A line makes a curve,

Hipster Haven

2009-04-24T11:15:00.000-07:00

We were challenged to take a warehouse filled with university overflow and turn it into "hipster" loft style apartments complete with coffee shop.
I worked with Taeho on the initial layout of the building and coffee shop. We made the decision to make the coffee shop larger to serve food and appeal to the offices, apartments and industry surrounding the building. We discovered that real estate development is a lot like an investment portfolio - when one sector is booming, another is busting. By adding retail and residential spaces to a building already housing office space and warehousing, a more stable property is developed for the owner (the university).

Our plan houses 23 apartments ranging in size from 860 sq ft to 958 sq ft. Open air breezeways cut thorough the building to lend a more open feel and to allow sunlight into interior apartments.

When I began laying out my floor plans I let the stairs inform the flow.
For the most efficient use of space I put cabinets under the first flight of stairs. A small 19.7 cubic foot refrigerator fits perfectly under the landing. Under the second flight is the stove with a large stainless steel hood for exhaust. From there it made sense to put the bathroom behind the kitchen to keep the plumbing together, which then created an ideal space for a bedroom.

A typical apartment layout:

Loft

Main floor

Universal access unit:

In elevation:
From the north

From the south

The kitchen:

The living/dining space:

The bathroom, which features the Julien Bench Toilet:

The Julien Bench toilet with sliding cover to conceal the commode and add usable surface:

The bedroom, which is 'studio style' and left open except for a curtain to maximize light and air circulation:

Upstairs in the loft there is another bedroom and a home office:

Materials
As I chose materials I thought about cities and the various neighborhoods that make them up. I wanted to keep an industrial feel, but I wanted to make it feel livable and comfortable. I thought about Over the Rhine in Cincinnati, which is a very short distance from Oakley and Hyde Park. Over the Rhine is an old industrial area, that once enjoyed prosperity and now is one of the most neglected neighborhoods in Cincinnati. Whereas, Hyde Park and Oakley are beautiful lush neighborhoods where neighbors walk to restaurants and parks together. I decided to add small, but important, touches of industrial style in the stairs, railings and floors, and let the walls, and lights be smooth and polished. I also decided to conceal the beams for the same reason, if the floor was "abused" and industrial, then the ceiling should be calm and clean.

The greenest building is the one that is already built, so I left the exterior walls and floors intact except for an acid etch on the floor. The cabinets, stairs and loft floor are all made of a mix of reclaimed woods from Terramai.

To reduce energy consumption there is a 'whole house' fan installed in the ceiling of the loft, over the stairs. This replaces an air conditioning unit by keeping a constant breeze flowing through the house which renews the air in the house every 3 minutes.

The pendant lights in the kitchen are the Trundle Pendant lights made of low VOC plastic from Visa lighting. Track lights are halogen, and of course the can lights are used with CFL bulbs.

Hipster Haven

2009-03-27T10:27:00.000-07:00

Nordic Peace

2009-03-05T23:32:00.000-08:00

Plan viewCeiling plan
Elevation
Interior of sauna

PerspectivePerspective
Perspective of pool with ramp and stairs

Apex

2009-02-17T19:39:00.000-08:00

Dining room floor plan

Reflected ceiling plan

Rendered view

I began with the idea that a meal ought to be like a roller coaster. A truly excellent meal has many different layers of flavors, some sharp like citrus, some rich like roasted meat, some sweet like pastry. I thought of a formal dinner following the line of a classic bell curve. To express this I connected circles and squares - the squares representing the base line of the curve and the circles representing the apex.
I began with a round table made of burled ash with the grain laid toward the center to form a star in the center. The legs are simply tapered squares so as to not take away from the drama of the tabletop.
The buffet is a large rectangle which sits atop a long ellipse that is finished with a lighter stain. The top of the buffet is glass that allows you to see into the wine storage just below.
I chose to use Mariette Himez Gomez's Ballroom Side chairs at the table for their rounded backs and squared off seats. The lighting is the Saucer Lamp by George Nelson to echo the round table.
Finally, on the walls are Chinese brush paintings done in the traditional minimalist fashion to create punctuation on the walls, not to fill them. The area over the buffet is left blank to let the food create its own statement.

