UNDERGRADUATE ARCHITECTURE PORTFOLIO
Adrian Fuller
CHICAGO TOWER
Located on a previously empty riverside site in the North Loop of Chicago sits a 375-foot-tall tower designed to integrate both the context of its site and the surrounding buildings. The tower’s site design serves as a seamless continuation of the existing riverwalk, creating a public space that spans from street level to river level. The public space extends from the exterior into the interior of the building, providing performance and exhibition areas for visitors both inside and outside.
The building features a site-spanning cantilever that provides abundant workspace for artists while offering uninterrupted views and natural lighting. This cantilever also shades the public space below, further merging the indoor and outdoor environments.
The main vertical massing of the tower serves as the residential space within the building. Within this massing, common spaces are dispersed throughout, each with unique programming corresponding to size and orientation. Uniting all the residential spaces is a series of connected atriums spiraling around the core of the building. The result is a structure with unique floor plates on every level, creating its own urban fabric through the integration of public and private spaces.
Professor: Aaron Schump
DECONSTRUCTED MASSING MODEL MASSING MODEL
Generated Light Refractions
The facade design was developed through an iterative process. The original goal was to create a facade that was simple in form yet flexible in its potential applications. These two attributes were critical in allowing the facade to adapt to the more radical aspects of the building beneath—specifically, its massing and programming. To achieve this goal, drew inspiration from fabric draping and the fluidity of liquid, as both exhibit a natural flexibility in form. These explorations led to two facade studies. The first featured a perforated, flowing surface that enveloped the building’s massing, utilizing parametric design to respond dynamically to its extrusions. The second adopted a more straightforward, linear form, where scripting was used to translate the light refractions of water into dramatically curved fins. Insights from both studies were combined into a final script that responded to both the building’s form and the patterns of light refraction (a gesture to the Chicago River and the evolving architectural language of nearby towers). The result is a series of undulating columns that serve as both ornamentation and shading elements.
3ft SECTION MODEL PHOTOS
ARTIST RESIDENCE
This structure is a live-in art gallery envisioned for the Benton Park neighborhood of St. Louis. It was designed for an artist whose work inspired us—in this case, Theaster Gates. The structure comprises gallery, work, and living spaces and sits on a sloped plot of land.
The program for this structure is formed by two L-shaped walls at the front and back that provide privacy and structural support. These walls also create a façade that fits within the context of the surrounding neighborhood. Within these insulating walls are the building’s facilities, including bathrooms, stairwells, ramps, and elevators.
Cutting through these dual L-shaped walls are stacked trapezoidal extrusions, inspired by previously made concrete castings, which hold the gallery, working, and living spaces. They are stacked to create spaces where lighting and scale are connected to both the building’s purpose and the art being displayed. These extrusions also frame views for visitors, simultaneously obstructing and opening sightlines.
Fall 2022
Professor: Jess Vanecek
NORTH FACING
MODEL PHOTOS
PLAY SPACE
This project explored a possible addition to the existing St. Louis City Museum and takes the form of an active play space. This design was focused on addressing the action of climbing and the forms of this structure are inspired by wood bending. The space is designed for all ages but caters to children.
Dimensions 12ft x12ft x12ft
Spring 2022
Professor: Zeuler Lima
PERSPECTIVE COLLAGE
PERSPECTIVE COLLAGE 2
BIODIVERSITY LAB
Date: spring 2023 (Sophomore Studio)
Typology: Research Lab
Location: Forest park st. Louis
Size: 10,000 sqft
Spring 2023
Professor: Lindsey Stouffer
Designed to serve as a hub for urban farming research, this project aims to reintroduce Missouri’s natural biodiversity into the heart of St. Louis’ urban center. The structure is anchored by a masonry core containing the building’s utilities, circulation, and essential infrastructure, providing both visual and structural stability. In contrast, the open research areas emerge as dynamic glass shards that penetrate the masonry, cantilevering outward to engage the natural landscape of Forest Park. These shards, composed of opaque glass, are designed to frame specific views of the park, offering controlled sightlines while diffusing natural light to create optimal working conditions for plant research. The interplay between the massive, weighty masonry and the delicate glass forms not only defines the architectural expression but also enhances the building’s research-driven purpose. Additionally, the multi-story masonry volume accommodates vertical farming, reinforcing the building’s commitment to urban agriculture and the restoration of biodiversity in Missouri’s urban center
The 2.5 diagram is a collection of drawings based on the architectural precedents of OMA’s Seattle Public Library and Emre Arolat Architecture’s Sancaklar Mosque. These drawings were made translucent and stacked to create an abstraction. From these abstractions, the floor plan, glass etching pattern and massing of the lab were developed.
EAST-WEST ELEVATION
NORTH-SOUTH SECTION
This section displays the unique offset and stacked organization that prioritizes views of the park. It also depicts the separation of programming within each floor and the floor-spanning atriums for hydroponics research.
EAST-WEST SECTION
This section highlights the crossover point of the building’s three programs and how they converge to form the central atrium, the primary path of circulation.
Massing Model
3
MENDING CITY ARTERIES
This project focuses on redesigning the north-south artery roads that span St Louis with the goal of fostering community regrowth and aiding transportation for the disadvantaged. It also aims to target the vacancy epidemic in St. Louis through the use of, pocket parks and the local prairie landscape, creating a new urban context for the neglected parts of the city. When it comes to transportation through reorganizing bus transportation for north-south travelers and creating dedicated alternatives for car users, this project aspires to connect the currently segregated and divided city. Our strategies for the redevelopment of these roads use existing materials, including repurposed asphalt for new gathering spaces and walkways, in addition to wood from abandoned structures for the construction of affordable pavilions and bus stops. Additionally, through the unconventional act of breaking and coring out pavement, we seek to increase the permeability of roads and the city’s resilience to major rain events.
