University of Minnesota M. Arch Portfolio

ALEXANDER J. HOKKANEN

University of Minnesota Masters of Architecture 2+ Program Applicant Fall 2015

“Regenerative design is about creating relationships not objects”

-Bill Reed

TABLE OF CONTENTS ONT T

The Culinary Artss Incubator to o

Growing food and nd connections ne in a new neighborh neighborhood

Heath Ceramics Showroom-Factory w

Material explorations io in an urban context

Architecture of A Ascension

Experiment in the power of light and progression

Architecture e in Firenze

Learning ni in the heart of the Renaissance

University s District Arts Center

Creating ecological and social capital in the city

CULINARY ARTS INCUBATOR professor matt byers program studio northeast minneapolis spring 2014

Raised Bed Community Gardens Orchards

Contaminated Industrial Brownfield

Urban Greyfield

Large Outdoor Event Space

Seasonal Courtyard

Locally Grown, Locally Organized and Internationally Inspired, the Culinary Arts Incubator project brings the community of northeast Minneapolis together with local culinary talent to participate in the art that is food education, preparation and consumption. The form was originally much like that of an Italian palazzo which then evolved into a villa in it始s relationship to the site, agricultural capability and emphasis on progression through the landscape and the building. This project includes several food production spaces including community garden plots, an orchard and an intensive green roof during the summer months. In the winter, the Seasonal Courtyard is sealed and becomes a food producing green house, doubling as an indoor respite from the chilling winters. The subterranean Pantry is equipped with a living wall from which staff harvest root vegetables in all seasons.

The site is located between an abandoned chrome plating plant and a dilapidated automotive repair center. With both Greyfields and a Brownfield as adjoining lots the Incubator offers new life and potential soil remediation for the neighborhood.

First Avenue

Urban Greyfield

The Architectural Promenade runs in parallel with the food production process, which I posit is used to learn, experiment, and consume. The entry spaces are a combined mercantile and a reconfigurable lobby space. Visitors are then forced below grade to learn in a traditional library filled with reference material as well as the Living Pantry. From here the visitor ascends into the commercial grade kitchen or continues to the Great Hall. While the Great Hall provides a grand gathering space to enjoy a meal or attend an event guests are urged forward, this time up into a cantilevered Lounge offering a place to relax and enjoy stunning views of downtown Minneapolis and community members tending to their garden plots.

Observation Lounge

Great Hall Seasonal Courtyard

Laboratory 4 full Kitchens

Mercantile/Lounge

Living Pantry

Library

Above: The challenge of providing local food in the winter is met by the Seasonal Courtyard where food grows all year Left: The community has the opportunity to experience the entirety of the incubator, every visitor is a potential artist

Below: The Observation Lounge cantilevers over the community gardens providing views of Minneapolis and the surrounding neighborhood

Above: Sequence of study models illustrating the progression from an Italian Palazzo to a Culinary Arts Incubator Below: Rooftop culinary gardens in full bloom. Steel frame acting as a trellis in summer, supports greenhouse glass in winter

Observation Lounge and Great Hall Low-e Glazing

Living Pantry and Library beneath Courtyard Locally Sourced Timber

Intensive Green Roof System

HEATH CERAMICS SHOWROOM-FACTORY professors dan clark & martha mcquade material studio northeast minneapolis fall 2013 The Heath Ceramics Showroom and Factory are the result of weeks of material exploration and experimentation beginning with wood boxes and concluding with cast concrete forms and truss systems. The formal parti consists of interlocking rings of programmed circulation. The outer ring runs the entire perimeter and serves as a gallery for local artists. The interior void that the gallery encloses is the main showroom floor where the sellable product is displayed and marketed. Upon entering, the client is confronted with a choice: left or right. Choosing the left path will immerse the visitor in the gallery program first, forgoing the showroom floor for an artistic experience on the periphery. If, however, this visitor needs to make his or her purchases first, the right path is more desirable as it almost immediately brings them to the showroom floor.

The Factory building was conceived of in response to the showroom. Utilizing the Vierendeel Truss, I designed my response to the factory program to have two levels. On grade with the existing showroom, I divided the space into thirds to mirror the pottery production process of preparation, firing, and finishing. The factory mirrors the showroom in its circulation and program parti. The “walls� of the factory floor are programmed with storage and mechanical spaces, which are deep enough to support a second floor within the web of the truss system. The truss system allowed for large floor to ceiling insulated glazing that lights the factory floor during the work day minimizing power consumption. The second floor consists of two cubes of fritted glass for administration and employee support programs.

