Josh Myers - Architecture Portfolio

J O S H

M Y E R S

A R C H I T E C T U R E

P O R T F O L I O

E D U C A T I O N +U N I V E R S I T Y

O F

+K E N T

U N I V E R S I T Y

M I C H I G A N

TAUBMAN COLLEGE OF ARCHITECTURE AND URBAN PLANNING Master of Architecture (2019-2021)

S TAT E

COLLEGE OF ARCHITECTURE AND ENVIRONMENTAL DESIGN Bachelor of Science in Architecture (2015-2019)

E M P L O Y M E N T +B O S T W I C K

D E S I G N

CLEVELAND, OHIO Designer Jun 2021 - current

PA R T N E R S H I P

Active in design efforts in all phases of production; coordinates communication with clients and engineers; apt in applying FGI regulations to space planning and patient experience

+TA U B M A N

C O L L E G E

ANN ARBOR, MICHIGAN Laser Lab Assistant Sep 2020 - Apr 2021

FA B L A B

Oversaw and performed basic maintenance on laser cutters for student use; conducted laser cutter training for students

+D L R

G R O U P

|

W E S T L A K E

CLEVELAND, OHIO Architecture Intern May 2020 - Aug 2020 and May 2019 - Aug 2019

R E E D

L E S K O S K Y

Aided with the production of renderings and physical models for various design pursuits; produced drawings for construction documents and RFIs

+K E N T

S TAT E

U N I V E R S I T Y

COLLEGE OF ARCHITECTURE AND ENVIRONMENTAL DESIGN KENT, OHIO Research Aide Sept 2018 - May2019 Aided Asst. Prof. Jean Jaminet with ongoing research projects; presented a collaborative research project at the ACSA Blackbox Conference in March 2018

A C T I V I T I E S +V I S U A L I Z AT I O N

C O A L I T I O N

BOSTWICK DESIGN PARTNERSHIP Dec 2021 - current

Producing physical models for firm projects and leading efforts to improve the capabilities of the firm to produce physical models using digital fabrication tools

+A M E R I C A N

ASSOCIATE MEMBER Jul 2021 - current

I N S T I T U T E

+I N V I T E D

G U E S T

+D E T R O I T

A R T S

KENT STATE UNIVERSITY CAED Asst. Prof. Jean Jaminet Dec 2021 GRANT RECIPIENT Jan 2021 - May 2021

O F

A R C H I T E C T S

J U R O R

E N G I N E

Selected along with the project team to fabricate a physical prototype for the Ann Arbor Public Wifi Collective project

+L O N G O

C O M P E T I T I O N

TAUBMAN COLLEGE OF ARCHITECTURE AND URBAN PLANNING Jul 2021 - Sept 2021 Third Place Overall A college-wide competition aimed at creating a pandemic-responsive design intervention that bridges between the University of Michigan Campus and the city of Ann Arbor

+WA R M I N G ARCH OUT LOUD Jul 2021 - Sept 2021 Honorable Mention

C O M P E T I T I O N

An international open design competition to address climate change through design.

+A M E R I C A N I N S T I T U T E O F A R C H I T E C T U R E S T U D E N T S KENT STATE UNIVERSITY Chapter Vice President and Advocacy Committee Chair May 2017 - May 2019

Initiated a Women in Architecture Round-Table and an Intern Round-Table Discussion; oversaw organization activities and consulted with the chapter president

[ I n t e r e s t e d i n a r c h i t e c t u r e ’s s o c i a l a n d m a t e r i a l r e l a t i o n s h i p t o a d j a c e n t f o r m s o f m e d i a a n d i n f r a s t r u c t u r e i n b o t h d i g i t a l a n d p h y s i c a l f o r m ] [ D e d i c a t e d t o u n p a c k i n g d i g i t a l m e d i a ’s i n f l u e n c e o n t h e w a y w e e x p e r i e n c e s p a c e a n d o u r i d e n t i t i e s ] [ P a s s i r e s e a r t o a c h a d a p t i u s e r s ]

o n a t e c h - d r i i e v e e v e r e s

a b o u t v e n p r a c t i c e f f e c t i v e y e t u l t s f o r e n d

AAPWC

pg. 06

SERVER_FARM

pg. 12

BUTTON MASH

pg. 16

OCULARITY

pg. 22

COMMON GROUND

pg. 34

C O N T E N T S

A N N A R B W I F I C O

+ A n n

A r b o r,

M i c h i g a n

+ P u b l i c

I n f r a s t r u c t u r e

+ L o n g o

C o m p e t i t i o n

+ S u m m e r

2 0 2 0

+ M e n t o r s : A s s o c .

