Mediatheque 04
Skinny Double House
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Lakeside Studio
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High Rise 2020 34
Shodan House Analysis 40
Travel Sketches 42
4th Year Design Studio Marcel Erminy The Mediatheque is a library of digital media located in downtown Bryan, Texas. This partner project was a semester long venture combining architectural, structural, and environmental systems design. The primary goals of the project were to design a building that provided an urban landmark to the city, create an enticing and interactive urban environment, and incorporate elegant passive environmental systems. The site is a rectangular lot with the long dimension on the North-South axis. The lot is on the northbound approach into downtown and to the south of an existing historical building. We allowed the form of the building to be sculpted by its location in the context of the city and also by the environmental conditions of the area. The Mediatheque is a library, however not in the traditional sense of the word. Instead of housing numerous volumes of books, it is to house computer labs, study spaces, meeting rooms, staff offices, an auditorium, and a collection of sensitive documents stored in a environmentally controlled room. In our case, the special collection was a large collection of vinyl records from famous recording studios such as Abby Road Studio and Electric Lady Studios as well as an expansive digital collection. So much like a regular library, the Mediatheque was thought of as an icon of public use and communal space to be shared by the downtown population.
A window wall was designed to thwart heat gain while still maintaining natural daylighting. Each window module’s angled panels allow light to reflect into the interior while eliminating direct sunlight. By changing the arrangement of small and large modules, a varying level of privacy can be attained on the interior. The modules vary in scale to create unique arrangements of apertures for the interior. The sketches below were done by my partner during the development of the skin.
Ground Plan
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1 The program was organized by the expected occupancy and hours of operation. The first floor spaces are general purpose reading spaces with kiosks and periodicals which are open 24 hours. The second floor consists of the computer lab and extra study spaces which will be opened 12 hours a day. The third floor spaces include the meeting rooms and special collection which will only be open during regular business hours.
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9 The special collection features private listening booths that provide a digital library along with the record players. The collection can hold roughly 5,000 albums.
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1. Lower Lobby 2. Cistern 3. Auditorium 4. Maintenance 5. Restrooms 6. Main Lobby 7. Kiosk Stations 8. Lounge 9. Periodicals 10. Courtyard 11. Terrace 12. Entry Mezzanine 13. Study Space 14. Computer Lab 15. Staff Break Room 16. Staff Offices 17. Special Collection 18. Sound Booths 19. Meeting Room 20. Storage
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South Elevation The main lobby presents the occupants with grand views from both the mezzanine and street level. The central staircase descends from the mezzanine into the lower auditorium lobby through a central void. The staircase and void provide a visual connection across the three floors.
The central lightwell allows ample light into the interior and helps organize the interior spaces.
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North Elevation
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West Elevation
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East Elevation
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This diagram illustrates the series of splitting, pulling apart, pushing, and slicing taken to reach the final form of the building.
View from the top of the entry ramp. The ramp was designed to provide a link from the building to the street. The multiple platforms allow for people to socialize outside while still being a part of the building.
These post occupancy diagrams show the program layout, hours of operation per level, estimated capacity, central lightwell, and exterior pedestrian interaction with the building. Both sets of diagrams were illustrated by my partner.
The main lobby is a high volume space meant to accommodate the users of the auditorium as well as the additional foot traffic through the building. The people entering the building via the ramp are presented with an option to go into the second floor or continue down the central stair into the lobby.
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Aluminum Panel Steel End Cap Vapor Barrier Insulation Steel Beam Welded Steel Mounting Plate Mounting Bolt
A separate structural system was developed for the main entry ramp. The scaled detail model shows the concrete form with an aluminum accent supporting the structural frame of the special collection. Below are the process sketches of the column done by my partner.
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Steel Tube Frame Insulation Angled Steel Support Aluminum Panel Aluminum Window Jamb Double Paned Window Interior Sill Treatment Steel Anchor Bolt Steel Anchor Plate Welded Steel Mounting Plate Connection Bolt
Steel Column Cork Wall Treatment 1/2� Gypsum Board Metal Stud Wall Reveal Steel End Cap Cork Flooring Concrete Slab Metal Decking Steel Girder Steel Connection Plate Trussed Beam Strut Arm Ceiling Hanger Drop Ceiling
The axonometric drawing shows the typical floor connection detail in the building. A detailed wall section was required to explore a higher level of materiality within the project
Styrofoam Insulation Moisture Barrier Concrete Retaining Wall Concrete Pillar Cap Steel Anchor Bolts 36� Concrete Pillar Concrete Basement Slab
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This series of systems diagrams illustrates code compliance throughout the building.
