PORTFOLIO VICTOR PAUL SCHELECHOW ARCHITECTURE + DESIGN 2012
CONTENTS GRADUATE STUDIES Cornell University
01 CLIFFHANGER 02 MEXICO CITY HOUSING 03 LONDON 2012 04 GRADUATE THESIS
pg 06-15 pg 16-33 pg 33-45 pg 46-61
UNDERGRADUATE STUDIES Clemson University
05 UNDERGRADUATE
pg 62-71
PROFESSIONAL WORK LS3P Associates Ltd.
06 BROOKLYN VILLAGE
pg 72-77
CLIFFHANGER Cornell University
GRADUATE CORE STUDIO PROFESSOR: MARK MORRIS SPRING 2009
San Francisco’s cliffs at Point Lobos served as the site for a mixed cinema program: the Alfred Hitchcock Foundation’s film archive. The following proposal is a consequence of (mis)reading a given site through an individuated and interpretive modeling process aimed at uncovering intuitive design sensibilities through the act of making. Utilizing a sculptural mode of representation (cherry wood as the medium) the site was reconstructed through various techniques of carving with each successive removal of material attempting to generate a “gap” in the experience of the proposed architecture. The themes of menace, voyeurism, and acrophobia are explored as qualities latent within the site (as they are present within Hitchcock’s films), only waiting to be mined and revealing themselves as the spaces in-between. The phobias and menace of the site are transferred to the inhabitant. Two main structures serve as a) the film archive proper and b) a theater for screening and support for staff and visitors.
MEXICO CITY, DF: URBAN METABOLISM Cornell University GRADUATE CORE STUDIO PROFESSOR: MILTON CURRY SPRING 2010
Mario Pani’s 1960 master plan for the modernist development of Tlatelolco (Unidad Habitacional Nonoalco-Tlatelolco) was the subject of following project. A symbolically loaded site within Mexico City, Tlatelolco’s Plaza de las Tres Culturas was the site of a government massacre in October of 1968, as well as the location of significant Aztec ruins marked by Spanish conquest: it is a synthesis of pre-Hispanic and colonial Mexican history. However, an earthquake in 1985 in conjunction with the massacre contributed to great deterioration of the area that continues to this day. What was once envisioned as a mixed-income community with a variety of amenities and egalitarian symbolism has become an isolated zone of dilapidated structures characterized by a stark openness. The solution that is proposed seeks to rehabilitate the metro plaza in the center of Tlatelolco by reconciling the ground plane with the amenities that already exist (a gymnasium, a movie theater, a metro stop, and a medical clinic). Lofting of the building allows for modulation of light, control of flooding, and continuous community programming along the ground plane. This will provide uninterrupted circulation from a scale of mass transit to that of a public roof garden while maintaining residential density and providing a variety of activities within what were once separate housing typologies. The project attempts to establish a new context drawn from the original design while still in opposition to the traditional “figure - ground” organizations that characterized and stunted the original master plan.
Initial urban typology studies (mixed-use residential and commercial) analyzing OMA’s Fukuoka Housing and potential mutations.
Figure- Ground Studies of existing Tlatelolco with potential massing variations of courtyard block (left). Diagram of existing unit organization and core / circulation structure.
1) apartment block 2) movie theater 3) swimming pool 4) outpatient clinic 5) gymnasium 6) metro plaza
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LONDON: CULTURAL OLYMPIAD 2012 Cornell University GRADUATE CORE STUDIO PROFESSOR: MARK MORRIS SPRING 2011
London’s hosting of the 2012 Olympic games is being complimented by a wide ranging arts program with focusing on socially oriented acts that run the gamut from classical to pop music, film and dance to visual arts and theater, and from opera to digital performance. The proposed cultural olympiad turns art into event: it is the ultimate expression of art as an extension of the public body. It is the UK’s largest nationwide festival ever held. A music pavilion set in Hyde Park is the program for this project. The charge stated that it must accommodate a variety of scales of musical performance in terms of allowing for stage and service as well as providing generous space for large crowds and an intimate venue for smaller gatherings: with the caveat that shows may perform concurrently. Building off Le Corbusier’s idea of the modular a compositional strategy was adopted to generate a vast kit-of-parts embodied by a potentially limitless tessellated field. The components devised operate in a fold-up fashion that resemble “flat pack” toys and temporary structures. They are modular, light, non-fixed, and offer the possibility of recombinant form-making. The current pavilion is merely one tilt-up form that could be yielded from the collection of parts. A master-form / field is explored in the act of generating a wealth of spatial possibilities (even though the tectonics are established by triangulation). The resulting object is mutable and referential to a larger system that is adaptable, with moments of clarity (the pavilion) and ambiguity (the reworking of the ground plane).
THESIS: DRAWING FROM COMPLEXITY, RECONSTRUCTING THE FOLD Cornell University GRADUATE CORE STUDIO ADVISORS: JIM WILLIAMSON, SHAYNE O’NEIL FALL 2011
This thesis is about architectural representation as a mode of generative production; specifically, It explores the role of the architectural drawing as a primary instrument of speculation -- a space between ideation and architectural realization. The concept of the fold -- its inherent ability to construct complexity -- is the central organizational principle around which this investigation has been structured. Architecture in this light is not a system of logical components evoking clarity and the congruity of parts -- architecture is explored in this case as hybridized systems. This thesis seeks to articulate a method for generating this complexity based on the belief that the manifold resists the totalizing effect of modernism’s strategy of exclusion. In order to envision the heterogeneous spaces and scalar complexity promised by digital techniques, I propose revisiting Leibniz’s model of the trait that all matter shares, that contains within it the property to resist those phenomena that limit action to a single surface and holds the possible key to bridging the architectural gap between process and form while recuperating the body. The spatial propositions herein contain multiple scales of action without the sobering effect of the right angle.