Spring 2024
Professor: Montserrat Bonvehi Rosich
AFTER PERSPECTIVE KINGS HIGHWAY
This image illustrates the proposed revitalization of Kings Highway, focusing on a critical section of the street that interfaces with a local school. The design envisions a more pedestrian, and child-friendly streetscape, with dedicated gathering spaces for children, designated areas for school buses and car lines to prevent traffic congestion. Additionally, by removing a lane on the left side of the image, a new public space is introduced in front of the school’s sports facility, providing shaded areas for waiting children.
AFTER PERSPECTIVE UNION BLVD
This image illustrates the proposed revitalization of Union Blvd. As an important north-south artery, the vision for Union Blvd. prioritizes bus and bike infrastructure, widens sidewalks to better accommodate businesses and residents along the road, and introduces public spaces created by the removal of excess lanes.
Group
FLORENCE PLANETARIUM
This studio project was set in Florence and designed as a proposed addition to the Museo Galileo. The project aimed to house exhibits, research facilities, and cataloging space dedicated to Galileo and other Renaissance thinkers and their historic work. Inspired by the armillary sphere, the building, both in plan and section, is designed around the concept of orbit, with much of the projects massing and programming revolving around the planetarium located in the back corner. The structure was envisioned as a way to merge research with public engagement, creating an open layout where visitors could observe museum curators at work while also interacting handson with the artifacts they diligently preserve and restore. The building’s programming follows a vertical organization: as guests ascend, the spaces become increasingly private and specialized, reflecting a progression in focus as visitors deepen their understanding of history and its artifacts. The building is clad in materials that hold a deep connection to the city of Florence, yet its design is intentionally radical, respectfully contrasting with, the city’s historic architecture.
Project: Adrian Fuller, Beckett Murtaugh and Zach Dietrich
Abroad Studio Florence
OMBRA 1.0 Mechanical Shading Device
Generative Collage Renderings
FLOOR PLANS B-3
NORTH SOUTH SECTION
OMBRA 2.0 Massing Model Inspiration
EAST WEST ELEVATION
EASR WEST SECTION
Third Floor (research)
• Viewable labs
• Observation decks
• Bridge to Museum Second Floor (study & watch)
• Planetarium
• Archives First Floor (active learning)
• Interact and use artifacts
• Classrooms Basement (learning)
EXPLODED AXON Roof (lookout)
• Gallery space
• Entrance
• Offices
MODEL PHOTOS
HERMANN COMMUNITY CENTER
For this studio, we explored the possible applications of tilt-up concrete in dual-function community centers and disaster shelters within rural Midwestern communities. We were tasked with pushing the complexity and design limitations of the material in an effort to advance a construction method that typically produces simple, one-dimensional forms, transforming it to create more inspiring and complex enclosures.
My design centered around two main ideas: How can tilt-up concrete provide greater structural support without relying on excessive steel columns and beams? And what if there were a modular, reusable solution for creating a unique facade design?
The structural question led to a solution involving a faceted building constructed from interlocking concrete panels. Each facet supports itself by not only bearing the building’s vertical load but also by providing shear bracing. This resulted in a gridded envelope, as seen in plan view, which complemented and inspired the modular facade design.
The structure’s facets also heavily influenced the final floor plan, which is based on a 6x6 grid. The program runs along a diagonal axis to maximize the effectiveness of the bracing system. This spatial organization also created unique and intimate areas where two panels extend to form a facet. Because of the panels’ L-shaped design, these spaces provide opportunities for windows, resulting in the building having a unique interaction with light and shadow due to its faceted design.
Professor: Pablo Moyano Fernandez
CASTING STUDYS & PROTOTYPES
The facade is composed of protruding and receding two-foot-wide vertical bands, formed using a modular form liner placed within the tilt-up molds.
INTERIOR RENDERING
SECTION PERSPECTIVE
Casting Study Process
EXTERIOR RENDERINGS
These exterior renderings display the second panel type, which serves as the gym’s facade and as a shading device for the windows located at the ends of each building axis. These panels also align with the building’s overall grid system, with multiple variations to adjust the density of the facade’s openings to either increase natural light or completely block it.
The renderings also display the building’s unique site in Hermann, Missouri, which incorporates a creek that the building spans. The site’s proximity to a park and creek invites a deep connection to the local scenery and offers unique opportunities for utilization, as the building includes dedicated spaces for childcare and learning.
MODEL PHOTOS
The model is at 1/8th scale and features a removable roof to display the grid-based programming system and the structural elements that support the roof. When the roof is removed, the unique shading conditions resulting from the faceted form are highlighted, as well as the building’s vertical organization of space. Also visible are the vertical core and circulation system of the building, as well as the basement-level basketball court.
Group Project: Adrian Fuller, Mona Li and Arielle Meisel
BUILDING SYSTEMS
For this project, we investigated the structural strategies employed by Renzo Piano for the Centro Botín Art Museum. We then built on that research to create detailed drawings and a chunk model exploring the building’s internal systems.
PROFESSIONAL & RESEARCH WORK
KIRKWOOD SITE
