Daniel Widlowski: CV + Portfolio 2011

DANIEL WIDLOWSKI dwidlowski@gmail.com

CV + PORTFOLIO 2011 BArCH - California Polytechnic State University

3786 DUNFORD WAY SANTA CLARA, CA 95051 DWIDLOWSKI @ GMAIL.COM 408.506.0172

DANIEL WIDLOWSKI BARCH - CALIFORNIA POLYTECHNIC STATE UNIVERSITY

INTENTION TRAINING

To further develop within the field of architecture by joining a design team.

HIGHER

CALIFORNIA POLYTECHNIC STATE UNIVERSITY

SAN LUIS OBISPO, CA

PRESIDENTS LIST SCHOLAR RECIEVED “HONORABLE MENTION” IN FINAL 5TH YEAR THESIS SHOW PROFESSIONAL DEGREE IN ARCHITECTURE ARCHITECTURE GPA: 3.84 OVERALL GPA: 3.47

THE PANTHEON INSTITUTE

ROME, IT 2009 PUBLISHED IN “BORGO ABRUZZO PROJECT”, A STUDY IN RENEWED URBAN SPACE IN MEDIEVAL VILLAGES

FALL/WINTER

PRACTICE

SUMMER 2008

DGA ARCHITECTS

SAN FRANCISCO, CA

[ARCHITECTURE/DESIGN INTERN] CONSTRUCT STUDY MODELS AND FINAL MODELS FOR CLIENT PRESENTATION LAYOUT GRAPHICS FOR PRESENTATION MATERIALS AND LEED CERTIFICATION POSTERS, AS WELL AS MANIPULATE RENDERINGS FOR CLIENTS

RESEARCH

ALTERNATIVE METHODS OF UTILIZING SITE FEATURES FOR LESSENING THE ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT OF PROJECTS 2009-2011

CAL POLY ARCHITECTURE DEPT

SAN LUIS OBISPO, CA

[DIGITALFABRICATION LAB TECHNICIAN] LEAD TECHNICIAN OF LAB PROMOTE THE APPROPRIATE USE OF DIGITAL TECHNOLOGY WITHIN THE ACADEMIC CONTEXT ASSIST STUDENTS WITH THEIR QUESTIONS REGARDING COMPUTER PROGRAMS AS WELL AS CAPABILITIES OF FABRICATION MACHINES MARCH 2011

SITU STUDIO [INTERN]

JUNE-JULY 2011

BROOKLYN, NY

ASSISTED WITH BOTH DIGITAL AND VENICE BIENNALE IN JUNE 2010

PHYSICAL FABRICATION OF AN INSTALLATION AT THE

CAL POLY SUMMER CAREER WORKSHOP

SAN LUIS OBISPO, CA

[TEACHING ASSISTANT] ORGANIZED AND RAN A STUDIO WITH 15 HIGH SCHOOL STUDENTS INTERESTED IN DESIGN, INCLUDING DIGITAL AND ANALOG PROJECTS AS WELL AS INTRODUCTORY DESIGN CONCEPTS

TOOLING

HAAS 3-AXIS CNC MILL X-660 LASER CUTTER MICROSCRIBE DIGITIZER

MIG WELDING TRADITIONAL WOODSHOP TOOLING METHODS

DIGITAL

MODELING

RENDERING

RHINOCEROS 3D GRASSHOPPER (RHINO) KANGAROO ECOTECT SOLAR MAYA REVIT (BASIC) 3DS MAX

CAPACITY

*

VRAY MAXWELL 2.0 MENTAL RAY

PERIPHERY

AUTO-CAD RHINOCAM 2 MICROSOFT OFFICE

BOOK LAYOUT/PUBLISHING GRAPHIC DESIGN VIDEO COMPOSITING/EDITING CRITICAL THINKING PHOTOGRAPHY PROFESSIONAL WRITING

Full Hi-Res Portfolio

www.issuu.com/dwidlowski/docs/dwidlowski-portfolio

ADOBE CS5

PHOTOSHOP ILLUSTRATOR INDESIGN FLASH AFTER EFFECTS PREMIERE PRO

Portfolio 2011

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Live Design Center Thesis Project San Francisco, California

