SIERRA BRANDON UNDERGRADUATE PORTFOLIO

SIERRA BRANDON

U N D E R G R A D U AT E P O R T F O L I O THE UNIVERSITY OF OKLAHOMA

CONTENTS

RESUME

PROJECTS MOTORCYCLE CO-OP | SPRING 2017 | 12 WEEK PROJECT THE TANK | FALL 2016 | 14 WEEK PROJECT THE UNDERTAKING | FALL 2017 | 2 DAY WORKSHOP PUNCTURED TUNNEL | SPRING 2014 | 6 WEEK PROJECT

MODELS

TRAVEL PHOTOGRAPHY AND SKETCHES

RESUME

EDUCATION THE UNIVERSITY OF OKLAHOMA | NORMAN, OK BACHELORS OF ARCHITECTURE | EXPECTED GRADUATION DATE MAY 2018 MINOR IN GENERAL BUSINESS

EXPERIENCE MICHAEL GEARTNER ARCHITECTS

Summer Intern | May 2016-August 2016 I contributed in all areas including working on various drawings and construction documents, including everything from detailing, dimensioning, and labeling. I was also involved in numerous client meetings, as well as meetings with the General Land Commission in Austin, TX, on top of site visits.

RHA ARCHITECTS

Summer Intern | May 2017-August 2017 I was a part of the remodel and expansion team that used primarily AutoCad to complete all of the construction documents needed for the projects. They helped me develop skills in all aspects of construction documents, talking with consultants, verifying code for various built aspects, and ensuring that all of our team met its various deadlines.

SKILLS Rhinocerous 5| AutoCad 2007, 2016, 2017 | Revit 2016 | Photoshop | InDesign Illustrator | Microsoft Word | Microsoft Excel | Microsoft Access | Microsoft PowerPoint Public Speaking (Texas UIL Regional Informative Speaker)

AWARDS AISA (American Indian Student Association) Scholarship recipiant | Fall 2013 - Spring 2016 Chickasaw Nation Tribal Grant recipiant | 2013 - 2018 College of Architecture Dean’s Honor List | Fall 2013 - Fall 2016 Bockus-Payne Leadership and Ethics Scholarship | 2016 - 2017 Christopher C. Gibbs Scholarship | 2017 -2018

TRAVEL Over the summer of 2015, I was presented with the opportunity to study abroad with AIFS in London, England. While there for 6 weeks, I took two courses which included Principles of Marketing for my minor, and Museums and Galleries of London as a major based elective.

Before this I had traveled out of the country to Cancun and Cozumel, and within the U.S. I have traveled to St. Louis, MO, parts of Colorado and New Mexico. Most recently I have traveled to Chicago in March of 2016, Kansas City in September of 2016, and back to Chicago in September of 2017.

CONTACT Norman, OK (817) 247-0677 Sierra.F.Brandon-1@ou.edu sierrabrandon.com

PROJECTS

MOTORCYCLE CO-OP

This 12-week project was the first historical renovation project introduced to the University’s curriculum, to expose students to another aspect of future design. Located near Automobile Alley in Oklahoma City, this nearly acre lot is intended as a Motorcycle Community space that includes a shop and mercantile. Other than these two requirements, students were given the freedom to master plan the rest of the site for the future development as the area grows over the next 10 years.

The project has the potential to encompass 25,000 square feet of immediate development.

Utilizing and preserving this historic 1930’s building is imperative, as the iconic brick facing is not only protected by the city but also a defining aspect of this areas unique design fabric. The main building in the current site will be kept, by only removing one wall to tie in structure for the second floor deck. With the scale of the project, tying 8th and 9th street together visually was an important factor, which inspired the corten arches. Creating a framing reminiscent of a train tunnel, inspired by the tracks running parallel to the site, these pieces serve not only as lighting but help visitors to move through and experience the entire project in a different way than an uncovered path.

ADDING MATERIALS AND FIXING LIGHTING FOR THIS ONE

THE TANK ‘TO MAKE CONNECTIONS, CREATE IDENTITY, AND TO INCREASE RESILIENCY WITHIN THE COMMUNITY’

The TANK is a community center project for the COTE Student Competition with the focus on resilient design. The site of the project is located between Moore, and Norman, OK and is accessed off of a service road from I-35 heading towards Oklahoma City.

While the project is focused on meeting the needs of the community and connecting them to their community, it is also within a floodplain, thus the design required the project to be 2 feet above the 100 year flood mark, making the project’s finish floor plan 13 feet in the air.

The roof of the project is a giant cistern that collects the rainwater on its 9400 sf surface, and then carries it down to the 50,000 gallon storage tank below the project. After it’s been collected comes the focus of the buildings interior: filtering the water for use within the project. The TANK uses 4 different filtration systems displayed in a courtyard inside the building where the stored water is transformed into potable water. The filtration and movement of water is displayed visually through the roof, as well as through the graded walkway suspended above the ground to gently lead visitors up to the project.