UNDERGRADUATE Clemson University UNDERGRADUATE CORE STUDIO FALL 2001 - SPRING 2005
Included are selected works from undergraduate studies. They range from a collaborative design / build studio run with graduate students to individual competition pieces and analog drawing samples.
LS3P & ASSOCIATES LTD. Charlotte, North Carolina METROPOLIS STUDIO PROJECT ARCHITECT: JIM WILLIAMS JULY 2005 - AUGUST 2008
Included is a sample of work completed during my time as an architectural intern / designer while employed by a multidisciplinary design firm in Charlotte, North Carolina. I worked within an urban design studio that specialized in masterplanning and mixed-use project developments. The project presented was part of uptown park rehabilitation program that included redesign of the landscape features of the current park, expansion of greenspace into the adjacent properties, and framing of the park exposures with residential and retail components. My role was to assist with all initial design phases, from schematic design to design development and construction drawings when applicable. Masterplanning, rendering, and initial architectural design were my primary areas of responsibility.
BACKGROUND / GOALS
My experience in architecture, drawing, and the visual arts has instilled within me a profound awareness of my surrounding environment. I believe this awareness is an invaluable asset capable of generating unique insights and strong connections across disparate fields. It is through this sensibility that I have sought to integrate an intellectual curiosity with a communicative and pervasive visual culture gounded in architecture. In that spirit, it is my desire to establish myself within a design culture concerned with the overall quality of the built environment where I am able to develop my skills as an architect.
OVERVIEW Professional: 3 years experience as architectural designer / intern (urban design and masterplanning) at LS3P Assoc. Academic: Master of Architecture from Cornell University, Bachelor of Arts in Architecture from Clemson University
EDUCATION Master of Architecture
Cornell University
Fall 2008 - Fall 2011
(graduate / professional)
Ithaca, New York
(3.5 year program)
t Core Studio: Professional design-oriented program integrating core design studios with theoretical discourse and professional practice components. (Comprehensive design and professional practice held in New York City.) t Critic: Student design reviews (1st yr undergraduate core-studio reviews at Cornell and Pratt Institute). t Graduate Thesis: Structured around the connection between analog drawing and digital “form-making” — investigating the space between ideation and making with drawing as the critical medium of architectural thought. (Prototyping with 3D printing technology [rapid prototyping, Zcorp composite plaster machine].) t Traveling Studios: Mexico City DF, Mexico (urban housing); London, United Kingdom (Cultural Olympics pavilion). (Guest Instructors: Peter Eisenman, José Oubrerie, Neil Spiller)
Bachelor of Arts in Architecture (undergraduate / pre-professional)
Clemson University Clemson, South Carolina
Fall 2001 - Spring 2005 (4 year program)
Minor: International Politics t Participated in Studio South program (a collaborative design-build studio focusing on community renewal). t Genoa, Italy program (study and tours of the architecture of Italy, Europe and the United Kingdom).
Visual Arts Concentration (secondary education)
SC Governor’s School Greenville, South Carolina
Fall 1999 - Spring 2001 (2 year program)
t Secondary education focused on development in the arts and humanities ( as well as the liberal arts). Senior con-centration in architecture. (Painting, sculpture, analog drawing, architecture, printmaking, graphic design, metal working, and ceramics were all covered in foundation courses as well as advanced concentrations.)
EXPERIENCE Architectural Intern (Assoc. AIA) (project design / master planning)
LS3P Associates Ltd. Charlotte, North Carolina
July 2005 - August 2008 (3 years 2 months)
t Project design and master planning support (site analysis/design, conceptual design, programming, schematic drawing sets, and construction drawing sets). t Involved in client development: assessing goals, determining project scope, developing design strategies. t Specialized in combining digital media and analog representational techniques. t Piedmont Town Center (Phase II, Charlotte, NC): Proposed addition to an initial 800,000sf (mixed-use). t Brooklyn Village (Charlotte, NC): Park renovation and new designs for a urban residential community. t Ashley Park (Charlotte, NC): Planned mixed-use center in commercial corridor of Charlotte’s South Park.
Teaching Assistant
Cornell University
January 2011 - May 2011
(undergraduate curriculum)
Ithaca, New York
(5 months)
t Courses: Assisted with site planning and analysis courses. These courses were aimed at introducing entrants into the undergraduate architecture program to the basics of site design in terms of concrete, physical analysis and conceptual investigation — from understanding the geological formation, topography, climatic conditions, and vegetation of a place to how those qualities might be integrated into a poetic architectural expression.
PROFICIENCIES In addition to my interest in the discourse and culture of design and architecture, I am experienced with a variety of robust design software and have developed an ability to learn and incorporate new design applications into my skill-set as the need may arise.
Programs + Expertise: t 2d) Adobe Creative Suite(s) (Photoshop, InDesign, and Illustrator), Microsoft Office (Word, Excel, Powerpoint), Autodesk® AutoCAD, Bentley MicroStation t 2d prototyping/digifab) Laser Cutting t 3d) Rhinoceros 4.0, Form-Z, Sketchup, Autodesk® 3ds Max t 3d prototyping/digifab) Zcorp Rapid Prototyping 3D Printer (plaster powder), CNC Milling t Analysis) Autodesk® Ecotect t Excel in combining three-dimensional modeling platforms with vector editing applications (e.g., Rhinoceros in combination with Adobe Illustrator and digital fabrication platforms). t Architectural model making t In addition to having expertise with digital design and delivery applications, I have developed a strong foundation in analog / freehand drawing in multiple mediums and have a three-dimensional understanding of form and construction informed by my study and experience in sculpture. *Currently working towards LEED AP, BD+C