Alexander Noaks The University of Texas at Austin // School of Architecture
B. Arch // Academic Portfolio
Table of Contents
Design I - Foundations
4
Design II - Foundations
10
Visual Communications
18
Design III - Intermediate I
40
Design IV - Intermediate II/Speculative
48
Design V - Intermediate III
66
Mass + Bridge + Tower Design I Foundations // Fall 2016 A semester-long evolution of concepts that introduced the most essential principles and elements of an architectural design education. Beginning with a pure figure-ground study, concepts were added slowly with each iteration notions of hierarchy, mass v. void, light v. dark, etc. started to enter our design language. By the end of the studio, a fully-fledged occupiable space had been created. The final project - mass + bridge + tower - is a space without a program - intended for spatial conceptualization only. The three components encouraged a variety of approaches to the task at hand - design two stereotomic spaces - a vertical tower and horizontal mass - and link them with a tectonic bridge. The resulting forms are a fluctuation between the two design approaches, where moments of relief and outward views counter a dense procession.
4
5
6 | Design I
Studies in Composition | 7
8 | Design I
Mass + Bridge + Tower Final | 9
Agua Dulce Urban Farmstand Design II Foundations // Spring 2017 Building on the previous semester, Design II Foundations still took a fairly abstract approach to design. However, this semester’s work featured a more concrete program - a small marketplace suitable for the storing and subsequent selling of fresh on-site produce for a small urban farm in South Austin. The semester once again begun with a fairly straightforward study of object interactions. However, an emphasis on tectonic design was far more apparent with the use of thin basswood members for a majority of the semester. While continuing to emphasize design elements introduced in the previous semester, more advanced notions of craft were expected - in which a full study on moving and operable parts defined a bulk of the work from the mid-point onward. My final design incorporated a massing strategy that at certain orientations could be fairly porous, and others quite dense. Protection of the produce was essential, and shading at peak times was a must. Thus, the design as it stands focuses on the solar path, allowing moments of light penetration at more appropriate positions where the produce would remain safe.
10
Separate
Contact
Intersect
11
12 | Design II
Stereotomic Excercise + Movable Components | 13
14 | Design II
Light Studies + Process Diagrams | 15
16 | Design II
Agua Dulce Farmstand Final | 17
Visual Communications Fall 2016 - Fall 2017 A three-semester long series of courses that are designed to develop skills with the tools essential to an architecture student. Course I was primarily analogue - hand-drawing and the use of a pencil was at the core of the semester. Here, I first learned elements of craft and how to master the elegance of both technical drafting and free-handed works. Course 2 began to introduce notions of the digital realm as it is crucial in this era of the architectural field as a whole. Programs such as Rhino - our backbone for 3D modeling - were slowly taught to us. The instruction was intentionally withheld to a degree, encouraging self-discovery and increased confidence of oneself over the computer. A simple 3D object served as the basis for a basic Rhino module, a rigorous advanced drawing module, and a rendering module taught in V-Ray + Rhino. Course 3 was oriented around fabrication and advanced digital modeling. Modules included new programs including Revit and Grasshopper, and physical applications, in my case programming code for a KUKA robot-generated marker drawing.
18
19
20 | Visual Communications I
Line + Square + Rectangle | 21
22 | Visual Communications I
Blind Contour Exercise + Wood Joint | 23
24 | Visual Communications I
Free-Hand Tool Drawing + Tone Imagery | 25
26 | Visual Communications I
Tone Drawing | 27
28 | Visual Communications I
Free-Hand Perspective | 29
30 | Visual Communications II
Advanced Drawing | 31
32 | Visual Communications III
Revit + Adaptable Components | 33
34 | Visual Communications III
Revit + Adaptable Components | 35
36 | Visual Communications III
Grasshopper + KUKA Robotics | 37
Capital Metro Transit Hub Design III Intermediate I // Fall 2017 Prof. Sarah Gamble The beginning of Intermediate Studio brought more rigorous expectations of individual ability and increased production. The semester centered around the notion of parametric design and using a consistent operational logic throughout the design process. This studio in particular focused on revitalizing a mid-town lot in Austin to house a proper center for mass transit. The design ought to be suitable for short-term and long-term waiting periods, while in the meantime showcasing elements of Austin’s past transit through both display and lecture. I chose a design strategy based on the diagram to the right a series of elements that both shifted in length and position. The resulting concept as a whole implies movement appropriate imagery for a transportation center. This notion evolved into a series of frames that defined the occupiable spaces based on the interstitial areas created between said frames - angled in a way that pays homage to the nearby Capitol Building and the resulting view corridor. The whole structure was then shrouded in a grid-like envelope that tied the site to the larger urban fabric surrounding it.