Utilities
Egress
Fire Hydrants
Fire Alarms
The preliminary structural bones model used to better understand the structural system in the building (Above). An illustrated structural framing plan and loading diagrams show the components of the structural system and the loading throughout the building (Right).
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3rd Year Design Studio Craig Babe + Sarah Deyong The Skinny Double House is a row house comprised of two tenants living on a single lot split by a concrete firewall. The site is located in a hypothetical row house community in Tucson, Arizona. The lot is a long narrow rectangle running on a north to south axis with no change in grade. There is a main road on the south side of the lot and a community ally to the north. There were, however, site restrictions implemented by the community. The building, excluding garage space, was to take up no more than 50 percent of the lot, any floor space below grade or the garages did not count towards the 3, 500 square footage allowance, and the garages must be placed on the ally side. A few goals of the project were to create a sense of interaction between the two tenants, respect the geographic conditions of the area, and create an interior environment that relates directly to the two specific clients. The first client is a single real estate tycoon in his mid twenties who hosts dinner parties and boasts a love of modern art and an insatiable infatuation with his car. Also, he has a house keeper with her own on site quarters. The second is a married musician couple in their early sixties who teach violin lessons out of their home. They live alone although they do have grandchildren who visit occasionally. One major consideration when designing this house was the future of the clients and how it could impact the spaces required over time. The real estate agent currently has no plans to have a family but since nothing is set in stone, I had to plan the house to possibly accommodate a family down the road so conversion of spaces was considered. The musicians have already settled into their lives and a guest room was provided in the program so conversion wasn’t deemed a necessity.
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Section A
Real Estate Agent
Musician
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Foyer Maid’s Quarters Office Sitting Room
Foyer Kitchen Dining Closet Master Bath
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1. Foyer 2. Living Room 3. Practice Room 4. Kitchen/Dining 5. Office 6. Sitting Room 7. Master Bedroom
8. Guest Bedroom 9. Bathroom 10. Utilities 11. Maid’s Quarters 12. Garage 13. Reflection Pool
Site Operable windows, half walls, wooden slat facade, and lightwells were implemented to utilize natural ventilation and daylight
Section A shows the use of double height spaces utilized in both dwellings to provide a visual connection to the spaces below. From top to bottom: View of North facade, cut away view of the musician’s residence, interior view of the real estate agent’s residence
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Section C 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9.
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Laundry Restroom Living Room Kitchen/Dining Sitting Room Guest Room Master Bedroom Master Bath Garage
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The practice sessions are an important part of the musicians’ lifestyle. I placed the practice area at the bottom of the lightwell so it would help funnel the sound vertically and resonate throughout the house. Being a skilled musician is a rare talent and deserves to be shared. The backyard was meant to be a community space where live performances could be enjoyed by the real estate agent and his dinner guests, creating a stronger bond between neighbors.
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Section B 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7.
Foyer Living Room Office Kitchen/Dining Master Bedroom Sitting Room Garage
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I focused on the idea of framing views and movement in the house when designing for the real estate agent. The frontal approach allows a view into the foyer through a floor to ceiling window that frames a work from his art collection. An unobstructed view from the front door all the way to the garage showcases the car as the masterpiece in his collection. The staircases and catwalks force the occupant to meander through the house and experience all the spaces, and views of the north and south.
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Model images from top to bottom: Real estate agent section, aerial view, musician section.
The diagrams above show the volumes and party walls of each clients dwelling and also the square footages of each client in order to comply with the program requirements.
