Stephen M. Williams Portfolio M.Arch. 2012 University of Florida
Agri-Urbanism: Traverse & Apiary Towers Gainesville, FL Grad 3 Professor Martin Gold
Traverse The title “Traverse� embodies three ideas that began our approach to this proposal: The notion of bridge, or bridging, the spatial condition of corridors, and the existing condition of satellite communities. These three ideas express a sense of movement that exists at all scales within an urban environment. First, we have applied the idea of bridging as a physical joint between our site and the city of Gainesville. By extending an artery of transportation across Newnans Lake, we call to attention the importance of preserving this geographical artifact. In effect, violating the landscape (with as much care as possible) raises awareness of its importance to the surrounding communities. Bridging extends into our proposed site as a way to weave particular urban functions together as a cohesive whole. For example, by creating a pedestrian walkway in this manner allows us to bridge roads or touch the ground in parks and create a dynamic means of experiencing the city. This gives a sense of accessibility to the community – no matter the choice of transportation. A wildlife corridor extends through the landscape east of Newnans Lake. We have embraced this space as well as reflected it as an idea in our proposal. By bridging the wildlife corridor, we are able to leave it untouched and preserve the natural habitat, an important step in protecting some of our prized native species. We have introduced a number of urban corridors to our site as well. This spatial arrangement easily allows for the creation of particular programmed districts. Accessibility and community are important ideas in our proposal, but they are absolutely essential within the corridors. Here will be our parks, museums, restaurants, schools and civic buildings. These corridors also effectively create distinctions within the denser built spaces, which like satellites or micro-communities, work together to create a diverse and dynamic whole.
Team: David Bly Mary Carver Stephen Williams
Team: David Bly Mary Carver Stephen Williams
Team: David Bly Mary Carver Stephen Williams
Apiary Towers The site for this mixed-use tower project, which lies on the edge of the Food and Entertainment Corridor, was chosen because of its proximity to the intersection of three major transportation routes near the site. By locating it close to the vehicular, non-vehicular and train paths, this site can serve the whole of the development. Anchored on the north and south by two residential towers, the mixeduse project has retail shops and a community theater on the first two levels and eschews the typical midfloor office program often found in mixed-use buildings for the integration of community scale agriculture. The “Flower Box” mediates the gap between the two towers, allowing for unobstructed views from the residential units to the “corridors” and serves as the catalyst for AgriUrbanism, allowing for flower cultivation and the production of honey in the Apiary Towers. Influenced by the construction technique and proportions of the urban beehive, the residential towers are a series of one story flats and two and three level living units that allow for a variety of living conditions and possibilities.
Site Plan
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Lukeville Border Crossing Lukeville, AZ Grad 2 Professor Lisa Huang
Program This assignment was to design a border crossing facility along the US and Mexico border in Lukeville, Arizona. Lukeville is home to about 35 people, and Sonoyta, on the Mexican side of the border, has a population of about 10,000. While this border is not a destination stop, like San Diego and Tijuana, it serves as the closest border crossing from the US to Puerto Penasco, a Mexican resort town on the Gulf of California. To the north of Lukeville, lies Ajo, a copper mining town that is home to the schools in the area, while also providing jobs for Mexican residents.
Marking the Landscape Lukeville is situated on the southern end of the Organ Pipe National Monument. It is the northern range of the Organ Pipe cactus and the only place they grow in the US. The scale of these cacti, as well as the Saguaro cactus (pictured to the right) serves as a vertical marker in a somewhat flat landscape. This vertical marking is also revealed in the original obelisk border marker erected in the early 20th century. As seen in the picture of the border fence, there is a layering of space that begs the question: What is the border?
Border Defined The image, not taken to far from the site, creates an ambiguity which implies that the border is not simply a line in the sand, but an experience of occupying and transitioning through a space. Therefore, this project is an exercise in making a vertical marker in the landscape and then experiencing the transition that allows one to occupying it.
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Perspective Walkthrough This series of perspectives examines the experience of the pedestrian as they approach and then occupy the border crossing facility. As you approach the building on foot the copper-clad bridge serves as an anchor that is constantly in view and hints at the occupation of the tower. After going through document processing, the horizontality of the bridge shifts to the vertical marker of the tower and is framed by a skylight. As you move up into the gallery the tower is removed from sight, however the sculpture field in the gallery mirrors the vertical landscape marker, while framing the mountains in the distance. The gallery again shifts upward to an outdoor sculpture garden and to the stair that leads to the viewing deck atop the tower. Once at the top of the tower, the skin is peeled away to frame both horizontal and vertical views of the landscape.
approaching entrance
entrance lobby
entering document processing
entering lobby
looking down into lobby
entering gallery
Residence on Clear Lake Gainesville, FL Florida House Professor Martin Gundersen
Program The assignment was to design a house using the lessons learned about the mid-century modern style of the Sarasota School of Architecture. These houses typically ignore the street with an opaque faรงade while responding to a site condition like a lake or river. I chose to design a two-bedroom, two-bath home on a lake that would serve as a retirement home. It has an open floor plan that allows for social gathering and a secondary wing containing the bedrooms and bathrooms. (The following images are of the site on Clear Lake in Gainesville, FL.)
