“Architecture should speak of its time and place, but yearn for timelessness.� -Frank Gehry
“We use the collection of knowledge to determine where to intervene, we find the biggest problem, and then we use this information to inform design” – Bjarke Ingels
I would like to dedicate the following portfolio to my friends, family, and anyone involved with developing my education. This continual guidance has made me a better designer, student, and person. The following portfolio should show that I have had the opportunity to learn from some pretty amazing people in my life, so far. Thank you for taking the time to look through my work.
Fig: 1. site plan
Fig: 2. existing site photo
Micro Bike-Tel | The Bike-Tel connects with the history of the canal system while adapting to the new era push for user interaction. When the program is interpreted to preserve historical and recreational uses the concept is derived. It coincides with what the Canalway Coalition states they are trying to produce with the corridor. Preservation of historical and cultural significances of the canal way mixed with a modernistic mindset the Bike-Tel fits into the canal way seamlessly. The site is on the Stumpy Basin located near historical Boston, Ohio. The stumpy Basin was a stopover place for the canal boats, people, and horses.
This would allow for the lock system between Akron and Cleveland to be divided into separate days. This was significant to the canal system at that time because of the capabilities it offered to extended trips. In a similar fashion the Bike-Tel tries to mimic these qualities. Allowing the user or users to stop creates the possibility to extend their trip. One Bike-Tel offers the capabilities to handle up to four comfortably. There is no specific traveler that but instead all travelers are welcome whether they be bikers, kayakers, or snowboarders in the winter.
Fig: 3. winter render
Fig: 4. transofrmation diagrams
Fig: 5. section’s
Fig: 6. floor plans
Long Distance Biker
Snowboarder
Kayak
Causal biker
Group Size: 2-4
Group Size: 2-10
Group Size 1-3
Group Size: 1-4
Fig: 7. User Infromation
Fig: 8. Exploded Axon
Fig: 9. Model
Fig: 10. Model
The Bike-Tel will be extremely useful for the towpath during the operable months. Once it becomes winter this is a common occurrence for the towpath to be used significantly less. Located near the site and town is Boston Mills. This is a snowboard and skiing hill that is extremely active during the winter months. This will make a winter market for the Bike-Tel and increase usage of the towpath in the local area. Opening the site up to winter months creates opportunities for the Coalition to expand upon the towpath’s current capabilities.
Fig: 11. Model
Fig: 13. overall render
Bike-Tel | eVolo Entry When we were first assigned this project we decided to do some research. We were interested in finding out the actual effects of cycling on a city, and if cycling was as beneficial to a city as it is made out to be. Assuming that cycling is beneficial, we also questioned whether Akron was the right place to implement a project like the bike tel. The conclusion we came to was that not only was emphasizing cycling hugely beneficial to a city, Akron was the perfect place to do so. The only issue we found with the prompt was its scale. By expanding the reach of this project, we felt we could magnify the positive effect that it would have on the city. Akron was part of the automotive industry, and because of this it was designed around the automobile and the assumption that
everyone would be using it for transportation. This resulted in four main districts being created, namely a medical, art, university, and transportation district, which are all fairly separate from one another. Akron’s economy was based around the transportation and automotive industry for years, specifically rubber products for tires. As the automotive industry has declined in the past decades, Akron has declined along with it. After peaking in 1960 with 290,000 residents, Akron has declined to 198,000 residents. This decline is a result of relying too heavily on the automotive industry, and we believe that shifting the city’s focus to biking would serve to reverse the decline. Group Project: Kurt Nelson + Zach Butler
Fig: 14. proposed streetscape
Fig: 15. proposed streets
Fig: 16. trail level
Fig: 17. testing ramps
Fig: 18. app use axon
Fig: 19. testing park
Fig: 20. digital fabrication
After creating a network of bike routes, a focal point is necessary to act as a hub for the biking community. To place this hub, we looked at the location of the four districts and the biking routes to determine a location that would be able to connect the tow path and the city. By looking at the biking routes in Akron we found an interesting dichotomy, with certain trails being almost completely rural in atmosphere and others containing only urban elements. This inspired up to study natural and artificial elements that surrounded our site, using them to generate the form of the building. By doing so our biking hub becomes a reflection of the biking community in Akron.
Fig: 21. section
Rural elements move upward, reflecting the varied natural environment along the trails, while the artificial elements cut through these forms, reflecting the urban sprawl. In deciding how to program the space, we chose to again refer to the cycling community as a precedent. From what we had seen, the cyclist values individuality above all else. Bikes were tailored to reflect the personalities of their respective riders, with no two being exactly the same. To reflect this programmatically we chose to integrate digital fabrication within the building, creating a fabrication lab to enable the users to design and build their own bicycles, so that they may be perfectly aligned with their demands.
Fig: 22. unit section
Fig: 23. 6th floor plan
Fig: 24. street floor plan
Fig: 27. model
Fig: 28. model
Fig: 29. model
Fig: 30. site plan
Library Addition | My proposal for Piazza Brunelleschi and the addition to the humanities library for the University of Florence focuses on the display of accumulated educational systems and knowledge. Uponarrival to the site the last thing that comes to mind is education; its time to take this hidden component of the University and exposeit to the public. The next step is to address each element within the program and implement these educational values within the systems. For example in the cafeteria there will be a place to learn how to cook affordably and in a healthy manor.
Another example is that the exhibition spaces can double as classrooms to teach different forms of art. The main piazza has an open plan that will allow for the public, university and local people to use the space for a variety of things. The University of Florence can now have an architectural element that can further communicate its roll in the advanced educational realm.
