JACOB FRASER AUGUNAS
ARCHITECTURE + FABRICATION + ILLUSTRATION
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TECTONIC MANIFESTATION
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GEEKHOUSE BYCYCLE DESIGN AND FABRICATION FACILITY
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THE LIVING SCHOOL
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THE QUAKER FRIENDS EDUCATIONAL CENTER
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MEETING IN THE MITTE
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ADDITION TO THE FANNY HANSEL MUSIC SCHOOL
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+ INTENSITY
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URBAN RENEWAL THROUGH DEVELOPMENT
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RESIDENTIAL CASE STUDY
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LOCATION: JAMAICA PLAIN, MASSACHUSETTS EXECUTED: FALL 2009
LOCATION: JAMAICA POND, MASSACHUSETTS EXECUTED: SUMMER 2010
LOCATION: BERLIN, GERMANY EXECUTED: SPRING 2011
LOCATION: ALLSTON, MASSACHUSETTS EXECUTED: SUMMER 2011
BIM ANALYSIS WITH AUTODESK REVIT LOCATION: MADALENA, PORTUGAL EXECUTED: FALL 2010
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PARAMETRIC OSCILLATIONS
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AN ALGORITHMIC TOWER FABRICATION STUDY
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VERTICAL MODULARITY
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PROCESS: RHINOCEROS, GRASSHOPPER, LASER-CUT ACRYLIC, ACRYLIC ADHESIVE EXECUTED: FALL 2011
UNCONVENTIONAL REPETITIVE STRUCTURAL ASSEMBLY PROCESS: RHINOCEROS, GRASSHOPPER, PLASTER PRINTING, LIQUID PLASTIC EXECUTED: FALL 2011
PERFORMATIVE PLASTER PROTOTYPING
PROBLEM SOLVING THROUGH INDUSTRIAL DESIGN PROCESS: PRECEDENT STUDY, SKETCH ANALYSIS, RHINOCEROS, GRASSHOPPER, PLASTER PRINTING EXECUTED: FALL 2011
CONTEMPORARY AGRARIAN
RESIDENTIAL DIALOGUE WITHIN VERNACULAR MATERIALS LOCATION: WEST TISBURY, MASSACHUSETTS OFFICE: SKAALA, LLC. DESIGNED: FALL 2009-10 BUILT: FALL 2010-11
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TECTONIC MANIFESTATION A BICYCLE FACILITY THAT EMBODIES EVERYTHING ABOUT ITS PURPOSE
The final project of the tectonics studio was a culmination of material studies, precedence structural observations, and a general understanding of corporate branding. Geek House is a custom bicycle shop that services the greater Boston area, and requested a facility more suitable to house their growing business. This location would sit as a manufacturing house for the steadily growing business, as well as all administration and design offices. Initially, the design process started with a precedence study of Hitoshi Abe’s Shirasagi Bridge. The oscillating steel structure and exposed, precision-machined construction both resonated strongly with the conceptual essence of ‘bicycle’ and provided a foundation on which to lay the rest of the design evolution. By orienting the building to allow maximum views of the structural expression from local transportation hubs and thoroughfares, the focus is moved from the building itself to the structural system alone. From the exterior, the tube steel framework and screening rises out of the ground, calling attention to the fabrication-oriented activity within the facility. Internally, the structural system flows through each room, unrelenting in its contribution to the spatial experience and constantly reminding the occupants of what sustains the building and reflects upon the appreciation of the precision product crafted within.
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Sketch of parti development with brand assimilation. Structural section sketch.
Skin assembly sketch.
Views Consolidated
Progression of massing models.
Access Progression of parti sketch models.
Context
Sketch diagrams of massing development.
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Design Office
Meeting Room
Northeast Facade
Southeast Facade
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Exterior Gathering
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Lateral Sectional Model
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Detail Skin Model
Skin Development Models
Detail Structural Model
Final Structural Model
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THE LIVING SCHOOL AN EDUCATIONAL CENTER THAT ENGAGES WITH ITS LANDSCAPE
Educational institutes of all forms should embrace the local environment as extended classroom and learning space. In fact, learning, as a binary concept based upon location is absurd: learning is a constant human experience. The initial concept for this proposal stemmed from a sense of social awareness and stewardship for our local environment. Embracing the local park as the greater spatial classroom, the proposal is not merely a school, but also a instrument of education. The most suitable site for this was against one of the rolling hills least populated by trees, and with a substantial view of Jamaica Pond. With the footpath already adjacent to the building’s proposed footprint, further embellishment to create vehicular access does not add unnecessary infrastructure to the park. Siting of the building against the sloping topography immediate engages the school with site drainage. With an articulated drain channel that collects excess water from multiple points on the site, an opportunity is created to open a dialogue with students and visitors about how educational architectural can be as instructional as the teachers and mentors within. This concept is further pushed by the exposed irrigation and drainage piping that follows the primary processional staircase from the highest point in the building to the lowest: a constructed marshland that also acts as the termination point for the collected drain water.
