SAM IRWIN MLA PORTFOLIO 2020
Sam Irwin
sirwin7@vols.utk.edu 931.216.8784
education
University of Tennessee, Knoxville Master of Landscape Architecture Candidate 2018-2020
awards
Herbert Scholar
University of Tennessee, Knoxville
May 2017
Bachelor of Science in Plant Sciences 2014-2018
work
Great Ecology Extern December 2019 Denver, CO
Ragan-Smith Associates Intern May 2019- August 2019 Nashville, TN
Tennessee RiverLine Intern May 2018- August 2018 Knoxville, TN
Firma Studio Extern December 2018
Nashville, TN
Carolina Landscapes Intern May 2017- July 2017
Charleston, SC
CIE Study Abroad Scholarship
May 2017
Hawkins Partners Professional Design Promise Award May 2019
licenses
UAS Pilot License July 2018- July 2020
Contents
studio
01
New Age Nashville
Professor Andrew Madl | Spring 2018
02
New Frontiers
03
Tennessee RiverLine Champion Sites
04
Hyper-Strata
05
Extraction Examinations
operatives
06
construction
07
Professor Scottie McDaniel | Spring 2019
Professor Brad Collett | Fall 2018
Professor Andrew Madl | Fall 2019
Professor Scottie McDaniel | Spring 2020
Old City Storm Water Park
Professor Brad Collett | Spring 2019
Dream Bikes Outdoor Space
Professor Andrew Madl | Spring 2019
01 New Age Nashville Spring 2018 Instructor: Andrew Madl
New Age Nashville is a look into the urban waterfront of downtown Nashville, TN through the lenses of ecological and urban resiliency with the help of a biological protagonist. The goal of this project was to create a landscape that would respond to flooding, while also perform ecological, social and economic functions all based on the freshwater mussels of the Cumberland River.
water flow studies An iterative design process with the goal of learning how water flows over and around different geometric forms in order to create areas of mussel habitat. This research ultimately led to final design considerations.
site plan / flood stages
landscape typologies Final landscape forms and operations. The site gradually transitions from an industrialized urban complex to a socially seductive and ecologically productive water front with mussel production at the forefront.
architectural typologies Final architectural forms. Buildings on site were created to maximize urban space and functionality, as well as respond to certain environmental factors, such as sun light.
02 New Frontiers Spring 2019 Instructor: Scottie McDaniel
New Frontiers is a conceptual project examining new potential frontiers within a urban context. This specific project looks at the formation of a cave system underneath a busy Knoxville street, but is an overall critique on underused and overlooked city space.
project timeline Breakdown of how this cave system would begin to form
project renders Examples of what this space would begin to look like with the raised street, sinkholes, and fracking towers.
03 RiverLine Champion Sites Fall 2018 Instructor: Brad Collett
The scope of this project aims to create a set of bank stabilization practices that combine the ideas of stabilization with the ideas of habitat and recreation creation. By coupling these strategies, property owners along the river, both public and private, will be able to protect their shorelines, aid in habitat enhancements, and partner with the Tennessee RiverLine in order to promote a culture of river stewardship, thus creating RiverLine Champions.
01
ECO-mat
ECO-mat is a set of constructed, hollow chambers that are spiked into the ground and filled with planting medium, which allow for plant roots to penetrate soil as well as provide extra support to the shoreline. The bank is allowed to revegetate through the use of cuttings and hydro-seeding. bank stabilization catalog
02 River Groyne
A river groyne is a hydraulic structure that extends from the edge of the river bank out into the river. It is usually made out of concrete or riprap and helps to slow down the process of erosion along the river bank’s edge. Although they can seem gawky and unnatural at times, the have the potential to offer more recreational and ecological opportunities compared to that of a traditional riprap edge.
03 Breakwater
04 Floating Wetland
Rip-rap breakwaters are a hard-armoring technique that dissipate wave and flow energy, allowing for calmer water behind it. This calmer water can create an array of different possibilities, including habitat regeneration along the bank’s edge and activation of the river front through recreation on both land and water.
Floating wetlands, which allow for plants to be grown hydroponically through a material called PET, act as breakwaters, protecting the river’s edge from the harsh impacts of swift currents and wake energy from passing boats. The zone created behind the wetland allows for reactivation, recreationally and ecologically.
