tyler hopfÂť
superNODE»
spring 2012 | vertically intersecting the extension of landscape and the urban environment
algae-rhythm»
fall 2010 | biologically inspired modular skin designed to react to environmental, social, economical and contextual conditions
messa terra»
fall 2011 | a collection within a collection, displayed across a poetic and programmatic landscape
material affect(ion)»
spring 2010 | shaker legacy archiving center: performance driven architectural diagram that twists and distorts conventional museum curation
ceramic samba»
spring 2011 | design, production and fabrication of a full scale minimal surface wall system
dongguan complex»
2012 | programmatic strings weave to create pockets of interactive community space and intersecting nodes of colliding program
sacred and profane»
fall 2010 | radical conceptual and physical reformation of a Fascist church to create an otherworldly spherical experience
varying community»
fall 2009 | inverting layers of public and private program mapped across the site and facade
S|around|OUND»
fall 2011 | production, installation and performance: arts, architecture and music combine to create a new dynamic audience/performer/venue interaction
tylerhopf.com tylerhopf@gmail.com 607.761.1591
superNODE»
ÂŤsuperNODE
spring 2012 | vertically intersecting the extension of landscape and the urban environment
The superNODE brings landscape up and into the building, intersecting with the extension of the urban environment. The superNODE exists as a positive cultural icon, safe haven, and a playground to stimulate cultural vitality in post-Katrina New Orleans. This media-tech acts as a node of culture in the city, harboring communication and exchange through media and public assembly. The string of the project warps and deforms as a reaction to the program of the building. This allows it to perform in a multi-scalar way, creating opportunities for concerts and rallies with thousands of people, performances in the auditorium for hundreds, and smaller gatherings in lecture halls, classrooms, and private reading spaces for information exchanges at every scale. Partner: Alex Dorn; Featured in: Archinect.com
superNODE»
second floor plan
ÂŤsuperNODE
spring 2012 | vertically intersecting the extension of landscape and the urban environment
Three urban conditions are established in the site and within the building: the public plaza, public park, and sidewalk. The plaza as an open space for gathering is established at the west side, continuing into the building’s interior. The public park continues up and into the building on the east side creating a continuous flow with the context and smaller scale elevated terracing. The sidewalk condition is created on the mezzanine levels as an overflow space of the programs on the main floors and as a consistent connector for the shifting strings. Program is defined in two axes, vertically through cultural character (perform, project, converge, commerce, and exchange) and horizontally through the action within (observe, catalog, assemble, create/workshop, individualize). The two sides of the string enhance the separation of program and multi-scalar functionality of the building by creating alternating pockets of space and distinguishing between the two orientations of the building.
algae-rhythm»
solar module
thermal massing ef fect
wind module
hybrid module
piezoelectric power generation
piezoelectric/ thermal massing
open module
view/ventilation
module evolution
ÂŤalgae-rhythm
fall 2010 | biologically inspired modular skin designed to react to environmental, social, economical and contextual conditions
contextual
public view
roof top cafe/disco
piazza orientation
power generation
additional por tico
financial
adver tising screens
Using a biological system and its performative and formal characteristics, an active module is generated to be used in building systems. This specific biological system focused on the expansion and contraction of algae cells in relation to the effects on permeability. Four different modules have been developed that address different aspects of the environment, derived from the algae. The solar module collects radiant energy from the sun using a thermal massing effect and the wind module uses a piezoelectric power generating system to collect energy vibrations from passing air flows. The hybrid module combines both systems and the open module allows for visual transparency. In applying this system to the facade of an existing residential, a tear down the front is created to accommodate the balconies in place and to emphasize the thinness of the skin. At the top and bottom of the tower, the modular skin overlaps itself and pulls away from the building to create inhabitable spaces that create additional program. The top space serves as an exclusive destination bar/discoteca with an incredible view of the surrounding city. The peeling of the skin at the bottom creates an additional portico. Media screens are integrated into the facade through strategic manipulation of the skin and provide opportunity for advertising and interaction between the building and community. Partner: Jillian Crandell; Featured in: Smart Skin for Sustainable Dwelling (Exhibit and Publication), SuckerPunch.com
social
roof top cafe/disco
solar module
media screens
hybrid module
public por tico
environmental
wind module
messa terraÂť
ÂŤmessa terra
fall 2011 | a collection within a collection, displayed across a poetic and programmatic landscape
rendered elevation
SITE DEVELOPMENT
ground floor plan
second floor plan
SITE DEVELOPMENT
SITE DEVELOPMENT