The Girl With Kaleidoscope Eyes

2009-01-28T09:48:00.000-08:00

Design is successful when it enriches our lives.
Form follows function, but what elevates design is soul. If a thing works precisely and is beautiful to look at we may call it good, but there is something more. How does it make us feel? Does it satisfy something deeper within us? Does it answer a moral need? When design answers these deeper spiritual needs and enlightens our minds, then we are successful.

To express this ideal I crafted a kaleidoscope. I wanted to express light and beauty and its unique nature. Nothing new was purchased to make my artifact. Everything I used was laying around my home or studio. I worked within these restraints because sustainability is beautiful and fulfilling to all of us.

The Honeymoon is Over

2008-10-29T12:26:00.000-07:00

{concept}

Stabilized Extension to Community

There was a time when it was hard for people to grasp the idea of community. The lines of separation were immense but the desire for change was greater. This sparked the forward motion that reached out to the community through a subtle gesture. During the civil rights movement of the 60s in Greensboro, NC the students of A&T played a big role in gaining equality for public accommodations. Sit-ins took place as part of a silent protest. Their message of social equality provided a foundation for the future. The GTA is now widely used by people from all walks of life. Because of this, the GTA focuses on extending services to all throughout the community. To extend is to stretch, draw or arrange in a given direction, or so as to reach a particular point. The bus shelter emphasizes the notion of extending forward just as time moves on, allowing the community to progress and adapt to change. To stabilize is to make or hold firm. The bus shelter is a stable structure that bonds the GTA system with its riders. The width and shape of the base supports the vertical panels, balancing and grounding the structure, while the reaching horizontal planes symbolize the constant movement of people who interact with the space and each other. The incline of the roof represents the uphill movement of society and its progression through time. By acting as a stabilizing force, the bus shelter connects the students of A&T with the community.

Kurt and Nacarra Are Getting Married!

2008-10-13T17:20:00.000-07:00

Or at least their projects are!
These two projects were chosen by the jurors to be combined into one cohesive statement to be placed on the A&T campus outside of St. John's Lodge #12.

Nacarra's:

Kurt's:

These are a few sketches began by Josie and modified and added to by the rest of the hearts.

Check back tomorrow to see what else we've done!

Intermezzo

2008-10-04T07:21:00.000-07:00

{pause}
A bus shelter is a pause along a journey as Tai Chi is a pause in life – a moment to meditate and reflect.
Tai Chi focuses on pausing to find calm, clarity and inner balance, while a bus shelter is a pause in travel to rest and connect to the external world.
When a traveler arrives at a bus shelter they are at a point in their journey where they are connecting to the external world just as a Tai Chi practitioner is connecting with himself with each position and breath.
I chose the Snake Creeps Down position for two reasons: first because it is a position that focuses on transitioning between positions and flexibility, which relates to public transportation in that it must be flexible enough to serve a wide range of people, and that it offers transition from location to location. Second, because Snake Creeps Down creates strong lines that lend themselves to architecture. The thicker diagonal line suggests movement and the continuation of a journey to its end point, for most people, the Four Seasons Mall.

The bus shelter must also work within its natural environment. The lines must respect the existing architecture and not overpower or contrast too much. The site for this particular shelter is a challenge because there are four very different building types at the intersection of Spring Garden Street and Tate Street. At the southwest corner is the Weatherspoon Art Museum with a very angular and distinct aedicule facing the corner, while the church across the street is a Romanesque Methodist church with an obviously more traditional theme. I chose to align my shelter more with the art museum than the church since the shelter is viewed with the museum as the immediate setting. The strong lines of the shelter reflect the lines of the museum, but stand out because the angles are different.

