Arch 200 Projects

Arch 200 Exercise 1

This first model of Architecture 200 (aka studio) was really simplistic in retrospect. We had a site, 48'x32' on which we were supposed to build a Buddhist temple using only 4'x4', 4'x6', 4'x8' and 4'x10' planar elements. We were supposed to orient the site in such a way that the sun rising from the east hits the Buddhist in the face in the temple each morning.

It was not just a matter of building the temple, we had to make the temple engaged to the site. The idea was to create an overall scheme, rather than just an object stuck in a field. My general idea was to have a public area and a private area with a processional connecting the two. The public area is the space directly in front of the covered walkway. Then, naturally, the private area is the other space in front of the hut itself, which is the building with the large, overhanging roof. The processional/covered walkway area is designed as to give the person a sort of sensory-depravation sort of experience. Between the panels the Buddhist will be able to sneak peeks of the sun, but not until they round the last wall and enter in to the hut will they be met with *bam* sun! At least that is the idea, the application doesn't work that well because of the limited building supplies, but hopefully you get the general idea.

Arch 200 Exercise 2

The second exercise of Arch 200 was a site with a raised portion on one side where we needed to construct an art gallery. There had to be a 10'x10'x10' and a 10'x10'x15' gallery space, the site was 30'x45' with a berm 10' tall by 9' wide on one side. Instead of planes we had 280 linear feet of timber to use. We could cut it to any length we pleased. The goal of the project was to adequately describe both spaces and have the buildings engage the site (the berm specifically).

With this project I placed both galleries on one side, with the larger one connected to the berm (this saved a lot of lumber). The entrance was located between the galleries, and the remainder of the space was a courtyard. With this project we were exploring the concept of 'poché' ('thickness'), I tried to make it work by using the doubled members on the roof of the courtyard.

Arch 200 Exercise 3

With each exercise we get thrown a new part that makes it more complicated than the last. With this one, we got to use planes and lines (isn't that awesome?). For this we had a site, 48'x36' with a berm on two sides at 8' wide and 12' high. The pieces we could use were 9 planes 12'x6', eight 16' boards, eight 12', twelve' and twenty 6'. With this pile of supplies we had to define a building 12'x12'x16' for Henry David Thoreau to think transcendental thoughts on, and of course keep all the poché, hierarchy, and engage the site by making the building a part of the site rather than an object in it.

I created a pretty straight-forward platform that connected to a trellis system in the open area. I created a circulation space along the long side of the berm and used the doubled sticks to create thickness. Overall I was happy with it, but the trellis system became a sort of 'shopping mall', or so my studiomates joked.

Arch 200 Exercise 4

The last of the exercise series allowed for the most creativity. This project was a studio for an artist located on a sloping site. The dimensions were much larger at 60'x40' sloping from 0' to 20' along the long side. This 30 degree angle was the most critical part that had to be integrated with the design, along with a 24'x8'x16' prism that made up the studio space.

The first thing I decided to do was to make the gallery stick way out over the site to make it seem like it was floating. I came up with the idea to create a cantilevered structure that was reflected below in the trellis of the courtyard space. I was really pretty happy with how this project turned out in the end. Unfortunately, I had to stay up all night to finish it on time, mostly because I am very careful in the way in which I construct my models.

Arch 200 Project 1

Following what could be considered the 'warm-up exercises' for Architecture 200 we were given a project that had real-life applications. The school owns several properties around the campus area, a few of them being older houses that were donated by the owners' estates. One of them has been converted into a sort of group-function building called the Alumni House. Directly across from the Alumni House is a large, sunken field that used to have some ornamental gardens and a pond in it. It has sense just been turned into a lawn but the outline of the pond remains as does the steps on one side.

The project called for that site to hold 3 buildings for the Global and International Studies department of UWM. These buildings had to be specific sizes and contain certain features, but their orientation, dimension, and other variables were left entirely up to us. Also, with each building (object) it had to be associated with an open area (space) that reflected what the building had.

I chose to put the two smaller buildings in the sunken area connected by trellised walkways and then flood the remaining area with water. The larger building is up on the raised area with the entrance courtyards on both sides. The north side is the student entrance - the one closes to campus. The south side is the closest to Lincoln Memorial Drive and Lake Park, making it the public entrance. The wide area between the buildings is a smaller gathering space and the peninsula off of the medium building would be considered an 'intimate' gathering space.

Arch 200 Project 2

This continued project one with the same site and requirements, with some added direction. Originally the requirements called for bathrooms and a kitchenette in the larger building, but it was decided that all of the buildings should have bathrooms and kitchens. This made all of the buildings larger and was harder to keep the building's grid together.

For project 2 instead of building a model we had to do a series of drawings. These included a Plan (overhead), Section (cut-through) and an Axonametic (perspective, 3D) drawing. They were done on 24"x36" sheets of vellum (rag paper), and should have been a snap, but it was amazing just how long it takes to put little lines on paper.  Even by staying up all night and starting plenty early I still didn't quite finish all of the requirements (shadows) but it looks way better without it.

Arch 200 Project 3

The third project for Arch 200 was intended to bring all of the parts that we worked on all semester together into a final model. For this, we took a chunk of a façade of one building and construct it in a giant ½" = 1' scale. Constructed out of basswood, it cost over $100 for supplies (some people spent more like 200) and took two consecutive all-nighters to finish, making it the most expensive both in time and money, but it turned out to be my best project.

The goal was to develop the façade and to learn how to construct the building in a way to make it work off of paper. I did not make many changes to my building from the plan I made with project 2, but I developed some details more like the mullions and louvers (screen).