Rachel Peterson
University of Minnesota Portfolio of Work 2008-2011 417 University Ave SE Apt. 2 Minneapolis, MN 55414 rpeterson1211@gmail.com (920) 471.5415
La Plaza de Soledad
Redesigning a public square in Oaxaca Spring 2011 For a period of 8 weeks, Justin Petersen and I iteratively created program-driven holistic redesigns for an existing public square in the city of Oaxaca, Mexico. This was done through large scale physical modelling and ink on mylar hand drawing. In the investigation of redesigning the Plaza of Soledad, the idea of giving all users a genuine human experience was a critical consideration in our design. We sought to respect the tradition and culture of Oaxaca while also seeking to provide easier access through the site (especially in terms of disability accessibility), offer more shade for protection from the hot Mexican sun, and collect rainwater in large underground basins for present and future use. Top: Urban room at the ‘scale of the city’ Center: Stairway with light wells for spaces below Bottom: View of two plazas on the site
Images of Oaxaca, Mexico (Rachel Peterson, 2011)
Top: Performance space slopes into the topography Center: The urban room as the fourth ‘plaza’ of the site Bottom: House of the librarian, with outer walls removed
Exhibition Hall
Urban Room (gathering, performance, socializing)
Ramp entry into site wraps around Urban Room
Urban Room For the people of Oaxaca, a significant public space is one with sufficient area for parades, festivals, and celebrations for large groups. Therefore, it was necessary to open up the new design to include easy access to the large gathering areas (with more stairways and ramps) and provide shade for coolness and comfort during the many celebrations throughout the year. One way we accomplished this was by creating an ‘urban room’ with a pergola of engineered wood that ‘grew’ into a tree-like structure covered in a common and beautiful local vegetation: the bugambila vine.
Above: Process Models as the Urban Room evolved Below: Soledad as a focal point on the site, both visually and culturally
Avenida Morelos City Hall The Church of Soledad
Avenida Independencia
Urban Room
Water basin below Plaza de las Danzas
Exhibition Hall (below) Garden (above) Water basin below Plaza de la Iglesia
Building Construction Analysis Steven Holl Architects: Stretto House Fall 2010 In collaboration with Sarah Noska, I examined the construction techniques used in the Stretto House by Steven Holl. We used hand drawing and a section cut model to investigate the design. From initial concept to the finest detail, the aim of Steven Holl Architects with the Stretto House was to create a beautiful and musical language with architecture. We were drawn to this unique communication of the building’s spaces, and the use of materials and building construction to demonstrate the ideas of the architect.
Right: The ‘spatial dams’ are concrete blocks in double-wall construction atop a slab-on-grade foundation system. The aqueous space between the blocks contains a glazing system of glass and steel under a lead-coated copper roof.
Above: Site plan sketch shows the connection between concrete blocks of the house, and the river adjacent to them
Light and Shadow Analysis through hand drawing Fall 2009
The projects exhibited here include a study on Rapson Hall’s (the architecture building at the University of Minnesota) courtyard and a comparison of Christian Kerez’s Forsterstrasse Apartments in Zurich, Switzerland with Herzog & de Meuron’s expansion of the Walker Art Center in Minneapolis, MN. Using the technique of hand drawing, I realized the immense complexities light has on a variety of materials and places.
The focus of these drawings is the way that light illuminates a single door on the wall. The Christian Kerez design is lit from below and from the visible horizontal windows, while the Herzog & de Meuron space has light coming from a window in front of the opening.
The threshold into the courtyard in Rapson Hall at the University of Minnesota creates a unique processional transition with the platform over a ‘moat’ that leads into a set of stairs. This frames the space between the surrounding corridors and the light-filled courtyard.
Material and Site Mass and Void shape a site Fall 2010
Through a process of iterations, I created a design for a bus shelter and community space on a currently empty lot in the Cedar-Riverside neighborhood of Minneapolis, MN. Using a variety of materials (such as MDF, plaster, and paper) to explore ideas, I discovered a newfound respect and admiration for the beauty of heavy mass in architecture. With punches of light to accentuate and contrast its heaviness, material such as concrete creates spaces that feel not only protected, but also interesting.
Process models begin shaping the gathering spaces within the site
Diagram of movement and pauses forming among the masses and vegetation
Process models explore voids that are created in the empty space between masses
Above: The bus shelter and restrooms anchor the site on the end facing Cedar Avenue with a protective knee wall and roof covering (it contains only a punch opening for light) Below: This glass encased gathering space reaches out into the community with its structural beams extending into a pergola
Process site model demonstrates a heaviness that may become too overbearing
Transformation into a less massive form with basic structural elements
Discovering Everyday Space Hybrid-drawing of a stairway in Rapson Hall Spring 2010 With Sarah Noska, I created a drawing using a variety of analytical techniques to uncover relationships in the space of a stairway in Rapson Hall of the University of Minnesota. I also used a photographic joiner to guide this process. Within the space of the East Stairs in Rapson Hall, there is a fascinating air of geometric shapes becoming something new as the light changes from morning to night on a carefully chosen set of materials. Through our hybridrawing, we want to display our perception of how even a space usually meant to be used as a fire escape can yield intensity and beauty. “Natural light is an essential force interlocked with time,� according to Steven Holl. It is critical to see how shadow, sunlight, and geometry are interlocked in the experiential phenomena of his work. This phenomena is exactly what we are exhibiting through the use of simple line drawings and photographs. And even beyond light, the East Stairs are the result of an abstract concept driving a simple geometric operation.