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3rd Year Design Studio Craig Babe + Sarah Deyong The Lakeside Studio was mainly a conceptual exploration of form and space. I experimented with the idea of folding a continuous ribbon+15 of material to create the envelope of the studio. The project goal was to create a semi-private retreat for myself on a triangular, lake shore plot on Lake Bryan in Bryan, Texas. The site gradually inclines 5 feet toward the northeast then declines more dramatically toward the shoreline. I wanted to let the site and environmental conditions inform the design of the studio. By orienting the site toward the Northeast I was able to take advantage of natural ventilation and sunlight and provide unique views to the interior spaces. Wooden louvers were used on the South and West facades to control direct sunlight while maintaining views. The program was limited to sleeping quarters, a living area, small kitchen, and a private studio. The retreat was mainly for myself and possibly visitors so my first decision was to physically separate the public and private spaces. I achieved this by splitting the bedroom and living room with a dog trot which also created a covered patio. Also, the studio was placed on the 2nd floor to instill a feeling of isolation +5 and tranquility.
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Roof Plan
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The diagrams on the right show the site conditions that informed the specific folds of the ribbon and placement of spaces in the studio. Top to bottom: summer solar angles, winter solar angles, average wind direction. The diagrams to the left show circulation, ventilation, and privacy from top to bottom.
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2nd Year Design Studio Rodney Hill In the year 2020 there is a shortage of oil, causing the regular commuters to work from home. Digital conferences between employees replace the daily office lifestyle, so tenants now only occupy their floor one day a week. The main goals of this high rise were to design a building that utilizes the environment to reduce energy use, design a building that provides an interaction between city and pedestrian, and to design a flexible building that can accommodate the fluctuations in tenants. The site is a city block in downtown Houston oriented in a Northwest to Southeast direction. To take advantage of the seasonal wind angles, I split the typical cube form of an office into two buildings and created a wedged opening. The opening decreases towards the Northwest to funnel the wind, increasing wind velocity to spin the wind turbines located on the sky bridges connecting the buildings. The splitting of the building also reduces the maximum depth of each floor, allowing natural light to be more effective, and also reducing the footprint to allow pedestrians to permeate the ground plane.
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mounted on each skybridge.
Green Floor
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The green roof will act as a water collection unit funneling water down the facade of the restrooms. Water will branch into the other pools on the south end.
as a he mize the ts as
The external concrete shell on the towers acts as a shading device and passive cooling system. The The skin perforations allow wind to pass through and flow vertically diamond pattern is designed intheorder up the building. This helps exhaust some of excess to heatmaximize from the interior of the building. natural lighting. Air enters the shell and cools the building as it travels upward. The shell also acts as the structure, eliminating interior columns.
An elastic skin stretches around a vertically Work station with bottom adjustable frame and an accordian style insulating mounted computer, laptop style membrane allowing for customizable wall sizes. screen, and projected keyboard.
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The site and ground floor were designed to entice pedestrians into the plaza and explore the different spaces and retail stores.
Site Plan
The lobby was meant to be a public space to be used by both the office tenants as well as pedestrians.
Lobby Plan
The perspective views show the cantilevered fire stair and bathrooms, sky bridge, and varying scales of apertures of the concrete skin from the center of the plaza and the street.
B The office plans needed to accommodate multiple tenants per week so flexibility was important. There were several permanent spaces such as the conference rooms and the offices while the rest was to remain open.
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These diagrams show how the form was influenced by wind and pedestrian movement. 1. Basic Form 2 Split 3. Pull 4. Lift 5. Final
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3rd Year Design Studio Craig Babe + Sarah Deyong This short project was an exercise in architectural analysis and diagramming, particularly of the Shodan House by Le Corbusier. The goal was to study and explore the Shodan House and create diagrams in order to gain a better understanding of the thought processes involved with design. The long term goal of the project was to utilize diagramming as a tool to inform design and to help design in a logical way. The post occupancy diagrams gave insight into the design processes used by architects such as spacial layouts, spacial proximity, organization and structure.
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This series of diagrams show how the facade evolved from a basic grid and also the double height spaces and circulation in the house. 4
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This diagram illustrates the lightwells in the Shodan House and how they penetrate through the levels of the house.
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Grid Shift Add Subtract Apply
6 Double Height Spaces 7 Circulation
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3rd Year Study Abroad Logan Wagner
1. VENICE 2. SIENNA 3. ROME 4. REVOLVER 5. ROME
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The sketch of the revolver is a recreation of an original work by Ned Dameron
6. SANTACHIARA
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