Plan As one moves past the brick facade and moves through the front door, the house opens up to the lake with floor to ceiling windows that run across the entire rear of the house. Working with the slope of the site, the living room and patio are stepped down two feet. The porch off the master bedroom is on an elevated terrace.
Sections Section 01 highlights how the roof remains the same sectionally while the floor shifts down to open up the view towards the lake. Section 02 shows the view towards the lake while highlighting the sectional shift of both the floor and ceiling to signal the transition to the bedroom wing.
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section 02
Residence on Clear Lake Gainesville, FL Florida House Professor Martin Gundersen
Renders Render 01 analyzes the approach towards the entrance of the house. The shading on the front facade is meant to highlight the transition from opacity to transparency as one enters into the home. Render 02 seeks to capture the reflection that would be present on the glazing as one looks towards the house from the lake.
render 01
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Natatorium Orlando, FL Grad 1 Professor Lee-Su Huang
Program The assignment was to develop a Olympic-sized natatorium in downtown Orlando on the site of the old basketball arena. Along with the given program of the natatorium, we had to develop a site plan that integrated alternate programmatic elements of our choosing.
Site Strategy By looking at various ways that one could approach the site, an axis was created that served as the main circulation path. A grid of ‘major’ and ‘minor’ points was attached to the axis and served as the form generating mechanism on the site.
Site Plan The driving force behind the site plan was to work with existing programmatic conditions to create a sports complex that would expand the current offerings of tennis and basketball, while also adding a Sports Physiology Research Institute (SPRI) that could be utilized by the University of Central Florida (UCF). The addition of the natatorium, with an Olympic-sized swimming and diving pools, indoor basketball and tennis courts, as well as football and baseball fields would be a welcome addition to the local community, while providing a research laboratory for SPRI-UCF.
first floor
second floor
Sections Section 01 cuts across the Olympic-sized swimming pool looking out towards the entrance. It helps to tie in the relationship of the exterior water features on the site with the indoor pool. It also highlights the wall that separates the natatorium from SPRI and its attempt to filter and direct light into the pool area. The roof was designed as light scoops that would create different phenomenological qualities depending on time and date.
section 01
Sections Section 2 cuts across the diving pool and looks towards the rear of the natatorium. It highlights the sectional shift that takes place with the diving well, which creates the opportunity to place mechanical spaces underground.
section 02
Sections Section 03 cuts through the building and accentuates the procession as a person experiences the transition from the exterior to the interior.
section 03
Renders Render 01 is of the northern facade. It highlights the folded planes and the transparency that links the exterior to the interior. Render 02 is an interior view looking towards the main entrance while showcasing the main staircase.
render 01
render 02
Renders This is a series of renders that examine the phenomenological effects created by the light scoops in the ceiling.
summer solstice
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winter solstice
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Library Charleston, SC Design 6 Professor Rocke Hill
Program The program was to design a library in Charleston, South Carolina that included a theater, a restaurant and conference rooms. Transparency, translucency and opacity, along with the ability to let in desired amounts of daylight were key considerations in implementing the design criteria. In the lobby, where transparency is desired, curtain walls frame the space and provided clear views from the street through to the interior courtyard. Channel glass makes up the facade of the book stacks. The translucency of the channel glass allows strategic views to be frames by inserting apertures. A metal cladding covers the theater, conference rooms and study carrels to provide privacy. The render on the opposite page shows the intersection of these three ideas.
Plans
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second floor
third floor
fourth floor
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References Academic: Martin Gundersen - Professor t: 352.392.0205 x300 e: margund@ufl.edu Lisa Huang - Professor t: 352.392.0205 e: lisahuang@ufl.edu Martin Gold - Professor/ Director School of Architecture t: 352.392.0205 x209 e: mgold@ufl.edu
Professional: Rick Rowe - Principal Rowe Architects Inc. t: 813.221.8771 e: r.rowe@rowearchitects Angela Hendershot Rowe Architects Inc. t: 813.221.8771 x104 e: A.Hendershot@rowearchitects
Stephen M. Williams Portfolio M.Arch. 2012 University of Florida