An existing collection of three buildings currently acts as the Hyde Museum Collection in Glens Falls, New York. A proposed dramatic intervention to expand and enhance the museum was developed in a two day design competition. The first focused move was to highlight the idea that the three museum buildings act a collection of history themselves, in addition to holding a valuable quantity of works within. This generates the idea of a “collection within a collection.� Placing these historical pieces of architecture on a pedestal and encasing them in conceptual and functional glass boxes clarified this idea. The glass boxes are utilized for protection, conservation, reduction of mechanical/HVAC renovation within the old buildings, and for display. The next step was to warp and manipulate the pedestal to create a vitalized poetic landscape and extend program within the dynamic pedestal. The museum was designed programmatically to allow specified access and privacy in regards to ticketing, artists in residence, educational areas, and multi-purpose event space. Two spines provided access to the program that extends within the landscape pedestal as well to the existing Hyde buildings. Team: Florencia Vetcher, Gustavo Crembil, Guillermo Bernal and several students. All renderings, drawings, diagrams here are my own. Featured in: Re-Envisioning the Hyde at Rensselaer (Exhibit and Publication), Times Union, Troy Record, 3Dsystems.com, Archdaily.com, Suckerpunch.com
programmatic section
material affect(ion)Âť
ÂŤmaterial affect(ion)
spring 2010 | shaker legacy archiving center: performance driven architectural diagram that twists and distorts conventional museum curation
program/ curation
vertical horizontal circulation
The Shaker Exhibition and Archiving Center utilizes three performances derived from a Shaker artifact to generate form and program. After analyzing the Shaker culture and specifically the tilt-top table stand, the museum was developed around the material affects of stabilizing, rotating and hinging. The museum curation and program consists of exhibits that hinge around a central axis of rotation. The walls of each program space rotate and twist to become the floor of the next sequential gallery space. This form becomes a way to guide experiences and create dynamic warped spaces that museum dwellers must interact with during circulation. The landscape was manipulated to react to the tilting of the walls and perform the stabilizing effect. Each design decision was used as an opportunity to enhance the affects of stabilizing, rotating and hinging as well as provide a dynamic and curated museum experience. featured in: Material Manifestations (Exhibit and Publication), AIANYS Student Design Award
third floor plan
stabilizing
rotating
hinging
ceramic sambaÂť
plaster mold
slip casting process
slipped form
baked ceramic forms
ÂŤceramic samba
spring 2011 | design, production and fabrication of a full scale minimal surface wall system
This ceramic tile system is composed of elements that are geometrically derived from the bat-wing typology of triperiodic minimal surfaces. This specific modified minimal surface is composed of a twisted arch that follows the connective logic of the bat wing tiles. The process involved with making each ceramic piece was extremely arduous and at the same time specific. The process itself was designed in a way that could be repeated to allow for mass production. Each designed form was transformed from digital to physical by first milling in 3D and then its inverse form was cast in plaster. The plaster mold was cast and cut specifically to allow for separation from the ceramic form in a way that would not destroy the slip cast form. The mold was then filled with liquid slip and allowed to dry. Excess slip was poured out and then the remaining slip was set to dry. The proportions of time for each part of the process (pouring, drying, setting, removing, baking, etc.) as well as the proportions of space (mixtures of plaster, slip, size, volume, thickness) were all variables that had to be readapted and adjusted for every piece accounting for environmental factors and the wear and tear of the process. We had to treat the process as a science with extreme accuracy, but more importantly as a craft that required our own input and flexibility in understanding the process. This long and intricate process created a never ending set of problems involving uneven drying, cracking, spilling, breaking, uneven mixing, inconsistent timing and more. It forced us to constantly solve problems, adapt, and take every aspect of the process into account at all times. Through this process, we became material experts and developed a deep understanding of the inherent properties of the ceramic, plaster, and external influences on the process.
serial sectioning of the minimal sur face
dongguan complexÂť
ÂŤdongguan complex
2012 | programmatic strings weave to create pockets of interactive community space and intersecting nodes of colliding program
The Dongguan Factory and Housing Complex in Shenzhen, China is a project that was in DD and CD phases while I was working on it at Diller Scofidio + Renfro. The complex itself is composed of a series of strings that are each programmed separately as housing, offices, and manufacturing. At the nodes where the strings intersect, the program collides. Special functions like dining, research labs, showrooms, and community theaters are created. The gaps created by pulling apart the strings provide different exterior community zones and parks. As a part of the design team, my main responsibility was to coordinate, design and construct a 1:100 scale model of the million square foot complex, in addition to computer modeling and design meetings. The foam core model was over eight feet by eight feet, and took several months to complete. It is now a showpiece in the office for visitors, clients and employees as the largest model done and one of the largest projects for the firm. This huge undertaking and the model was a constant design tool, with holes cut in the parks to allow us to literally climb into the model. A large part of it was interchangeable so that it could be dramatically or subtly changed as the project was designed and redesigned, working back and forth between this model, sketches, and computer modeling. The model was used to test ideas, materials, form, organization on a constant basis, and will not be done until the project is constructed. I worked specifically with Charles Renfro, Ling Zhang, Merica Jenson and Alice Chai. Construction began in 2012 and completion is expected in late 2013/early 2014.