18-25

Parametric Wood Construction Systems Research San Luis Obispo, California

26-35

Trashold : Threshold Studio Project Rome, Italy

36-39

G-Chair Furniture Vellum Furniture Competition

40-45

Research* Turbulence Transformations Tactile Response Adaptive Solutions

*A Note On Authorship: All research was conducted using definitions that were compiled by the author. All too often, scripts are downloaded and passed off as one’s own, without acknowledgement of the source code. While other people’s scripts can certainly be useful in gaining understanding of the tool, it is important to understand the applicability of a script only goes as far as the intent in its creation. To circumvent the pitfall of having research depend on the limitations of another’s definition, the author has been diligent in creating and utilizing unique scripts for specific needs.

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Live Design Center Location: San Francisco, California Date: Fall 2010-Spring 2011 Advisor: Karen Lange Abstract: Through incorporating public museum with privatized design resources, the project attempts to reconcile the material world with its users by providing a place that expresses and breeds better consumer goods.

Program: Professional quality design, research, and fabrication facilities, coupled with a living museum of industrial design. Additional public program includes a restaurant, retail space, several lounges, and galleries, as well as a small theater.

Overall Strategy: The project undertakes three coherent and codependent tasks: provide the infrastructure for technical-creative projects, present the artifacts that we use in our everyday lives in a compelling way, and extend the waterfront development of the Embarcadero south of the site. The site, located directly underneath the Bay Bridge, is bound by a unique edge and envelope condition. The envelope is limited by the static height of the bridge, while the bottom of the membrane is constantly in flux with the tide. This leads to a unique strategy that aims to reclaim the waterfront view while utilizing the often wasted space below the raised plane of the pier, while lifting the bulk of the program above this new public layer. The gallery then acts as a link back to the city, focusing public involvement in the project.

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Opposite: Exterior rendering showing view from ferry terminal Left: Exploded program diagram, showing relationship of respective elements to each other and atrium.

The program becomes enabled by the shared capacities of the users: the public and design professionals.

“Construction for the needs of teaching and research serves two basic human needs: the desire for new insights and the creation of a place where people have a sense of belonging. Today, architecture has to cover a wide range of research activities and provide many different building types, from laboratories, libraries and auditoriums to dining halls and specialized spaces for all kinds of disciplines.”

-Dieter Gromling, A Typology of Research Buildings

Right: Exploded floor plans, including plaza level, showing relationship of vertical access between floors.

6 Top: Cross section relationships were explored to develop cohesion between usable floor area and egress requirements, and to understand spatial arrangements as the “courtyard” is stretched across multiple floors.

Below Left: Zoning ordinances within the bohemian SOMA district of San Francisco, the most diverse in the city in terms of live/work/culture block relationships.

Below Right: Transportation Infrastructure along the Embarcadero, which is serviced by all 5 major networks.

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Above: Cross section.

Below Left: Diagram depicting the relocation of street level program to maximize public views along the Embarcadero, and take advantage of interstitial space below the pier.

Below Right: Progression of site treatment from present condition to final design.

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The plaza serves as both an extension of the city edge, and a manufactured tide pool system based on research into the tidal action of the bay (see research section). Its formal properties are derived from uid dynamics and necessity of certain structural elements to work with the open plaza concept.

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As the spatial affect of the atrium core started to take shape, a more micro wall section was used to determine how systems might be implemented within the interstitial space as well as the scale of the atrium’s pillows.

Opposite: Section Perspective illustrating the proximity of multiple program elements and systems Right: Micro wall section Below: Elevations The skin system is comprised of five unique panels, arranged in different positions within each major strip, allowing for material efficiency through standardization, while still giving each facade a unique pattern.

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Atrium Circulation and Program

The atrium serves as a vertical expression of the organic plaza below, offering circulation in an indoor/outdoor environment, with larger areas also serving as museum program. The circulation consists of a stair and escalator connection to public elements. This consists of: 1. Forum for interactive feedback between design groups and museum public. This allows users of future products from the factory to play an active role in the design and refinement of consumer goods.