{concrete}
Concrete is a versatile material used in many construction applications. In the instance of my bus shelter the concrete will be polished to a smooth surface with a moderate to highly consistent color uniformity. Hepworth sands and Ballidon aggregates will be added to white concrete to make a very pale grey color to coordinate with the marble aedicule on the Weatherspoon Art Museum.
Construction will be a hybrid of in-situ construction and precast construction. The larger slabs will be cast off site and assembled with poured concrete later on site. This method will allow for a shorter construction time, therefore inconveniencing bus users, pedestrians, and drivers less.
By prefabricating the large pieces the structure as a whole becomes safer. The manufacturing process becomes more controlled and less subject to environmental changes. This means that the concrete is cured under ideal conditions for strength and durability. Steel rebar and mesh can be added to reinforce the concrete to make it stronger still. The rebar adds structural integrity and the opportunity to connect to other pieces during the construction process. The mesh adds a finer reinforcement to keep concrete looking new and free from cracks.
In keeping with UNCG’s commitment to sustainability, the concrete and steel will utilize as much recycled content as possible. When Greensboro’s transportation needs change enough to require the demolition of the shelter the concrete and steel can again be recycled and the land safely used for another purpose without concern for lasting damage to the soil.

{process}
I started out thinking that I wanted to do something inspired by a suspension bridge. But after fidgeting around with it for a couple hours I decided that I just wasn't feeling inspired by bridges. I played with some other forms as they popped into my head and ended up with a modified double helix that didn't look too promising. In the end, inspiration came to me out of the blue in the middle of the night. I woke up thinking of Tai Chi. I have never practiced Tai Chi, but there it was, all I could think of as I lay awake in bed. I thought of gymnasts and dancers and the shapes they made with their bodies. I wanted to translate that human form into architecture.

2008-09-22T09:49:00.000-07:00

Guerrilla marketing in context:

Our stickers in place on crosswalk buttons

Our "non-working" trash cans
The tag line "What if design didn't function?" was changed to "What if design didn't work?" to communicate better with laypersons who may use the word 'work' more than 'function.'

Guerrilla Markerting

2008-09-19T17:08:00.000-07:00

You can't change the world if no one knows about it.
We need to get the word out about IARC and what we do here, but we don't have a marketing team, or much money, so guerrilla marketing is our best bet and it looks like fun.
Guerrilla Marketing is defined as any of a number of unconventional methods of marketing with minimal resources for maximum results; any marketing campaign that uses non-mainstream tactics and locations (Webster's Dictionary for the New Millennium.)

After an hour of so of brain storming my group of four came up with six workable ideas:

-A scavenger hunt. (Places) No, we're not talking about a list and a bunch of people scurrying around looking for paper clips and men named Bob. We envision something more subtle. We're thinking small scale numbered Minerva statues holding clues to finding out what the IARC department is doing scattered around town.

-Trash cans. (Product) But not your average trash cans. Ours don't work. The top does not swing open. The lid will say, "What if design didn't function?" and direct the user to our blog.

-Crosswalk lights. (Printed) We want to put stickers with our web address on the button you push to get a walk signal. The sticker will look like a computer cursor clicking on our address to remind people every time they click the button to get a walk signal to also click to see what we're doing.

-All Tied Up! (Scandal) We want to tie mannequins or blow up dolls to light posts near bus stops with a sign reading, "Having trouble getting around? Try GTA!" We'll put up a link to our Bus/Shelter Shelter/Bus blogs and to the GTA.

-Art Show. (People) Tate Street Coffee is within itself a community of very creative people. There are ever-changing art exhibits there and we think if we can fill it with IARCers work we can get noticed.

-YouTube. (http://) We want to go viral by making a video of reactions to our guerrilla marketing campaignes.

-Tromp'loi. (One more idea) We thought it would be eye-catching to cover a corner of a building with an blue print style drawing so that it looks like the building has been cut away and all you see is the plan.

