of the city.

Preliminary investigations into the nature of music, New Orleans, and site explorations provide the foundation for the design work.

My music keeps me strong. I take my trombone. My trombone is my order in the upside-down world.

I provide the stability for the entire band. They rest on my low-blow beat. My low blow beat is my power—it bounds through the French Quarter. It blasts apart the bridge.

[Academic use only]

Section showing the exhibition venue and a view into the interior of the complex

[left] A section shows various passive thermal systems at work to keep the school comfortable for the marchers. Evapotranspiration from a water catchment system, the chimney effect, and louvers work to minimize solar gain inside and outside the building. [below] a plan and a section show the relationship between the building and a marching space denoted on its interior, and a series of courtyards to provide semiprivate gathering spaces.

[above] A series of models show the development of the scheme. [above right] A perspective showing an approach from Canal Street, and the marching band. [right] A section-perspective showing the interior of the street. The right contains the main marching building, the left is the Library.

Perspective showing approach from the Hippodrome at Night

WALDMAN STUDIO

CULINARY INSTITUTE IN ISTANBUL

Mapping and diagramming exercises show the hippodrome, the site, and the Blue Mosque in Comparison

OPERATING ON DEEP HISTORY Istanbul is a complex, multi-layered place whose city center is being threatened by tourism. A culinary institute revitalizes the historic center as a generative space its social, cultural, and historical landscapes.

The program calls for a tripartite space which manifests itself in plan and section: a teaching kitchen, bakery and wine cellar, a grand dining room on the piano nobile with a window that tessellates the reflection of the Blue Mosque opposite, and finally a series of living spaces for the teachers.

Interior spaces are complemented by three gardens— a formal Islamic garden, an entry garden to transition from Sutanahmet Square, and a labyrinthine garden that replicates the fragmented city fabric.

Preliminary mapping shows the Hippodrome in relation to other major monuments

rear elevation study shows a combination of transparencies and materials that make up the space.

ELEGANT DICHOTOMY Alluding to the juncture between public and private and East and West present in the city, the building has a public and a private side, joined on the first floor by a kitchen. A multiplicity of materials and forms of expression allow for easy movement between these multiple spheres. On the right, A plan shows the two halves of the building, each with their own garden. A series of models explore the different expressions that the sides of the building can take. At bottom, an early collage and sketch shows the context that this building is placed within, on one of the few public spaces in the historical city.

First floor plan

rendering of the view from the dining hall

a series of models show the construction sequence

Fener Street Scene at Night | Ink, Tea, and Gouache on Paper | 2011

St Stephen of the Bulgurs | Ink and Gouache on Paper | 2011

ISTANBUL TURKEY

INK AND GOUACHE

CAPTURING ATMOSPHERE Ink allows one to fully capture the play of light across the surface of a building or a desolate nighttime street. By pushing the medium, and incorporating elements of color and even the native tea that Istanbullus love to drink, a true sense of place can be captured. All of these drawings were produced on site and with a minimum of equipment. Their very immediacy gives them an air of authenticity.

St Savior in Chora | Ink and Gouache on Paper | 2011

Teatro Olimpico | Pencil on Paper | 2010

VICENZA ITALY

PLEIN AIR DRAWINGS

EXPLORING BY PENCIL A summer study abroad trip to Vicenza, Italy, gives the opportunity to explore a classical canon of forms and their variation. Focusing on the work of Andrea Palladio and later Baroque buildings, the experience of being is translated into a visual form. Using the analatique method, an experiential drawing is combined with analytical ones to complete the picture of the site. In this case, drawing is an analytical, learning experience, one that forces the eye to consider proportion, and shape in a way that the simple gaze cannot accomplish.

Villa Godi Axonometric | Pencil on Paper | 2010

Section | Belmont Bridge Competition | Drawing + Photographic Collage | 2012

Section | Belmont Bridge Competition | Digital Collage | 2012

SELECTIONS

MIXED MEDIA

COLLAGE + PALIMPSEST Image-making can do more than convey the technical specifications of a place, it can create a mood, demonstrate the activities taking place within, and give one a sense of the inner life of a place. These explorations in various forms of media seek to convey these messages.

Section-Perspective | U.Va Residential College on the Dell | Watercolor + Ink on Paper| 2009

Sleeping Boy | Conte Crayon on Paper | 2008

Posture on Repeat | Graphite on Paper | 2012 Reclining Nude | Acrylic on Canvas | 2008

STUDIES

FIGURES

Faces | Pen on Paper | 2012

Self Portrait | Pencil on Paper | 2012