P r o f . M c L a i n C l u t t e r ( T C A U P ) a n d P a u l D a n n a ( S O M ) + C r e d i t : N i c k B u t t o n a n d B r i a n P e k a r The Ann Arbor Public Wifi Collective is a proposal designed to address the growing disparity and urgency in internet access that has been exacerbated by the pandemic.

Targeting lower income and disadvantaged areas the project builds off of the existing local transit infrastructure to optimize and give new agency to a public service preparing for new use conditions. Bus shelters will be altered to house SuperNode antennas that can provide internet access to entire neighborhoods while providing safe coworking and waiting space for bus riders, while smaller bus stops serve as router distribution points on a new route through the city carried by a previously underutilized bus. These systems and others work to ensure equal access to urban spaces, infrastructures, and to the digital realities that are becoming increasingly significant in society.

+ L I N K T O P R O J E C T V I D E O http://tiny.cc/aapwc

O R P U B L I C O L L E C T I V E 7

T H E

P R O B L E M

In the United States, an unequal distribution of internet access has been a long-standing issue, which has been more problematic during the pandemic when internet traffic increased over 40%. As of 2018 at least 15% of American households had no access to the internet within their homes including broadband and cellular phone data plans, affecting communities that are generally economically disenfranchised. Ranking in the top ten for most segregated cities in the country, Ann Arbor and Washtenaw county are living case studies of what economic and racial disparity and segregation look like.

By providing a decentralized mesh network of local WiFi supernodes for specific areas of Ann Arbor, the project addresses the prevalent issue regarding access to WiFi that has been heightened by the pandemic, offering a responsive yet light intervention, building on existing public transit infrastructures to speak to the systemic disparity in WiFi access.

Ann Arbor Low Income Areas

1

Bus Stop + SuperNode

2 3 4 Ann Arbor Bus Stops in Low Income Areas 8

Bus Stop + Router Drop Off

Router

Buses + Digital Art

Infrastructure Interventions

B U S S T O P + S U P E R N O D E

The bus shelter is the most substantial, stationary piece of the local transit infrastructure. Because of these characteristics they will be altered to house SuperNode antennas that can provide access to entire neighborhoods.The bus shelters will also be outfitted with extended, distanced waiting space separated by curtains. These spaces can be used for regular bus stop seating or can be used as an outdoor socially-distanced work space, allowing members of the community to gather and work remotely or gather for small community purposes. Perforated metal surfaces are easy to sanitize, and in the future if social distancing is not necessary, the curtain can be pulled away.

SuperNode Locations

Bus Stop + SuperNode Antennae 9

B U S S T O P + R O U T E R D R O P

O F F

Located along the new bus route, router drop off points serve the local residents, allowing routers to easily be delivered by bus.

R O U T E R

Connecting single family homes to the mesh requires only a modified Raspbery Pi, which is provided by the community, and will be delivered prepackaged. Each unit comes at a small cost to each user, which would subsidize the cost of units for community members unable to afford one.

Router Drop Off Route

DIY Router Kit

Bus Stop + Router Drop Off 10

Bus and Bus Stop

B U S E S + D I G I TA L A R T

Promoting neighborhood and community exposure, the buses themselves will circulate not with corporate ads but with hyper local art and information. As a bus stops on the route its digital display boards will change to exhibit work of an artist local to that SuperNodes network. During its stop the bus will also project the new art onto the distancing curtain of the shelter, creating a momentary outdoor digital gallery. Buses Similar to the social distancing method for the bus stops, social distancing curtains will be used inside the buses themselves.