2. Sky Gallery for watching in real time the production and assembly of artifacts that have been designed in-house, in the labs above the production facility.

3. Restaurant with prominent views of the bay and beyond through the “aperture.”

Above: Study models used to work through circulation issues and explore connection to the city Opposite: Interior rendering looking through “aperture” to bay beyond with gallery and atrium in the foreground.

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Mechanical/ETFE Cycle

The daily operation cycle of the building is actively observed by the inflating or deflating of ETFE pillows with a passive frit system. As the machinery in the building is used throughout the day, the atrium core actually “breathes” allowing both light and views across the space. A visual connection between museum and production is dependent on the machinery in use.

ETFE Passive Frit

When the pillows are inflated at full capacity, they are almost completely transparent, allowing visual communication across atrium 1. As the different machines are in use, different patterns of open and closed pillows emerge 2. As the building shuts down for the day, the pillows deflate, sealing off light and visual access in the atrium 3.

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The pillows in the atrium correspond to different machinery based on the size of the production equipment relative to the size of the pillow. The equipment is generic, with no protocol for specific machines, however there will always be a scale by which the ETFE pillows could be mapped to distinct parts of the production oor.

In addition, many of the testing machines from the oor above could also be used to alter the state of the pillows, allowing the system to span multiple agencies in the production process.

ETFE Pillow Mapping

Due to the nature of the atrium master surface, the pillow sizes vary across the core, allowing a diverse distribution of pillow-machine relationships.

The topmost part of the atrium, as well as the subterranean portion are comprised of fixed, continuously open pillows, to maintain adequate light in the computer labs and upper atrium.

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Structural Systems

Left: Exploded axonometric of primary building components.

Middle: Ponding of the manufactured tide pool system. Just as the building “breathes” daily, the tide pools are constantly in flux as the daily tides reveal and fill the fluid landscape.

Right: Exploded axonometric of major structural components. Because of the bottom primary transfer truss, the entire building is able to be lofted with only 3 cores supplying most of the support, and additional columns helping achieve seismic stability.

Opposite: Approach perspective along the Embarcadero at high tide.

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16 Birds eyes perspective looking into library reading room.

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Parametric Wood Location: San Luis Obispo, California Date: Winter 2011 Advisor: Mark Cabrinha Brief: This research seminar focused on contemporary timber fabrication and long-span structures enabled through new digital techniques and fabrication methodologies. I was a member on a team that focused on gridshells specifically. From the syllabus: Gridshells rely on very specific constant curvature to create a shell structure that is comprised of thin elements. Core to gridshells of all kinds is a balance between form-finding and the pattern of geodesic curves that sit on the surface (a geodesic curve is the shortest distance between two points on a surface). This research team will take on a three part strategy: surface relaxation or form-finding through physics plug-ins to Grasshopper (Kangaroo and/or Geometry Gym), understanding of geodesics and parametrically defining their lattice-like pattern, and finally parametrically defining the multi-layer lath offsets including their thickness, depth, and joints.

Strategy: I was the only member on the team that knew Grasshopper, so I fell into the role of digital work.

The renderings and grasshopper definitions along with most of the final layout are my work, with my teammates helping out wherever possible. I also constructed one of the models.

For deliverables, the team decided to illustrate the capabilities of these techniques as a design tool. An iterative matrix, showing the diversity of the parameters of the gridshell, became the main display, along with two physical models of gridshells whose cut files were laid out parametrically, and a number of renderings for design intent purposes.

More Information at: http://parametricwood2011.wordpress.com/

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Process

Top Left: Physics Tests in Kangaroo.

Top Right: The geodesic function in Grasshopper, and how unstable it can be.

Middle Row: Beginning to define geometry from the geodesic curve. Including the end condition.

Middle Right: True gridshells are 100% material efficient with respect to the timber. If you were to lay a lath flat, it would be a straight segment, joined from multiple pieces of timber. Here, segments “baked” from the parametric model lie straight.

Bottom: The final grasshopper definitions for both the 3-D laths and the cut files for fabrication.