PROPOSED FILTRATION PROCESS

STEP 1: ACTIVATED CARBON FILTER

STEP 2: REVERSE OSMOSIS

STEP 3: UV FILTRATION

STEP 4: INFRARED FILTRATION

10

0

YE

AR

NEW PARKING

FL OO

D

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NE I-35 HIGH WAY

THE TANK

SERVICE

PROPERTY LINE

ROAD

EXISTING APARTMENTS CREEK

Step one takes out the biggest particulates from the water, while the next step is a super filter that takes the pressurized water and micro-filters out the undesirables.

Step three utilizes ultraviolet light to kill the bacteria in the water, and the final step uses heat and light to negatively charge the water to soften it and kill bacteria.

The main draw of this project is its sustainability with the filtration of the collected rainwater in its four-step filtration process. This filtration is on display within the building so that the different community members who use this space can see what it takes to make gray water potable.

THE UNDERTAKING

ACTIVITY MAP

This project was a two-day workshop put on by guest speaker for the University of Oklahoma, Brian Phillips, as a rapid design project. The project was intended to highlight detail in small-scale design. The section comprised of 5th year students would design pop-up like architecture installations all themed around the land rush that shaped the state. Each team was given an area of the University’s many research areas to theme their design around. Our group was given the Southern Plains Transportation Center and asked to explore how the materials used for transportation can be improved to weather the various extreme climates that the state experiences.

Instead of doing a traditional architectural installation, the group collectively decided to do an art installation that showcases the asphalt’s weathering, expressing how the material is meant to decay over time.To keep with the theme of transportation, the pulled up asphalt bike path/ pedestrian experience has enough lift to cover the bus stop designated in the area.

PUNCTURED TUNNEL

In order to have a better handle on the design tools needed to succeed as an architect, the assignment was given to design a tunnel using specific set of arrayed lines that would become the roof of the structure. Only one manipulation could be made by dragging down one point of one of the lines with the condition that one point meet the ground to give the perception of stability. Shown is the process from which the original shape was derived, as well as the process of creating all of the individual pieces with which the model (pictured to the right) was created. In order to give a sense of scale, all of the students within this class were given various scaled figures to place within the model in a manner of circulation.

MODELS

GRIDDED LIGHT As a part the studios lighting design that was focusing on using common materials to create a lampshade. This design made of cardboard was focused on creating a upwards only lighting fixture that disperses the light through a gridded top fixture.

SECTIONED ROTATION

To better understand the way that this group designed project, this model was created to explore not only the roof assembly, but the main design feature of the rotating wooden doors.

As depicted, the model’s doors are fully rotational to explore how these assembled pieces would interact with the other pieces, as well as the interior and expterior parts of the building.

THE OVERLAY This ongoing design project focusing on the urban redesign of the south research campus of the University of Oklahoma’s campus, the entire studio did a semesters long research and exploration of their chosen site areas t redevelop. These section models explore the proposed mixed housing unit that will also feature food options, rentable sapce, and an enclosed aprking structure that will be covered by a walkable greenspace for patrons to use.

BURSTING LIGHT A part of the same lighting studio as the previously featured lamp, this 3D printed nightlight shade was created in Rhino from a singularly repeated object repeated all over a specified 4� wide by 5� hightshade.

The chosen black material was selected so that any light that peeks through the small gaps of the fixture would be the main focus.

PHOTOGRAPHY

Over the summer of 2015, I spent 6 weeks studying abroad in London, England taking an architecture and a business course for my minor. This travel experience was invaluable to my development as a designer, as I was able to witness a diverse urban fabric which encompases both ancient and modern architecture into a seamless design. London is the city that when asked if I could go anywhere in the world, I immediately answer that I would go back here. Six weeks, while seeming to be a long time, is not nearly enough to fully explore this beautiful city.

One of my favorite parts of studying abroad here was the architecture course I was able to take, Museums and Galleries of London. This course allowed me access to every major museum and important gallery of art within London propers city limits. Having this chance to not only explore these famous buildings that modern architects like Foster and Partners and Herzog and De Meuron had complete additions to, but to immerse in paintings and sculptures from hundreds of years ago was truly inspiring. This coupled with all of the photography opportunities I was presented with through my explorations, made this experience truly one of a kind.

Spring of 2016 and then Fall of 2017, our entire class took two separate trips to Chicago, Illinois to give us an out of culture experience from what we would typically see in Oklahoma.

The original trip served to get us familiar with the city and tour the various prominent firms located around the museum district. The second trip fell when the Architecture Biennial occurs in Chicago, and the different studio sections participated in different events provided by this program. My studio’s section focused primarily on the master planning exhibitions, as that is what our year long project is about, and exploring the two universities located in the city.

Fall of 2016 our class had another opportunity to visit another city larger and different from our own by visiting Kansa City, Missouri. This trip was like our original Chicago trip in that it was planned for us to explore the city and see its important buildings, as well as touring the prominent firms located in the area to see the types of practice being done in this city.

For more content and extended commentary please feel free to visit my website sierrabrandon.com, to email me at Sierra.F.Brandon-1@ou.edu or call me at (817)247-0677.