Bus Elevation with Digital Screens

Bus Section with Social Distancing Curtains 11

12

S E R V

+ Y t t e r o y,

N o r w a y

+ M i s s i o n

C r i t i c a l

+ Wa r m i n g + S u m m e r

C o m p e t i t o n 2 0 2 0

+ C r e d i t : H a l l i e S c h u l d a n d A n g e l i n a L a u d a t o Server_FARM combines a hydroelectric powered server farm, hydroponic greenhouses, and research labs to create an architectural system that sustainably processes digital data for global internet users, and utilizes server waste heat to support greenhouses that foster the growth of native kelp to restore diminishing kelp forests off the coast of Norway. Sited on the island of Ytterøy in Norway, the project is occupied by humans, servers, and kelp and envisions a future in which humans, technology, and ecology can conflate their complex networks to reduce hierarchy and operate toward a more sustainable and regenerative future.

A drastic inflation in internet traffic has proven that internet access and accessibility are becoming an increasingly essential part of everyday life for the global population. However, many people do not realize that behind the internet lies millions of square feet occupied by servers churning through data and information required to accommodate the millions of internet users. Additionally, on Norway’s eastern coast, warming ocean temperatures have depleted 8,000 square kilometers of native kelp forests.

These rich and dense kelp forests provide food and shelter for many marine species native to this unique coastal ecosystem. The project crosses technological and ecological systems in a symbiotic exchange of energy and resources to address these two environmental issues: carbon dioxide emissions and the depletion of kelp.

E R _ F A R M 13

Plan

Interior View

14

System Axon By utilizing the naturally cool climate in Norway, Server_FARM does not require mechanical cooling for the operation of servers. To power the servers, the project utilizes existing Norwegian hydroelectric power infrastructure. Since heat is an inherent byproduct of servers, Server_FARM captures this energy to support hydroponic greenhouse farms that foster the growth of kelp, which can then be shipped from Server_FARM to the nearby delepted kelp forests. The labs, occupied by biological researchers supporting the greenhouses, also intervene in the system while creating visual and spatial adjacencies between the server spaces and greenhouses.

15

B U T T

+ C h i c a g o , + I n t e r i o r

I l l i n o i s F i t - O u t

+ P r o p o s i t i o n s

S t u d i o

+ S p r i n g 2 0 2 0 J a n u a r y t o M a r c h + J a c o b C o m e r c i ( T C A U P ) a n d M i c k M c C o n n e l l ( T C A U P ) + C r e d i t : Z i y u a n L i Gaming culture is growing, particularly on platforms like YouTube and Twitch where streamers build audiences and shape careers around streaming. Although these streamers are accessible to audiences and are often very transparent to their viewers, there is not really a clear path from going from amateur to professional streamer. Button Mash is a live/ game collective for up-in-coming professional streamers to grow their brand and engage with other streamers and seeks to promote diversity as well by overlapping communal spaces, food spaces, and streaming spaces on top of the arrangements of streamer pods.

Additionally, through the use of video as both a generative design tool and narrative device, the project questions architecture’s role and representation in an increasingly digital and internet-oriented culture. In terms of design, program, and representation, Button Mash embraces and accommodates a specific constituency in a world that is constantly conflating yet also redefining what it means to “live” and “work” in hope that such redefinitions might foster a more egalitarian and inclusive environment.

+ L I N K T O P R O J E C T V I D E O

O N

http://tiny.cc/buttonmash

M A S H 17

S I T E

Occupying floors 19 and 20, the project looks to the “fit-out” as a new ground for architects to expand their agency in the built environment. Currently, these two floors are occupied by WeWork, which is a company that has reshaped the way that the workplace is approached through design. The project, however, reoccupies these floors as a live/ game community. Thus, the floors serve as a micro-urbanism for the arrangement of a series of pods that are in between the architectural scale and the furniture scale.

Floors 19 and 20

625 W. Adams Street, Chicago, IL Site

P R O G R A M a

b

a. Merchandise/Cafe

c

b. Event Space c. Streamer Education d

d. Group Streaming d

f. Streamer Pods

e e Plan Diagram 18

e. Food Booth

f d

e

Floor 20

Floor 19

Individual Streamer Pod

Group Streaming Pod

Food Booths

Streamer Education Space

Event Space 19

U S E R

The project is targetted at individuals that are looking to become professional streamers.

By embracing a live-work model, the project acts as a physical incubator for an otherwise entirely online activity.

I N D I V I D U A L S T R E A M E R P O D

These pods contain a sleeping space, various gaming spaces for individual or group gaming, and bathing on the roof.

G R O U P S T R E A M E R

P O D

Group streaming spaces are in service to streamers that require a more formalized gaming setup or need more privacy.

