Michael Willhoit Selected Undergraduate Works 2016 - 2019
Ta b l e o f C o n t e n t s Ta m a g o t c h i F l a t s Waves and Skins L i g h t i n t h e Tu n n e l Artificial Heart(h)s House for a Chef Frankford Galleria
Tamagotchi Flats: A Matter of Perspective
ARCH 4332: Arch Design V, Spring 2019 Studio Critic: Andrew Wit Awarded Temple Architecture Capstone Award Tamagotchi Flats is a composition of programmatic vignettes. Beginning as a rectangular prism containing carved, spliced, and excavated features, this playful tapestry was created by taking sections at different angles, orientations, and rotation. The result is a whimsical tenament, full of unique spaces of no program, and any program.
Waves and Skins: Three Becoming One
ARCH 1012: Visual Literacy for Architects 2, Spring 2017 Studio Critic: Eric Oskey Waves and Skins saw the generation of three different yet integrated projects, culminating in a final abstracted form. A laser-cut paper figure ground study. A model of a digitally-designed waveform using intersecting, interlocking laser-cut pieces. Finally, the process ended with a group effort to create an intricate 3D printed skin to rest upon the model, inspired byt the initial patterns.
The figure ground study models were made from photos of patterns in nature, abstracted to form delicate paper forms. These pieces were layered onto a black surface, and suspended by pins to give the model depth.
The second model began as an abstract waveform in 3D space, and was realized physically by cutting perpendicular sections and laser cutting the result, joining notched out pieces together. This model bends and falls over itself, creating space above and underneath.
The final model involved a simplifies “waffle model� and the creation of a 3D skin. This relationship was similar to a building resting on a site, so while the 3D printed skin was derived from the first exercise, it was modified to respond to the conditions of the waffle model.
Light in the Tunnel: Sculpting Choreography
ARCH 2122: Foundations of Arch Design 2, Spring 2017 Studio Critic: Fauzia Sadiq-Garcia Light in the Tunnel explores the art of dance and its translation into architecture. Delicate choreography translates into rough-hewn surfaces, enveloping but not violating the staircase armature.
First, a staircase on Temple University’s campus was selected for analysis. Then, an actor walked, and then danced, up the staircase. The motion was recorded on paper as an abstraction of movement and as detailed depictions of human features meeting solid surfaces.
The dance up the staircase drove the creation of this model. The actor was restricted in her motion on the treads of the stairs, but opened up on the landing. From below, one could just catch a glimpse of the motion above.
In the model, this was reflected in the cavernous lower “tunnels�, which lead upward to a bright, spacious landing, which funneled upward again into a tunnel. The landing, being the focal point, allowed views from outside, above, and below. It is a moment of light in a dark cavern.
Artificial Heart(h)s: Repositioning the Core
ARCH 4332: Arch Design V, Spring 2019 Studio Critic: Andrew Wit Awarded Temple Architecture Capstone Award The Artificial Heart(h) is a non-contextual housing typology for the near future, where humans and machines interact with one another inside and out. It seeks to invoke our past yet accommodate for our future by reimagining the hearth, the core of the home.
Skin and viscera. This new organ beats and breathes with the pulse of tomorrow. The Artificial Heart(h) clusters our basic needs, and integrates new modes of life. It is a kitchen, a washroom, a staircase, and even a drone port, for the Post of the future. The exterior contains and protects, sets the boundaries. These assembled functions free the floors, allowing for an endless configuration of the space for any occupant.
House for a Chef: Bringing the Outdoors In
ARCH 3231: Architectural Design III, Fall 2017 Studio Critic: Bill Craig Transformation, layering and rhythm describe the design language of this row home. The two clients who occupy the houses both work as chefs, operating a cooking studio. A large kitchen sits at the center of the two homes, used for residential and commercial purposes, connected to the South Street-facing culinary studio.
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The core of the house is its ground floor kitchen, which articulates itself as an open shaft that reaches up through the roof. Floors are arranged around this core as split levels, which layer spaces in a playful way, and allow for lines of sight to floors both above and below.
The Facade of the row home peels away in layers to connect the occupants to their surroundings. This openness lets the sights and smells of cooking become a spectacle.
Behind the south facade sits the cooking studio, the living room, den, and master bedroom. This creates a gradient of privacy in the program, with the most public space touching the ground, and the most private on the top floor. This pattern repeats on the north end, only more private to begin with, as Rodman St. sees far less traffic than South St.
Frankford Galleria: A Creative, Connected Community ARCH 4331: Arch Design IV, Fall 2018 Studio Critic: Phillip Crosby For AIA Competition, placed 2nd Frankford Galleria sits slong the bustling Frankford Avenue in Kensington, Philadelphia. This mixed-use complex offers independent and assisted living, market-rate housing, co-working, a library, a makerspace, and retail space. Resting on a raised courtyard and public plaza facing Frankford, the community draws in visitors from all over. Frankford Galleria allows seniors to maintain their sense of belonging, connectivity, and community, while providing them all the amenity of senior living.
By examining the urban context, the site with the most dire need for new development along Frankford Avenue was chosen. Zoning, amenities, and transit connectivity were also considered and included in the final proposed scheme.
The senior living typology was a suject of experimentation as well. In the context of the city, Frankford Galleria situates seniors at the heart of a community, and serves as a node of activity. Residents of this complex can interact with children from the nearby school, their parents, and many other young people living in this quickly changing part of Philadelphia.
Ultimately, the junction of Frankford Avenue, Trenton Avenue, and York Street was chosen as the perfect location for a mixed-use senior living complex. Situated on the site of a junk yard, and adjacent an elementary school, improvements made to the site not only benefit new residents, but the existing community. Much care was taken to make the site walkable, for people of all ages and ability, by extending the sidewalk, eliminating unused streets, and incorporating seating.