38
39
40 | Design III
Ground Level + Site Lavaca Street
9th Street
3
6
4
5
7
Service Alley
2
1
Second Level
1. Water Feature 2. Entrance + ticket sales 3. Exterior Short-Term Waiting 8
4. Lecture Hall
9
5. Security + Staff Room 6. Historic Electric Streetcar 7. Loading Dock 8. Interior Long-Term Waiting 9. Space Frame (non-occupiable) 10. Community Workspace + Conference
Third Level
11. Vin Fiz Historic Biplane 12. Lower Rooftop Terrace 13. Upper Rooftop Terrace
10
11
Fourth Level
12
Fifth Level
13
Motif + Plans | 41
42 | Design III
Perspectives + Sections | 43
44 | Design III
Capital Metro Transit Hub Final | 45
Sanctuary on Mission Espada Design IV Speculative // Spring 2018 Prof. Johanna Reed The Intermediate Speculative Studio was the one which I sought to take before Environmental. I wanted to explore the realm of architecture a slightly more freely and exotically before moving into a more regulated program. This semester’s studio explored what the notion of sanctuary could mean to the individual as well as a group, on a site rich in history. How does one balance the turbulent Colonial Spanish + Texan past with a space meant to house a notion of safety? The strategy I employed was completely site-specific, using a fairly parametric approach of selecting preexisting points of significance as bases for radiating arches outward in plan. As these arches begun to intersect and overlap, extremely intricate shapes and outlines were discovered. I found this strategy to be extremely free and exploratory yet still offer a clear approach to my design logic. The resulting form was a play on light and how it could be used to orient, yet allow one to feel lost in comfort as one pleased.
46
47
48 | Design IV
Meditation Space Excercise | 49
50 | Design IV
Site Studies + Mapping | 51
52 | Design IV
Site Strategies + Iterative Models | 53
54 | Design IV
Motif + Site Section | 55
56 | Design IV
Site Map + Sections | 57
58 | Design IV
Axonometric + Plans | 59
60 | Design IV
Perspectives | 61
62 | Design IV
Sanctuary on Mission Espada Final | 63
Angel Island Naturalization Center Design V Intermediate III // Fall 2018 Prof. Michael McCall Angel Island, in the San Francisco Bay, is a site rife with a dark past - subjecting many immigrants, primarily from Asian nations, to abject prejudice and cruelty. This project, based on the 2019 Lyceum Competition, aims to change the focus and breathe life back into the island. The project primarily serves as a center for US Citizenship Ceremonies, but also includes numerous secondary spaces (ideal for small/community groups) and individual contemplation spaces. The situating of the project on a cliff, overlooking the former immigration center, allows history to serve as a backdrop. However, the notion of being perched above it allows a sense of elevation - looking down on the past while celebrating the new hope that comes with the naturalization process. This idea is expressed as the primary program space orients itself directly towards the cove below, while the secondary spaces below orient outward toward the bay. The form itself is based upon the concept of a “launch� opening up along an axis gradually as members rise from a horizontal to vertical position. All occupants, whether solo or in a 1000-person celebration, ought to feel welcomed by a space deeply-conscious of its past.
64
65
66 | Design V
Site Strategies + Iterative Models | 67
68 | Design V
Atmospheric Study | 69
70 | Design V
Site Map + Plans | 71
72 | Design V
Sections | 73
74 | Design V
Programmatic + Structural Axonometrics | 75
76 | Design V
Perspectives | 77
78 | Design V
Perspective + Wall Section Perspective | 79
80 | Design V
Angel Island Naturalization Center Final | 81