sacred and profaneÂť
panorama of introverted meditation sphere
ÂŤsacred and profane
fall 2010 | radical conceptual and physical reformation of a Fascist church to create an otherworldly spherical experience
porosity_accessibility
inversion_concavity
duality_multiplicity “heavenly realm”
“ear thly realm” porosity_accessibility
inversion_concavity
duality_multiplicity
+multiple entry points +dematerialization and illumination of dome +deforming the corner condition +breaking symmetry, breaking axiality
+inverted geometries +inverted dome: convex becomes concave +inverted typology of stage/theater +pod inflation and deflation
+performance/spectacle (theater and church) +connection vs. separation (gathering and seclusion) +earthly realm vs. heavenly realm (heaviness of ground, lightness of dome)
An analysis of a Fascist church on the outskirts of Rome allowed us to explore history and redefine it while living near the site. The proposal is an extreme and radical reconstruction of the physical and conceptual manifestation of the church. The three main concepts shown above drove our design for a new structure that would acknowledge the old church, but provide for very new and completely unique experiences.
material affect(ion)Âť
ground floor plan
third floor plan
ÂŤvarying community
fall 2009 | inverting layers of public and private program mapped across the site and facade
program gradient
This community oriented residential project created a stratification of spaces with private units on the exterior, shifting to more public programming in the center. This inversion of public/private sectors compared to a typical exterior oriented building was designed to allow for varied interactions. The transition between these degrees of privacy is mediated by circulation zones and shared spaces, as well as a bridge through the community pool area that interjects the private space into the public realm. This gradient of public to private is translated to the facade as well. Private bedrooms on the top and bottom levels use dense horizontal screening, whereas a more open and transparent strategy is applied to living areas. Variation in the apartment layout was used to create exterior space for each unit and allow for a degree of territorialization, pixelating the facade. The site was an extremely important factor in creating the form and orientation of the building. The form has been warped to adapt to the curved trapezoidal site.
S|around|OUND»
ÂŤS|around|OUND
fall 2011 | production, installation and performance: arts, architecture and music combine to create a new dynamic audience/performer/venue interaction
S|around|OUND was a project created by a collaboration between architecture students, art students, violinist Todd Reynolds and the Troy community. My individual role was that of major designer, coordinator, director, advertiser, media specialist and producer. I was in a team of four that designed the original scheme and was active in the production throughout its six month life and over ten thousand dollar budget. As a designer the production of models, renders, drawings, diagrams, text and various material was necessary to pitch this idea to numerous collaborators, backers, audiences and investors. I was also in charge of advertising and public relations, creating the advertising posters and contacting local newspapers to generate press. This spread is a brief documentation of the design development phase of this inter-disciplinary music production and the pre-performance process. The project description presented in the program to the audience as they entered the building: Troy’s historic Gasholder Building is one of the last remaining coal gasometers in the United States. A gigantic kinetic storage system, the sleeved interior mechanism would rise and fall, literally breathing in and out the coal gas that illuminated Troy’s streets at night. Students from the PIP class (Performance, Installation, Production) collaborated with experimental violinist Todd Reynolds, in an effort to return the phenomena of buoyancy, illumination and passage to the building. Working with local heavy equipment specialist MAC tools and the Gasholder owners, Sage Bros. Painting, the students have created an environment that is kinetic and projected, displacing the audience skyward, and projecting video animations on the new interior. The work, entitled S[around]OUND (Surround Sound), occurs in three stages, occurring over 90 minutes. In the first stage, viewers explore the Gasholder on the ground, and experience the acoustic wonder of the space. In the second stage viewers move upward into new contexts, and begin to hear Reynolds’ signature improvised looping compositions. In the final stage, viewers are transported vertically and listen to new music several stories above ground, taking in a never before experienced view of this iconic Troy landmark.
S|around|OUND»
ÂŤS|around|OUND
fall 2011 | production, installation and performance: arts, architecture and music combine to create a new dynamic audience/performer/venue interaction
The result of this installation was something beyond our original imaginations. Over three nights of performances during the international Smart Geometry conference, the event was seen by well over 1,000 members of the international architecture community, RPI student population, and local Troy residents. Designed, produced and installed entirely by our team of twelve, the installation included + dynamic and moving walls limited or exposed the audiences views as they traveled underneath + inhabitable inflatables obscured ground views, hid objects and acted as screens for lighting + interactive animations were programmed to move with kinect software in reaction to the audience + building instruments used the building as a resonating chamber and had full 50’ piano wires + industrial man-lifts/cherry pickers that were placed to create a completely new audience experience: moving the audience and the performer vertically throughout the performance, and forcing new perspectives featured in: Huffington Post, Times Union, Metroland
Imagine a time when buildings first breathed. A gigantic metal vessel rising and falling, its movements made possible by an ever-changing volume of coal gas - used to light the most progressive, innovative, industrial city on the Hudson River: Troy, NY...S|around|OUND is a collaborative artwork that seeks to restore buoyancy and illumination to The Gasholder, a major industrial revolution-era artifact in South Troy. RPI ARCH and ARTS students collaborated with composer/violinist Todd Reynolds to create a work that acknowledges the history and structure of this historic energy landmark, perhaps anticipating its future as a performing arts venue unlike any other. Close your eyes, open your ears, extend your reach. Explore the sound and surfaces. Finally, rise. -Michael Oatman, artist and SoA Professor of Architecture, Rensselaer
ÂŤtyler hopf