RESEARCH & DESIGN STEVEN SMIGIELSKI
CONTENTS CHAPTER 1: THE LIVING WALL ..................................................... 01 CHAPTER 2: DIFFUSE HOUSE ...................................................... 03 CHAPTER 3: LOST CITIES .............................................................. 05 CHAPTER 4: CO-ROBOTICS .......................................................... 09 CHAPTER 5: SACRED DISAPPEARANCES ................................... 13 CHAPTER 6: THE STATE OF MATERIALS ..................................... 15 CHAPTER 7: ENERGY & FORM ..................................................... 21
1 The Living Wall
Griffis Sculpture Park, East Otto, NY. 2010.
1/2” Plywood Sheathing
The Living Wall explores the relationship between simple massing strategies and full-scale prefabrication methods in the development of a seven person sleeping space. Working in teams, each living space was segmented into modules and constructed off site. The “Z Dwelling” adapted a method of tilt-up construction to assemble four identical modules. These modules were then shipped separately to Griffis Sculpture Park where they were bolted together and assembled on two railroad ties which were used to provide a level foundation. The final aggregation of living spaces further explored the creation of interstitial spaces through the idea of an inhabitable partiwall condition.
Below: Final installation at Griffis Sculpture Park.
2” x 8” Joist
Next Page: “Z Dwelling” axonometric.
2” x 3” Stud
9'
3/4” OSB Decking 3/8” OSB Gusset Plate
5'-11"
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Steven Smigielski
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Chapter 1 The Living Wall
2 Diffuse House 2012.
Buffalo’s Elmwood Village is a highly dense urban environment. Residents of the area claim a variety of 20 different ethnic ancestries. This area also contains roughly 20% of inhabitants whose racial make-up is not Caucasian. Furthermore, nearly 25% of Elmwood inhabitants originate from outside the Buffalo region. These conditions provide a unique opportunity. Cultural diffusion is the process in which ideas are shared and exchanged across cultural boundaries. This site along, busy, Elmwood Avenue would allow for the free and uninhibited flow of knowledge amidst cultures. Therefore, a housing unit consisting of foreign residents along with a public cultural/learning center was proposed. This cultural/learning center would be able to operate in both directions. It would allow for the incoming foreign residents to become accustomed to local culture while also allowing current and local residents a chance to become familiar with an array of cultures.
Below: “Diffuse House” plan and cultural diffusion diagram. Next Page: “Diffuse House” section.
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Chapter 2 Diffuse House
3 Lost Cities 2015.
Lost Cities explores the creation of fantastical spaces through the adaptation of a set of knowledge learned from historical cities. In particular, Cliff Palace, which is defined through its use cyclical adaptation of site to create shelter and protection. When adapting the principle of spatial definition through the movement of locally found materials, a work area was chosen to create a new, lost city. Here the moments between the movement of materials are used to imagine a new space.
Below: Combined plan/elevation of Cliff Palace.
Right: Space created through the movement of materials. Next Page: Imagining Lost Cities through the logic of Cliff Palace and the movement of materials.
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Chapter 3 Lost Cities
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Chapter 6 Lost Cities
4 Co-Robotics 2014.
The hod carrier is an entry level masonry position. Their role is to transport and provide bricks to the mason. While the number of hod carriers has been steadily decreasing, the demand for skilled masons has remained high. The goal of this project is to understand the logistics and possibilities of implementing co-robotics into the construction field. Understanding the capabilities of contemporary robotics and computer programming demanded a new language between designer and robot. With this in mind, we adopted the idea of a cellular automata which generates a pattern of black and white units (bricks) which could be programmed into the robot to be read as 1’s or 0’s.
SITE
Furthermore, this generated pattern was used to inform the organization of a facade proposal for an existing bookstore located in downtown Palo Alto, California.
Below: Proposal for a bookstore located in Palo Alto, CA.
Right: Site context. Below: Proposed bookstore plan. Next Page: Proposed bookstore section.