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1. Base Geometry

2. Geodesics

3. 4 Layers of Laths

4. Pinning the Intersections

5. Differencing the Pins

6. Layout Cut sheets and Label

Top: Procedure for procuring the cut sheets from the base geometry. These are then lasercut and assembled with only mechanical fasteners. (SEE FOLLOWING SPREAD) Bottom Right: Base surfaces for iterative matrix. Only 1 of the 8 final surfaces are shown (SEE OPPOSITE) Bottom Left: Construction details for end condition and lath joint.

Opposite: Matrix depicting iterations using different constraints that are input into the definition.

PERSPECTIVE

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PLAN

ELEVATION

22 Spread: Model images from physical prototypes, both canopy and enclosure.

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Above: Perspective rendering in snow park.

Opposite: Perspective rendering in industrial setting.

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trasHolD : tHresHolD Location: Rome, Italy Date: Fall 2009 Advisor: Tom Rankin Program: Urban recycling center located along the Tiber River focused on altering the current consumption culture in Rome. The program underlined four main components: waste storage and reclamation, retail, a public pavilion, and public green space.

Strategy: An exploration into the urban fabric of one of the worlds most ancient cities, the project began with a macro analysis of the current waste infrastructure in Rome. From there, an exploration of the specific “retail” program ended in a design charrette that focused on the interactions between user and waste at the micro scale. Further site analysis prompted a concept of connectivity, stemming from the dependent relationship Rome shares with its lifeline, the Tiber River. This concept helped solidify project goals moving into further development including the use of “Möbius” circulation paths, which serve to blur the line between program elements. A respect for the current context, specifically the Arsenal completed in the 17th century, guided site placement, as well as access points and views. Infrastructure systems were integrated into the proposal, including pedestrian circulation, journey of waste from home to retail stacks, water runoff from building, and overall life-cycle of site.

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3.3 km PIAZZA DEL POPOLO 1 km TRASTEVERE STATION 2 km PANTHEON/PIAZZA NAVONA 2.8 km COLOSSEUM 1.2 km TIBER ISLAND 3.2km VATICAN

Top: Interior view towards historic context. Aerial view of site complex.

Middle: Site rendering depicting location within Rome, along the Urban VIII wall, used historically to protect the Vatican. Distances are described to key locations near the site and within Rome.

Bottom: Nolli map depicting site in 1748.

ROME’S UNSORTED WASTE

Ring Road

Historic Center

Rocca Cencia

28 Ponte Malnom

-Converts dry waste to energy -Converts wet waste to soil conditioner -750 ton-per-day capacity

-Hospital Waste Incinerator -Energy Recovery System -Treats 100 tons per day

Malagrotta

Pomezia

-Largest landfill in European Union -Nearing capacity -4000 tons per day

-Sorts 70 tons per day

Via Rocca Cencia

Via di Malagrotta

Maccarese Via dell 'Olmazzeto

-Composting Plant -Produces organic soil to be used in agriculture -88 ton treatment capacity

Via Luigi Bonedetto Montella

Via Laurentina

Platform Intermodal Roma Ostiense Ponte Galeria

-Transports waste by rail to Malagrotta -Transports 300 tons per day

Housing

S. Maria in Capella, 6

Top: Analysis of waste traffic. Solid waste travels large distances before sorting. Different waste types are individually dealt with.

Below Left: Study models of storage “stacks”, from design charrette.

Below Right: Early site models incorporating design charrette.

Bottom: Final trash flow diagram, depicting building systems used to actively sort waste and categorize resalable goods.

FROM RIVE R

FROM STREET STACKS LIFT STORAGE

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STRUCTURAL FRAME RECYCLED GLASS

STEEL GRATE

WATER BASIN

Above: Cross section through stacks, illustrating projected circulation, and plaza water basin.

Below: Perspective views of storage stacks.

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Site Section 0

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Möbius

Site circulation concept: bringing connectivity to disparate parts of the site through the oblique plaza.