Cracking the Code

2008-09-19T09:26:00.000-07:00

Each of us is acutely aware of how we individually move through and interact with a space, what we are sadly unaware of is how others interact within those same spaces. As we took a fresh look at our shelter bus and considered codes we realized that our bus would not function for a lot of people who would need to use it. Our bathroom was not handicap accessible, in fact, we had hardly given thought to anyone who is in a wheelchair or larger than average. As designers we must always consider others in every aspect of what we do, from designing packaging, to public bathrooms, to window treatments in a private residence. Perhaps it is telling that such things need be mandated to us by governing bodies.
Codes can be seen as the standard by which we gauge our consideration for others. If a structure meets code then we are allowing minimal comfort for portions of the population. If we exceed code then we are allowing maximum comfort for the majority of the population. That is not to say that every doorway ought to be seven feet wide, or that every bathroom must also be able to accommodate a baseball diamond, but if we allow a little extra space, and consider height a little more we’d be doing a service to everyone who isn’t our exact clone.
Every designer and architect needs to take the philosophy of “long life, loose fit” to heart. If we make spaces that flex and conform to individuals instead of individuals conforming to their spaces we make an experience that puts people at ease and functions better with the human element.

Buses to the Rescue

2008-09-17T10:38:00.000-07:00

Buses are highly adaptable vehicles. We discovered that in the aftermath of a hurricane they can be many things to many people. We chose to make a two buses to address the needs of children and the need for information.
Our 'Media Bus' as we dubbed it, has a space for every sort of communication except telegraph. The first floor is the real center of activity, there are phones for people to call loved ones and insurance companies. There are computers to check the status of claims, get the latest weather and check email. Those computers are also equipped to scan, fax and print. There is a CB radio and a mobile cell tower. On the second floor is a small meeting room for city, state, and federal leaders, there is a post office with essential services, and a TV and vending machine. Most basic communications can be made from this bus.

Our child care bus is equipped to care for and entertain children ranging in age from a few days old to adolescents. There is a ball pit, and a craft area, a nursery and nap area. There is a space for snacks and meals, and a space for TV and video games. Most importantly there is a pediatric clinic staffed with doctors and a counselor to help children work through the trauma of having their lives so violently disrupted. The kids bus is something we felt could easily be overlooked by emergency response teams. Adults are focused on putting lives and homes back in order, children are pushed by the wayside. By having child care immediately after a storm there is greater opportunity to mitigate the trauma to children and speed along the recovery of the whole family and greater community.

Map of the Bus

2008-09-15T11:53:00.000-07:00

Good to Go

2008-09-15T04:08:00.000-07:00

This week's charrette was supposed to focus on natural disasters, but as we looked around us we found an unnatural disaster. The Genocide in Darfur was much more devastating in our minds. 2.5 million people have been driven from their homes by the Janjaweed, a government sponsored militia group. Nearly all women and girls living in the Darfur region have been raped, or know some one who has. The Janjaweed constantly harrasse and terrorize these people, burning entire towns, some times allowing the inhabitants to escape, sometimes not.

The woefully inadequate refugee camps are not safe either. They are usually surrounded by government soldiers, and are frequently attacked. To avoid both, refugees must be highly mobile. Sacrifices are made for that mobility. Families no longer have beds, or kitchens, clothes or homes. Instead, crude lean-to structures are erected with little permanence or sanctuary.

Originally I had played with the idea inspired by my little umbrella. Folded up, it is roughly eight inches long, but when I open it, it is a full size umbrella. I played with this idea, making a large umbrella frame with a detachable wall. It was quick and easy to set up or break down and would be light enough to carry.