The interconnetedness of the axonometric drawing to one perspective drawing to another perspective drawing to a section cut represent how the space uses tree-like branches of light, material, and geometry to create a whole: one untraditional, but captivating space.
Floor + Wall + Roof Empathetic Design: for the User Spring 2011
This exercise stressed the way in which buildings are normally occupied. How people might actually be in a built environment initially exists largely in the mind of a designer. With this particular process of thinking, we considered spatial allocations for different human activities instead of mere square footage requirements and the utilitarian relationships of these spaces. I was seeking more than simple efficiency and functionality in this design. Using the given topography, I sought to create, with floors, walls, and roofs, powerful ways to get places. I wanted to bring the user right to the water using an open platform for a dining space with a roof that brought the sky into the place. In contrast, the bedroom gives privacy through the use of translucent glass and slits of light.
Process Model (clay, balsa wood, acrylic) transforms as the spaces evolve
Bridge + Cantilever + Tower Structural Investigation Fall 2011
In this project, there were unique requirements for each structure, but each one was to be made of only balsa wood and glue. For the bridge, it was necessary to span 4 feet and hold a 1.375 pounds for 10 seconds with the least amount of material. The cantilever needed to extend a minimum of 2 feet from a railing and support (at its end) the weight of a full 20 oz bottle. Its concept was inspired by the work of Santiago Calatrava. In the design of the column, the requirement called for a height of 4 feet, and a maximum horizontal distance of 6 inches. It needed to hold at least 5 pounds.
Drawing of the basic structural elements contained in the cantilever: each piece aids in the fight against failure of the design
Precedents: 1 John Hancock Building (Chicago, IL), 2 Alamillo Bridge (Seville, Spain) , and 3 Little Belt Bridge (Jutland, Denmark) Image Sources: 1: http://www.listarchitecture.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/11/john-hancock-center5.jpg 2: http://www.mimoa.eu/images/3802_l.jpg 3. http://www.paxgaea.com/images/old_little_belt_bridge.jpg
In collaboration with Alissa Deneen, John Maternoski, Sarah Noska, and Sunny Zhang
Mixed-Use Terraces
Design for Dayton’s Bluff, St. Paul, MN Fall 2011 For this project, my group, including Holly Engle, Sarah Noska, and Nic Holzhauer, were asked to come up with proposals for a dense, mixed-use housing complex for a site in the Dayton’s Bluff neighborhood. After considering site research, discussions with the neighbors, and typological studies, we began individually designing units and buildings, and collaborating with teams on the site as a whole. After previous iterations, the woonerf (‘living street’) became the driving force of our scheme, along with the low terraces that create boundaries and layers of public and private space in the site. This territorial gradient includes many elements, such as balconies/ porches, steps, walkways between terraces, and vegetation buffers.
Final Site Massing Model View from Maple Street
Sketch of Swede Hollow Cafe, directly across from the currently vacant site we were designing for
View from 7th and Maple St.
University of Minnesota Architecture B.S. Studio 3
Topography N
The topography of the Dayton’s Bluff area of St. Paul is unique. In a fairly short distance, the elevation drops from 900ft above sea level on the edge of the Swede Hollow Ravine to only 688ft on the Mississippi River. The more level space toward the top of the bluff is built upon for houses and small businesses. The areas with a steeper grade are used for industry that runs parallel to the river, such as the freeway and rail lines.
L
In the context of the neighborhood, the site the is located near a variety of historic residential buildings, Metro State University, and the bluffs of St. Paul.
Mississippi
Freeway, Rail, + Open Space
Residential + Small Businesses
Ba te s
Av e.
900’ Hospital Linen 860’-884’
Ho
Mississippi River 688’
Vertical Exaggeration : 4x
Topography Diagram: Neil Christenson
6
Natural Forces and Sustainability
Physical Systems
Section and Elevation (from Woonerf )
‘‘Stepped Block Apartments’ (Gateway to Dayton’s Bluff Neighborhood) This building has a facade to 7th street that is more traditional, historic, and not overbearing to neighbors. There is also a ‘tower’ at the corner, with its roof drawing influence from Swede Hollow Cafe, and also Metro State. Contained within the first floor is a restaurant/pub and deli, meant to draw people from all over the neighborhood. As the apartment units step down into the woonerf, the style is more eclectic, playful, and light. It is meant to open the door to new design ideas in the neighborhood. It also incorporates sustainable ideas, such as an intensive green roof, which can be used as shared space for apartment residents.
Rachel Marie Peterson “Allow events to change you. You have to be willing to grow. Growth is different from something that happens to you. You produce it. You live it. The prerequisites for growth: the openness to experience events and the willingness to be changed by them.� Bruce Mau Incomplete Manifesto for Growth