20

F O O D

B O O T H

Food booths allow streamers to drop in for a quick bite with the option to game and eat.

S T R E A M E R E D U C AT I O N S PA C E

Streamer education spaces allow the users to engage with one another as they grow their online presence.

E V E N T

S PA C E

Event space allows the community to open up to an outside audience for gaming tournaments or other social events.

21

O C

+ R o o s e v e l t I s l a n d , N e w Yo r k , N e w Yo r k + M i x e d U s e O f f i c e B u i l d i n g + I n t e g r a t e d + S p r i n g

D e s i g n

S t u d i o

2 0 1 9

+ P r o f . J o s e p h ( C A E D )

F e r u t

+ C r e d i t : H a l l i e S c h u l d

Roosevelt Island sits on the East River between Manhattan and Queens. Throughout history is has been an island of outcasts, hosting a penitentiary, asylum, and hospital. In the 20th century, however, the island has held residential properties, and it hosts one of Louis Kahn’s last built projects: Franklin D. Roosevelt Four Freedoms State Park. Most recently, SOM has redeveloped part of the island for Cornell Tech’s campus. Cornell Tech is a technology, business, law, and design campus dedicated to advancing tech innovation in New York City. Ocularity is sited on the campus and serves as a research and development center with community space, offices, teaching space, and a fabrication lab.

The project focuses on optics, which is achieved through the building form, systems integration, and the design of a megapanel facade system.

C U L A R I T Y 23

View 1 - Manhattan

View 1

View 2 - Queens

View 2

Multi-Tenant

Queensboro Bridge Multi-Tenant Bloomberg Center

Tata Innovation Center

Site

Occupiable Roof

Collaboration

Single Tenant

East River

East River Public Space/ Fabrication Lab Four Freedoms State Park

Service/Loading

Site Plan - Cornell Tech Campus

24

Program Diagram

R+D R+D

O P T I C S

Program is oriented on either side of two view cones.

P E R I P H E R Y

Movement through open circulation activates the periphery of the view cone.

P R O G R A M

Collaboration zones bridge the view cones and connect research and development spaces physically and visually.

D AY L I G H T

The Oculus and the atrium provide diffuse light. A vertically-oriented facade system controls daylight to reduce solar gain.

View at Entry 25

b

a

c

a. Private Offices b. Collaboration Space b

Level 3 Plan

c. Open Offices

f e

a. Wall Art Gallery b

b. Informal Auditorium a

d

c. Critique Space d. Computer Lab e. Mezzanine Level Lounge

c

f. Public Outdoor Deck

Level 2 Plan

b

a. Showcase Gallery

f

b. Cafe a

e

c. Maker Gallery d. Studio/Workshop

d c

e. Informal Auditorium f. Fabrication Lab

Ground Floor Plan 26

O C U L U S

This device serves passive and programmatic purposes for the office spaces and collaboration spaces.

These include daylighting and cross ventilation. Additionally, the oculus defines the entry of the building which is a sculpted cantilever that reaches to the campus and turns back into the building.

AT R I U M

Circulation wraps the atrium, which composes a periphery zone within an optically oriented zone. The atrium provides daylighting into the building through its sculpted canopy and promotes natural ventilation through the stack effect. A staircase cuts through the atrium to connect two collaboration zones.

FA B R I C AT I O N

L A B

With ever-evolving technologies, effectively designed fabrication spaces are becoming more necessary.

Up until recent, fabrication spaces have been an ill-defined element of research spaces that sit hidden in the periphery. Here, the fabrication space becomes a central part of the planning of the community program.

27

Longitudinal Section

Cross Section

Elevation - Southeast Facade 28

M E C H A N I C A L I N T E G R AT I O N A VAV with reheat system is used along with perimeter heating for this buuilding, allowing the ceilings to taper to allow for more daylighting along the building’s perimeter.

WAT E R S Y S T E M S I N T E G R AT I O N The building utilizes rain water collection cisterns and a grey water treatment system to efficiently utilize and recirculate waste water.