Above: The building parti consists of adjacent, interlocking, and concentric rings Left: Concrete forms and a wrapper of glass come together creating an interplay between transparency and mass

Above: Perspective Collage highlights the Vierendeel Truss system which allows visitors to inhabit the structural system as the second floor Left: Light streams from second floor windows through the truss system and pours onto the factory floor. View from adjacent the showroom

Right: The concrete of the Factory base gives way at the urban intersection to the glass wrapped ceramics showroom

ARCHITECTURE OF ASCENSION professor john comazzi design fundamentals two collaborators: kyle burr spring 2012 Light, or more properly its absence, drives our experience of space. This project, while not the architecture of buildings, is an architecture of light. It began with formal explorations of rope knots which then inspired the collaborative creation of the forms that became subterranean spaces.

Throughout our design process we strove to create a series of unique experiences ranging from lofty and comfortable to claustrophobic and restrictive. By distancing ourselves from traditional definitions of architecture we were able to freely experiment with experience. As a student, the ability to experiment with the human experience of space at an early stage in my design education gave me a sense of how powerful intentional placement of light and shadow can be in shaping a person始s physical and emotional responses.

Above: Initial axonometric map of the proposed subterranean sequence

The most salient lesson this project imparted on us was that light was more than a design consideration. Light symbolizes hope and safety and it was this realization that made the project a success. Carefully controlled light was used as a guidepost and a promise that continuing the journey would result in ascension to the surface.

Above & Right: Progression of subterranean spaces from the entry chamber to the final ascension to ground level

Entry chamber lighting collage

Final rendered section perspective showing location and intensity of light wells. Rendering credit: Kyle Burr

ARCHITECTURE IN FIRENZE professor john comazzi florence, italy summer 2013

Traveling to the heart of the Italian Renaissance I was able to experience first hand the great innovations that were made in city planning, development of the palazzo as a building typology that spread throughout the peninsula, and sprawling villas around which stunning landscapes were designed changing the way the built environment interfaced with the natural world.

Throughout the term, the class traveled widely from Florence to Sienna, Rome, and Orvieto to experience how the strong regional identities translate into the architecture of place.

Through photography and on-site sketching, the class also traveled in time to learn from the likes of Brunelleschi, Michelangelo and Raphael. Architecture and Art exist at a crossroads in Florence and it is that intersection of expression that has continued to inform my work throughout my undergraduate architecture design studios.

Above: Ponte Vecchio and Vasari始s Corridor Left: Santa Maria del Fiore (Il Duomo) nestled in the urban fabric of medieval Florence

Above: On-site Sketches from left to right- Capelle de Medici Cardinal始s Staff, Donatello始s Saint George, Approaching Santa Maria Del Fiore

UNIVERSITY DISTRICT ARTS CENTER

d Bike

Altere ned Rail

Abando

Line

oute Lane R

arden

G Walking

Native Plantings Reclaimed Lumber Pathways

Terraced Seasonal r Amphitheate

ay

reenw

ded G

Expan

Observation Deck

Pervious Concrete

professor mary guzowski site studio university of minnesota tc campus fall 2014

Extensive Greenroof

Patio Rooftop

Intrigued by the potential of an underutilized urban green space and a twenty foot elevation change along the northern edge of my site I began designing with human connection and ecological practices in mind. As a community centered building I felt it should have, at its core, a space where people can gather, events can be held or impromptu workshops can be taught. The intertwining histories of Minneapolis, the University of Minnesota and industry are imprinted on the site. To make this invisible site force visible I included a grand stair programmed as a museum, informing visitors of what has come before.

The original site was a poorly upkept patch of turf grass crisscrossed with student-made paths. In my site plan I suggest replacing the turf grass with native grasses and formalizing the existing paths with reclaimed lumber, the goal being to augment the existing, albeit sparse, ecological capital present in the site始s largely urban context. The site does not end at the building始s footprint. Rather, the core design intention was to directly inhabit the site by lifting the surface and programming the interstitial space thereby preserving the site始s ecological continuity. The roof doubles as an amenity space for visitors and an extension of the greenway.

Above: The planes of the site are lifted up undisturbed while the art center inhabits the interstitial space and the site flows over it Below: Early design seasonal sections looking west and east exploring what will eventually become the site-nature-building relationship and the open upper and closed lower level parti

Above: Exploring the potential of underground architecture through section. Formally through elevation and experientially through light and views Below: A radial arrangement of programmed spaces revolve around a central core consisting of a reconfigurable courtyard that illustrates how the site始s prominent elevation change inspired the design

Greenway Level (Lower)

University Level (Upper)

Seasonal Amphitheater

DN

Workshop UP Multi Purpose

UP

Black Box

Mechanical & Storage

Courtyard

Theater

Open to Below DN Balcony

Dance Studio Backstage

Mixed Art Studio

Administration

Storage

Cafe

Classroom

Student Gallery

Lobby

Main Sculpture Gallery

Below: Programmed spaces exist between the elevated site and the Greenway level allowing a continuous site that exists above and around the arts center