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Sketch massing model progession.
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Initial form-on-site model.
Model study of form versus topography.
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Master Site Plan
Lateral Site Section
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Water Re-use Collection Diagram
Master Programmatic Plan
Volume Usage Diagram
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Hallway Section-Perspective
Exterior Learning Garden
Lower Entrance Atrium
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Final Site Model
Sectional Detail Model - Rainwater collection trough shown.
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MEETING IN THE MITTE A COMMUNITY-MINDED URBAN MUSIC SCHOOL ADDITION
The conceptual drive for this proposed addition to the Fanny Hansel music school developed out of a tripartite understanding of the architectural and urban forces that exist within the school’s immediate context. Broken into its essential parts, the new massing embodies three elements: an extension of the sidewalk into the building, a horizontal extrusion of the existing school building towards the street, and a landscape gesture that seeks to blur public and private performance space into the adjacent Markischer park. The core structural brick wall divides the public-minded glass atrium from the private academic and administrative areas of the school. Passing through the wall signifies moving in and out of the public atrium and into the formal music school. The privacy of the space is signified by less material transparency and a broad usage of wood; also representing acoustic materiality and with a curved wooden roof, assisting in the performance of the auditorium volume contained within. Below it all are the classrooms, looking upon an exterior sunken performance space that bleeds into the park, and creates a new level of programmatic functionality that allows informal public usage of the school for community events engagement. As a whole, the addition seeks to reconcile contemporary urban and social forces with not only the formal function of the school itself, but also as a center of community music appreciation.
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Sketch diagrams of massing development.
Sketch diagrams of parti to detail development.
Sketch model massing progression.
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Primary Comprehensive Section
Corresponding Section Details
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Performance Classroom
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Sectional Model in Site
Sectional Detail Model
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+ INTENSITY STRATEGIC URBAN RENEWEL BY INCREASING URBAN DENSITY
Architectural elements and strategies exist that, if executed properly, result in an atmospherically pleasing and socially successful urban space. Within the community of Allston - Brighton, experiencing Union Square both analytically and emotionally lead to a conclusion that this is an unsuccessful urban space. To better understand the elements that compose a successful space, Boston and a choice few of its public gathering spaces were put under scrutiny. The conclusion drawn from a series of experiential perspective analytical photographs spoke strongly of street wall continuity, strong corner situations, relationships between facades and building masses, and social energy between vehicular and pedestrian traffic created by close proximity of wide sidewalks to streets. A comprehensive approach of building consolidation and a mixing of programmatic spatial usages coupled with an expansion of the sidewalk creates four strongly rejuvenated blocks around Union Square. With a modest pedestrian pathing and green space network, each block retains its urban identity but is woven into a stronger collective fabric. These moves invite stronger social engagement amongst members of the community and seek to enrich the atmospheric qualities of an urban square with strong potential.
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RESIDENTIAL CASE STUDY ANALYSIS OF THE MADALENA HOUSE THROUGH AUTODESK REVIT
In what was my first formal introduction to the Autodesk REVIT software platform, I was tasked to investigate a precedence building and construction a corresponding BIM model. Plans, sections, and diagrammatic material were to be pulled from this model to further explain the building and its core elements to the instructor and the rest of my seminar colleagues. I chose the House in Madalena, by architects Carlos Castanheira and Clara Bastai. The building itself is elegantly straightforward: a major datum of volumes containing bedrooms and the garage, bisected by a perpendcular two-story interruption that contains the kitchen, dining, living, and working space. Formed concrete is the primary materiality at play here, with accents and roofing structure of bright wood; a scheme that is present in the construction of the perimeter wall. Construction of the model was an enjoyable experience, as the house shell came together quickly, and most of challenge was present in detailing the roofing structure, wooden assembly, and fine elements such as the custom staircase. The experience left me with a wonderful understanding of REVIT, family manipulation, laying out a presentation set, and control of the software platform as a whole which I’ve carried on beyond this seminar course.
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Stairway into lofted office.