When we got into our groups we starting discussing community and family. I realized that while my umbrella idea met the portability criteria, it didn't address family and culture. A structure large enough to accommodate a family wasn't going to be portable by donkey or on foot, so I decided to make smaller individual units that come together to make the whole. To address these specific issues of community and portability I developed what I call a 'House Pod.' Each house pod is like a large camping tent with two doors which can be linked to each other to form the more traditional Sudanese floor plan which includes a large courtyard in the center and seperate rooms for men and women. Light, flexible aluminum poles slip through grommets in the coated nylon shell, the tent is then anchored by stakes and connected to other tents to form a circle with a center courtyard. To break down, the pods are disconnected, the poles are removed and folded into shorter lengths, the nylon is rolled around the poles to create a lightweight package easily carried by an individual.

N.B. PowerPoint presentation is in the digital drop box

Small Talk

2008-09-14T12:59:00.000-07:00

Bamboo-zled

2008-09-10T07:37:00.000-07:00

There are very few limitations when building a better bus shelter. As long as there is some sort of horizontal surface to sit on, and another to shield from the elements, the sky is the limit. We sat down together and decided on a few issues we wanted to address in our bus shelter. Primarily we wanted to respect the landscaping around the Weatherspoon Art Museum by not competing with the natural beauty of the trees and lawn. We also wanted our shelter to be functional. A beautiful sculptural bus stop looks nice, but it doesn't serve the community very well. Our last goal was to make our structure sustainable.
Our proposed use of bamboo as primary building material fulfilled two of our requirements. By keeping our structure simple in style and the materials natural, our shelter adds to the existing environment instead of competing with it. Bamboo is also a highly sustainable and durable building material, therefore keeping our initial impact to the environment minimal and keeping maintenance costs to a minimum.
We approached the challenge of functionality by addressing protection from the elements. Louvered walls open and close to adapt to changing weather conditions. If there is rain coming down at a slant, one side may be closed to keep the shelter dry while still allowing air to circulate, an important feature on hot muggy days. If it is beautiful out, open all the louvers to keep an open airy feeling.

Prepositions and a Bus Shelter

2008-09-09T10:13:00.000-07:00

Within the space of the bus shelter are smaller positive and negative spaces. The green supports enclose and define the space, while the glass allows for a more open feeling.

In between the bench and the east wall of the structure. This space is a void that has been rendered useless by the placement of the benches. If the benches were moved further to the sides there would be enough space to accommodate a wheel chair, as it stands now, a wheel chair cannot fit comfortably in the shelter.

While this is not directly a part of the bus shelter, I feel it is important because of its similarities to the shelter. It has the same strong verticals that define and enclose, but also open areas that do not necessarily confine the user.

Above the shelter

In front of the shelter

Axonometric and plan views of the shelter.

Around the shelter people disembark and board the park and ride bus.

My, What Big Wheels You Have!

2008-09-05T09:40:00.000-07:00

Millions of people ride a bus every day all across the country, but I somehow found the experience intimidating. I've ridden subways both domestically and abroad with no problem, but I've never managed to figure out a bus system. Dave took me with him on a short ride up Battleground Rd. since I wasn't sure I could successfully navigate my way back.
After reading The Sit-Ins Begin I viewed my ride through a more racial lens. On the just over half full bus we rode, there was one other white person there. What most people had in common (and I exclude the apparently homeless and the street preacher here) was that they were going to low paying jobs. A two were going to Wendy's and another one was headed (ironically enough) to a car dealership. This made me wonder why these people were on the bus. Certainly there were white people who worked with them, why don't they take the bus? Probably because they have cars. Which begged the question, why, if a black person and a white person work the same job is the black person on the bus and the white person in their own car. Now, the answer could simply be that the black person is smart and saves money (and the environment) by riding a bus, but I doubt it.
Dave explained to me that he is lucky that the bus is so convenient for him. He gets on outside our apartment, and gets off in front of his store. He doesn't have to transfer anywhere or walk more that 30 ft. Not everyone else finds the bus so convenient. He told me that some people need to take two or three buses to get to their destination which can take two hours or more, yet other people, like me, can't even get to their destination at all. If I wanted to take the bus to work, I would have to walk about two miles on New Garden Rd. with no sidewalk or shoulder and cars speeding sometimes in excess of 45mph. I wonder why this is. Why are buses so inconvenient? What part of the planning process went wrong? More importantly, how do we make it better?