Habitat Breaks
Deployment Strategy
By arraying the habitat breaks in a line, it creates a solid barrier that acts as a breakwater. Yet, penetration is still allowed due to the apertures on the sides of breaks. When filled with organic matter, this creates an artificial reef system, providing habitat to numerous aquatic plants, insects, fish, and even creates habitat above the water. This coupling of strategies is essential in creating a 21st century river front.
Programs
Just as traditional breakwaters do, these habitat breaks would dissipate wave energy, allowing for the reclamation of the bank behind it, both ecologically and recreationally. Fish will enjoy the new habitat, birds will nest in the tree limbs, shoreline plants will re-establish, and humans will be able to enjoy river activities such as kayaking, paddling boarding, swimming, and even snorkeling.
Bank Balls
Design Strategy
Bank Balls are designed to accomplish two things: protect the river bank from erosion with hard armoring, and to soften the edge condition through the implementation of riparian plants. With the top and bottom openings, vegetation is allowed to grow comfortably while being protected from the threat of washing away.
hard armoring techniques Realizing hard armoring techniques are crucial, and sometimes necessary, these models explore the ideas of habitat creation, program development, and edge softening.
Placement Strategy
The placement of the Bank Balls can couple with other traditional hard armoring techniques, such as rip rap, in order to create more diverse scenes and ecosystems, but they can also be implemented entirely in place of rip rap. The monoculture of the balls will soon be taken over by the lush plants, where as compared to rip rap which is a condition that completely static and homogeneous.
ECO-rap
ECO-rap is an innovative approach to shoreline stabilization that offers added benefits to it’s protection-focused design. The hard armoring aspect of the blocks allow for tough protection against erosion, while the openings, pits, pools and inner structures provide habitat for the delicate ecosystem it is stabilizing.
hard armoring techniques / experimentation Inspired by the designs of SCAPE’s and ECOncrete’s Living Breakwaters, this was a look at how similar designs could be used along the edge of the Tennessee River. A prototype was made and tested in Knoxville, TN.
04 Hyper-Strata Fall 2019 Instructor: Andrew Madl
Yucca Flats, located within the Nevada Nuclear Test Site, is a scared landscape comprised of divets from some of the world’s most powerful weapons. As it stands today this site is declared as a “national sacarfice zone” having little to no operational or active landscapes within. This project aims to recreate the spatial organization of the site based off of the alignment of certain historical events in order to acheive landscapes of operation post nulcear use. This project was acheived in collaboration with my partner, Wyatt Pless.
Nevada test site // yucca flats Site map depicting borders, aquifers, wind directions and historical test sites.
burial calculations Visulaizations of burial calculations in order to find the appropriate burial depth to yield ratio.
TEAPOT
SEDAN
Energy
Monument
300 Feet Deep
1,200 Feet Across
7 ~ YIELD: 10KT
Project Plowshare was a program developed for the development of techniques to use nuclear weapons for peaceful construction purposes. These purposes include earth moving, stimulation of tight gases, chemical element manufacturing and the probing of earth’s crust. However strong public opposition, increased contamination levels and radioactive fallout from the above-ground tests caused the program to come to an end in 1977.
Operation Buster-Jangle was the first joint operation between the US Department of Defense and the Los Alamos National Laboratories. As a part of this series of tests, over 6,500 troops were involved in the denotation of nuclear device. These troops were placed anywhere from nine hundred meters to eleven kilometers away from the blast center with the intention of studying how troops might react during a nuclear attack, as well as examine radiation levels.