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Bell’s Bookstore
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Chapter 4 Co-Robotics
Retail
Dining
Civic
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Chapter 4 Co-Robotics
5 Sacred Disappearances 2015.
These drawings examine the ongoing practice of church consolidation in Buffalo and what it means for the disappearance of sacred spaces. Each drawing investigates an instance which is particular to the typology of churches and which may be lost through consolidation. More specifically I focused on the idea scale. The church is in a state of constant and simultaneous expansion and collapse, both literal and figuratively. From an architectural stand point the church ranges from the physical enclosure of walls and roof, down to its central nave and apse and further down to the altar and tabernacle which shelters the monstrance that protects the Eucharist, where bread becomes body. This dynamic shifting of scales presents a unique spatial quality specific to churches. Suddenly, the sinner is no longer a stranger to the cosmos of religion, but is instead able to transcend spatial differences to orientate and situate themselves more closely to the mysteries of faith and God at the human scale.
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Below: Assembly of lost fragments. Next Page: Protective scalar series.
Steven Smigielski
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Chapter 5 Sacred Disappearances
6 The State of Materials Silo City, Buffalo, NY. 2014.
This studio assignment looked to explore the material properties of concrete in the application of an architectural assembly. Initial studies explored the limits of concrete’s material properties as well as the techniques and methods used for making. One of these studies tested the application of concrete and more specifically cement applied as a powder onto a secondary system of rope. Layers of powder were wet and continually built up until a rigid system was established. With the desire to construct a permanent installation, this method of construction was abandoned for a more traditional means of casting panels. The project, located at Buffalo’s Silo City, was influenced by the vertical striations of surrounding grain elevators to create a simple, fluted pattern. The six panels were then hung from a steel frame in conjunction with three other projects.
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Below: Final installation of wall assembly at Silo City. Next Page: Initial experimentation of powdered cement over a secondary system.
Steven Smigielski
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Chapter 6 The State of Materials
1"
2"
1"
3" 8
11" 116
2"
1"
1"
1"
1 8"
11 16"
3"
1" 12
43 4"
3 16" 1" 116
3" 8
1 2"
Right: Edge detail of concrete panel and wall assembly.
1 4"
Bottom Left: Layout of the six panel, concrete wall assembly.
1"
1"
Bottom Right: Detail section of concrete panels and wall assembly. 3 16"
1 2"
Next Page: Wall assembly at Silo City.
1"
1"
1 4"
303 4 3"
3" 8
A 27 33
1"
B
1" 12
2"
36 96 36
2"
1" 1 8" 1"
33 27
Above: Joint detail of concrete panels and wall assembly. Left: Intersection of four panels.
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Chapter 6 The State of Materials
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Chapter 6 The State of Materials
7 Energy & Form 2015.
Glass has traditionally been used as a highly designed, planar building element. By considering the three-dimensional qualities of glass, I hoped to explore and reveal the rich and complex formal geometries and spatial experiences glass affords through a variety of architectural applications. To begin understanding the various qualities of glass, I began working with similar materials, such as ice. Ice provides a similar molecular structure, it can be worked in a comparable fashion, and it provides similar ocular qualities. In order to explore the rich and complex geometric assemblies of glass and ice, I began to experiment with the naturally occurring phenomena known as sintering. Experiments in sintering ice led to the main research question. Instead of designing a form, which results in identical glass elements, I wanted to design a glass specific fabrication process which results in typologically identical glass forms which are geometrically dissimilar. The resulting aggregation of these non-linear elements led to the formation of a new architectural scale and spatial experience.
Below: Possible spatial conditions and impressions, expressing depth, light, and shadow. Next Page: Dissimilar Glass artifacts produced in a kiln.
This studio also worked in conjunction with Corning Glass to design prototypical glass artifacts.
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Chapter 7 Energy & Form
The first moment in the proposal for an aggregation of glass elements.
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The second moment in the proposal for an aggregation of glass elements.
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Chapter 7 Energy & Form
The third moment in the proposal for an aggregation of glass elements.
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