HIGHPOINT CENTER FOR PRINTMAKING DIGITAL SKILLS WORKSHOP TRAVIS WILLIAM HERR
HIGHPOINT CENTER FOR PRINTMAKING
GROUP TWO TEAM MEMBERS: - Travis Herr - Erin Reddy - Haoyi Wang
COURSE INSTRUCTORS:
- Andrea J. Johnson - Molly Reichert - Eliot Olney (Teaching Assistant)
HIGHPOINT CONTACTS: - Carla McGrath - Cole Rogers
HIGHPOINT CENTER FOR PRINTMAKING 912 W Lake St, Minneapolis, MN 55408 (612) 871-1326
HIGHPOINT CENTER FOR PRINTMAKING Highpoint Center for Printmaking is dedicated to the advancement and education of printmakers and the art of printmaking. The process of printmaking requires many different pieces of large expensive equipment that many novice and professional artists cannot afford. Highpoint is the only facility in the region that provides public access to a professional printmaking studio and educational opportunities for all ages. Highpoint was designed by James Dayton Design in 2007. The design facilitates the four main objectives of Highpoint; education, access for artists, exhibition space, and interaction with visiting artists. These four programs are beautifully stitched together by a semi-transparent polycarbonate wall that spans the length of the building tieing all the spaces together.
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Located in the LynLake area just a few blocks away from Uptown and the Greenway, Highpoint is easily accessible and is centrally located. The founders of Highpoint did not want the space to be a destination. It would have been compromising to their mission if they would have failed to research the locations of the people they serve and have chosen a location in the Minneapolis arts district.
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SITE MAP: Haoyi Wang
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PHOTO COLLAGE: Travis Herr
HIGHPOINT CENTER FOR PRINTMAKING The process for selecting a new location for Highpoint was not just a random dart throw on a map. There was extensive research done by the co-founders. They researched the area codes of their members as well as an area with the most concentration of schools. The LynLake neighborhood just a few blocks from Uptown served these two requirements and contains Hennepin Avenue and Lake Street, two of the busiest roads in Minneapolis. Each light up post on the site model represents a school surrounding Highpoint. The size of each school is represented proportionally through the height of the post. The light cast by each post stretches outward illuminating the immediate area around it.
PHOTO: Travis Herr
SITE MODEL: Travis Herr, Erin Reddy, and Haoyi Wang
Cedar Lake
Lake Calhoun
AREA MAP: Haoyi Wang
HIGHPOINT CENTER FOR PRINTMAKING The building contains two main axes. The circulation axis runs along the transparent polycarbonate ribbon that threads all the spaces together. This wall guides you, pulling you through the entire length of the building. The other axis is formed by the skylights. The light from each penetrating box flows through the wall, uniting the two halves formed by the wall. The wall acts as a teaching device as well as a unifying element. The light unifies the two studio spaces. Highpoint is dedicated to teaching and the wall allows one to see from one studio to the other. The wall enables the co-op artists to learn from the professional studio and vice versa, by allowing a line of site from one studio to the next. A
PHOTO COLLAGE: Travis Herr
PLAN AXON: Travis Herr
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GROUND SECTIONS: Hauyi Wang
LIGHT AXIS
CIRCULATION AXIS
SECTION A:A
SECTION B:B
RENDERING: Travis Herr
HIGHPOINT CENTER FOR PRINTMAKING The form and space model allowed us to explore circulation, structure, and light within the space. We were able to model the building at 1/4” = 1’-0” scale, allowing light to function in the model as it does in the real space. Constructing the model made it clear that the wall divides the two halves of the studio, however light can flow across the wall unhindered uniting the studio spaces. The post and beam structure of the building that was salvaged by James Dayton Design, allows for this ribbon to snake through the building stitching together all of the important classroom, studio, circulation, and gallery spaces. The white walls, muted materials, and open floor plan was a “tabula rasa” for the Highpoint artists. Most of the casework and storage units were constructed in house and custom made by the artists and staff. The massive skylights penetrate the roof beams flooding each studio with natural light. These provide the only natural light throughout the building besides two windows along the back wall and three in the main facade. Because of this it is important that the polycarbonate wall refracts, carries, and allows light to travel freely throughout the space.
PHOTO: Travis Herr
SKYLIGHTS
ROOF
LIGHT AXIS
CIRCULATION AXIS
COLUMNS
FLOOR
VISITOR CIRCULATION
ARTIST CIRCULATION
DIAGRAM: Erin Reddy, Haoyi Wang, and Travis Herr
FORM & SPACE MODEL: Travis Herr, Erin Reddy, Haoyi Wang PHOTO: Travis Herr
HIGHPOINT CENTER FOR PRINTMAKING The conceptual model allowed us to explore the unifying quality of the light and the division of space together in the same model. By abstracting the wall as a fissure in the floor plate we can understand the building as two halves, the pro studio on one side the co-op studio on the other. This defines the circulation axis, stretching from the front entry to the rear entry. The wall is then lit, uniting the space through light. By abstracting the wall to negative space it allows us to understand this concept more clearly. CIRCULATION AXIS
By abstracting the skylights and the roof we can gain a clearer understanding of the light axis. Switching the skylight to a solid and the roof to a transparent void we can clearly see the connecting line between the skylights. The shadow allows us to read the skylights as nodes, or endpoints of the light axis, instead of radiating light which washes over the whole surface. This inversion of the way each component works in real life allows us to easily understand the underlying concepts. LIGHT AXIS
CONCEPT MODEL & RIG: Travis Herr
CONCEPTUAL DIAGRAM: Travis Herr
PHOTO: Travis Herr
CREDITS Photo Collages: Herr, Reddy Site Context Model: Herr, Reddy, Wang Site Map: Wang Diagrams: Herr, Reddy, Wang Structural Drawing: Reddy Rendering: Herr Form & Space Model: Herr, Reddy, Wang Photography: Herr, Wang Rhino Model: Herr Rhino Model Components: Reddy Wang Conceptual Model: Herr Historical Narrative: Reddy