05.15.1977
10.22.1951
ME T KT
AP PL 29 EKT 2
PO 2K ST T
22
SP 3. PR 2K IM T E
3. HA 2K T
ES 1K S T
AP PL 14 E KT 1
WA
BE 8K E T
HO RN 4K ET T
TU 43 RK KT
MO 2K TH T
WA 1K SP T
02.18.1955-05.15.1955
TE 7K SLA T
UN 1. CL 2K E T
SU 1. GA 2K R T
EA 31 SY KT
DO G KT 21
CH AR 14 LI KT E
BA 3. KE 5K R T
AB .1 LE KT
MI NI 83 AT KT A
O 33 BLAN KT CO
RI
AS 10 K GR 5K EE T N
SC HO 30 ON KT ER
RU LI 43 SO KT N
FL
VU 25 LCAN KT
SA 1. XO 2K N GA T SB 29 UG GY CA KT BR 2. IO 3K LE BUT T 1. GG 1K Y ST T OD 31 DA KT RD
T
PA R KT
HA ND 12 CA KT R PA LA 4. NQ 3K UI T N
38
IC 70 KI KT TA
KL
AC 3K E T 11 DU .7 B KT
AN AC 5. OS 2K TI KA T A WE 3K AH T
SE 10 DA 4K N T
# OF BLAST: 7
ZU CC 28 HI KT NI
7
7
GN 3K OME T
10.22.1951-11.29.1951
# OF BLAST: 31 ~ YIELD: 23KT
12.10.1961
2019
1972
1990
TEAPOT
PLOWSHARE
12.10.1961-05.17.1977
1970
1958
1951
BUSTER-JANGLE Spatial + temporal nuclear organization These drawing visualize specifically placed nuclear detonations in response to certain historical events.
# OF BLAST: 14 ~ YIELD: 12KT Operation Teapot was a series of 14 test. The largest explosion, device codenamed “Turk” had a yield of 43kt. Throughout these tests, bombs were dropped from towers and planes, while some were parachuted in and others were surface blastS. Device codenamed the “Met” was the first bomb to include uranium-233 along with plutonium. This prototyped distinguished in the Mark 7 nuclear bomb used during the Operation Buster-Jangle Easy t e s t .
11.29.1951
02.18.1955
05.15.1955
58+58A
GUARDIAN
Agriculture
FULCRUM
Ecology
Recreation
248.61
261.29 61
197.40
95.04
248.61 48 61
116.28 116.28
76.08 7
44.95 4
153.63
63.21 63 21 116.33
73.62 85.58
85.58 53.88
53.88 64.70
.67 .
4.25
20.05
24.89 2 84.81 8
4.76
8.62
4. 197.40
62.08
8.62
7
7 10.31.1980
09.24.1981
10.31.1980
09.24.1981
10.06.1976
S SC AN 12 TL 0K IN T G
EB BT 6K ID E CO T UL 20 OMMI KT ER
ST 44 RAKE KT
GR UY 20 ER KT E GR AD
60 FL0t INO 1. OTOS SC5K UP T 20 T PE 0t R
CR EW 51 LI KT NE
FO RE 20 FO CA KT OT RN 60 EL 0t IA N
BU LK 67 HE KT AD
MA RS 14 IL 0K LY T
Operation Fulcrum was a series of 21 underground, weapons development tests that detonated 24 nuclear bombs of various yields, ranging from 600t to 120 Kt. 3 tests had simultaneous explosions where a period of time between successive individual explosions did not exceed 5 seconds and the burial points of all the explosions where connected by segments of straight lines. During these combined tests, venting of some sort was detected for each.
8KDO OCKT 2 80 FINO 0t LA 20 WTON KT
# OF BLAST: 24 ~ YIELD: 26KT
Operation Guardian was a series of fourteen nuclear tests from October 31st of 1980 to September 24th the following year. All tests were performed underground and were part of weapons research and development. The yields of each weapon varied greatly, ranging from as low as 1KT to over 140KT. Although these tests were performed underground, venting was detected on six separate occasions.
CO VE 3K -1 OA T RL
10.06.1976-09.27.1977
Operation Guardian was a series of fourteen nuclear tests from October 31st of 1980 to September 24th the following year. All tests were performed underground and were part of weapons research and development. The yields of each weapon varied greatly, ranging from as low as 1KT to over 140KT. Although these tests were performed underground, venting was detected on six separate occasions.