8- O

2008-09-01T10:45:00.000-07:00

This week was like a slap in the face. "Wake up! Summer is over!" By the end of day two I was questioning if I could cut it this year. Happily, by the end of the week, I felt better.
Professors threw it all at us at once. 10-25 (and it better not be 10!) drawings, a group project by Friday, plus a chair card, and three views of another chair, a 5 drawing scavenger hunt, a 12"x18" drawing involving shadow, and don't forget your Emerson and Wordsworth readings for your literature class! Somehow it all happened. That is the way it is here. We shout at each other for a while, but then in the end the project gets laid out and we are friends, more or less, again. We (okay, I) freak out at all the work, but then I get started, I make a line, and then another and another and I get it finished.

I Did It My Way

2008-08-27T11:44:00.000-07:00

As I found my way to the Triad Stage, the landmarks that stood out the most to me were not the brightest or boldest buildings or scenes, but rather the ones that, to me, had a story. This Grey building is on the corner diagonally across from my apartment. It is a gloomy building that reminds me of a crouching toad, but when I first moved here it was the landmark that told me to turn right to get home.

This house was once a condemned eyesore stuck between two stately old homes. Some one purchased it from the city last spring and has been working diligently to repair it and make it beautiful again.

I remember this sign so distinctly only because I think it needs to be moved. This sign blocks the view as you try to turn left onto Market St. from Adams St. To see around it, you have to pull forward until you are nearly blocking the intersection, and making it awkward for people turning left off of Market St.

When I was out looking for an apartment last year, I saw this old house and wanted to live there. It had such beautiful southern charm and was near to the campus. Sadly, I sa

w no 'for rent' signs out front and had no idea who to contact. After I rented a different apartment and moved in, I always looked at this house as I drove by, trying to imagine the interior and who lived there. Then one day I noticed that the only people I saw there were throughly disreputable looking old men sitting on the porch cat-calling girls who walked by.

This apartment building stands out to me for one simple reason: it looks like every other building on the Miami University (Oxford, Ohio) campus. I was constantly lost there my first year. All the buildings looked the same except for some small detail, but if approached from a different route and that detail wasn't visible a person could walk right on by.

Further down Market St. is the YMCA. It stands out to me as the line where you really start to get into the heart of downtown. After you pass the YMCA all the buildings are much closer together and much larger. It is the signal that you are 'almost there.'

I still don't know what this building is for, but there has been much speculation. Some seem to think it is a government building. I thought it was for AT&T. Some one else told me it was part of a TV station, and others that it housed servers and computers. Whatever its purpose, without windows it seems a scary place!

BB&T became a landmark for me because it is my bank. If I drive downtown, I usually stop here and get a little cash and then continue around the corner and park.

Parking garages are usually pretty easy to find. This one more so. There is a green sign declaring it a parking deck, and the left turn only lane makes it even more accessible.

Parking decks are featureless structures, generally speaking, so signage and other signals must be plentiful. I passed by three separate signs showing which street was where and what direction one should go. At each door is an exit sign, a light to guide you, and a window within the door to help guide you through.

The bright orange-red railing against the drab concrete stood out as a clear line to follow down to the street.

There is so much happening on Elm St. that it is hard sometimes to pick out exactly which building you need. The Triad Stage has an art deco sign that blends in until you are almost right on top of it. I imagine that at night, when the theatre is open, it is easy to pick out with all its lights moving vertically up the building when most other lights appear to move horizontally with the street.

The windows in front of the theatre angle in at the doors to help guide you in. Before you are even through the door you are enveloped by light from the interior and made welcome by the building.