Robert Miller portfolio

Robert Miller M.Arch 01-A millr252@newschool.edu

Design Studio 1 - Bernheimer - Fall 09 Project 1 - Taken for a Ride - 3 weeks

Develop an architectural lexicon through measure-

ments and documentation of a site. I started at 25 East 13th st., boarded the 6 train then transferred to the F and took that to Madison st. Upon arrival I located my site Rutgers Houses. I then began to document the threshold conditions, scale of structures, population, materials, and environmental conditions. Below is a detailed look into the threshold conditions around the site with the individual measurements accumulated into independent shapes on the right side.

Continuing with the documentation of the site I chose to concentrate on the interac-

tion between the general population and the housing site. In the Rutgers Houses there are activity areas that I felt were severely under utilized during my initial visit. I began to chart the actual usage of these areas and after multiple visits during my investigation I was able to develop a time table that displayed the amount of people that were actually using these areas through out the day. Then I compared that to a population number for the ideal usage of each space.

Design Studio 1 - Bernheimer - Fall 09 Project 2 - Transformation - 2 weeks

Transformation was all about building three dimensionally based on the information and observations from the first project. With the wire I was trying to capture a feeling of oppression brought on by the degradation of the site. The wire is the floor plan extruded up while being tapered out simultaneously.

The next four images relate to the activity diagram from the first project. These are the separate pieces of a whole, which when combined represent the inverse of the area that is depicted in that diagram. Above shows close up view and floor plan for the individual activity areas. To the right are exterior views of the layered cardboard with an interior light source.

In order to achieve a continuos void within the inverse volume it was necessary to manipulate the original diagram.

A loft between the separate volumes was made and I was left with these vase like activity representations. These objects are the derivative of the material that was removed from the inverse volume.

Design Studio 1 - Bernheimer - Fall 09

Project 3 - Movement, Mobility, and Ergonomics - 3 weeks

Project 3 was a partner exercise to develop a pavilion that

accommodated the requirements of the site. We chose our site to be Union Square and decided quickly to focus our attention on the green market that occurs there four days out of the week. In order to facilitate the demands of the green market we came up with a proposal that was both flexible and ephemeral.

We decided to construct something

that could easily be stored and just as easily setup. Using the modular dimensions of a 4’ x 8’ plywood panel we developed a progression of schemes that were designed to suit the possible needs of the markets patrons as well as its employees.

Our goal was to provide an area for sitting, eating, reading, standing, conversing, and a place to recuperate. An aluminum frame houses a polycarbonate panel that is sandwiched between two plywood panels.

The plywood panels can have a multitude of variations but we settled for three distinct arrangements that fulfilled our goal.

Design Studio 1 - Bernheimer - Fall 09 Project 4 - Transportation Hub - 6 weeks

Standing at the edge of what at

one time was a bustling dry dock in Red Hook, Brooklyn, I was immediately struck by the deterioration of the threshold. Large concrete slabs were breaking and bending into the surrounding water.

FLOOR PLAN

25’

50’

100’

MECHANICAL

FURNITURE STORAGE

BIKE SHOP

TRASH

OFFICE

KITCHEN

LOCKER ROOMS

CAFE/LOUNGE

WOMEN

OUTDOOR SEATING

MEN

A

WOMEN

FRIG.

TRASH

MEN

TICKET BOOTH

MECH.

SECTION A

25’

50’

100’

Red Hook, Brooklyn has become a desolate town because of its lack of public

25’

SOUTHEAST ELEVATION

50’

100’

transportation. This Hub was designed with the purpose of facilitating multiple forms of transportation. Here you can walk or ride a bike in order to board a trolley, bus, or water taxi which puts you on the path to anywhere in New York. I chose to include a skate/bmx park for a public program because it promotes alternative transportation and provides a physical outlet unlike anything else in the area. The goal for this project was to develop a beacon that spoke to travel while maintaining the feel and identity of Red Hook, Brooklyn.

Representation and Spatial Reasoning - Fall 09 Fruguiele, Robertson

This series of ceiling plans and sections document a string installation. The

installation consisted of attaching string to either the floor, ceiling or two walls of a space, based on x and y coordinates provided by a throw of dice. Our class then broke up into six groups and were given topics and colored string that related to the architectural aspects of the space. Each color defined a certain topic; geometry, sound, light, movement, module, and view. I was part of the view group and we chose to center our attention on a view that captured the most dynamic moment within the installation. The second version of the reflected ceiling plan and section illustrate where strings entered and exited our viewport. Opposite displays an isometric as well as a plan oblique of the installation space, focusing on the moment in the space that was captured by the viewport.

After the string installation we

jumped into digital representation and modeled the stairwell adjacent to the string installation.

Once we had that we reverted to our initial investigation and I set out to capture an intriguing view with the 3d model. I then extruded the strings from the installation into the adjacent stair well where I began looking for an intriguing moment to illustrate.

Left is a view looking up

through the railings that displays the density and movement of the strings.

Right is the opposite, the view looking down through the railings, because it was only through the inverse of my first investigation that I was able to determine where and what it was that I wanted to communicate.

With the strings in place I examined oppor-

tunities where I could extract intriguing and complex geometries. Using my previous drawings I was able to locate an instance that I found compelling. To the left is a plan view of the series of strings that I pulled from those drawings. Above illustrates the strings in a three dimensional view to portray how I was able to find a shape using the geometries of the string installation.

Axonometric view of the shape

installed into the stairwell amongst the chaos of the strings.

After developing the shape it became necessary to design an object that would

be fabricated and installed within the stairwell. It required some editing to reach an object that I would appreciate building. The first row illustrates the second iteration of the initial shape, from frame assembly, to skin attachment, and final. It began as the lower portion of the shape and grew into an object.

The column to the left portrays the further simplification of the object with the frame assembly, skin attachment, and final. The picture depicts the completed object within the stairwell.

The intention of the object was to quiet the tediousness of

stair climbing and focus one’s sight to the visual experience within the stairwell. Like the view between the railings the object also determines how much one can see as well what one can focus on in a framed view.

To conclude our semester of Repre-

sentation and Spatial Reasoning we were asked to construct a movie based on the work we had been pursuing throughout the semester. These stills illustrate the theme of the view between. They show an impossible view that reflects the experience of being drawn into the space and having your perspective altered by focusing on different moments within the stairwell.