RU 89 DDER KT
FULCRUM
# OF BLAST: 14 ~ YIELD: 23KT
AS 11 IAGO KT SU 20 TTER KT
IS 4K LAY T
EB 1K BIAN T O CE RN 20 AD KT A
HA VA 20 RT KT I
TR
NI 4K ZA T
PI 20 NEAU KT
HA 14 RZ 0K ER T
AL 2. IGOT 5K E T
E
VI 20 DE KT
SE 20 CO KT
AI 20 RE KT TT
CL
SE 99 BA KT LL
NE RS 10 KT IR ON DA UP 2K HI T N
BA
MI
EB 1K BIAN T O
IS 4K LAY T
CE RN 20 AD KT A
HA VA 20 RT KT I
TR
NI 4K ZA T
PI 20 NEAU KT
HA 14 RZ 0K ER T
AL 2. IGOT 5K E T
E
VI 20 DE KT
SE 20 CO KT
CL AI 20 RE KT TT
NE RS 10 KT IR ON DA UP 2K HI T N
BA SE 99 BA KT LL
10.31.1980-09.24.1981
# OF BLAST: 14 ~ YIELD: 23KT
GO 60 UD 0t A SP 20 RI KT T CH EV 2K RE T RE 20 DMUD KT
7
MI
GUARDIAN
2019
2019
1984
10.31.1980-09.24.1981
1990
1970
1978
GUARDIAN
09.27.1977
05 Extraction Examination Spring 2020 Instructor: Scottie McDaniel
This quick, two week exploration into the diverse economies that make up Harlan County in Eastern Kentucky aimed to map out the relationships between the extraction industry, which blankets the cultural view of Appalachia as a region, to the many other industries that are located within the county and support its residents.
Economic systems diagram for Harlan County This diagram begins to illustrate the complexities of Harlan County’s extraction economy.
06 Old City Storm Water Park Spring 2019 Instructor: Brad Collett
Located within the heart of downtown Knoxville, this design project seeks to re-design an otherwise underutilized urban site into one that can perform an operational function, which in this case is the capturing of urban storm water. Issues of hydrology, plant communities and social performance were all considering factors.
site plan Detailed site plan representing planting schemes, section orientations, and grading.
operational timeline / details Graphic renders/details representing the sequence of events in order to transform the existing site into an operational landscape capable of reacting to the frequent storm events of East Tennessee.
07 Dream Bikes Outdoor Space Spring 2019 Instructor: Andrew Madl
This design project, located on the outskirts of downtown Knoxville in the adjacent outdoor space to Dream Bikes, seeks to utilize the various design, fabrication and drafting skills learned throughout the course of this class. Rhino, Grasshopper and virtual reality were all used during the design phase of this project . This project was completed in coordination with my partner, Hank Mary.
P: 865.680.9420
LANDSCAPE
. . KNOXVILLE, TN 37916 PLANNING
. ARCHITECTURE
I+M
NOT FOR REGULATORY APPROVAL, OR CONSTRUCTION
1800 TERRACE AVE.
PROPERTY EVALUATION CO. LTD.
GENERAL LEGEND
309 N CENTRAL ST KNOXVILLE, TN 37917
DREAM BIKES OUTDOOR SPACE
STAMP
Revisions No.
Date
1794 05/02/19 HTM & SNI
Project Number: Date: Drawn by:
LAYOUT PLAN 3/8" = 1'-0"
site plan Detailed site plan representing plant placement, hardscape design, and custom site furnishing placement.
N
1 L1.01
MATERIALS & LAYOUT PLAN
L1.01 Sheet Number:
ARCHITECTURE
P: 865.680.9420
LANDSCAPE
. . KNOXVILLE, TN 37916 PLANNING
PROPERTY EVALUATION CO. LTD.
.
scale: 1/2" = 1'
1800 TERRACE AVE.
I+M BENCH #1 DETAIL
NOT FOR REGULATORY APPROVAL, OR CONSTRUCTION
1 L1.03
STAMP
2 L1.03
BENCH #2 DETAIL
3 L1.03
BENCH #3 DETAIL
309 N CENTRAL ST KNOXVILLE, TN 37917
DREAM BIKES OUTDOOR SPACE
scale: 1/2" = 1'
Revisions
scale: 1/2" = 1'
No.
Date
1796 05/02/19 HTM & SNI
Project Number: Date: Drawn by:
BENCH DETAILS
L1.03 Sheet Number:
Custom Parametric Bench Design Details representing custom site benches designed through the use of grasshopper to achieve the preferred seat height/angle/position.