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sun

ligh

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“Stack” circulation connects the programmatic needs of the retail section with the open circulation of a Möbius, and enhanced user experience.

incr eas

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Public movement informed many critical design decisions, e.g., the sloping plaza under the circulation “stacks”, and the blending of program zones to create interactions. The idea of a “Möbius” of circulation drives the user to navigate the retail stacks indefinitely, placing the emphasis on the utilization of the site as an outlet for “waste.” The “stack” itself if formed by combining floor plates into one zone of commerce browsing.

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Exploded Axonometric: The retail program comprises the “stacks.” The bottom most part of the expanded floor plate is projected onto the plaza, completing the Möbius outside the enclosed space, within the public realm. This connects the plaza and the structure, completing the loop.

CANOPY

ENCLOSURE

STRUCTURAL FRAME

STACKS

MOBEUS CIRC.

PROJECTED CIRC.

PLAZA

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Site Plan 0

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2nd Floor Plan 0

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40

120

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Top/Bottom: Perspective views of the approach and interior public program.

34 Environmental Tactics: Rainwater collection, solar energy harvesting, on site compost, and natural ventilation through roof slats.

PHOTOVOLTAICS

CATCHMENT AREA

CONVEYANCE SYSTEM

RAINWATER

FILTRATION/STORAGE

DISTRIBUTION

LOW OVERF

35 t

ligh

sun

photovoltaics

1.

2.

3.

4.

BCN

IRRIGATION IRRIGATION

IRRIGATION

COMPOST

NYC

FILTERED

UNFILTERED

GREEN CHANNEL METAL GRILL CATCH BASIN PLAZA DRAINAGE

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g-CHair Location: San Luis Obispo, California Date: Fall 2010 Vellum Furniture Competition Brief: Named after the code generated from the digital file for the CNC, this chair was an exploration into processes of production, fabrication, and form finding coupled with material transfers and properties. The focus was the process through which conception became realization, with an emphasis on digital tools, and the way they can collect and utilize data from analog systems. Craft became an important focus, as the absolute precision of fabrication tools required a certain level of foresight when planning the logistics of the analog artifacts. Ultimately the exercise proved not only the ease of merging digital with analog, but also the capability of deploying a method that begins with the tangible, transferring through the virtual, and delivering again a material artifact.

This chair paralleled my thesis research on fabrication as a method of skill centered reason in both design and culture at large, and was a way for me to push the limits of the CNC machine’s perceived capabilities, not necessarily in terms of actual limitations, but instead utilizing new tactics to gain increased agency of use. As is the case when methods of production get complex, the final output seems sleek, and awless, i.e. brand new cars, and electronic devices, yet the knowledge of the complicated processes behind these artifacts is lost in the culture of consumption. An exploration into the limits of subtractive manufacturing, coupled with material feedback, provided the concept for a simple, sleek chair.

Material: Rock Maple taken from recycled architecture desk circa 1978 Steel

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from physical artifact to digital object

A plaster mold was formed to the unique geometry of the user. Points were then digitized to create a deformed grid. Various iterations are explored using different values of sampling before a final surface is chosen for further development. The backrest is pulled up from the curve of the seat. A simple frame is bent and welded, then measured to allow connection details to be added to the cut file. The mill process involved four ip mills, before final hand work could begin. The final chair went from plaster mold to Vellum showroom in 6 days.

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Above: Images from completed chair.

Opposite Bottom: Process images from workshop.

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researCH: tUrBUlenCe stUDies Rhino + Grasshopper Date: Winter 2011 Advisor: Karen Lange Paralleling thesis site research, I conducted a series of turbulence studies to understand the topological development of terrain through natural forces such as tides. My thesis site, located in the San Francisco Bay off of the Embarcadero, informed explorations about the forces of water acting on land masses nearby.

After observing the water movement firsthand, I decided to abstractly explore the development of a topology through force attractions and repulsions based on the path of water as the tide moves in and out of the bay.

These studies, while abstract, and certainly formal, can begin to develop a vocabulary that would help drive more directed and articulate plaza development as the project progresses. The chosen site has a unique envelope condition, as the Bay Bridge passes above overhead, solidifying all sides except for the water, which is in constant flux. The envelope flux became the basis for these turbulence studies.