Section Perspective - Integrated Floor

Mechanical Systems Integration

Water Systems Integration

29

3 a. Haven:

A secluded area with little to no distractions A place to relax

e

b. Hive:

c

A group of work stations

c. Jump Space:

An accessible work area

d. Cove:

An small area near shared and/or individual work stations

e. Clubhouse:

A work area designated to a specific work team

4

2 b d

a

h

i j

f. Workshop:

A place to work on tasks together g. Meeting Space: A place for sharing information

h. Landing: An open area

i. Forum:

An enclosed space for group discussions and presentations

j. Plaza:

A plaza where everyone can meet

View from Collaborative Space 30

g h

1 f

FA C A D E

p

S O U T H

n l

j i

FA C A D E

g

N O R T H

4

M E G A PA N E L I N T E G R AT I O N The introduction of vertical apertures into the heavily horizontal form was used as a way to moderate the amount of sunlight coming into the building as well as retain a 40% window to wall ratio. The vertical mega panels add opaque surface area to the building form which brings down the ratio of transparent to solid material.

m

k

W E S T

3

o

FA C A D E

2

FA C A D E

E A S T

1

h

f e d c

b

a

Wall Section Axon

a. Supply Duct

f. W18 Steel Beam

k. Concrete Slab

b. Supply Diffuser

g. W10 Steel Beam

l. Structural Column

c. Return Duct

h. W27 Steel Girder

m. Radiant Heat Tubing

d. Return Grille

i. Gypsum Finish Face

n. IGU

e. Electric Lighting

j. Metal Decking

o. SSG Joint p. GFRC Mega Panel

31

Step 1: Set up steel frame work.

Physical Model - Southeast Corner

32

Step 2: Attach two layers of latex to steel bars.

Step 3: Twist steel frames to desired angle.

PA N E L FA B R I C AT I O N Due to the complexity of the facade panels, an adaptive fabrication system is required to cast each of the sandwich panels. To do so, a cylindrical steel frame is used to hold the latex formwork. Criss-crossed steel bars hold the latex in place and allow the fabricator to twist the formwork to the desired angle. Once the GFRC is cast, the fabricator can then fill each panel with spray insulation, resulting in a panel with a vapor barrier (GFRC) and thermal barrier.

Step 4: Fill latex formwork with GFRC.

Step 5: Fill inside of panel with R-20 spray insulation.

Physical Model - Northeast Corner

33

C O M M O N 34

+ C o e u r

D ’A l e n e ,

+ D e c e n t r a l i z e d C e n t e r + M a s t e r ’s + F a l l

I d a h o E D G E

T h e s i s

2 0 2 0 / S p r i n g

+ P r o f . C y r u s ( T C A U P )

D a t a

P r o j e c t 2 0 2 1

P e n a r r o y o

Located in Silver Valley in northern Idaho, Common Ground synthesizes biotic and abiotic materials of data centers and ecosystems in order to recast architecture’s agency within everchanging environments. To the public, the stuff of “the cloud” is ubiquitous yet inaccessible— personal information circulates through corporate-owned material networks that remain hidden from view. By 2030, however, data centers will have a more localized presence. Learning from the post-colonial theorist Homi Bhaba’s concept of “hybridity,” this thesis proposes an alternative model of data storage that embraces liminal conditions for cultural and ecological exchange. https://commongroundthesis.cargo.site

G R O U N D 35

36

The project spans a forty-mile region that accommodates the Northern Pacific Railway, Interstate 90 and Highway 3, and long-haul fiber optic lines. The Coeur D’Alene Native American Tribe occupies the area and has endured changes to their lands due to settler colonialism. Specifically, they have been affected by pollution from immense mining efforts that have contaminated the soil and Coeur D’Alene River. Regional attempts to expand internet infrastructure will require indigenous data governance and a critical awareness of site in order to deliver better service to the Coeur D’Alene people and surrounding communities.

37

38

Common Ground co-opts underexplored EDGE data center technology that brings users in close proximity to cloud computing resources and cached content. The project redesigns three separate locales, each one serving a specific constituency and prioritizing an aspect of digital storage: Index, Flow, and Archive. Between these sites, digital files pass through metallic fibers embedded in fluorescent rocks and encode servers cooled by open-air pools of toxic runoff and, if archived, the DNA of camas plants. This distributed infrastructure creates public sites of material exchange along the trail network that redescribe ecologies, foster new intimacies with data, and highlight the limitations imposed by binaries that shape the built environment.

39

40

INDEX 41

42

INDEX 43

44

FLOW 45

46

FLOW 47

48

ARCHIVE 49

50

ARCHIVE 51