Fig: 31. existing site photo
Fig: 32. lower floor plan
Fig: 33. main floor plan
Fig: 34. upper floor plan
Fig: 35. transformation diagrams
Fig: 36. movement diagrams
Café – The ground floor of the existing building is programmed with the cafeteria that has two purposes. Firstly, to serve food to the public in a way that is normally suited to a café. Secondly, it serves a s a place to learn how to cook in a healthy and cultural way. Auditorium – The auditorium (330 seats) extends over the gallery and creates an iconic special condition for the piazza. Archive Space – The archive space is intertwined with the lower gallery and can act as a separate storage place, gathering room, or hosting space. It is a bonus area allowing the expansion of the gallery for any form of activity. Gallery – The gallery or exhibition space will host a variety of art pieces and genres, from sculptures to spray paint. It will also have rooms that can double as educational areas to allow the teaching of these different art forms. Study Area – The study area is placed above the existing courtyard and on the second floor of the existing building. It is elevated to separate its function from the public realm of the ground floor. Study Rooms – The study rooms (12) are in the most private place in the addition. These rooms are to be private and only seen from other educational atmospheres. Piazza – The piazza addition is an open plan format allowing the space to be used for an endless amount of activities. This format also lets the users have an impact and opinion on what happens in this element that is to be tailored to their needs.
Fig: 37. programmatical axon
Lecture Hall – The lecture hall (130 seats) is housed within the existing building conditions and has a traditional educational feel.
Fig: 38. auditorium section
Fig: 39. courtyard section
Fig: 40. section
Fig: 41. section
Fig: 43. site plan
Transformed Manufacturing | The transformative qualities of architecture need to be adaptable to any person or programmatic element. This alteration of spatial organization cannot be static and must allow for constant adjustments in multiple ways. The architecture must lend itself to guide technologies for the future, it must become transformable to be transformative. Innovation is key to success.
Innovative Criteria
1 – Starting from nothing and creating an innovative program element will prove to be
challenging to the city. It is vital that the program builds on an existing element that the city is doing already. 2 – The innovative program needs be able to adapt to multiple markets so that if one markets begins to fail this building can adapt and survive. These different industries need to be realistic and tangible for Youngstown to succeed. Automotive + Aeronautics + Healthcare 3 – The building has to connect YSU and Downtown, there needs to be a greater sense of COMMUNITY.
Original Square Footage
Public Realm Created
Adaptation to allow for most efficient daylighting and mechanical systems by creating smaller floorplates
Finalized form and circulation depicted by user and passive strategies.
Fourth Floor Plan Professional Use
First Floor Plan - Public Use
Second Floor Plan Fabrication Use
Third Floor Plan - Educational Use
Example 1 - Lecture
Example 2 - Gallery
Example 3 - Classroom
Floor Plans The plans operate on a grid system that allows for constant adaptations depending on the program element required. This will allow the space to be truly tailored to the needs of the user. The four different floors each have an individual program type but invite collaboration. Floor Plan Examples These are four examples of possible floor plans. They can be used on any of the floors to truly allow for a transformative space. These axons also show
Example 4 - Fabrication
that the faรงade can adapt to match the program element. Something more public will open and something private can close. The facade can also change to allow for daylighting and ventilation Movement Generous interior staircases are one of the only fixed elements of the design and they are generously sized to invite collaborative efforts and all forms of engagement between building users.
Fig: 45. model
Fig: 47. model
Fig: 46. model
Fig: 48. model
Fig: 49. model
Fig: 50. model
Office Facade | Built 2011 As success brings expansion, Compass Rose Homes (now Porchlight) required a larger space to operate their home building company out of. The design of the new office had to signify what the company would be doing now and in the future, a timeless idea that would communicate their goals to the customer. Their message “Welcome Home” can identify what the company always has done and what they always will do. To make this translate to the building we needed to address what home meant to the surrounding contextual area as well as the Porchlight team. The answer became clear, stick
with the old western feel while adapting to modern times. From the façade of the building to the large exterior porches, it says home to the team, site and the typical Alberta resident.
Fig: 51. axon
Fig: 52. front elevation
Fig: 53. rear elevation
Fig: 54. side elevations
Fig: 55. pin up
Fig: 56. pin up
Fashion + Architecture Fusion $5,000 Grant Group Project
This Collaborative effort proposes an unusually productive cross-disciplinary engagement between the fields of fashion and architecture. Although these areas retain their own distinct disciplinary logics and traditions, they also both reflect and produce aspects of personal, social and cultural identity. Whether dressing people or places, effective collaborations between fashion and architecture can encourage designers to question and transform normative design practice. Construction, for example, is critical for
both fields. How can unconventional materials, details, and fabrication approaches contribute to a creative reimagining of both fields’ framings of aesthetics and the body? Further, this project has been awarded a grant of $5,000 for research, and fabrication. It will be completed on December 10th, 2015 and will have a fashion show to celebrate and reveal the final outfits. All work up to this point is preliminary.
Fig: 57. concept
Fig: 58. concept
Fig: 59. concept
Fig: 60. process
Fig: 61. process
Fig: 62. process
Fig: 63. process
Steambent Bench | White Oak After seeing multiple laminated pieces of furniture creating phenomenal forms I wondered if this could be done with larger strips of wood and still be fairly affordable. Steam bending air dried white oak proved to be the solution. This bench represents my first finalized attempt at steam bending furniture. The design is derived from the fashion + architecture collaborative project that I had the privilege to work on with other architecture and fashion students. For this project I needed help clamping down the material before it would regain its form, I had two
assistance help with this aspect. It was a great challenge with a lot of obstacles but one of the most enjoyable things I have made with my hands to date.
Fig: 64. process
Fig: 65. process
Fig: 66. process
Fig: 67. process
Fig: 68. process
Fig: 69. final
Fig: 70. final
Fig: 71. final
Fig: 72. final
Fig: 73. final
Fig: 74. final
Fig: 75. final