Five vectors were extracted from fluid studies of the bay, and inserted into a field of points that deformed themselves around the lines. The points were then used to create the surfaces shown. After “baking” the geometry from Grasshopper, it was milled out of foam for more thorough and detailed analysis. The milled surfaces are discrete from the digital surfaces, as the toolpath procedure removes overlap and malformed surfaces, a type of cleansing feedback. The final surfaces exhibit similar properties to actual tidal patterning observed nearby.

Above: Six layers from the digital generation, milled and finished.

Right: Surfaces generated through the lines.

Opposite: Turbulence lines, mill lines, and final milled artifact.

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researCH: taCtile resPonses Grasshopper + Arduino Micro Controller Date: Fall 2010 Advisor: Karen Lange This research was conducted in conjunction with my thesis writings, exploring the use of live models as a way to garner material feedback, thus applying engaged agency in cognitive processes. The model further served to help understand material capabilities, and the imbalance of digital representation with material execution.

The live model also reveals in real time how movement and energy can act upon a material, through user input.

I wanted to compare how a real material responded to fluctuating control points, and how the corresponding surface in the computer would react. After setting up the model I chose a material that can stretch in two directions simultaneously (in this case panty hose) to most accurately reflect the initial digital model. The micro controller was assembled so that a force sensor would direct both the live model and the digital representation, in order for real time observation and manipulation to occur.

I determined from the data that the two systems will never line up, mainly due to the digital models ability to “rebuild” itself instantaneously, while the real material will degrade and deform permanently, the more cycles of movement it is subjected to.

Experiment Setup: 1. Force Sensor → Code Interface. A value 1-800 is sent via cable.

2. Code Interface utilizes script to convert the value into a number 1-180.

3. Code Interface → Micro Controller. The new value is sent to the micro controller, as well as data on how to use that value.

4. Micro Controller → Servo. The value 1-180 is then used by the servo as a indicator of degree of rotation.

5. Servo → Material Swatch. Four arms attached to the servo move the four control points of the material swatch. As the servo rotates, the arms change position, altering the material.

Opposite: Stepped degree values showing differences in surface composure. Surface also showed signs of degradation after repeated forces applied to sensor, resulting in quick successive action on the material.

material swatch

servo

43 0째

90째

180째

270째

code interface

force sensor

micro controller

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researCH: aDaPtive solUtions Rhino + Grasshopper Date: Jan - Feb 2009 Advisor: Mark Cabrinha This research was the first attempt at learning and exploring the use of Grasshopper as a design tool, well before the improved data management features. Its premise however, while extremely simple to replicate today, is still relevant in our material conscience economy.

[1]

“Representation: modelling :: modelling : versioning While simulation remains a useful formal estimate of future organizational strategies, versioning of vectorbased information allows immediate results to be transformed and refined as the previous tests feed additional data through the framework of intentionality. Both the desired design objectives and methodology thereby become simultaneously accelerated and adaptive.�

-SHoP Architects

[2]

To what extent can a parametric tool such as Grasshopper allow new strategies of form optimization to be explored en mass? How can the pure power of a computer be combined with a designers intuitive nature about material consumption to create a process that harmoniously produces the most viable versions of form?

Below: Variations in form were determined using four law curves, whose control points were manipulated parametrically.

Right: Sectioning along a curved object becomes suspect as the form grows outward. By sectioning along the normal to a vector, which is linked to a geometry in Rhinoceros, manipulating the allocation of material simply becomes a matter of altering the vector, and watching the subsequent sections respond. A straight line yields jagged edges at areas of increased curvature [1], while a more extreme curve causes the sections to intersect at the outermost region [2]. When a form is chosen for further development [3], fabrication begins with cutting individual sections on the CNC. A jig was also cut on the CNC to allow the all-thread rod to be formed to the correct curvature [opposite top].

Opposite: Final prototype model. Made from .25� plywood, assembly was a matter of sliding on individual sections to the preformed all thread, followed by aluminum spacers, to achieve the correct geometry.

[3]

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[#10-24 all thread]

[1/4 mdf sheet]

[cnc groove]