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Isometric Living Volume Section
Complete Exploded Axon
Living Volume Long Section
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Living Room Detail Section
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PARAMETRIC OSCILLATIONS
TYLER WILCOX, JACOB AUGUNAS, ADAM PARSONS ANDREW SERFLING, CHRIS MCEWEN, JAMES FULTON
Utilizing the Grasshopper parametric plug-in for Rhino allows for an incredible amount of design potential and algorithmic geometric construction. Our conceptual goal was to create a tower that could be assembled in a series of modular parts, as per the output from a simple Grasshopper script. The resultant form of the base module was that of four interlocked hexagons and as the tower rose vertically, the module’s dimensions shifted to accomodate a fluid sweep and turn of the stacking. Our chosen material for this was a 1/4th inch thick acrylic, creating a very dramatic crystaline structure as each laser-cut piece was layed delicately on top of the next, fitting together elegantly due to our decision to etch markings on the top of each to accomodate proper placement of the next module. With the laying of the final piece, the structural integrity of the tower had been laid to rest: the tower held fast at 18� vertical and maintained its composition throughout multiple rounds of movement and local transportation.
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VERTICAL MODULARITY
TYLER WILCOX, JACOB AUGUNAS, ADAM PARSONS ANDREW SERFLING, CHRIS MCEWEN, JAMES FULTON
Replicating the same three-dimensional component an unlimited amount of times is best accomplished via a casting process. This study began with a four-legged structural component that was designed to interlock with another, and then assembled in a stacked, vertical fashion, and with the potential for half of a module to cap and terminate the top of an assembly. With our Rhino model of the cast positive complete, we composed a negative in four pieces, so that the block could be disassembled and the cast removed. This negative was then printed in plaster and we began the casting process using a generic hobby liquid plastic. We learned quickly that at such a small scale, casting of low quality plastic resulted in flimsy final pieces that maintained structural support, but only without heavy abuse. Eventually, a suitable collection of parts was assembled given the amount of liquid plastic we had, our structural construction was complete and even with the bit of dramatic movement it took to transport it, retained its form.
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PERFORMATIVE PLASTER PROTOTYPING: LAPTOP STAND This personal project was directed at a logistical issue that existed within my personal workspace in my apartment. Fond of large work spaces, I have an oversized computer monitor that dominates most of the flat real estate on my desk, giving very little free space for much else. With my want of having my laptop plugged into it as a personal work station, mouse and keyboard included, this realistically left me with no open desk space. Thus, I proposed a stand for my computer to free up some precious desk, functionally similar models already available commercially, but with an added feature specific to my situation. As I dual boot Windows and Mac environments, I typically need to access the keyboard panel of the laptop; using any of the commercial stands would disallow me from this, as the laptop is kept close. With the design challenge in mind, I studied both commercial laptop stands and compared them to a similar form present in display stands for Japanese swords. This led to a series of precedence sketches, and finally a resultant form that allowed the laptop to sit comfortably, take up a minum amount of space, and still allowed me to
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JACOB AUGUNAS
access the keyboard while in the stand. Through Rhino, I modeled a mockup of the stand with consideration of the eventual prototyping material (plaster) limitations, and with the addition of a simple Grasshopper script that placed small ‘bumps’ on the face of the stand, fabrication could begin. The final product was slightly heavier than the conceptual form, but due to the nature of project and my desire to have this be a functional piece of furniture as well as a proof-of-concept piece, I was satisfied with it. With another round of production, I would return to the more gestural design and print, instead of the positive, a negative for casting. A heavy-duty plastic would be the best casting material, ABS most likely, and by subtracting the mass of the ‘bumps’, inserted rubber pellets would grip the laptop in place.
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Southern Elevation
Plan Facing North
CONTEMPORARY AGRARIAN: THE MILLER HOUSE Beginning with the gabled volume that currently contains the master bedroom, the Miller house was purchased as an investment and immediately continued through construction with the full wishes of the design team. This substantial renovation and addition project focused on bridging the primary living volume with the existing 12’x20’ partition, while maintaining a generous southern exposure to make best use of not only the thermal gains, but also of the beautiful woodland views of West Tisbury. The major volume is organized with the kitchen, living room, and dining room located most along the south, while bedrooms and bathrooms lie to the north. Dividing the space is a central, custom-designed staircase that embodies more about the verticality of the descent into the basement game room, than a simple enclosed stairwell ever could. The initial design process for the staircase and ballusters were likened to the trees populating the site, but through development of the assembly potential and drawing sets, the stairs took on a character of their own and became far more than a simile to the landscape outside. As a nod to further
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PROJECT ARCHITECT: DAVID JOHNSON, AIA PROJECT TEAM: BOB STAFFORD, JACOB AUGUNAS
consideration of energy efficiency, a combination of blown in and rigid foam board allows for a net thermal rating of 10% better than code; measured even before the input from solar orientation or thermal system. With the new addition clad in zinc-coated paneling to distance itself from the original materials of cyprus and cedar shingling, the Miller house represents a contemporary agrarian dialogue on how many of us live our lives today: occupying one multi-function living space during the daytime hours, only to retreat to smaller, autonomously private rooms in the evening and night.