benjamin bromberg gaber | portfolio spring 2019

benjamin bromberg gaber

harvard graduate school of design, master in architecture portfolio, spring 2019

reproducible reproductive | thesis jeffry burchard + ed eigen | winter 2019

In the 1930’s, the New Deal sought to produce 1,500 post offices cheaply, effectively, and quickly, so the federal government “adopted the perfectly justifiable expedient of designing [these] smaller buildings in groups conforming to certain types” (Federal Architect, July 1934). In this process, standard formal solutions provided a consistent expression of identity across the country’s postal facilities.

Each building, however, with its choice of materials, organization of circulation, and ornamentation of the facade and public interiors, was also made to reflect a local identity.

In addition to serving as a thesis research trip, I visited 70 New Deal post offices across the Northeast and Upper Midwest, with my partner, Sarah Shapiro.

We documented the buildings through photos, drawings, podcasts, and poems. Some of these works can be found at www.NewPostOccupancy.com and were shown at the BAAA Gallery, Cambridge, MA.

reproducible reproductive | thesis jeffry burchard + ed eigen | winter 2019

In the 1930’s, the New Deal sought to produce 1,500 post offices cheaply, effectively, and quickly, so the federal government “adopted the perfectly justifiable expedient of designing [these] smaller buildings in groups conforming to certain types” (Federal Architect, July 1934). In this process, standard formal solutions provided a consistent expression of identity across the country’s postal facilities.

Each building, however, with its choice of materials, organization of circulation, and ornamentation of the facade and public interiors, was also made to reflect a local identity.

In addition to serving as a thesis research trip, I visited 70 New Deal post offices across the Northeast and Upper Midwest, with my partner, Sarah Shapiro.

We documented the buildings through photos, drawings, podcasts, and poems. Some of these works can be found at www.NewPostOccupancy.com and were shown at the BAAA Gallery, Cambridge, MA.

benjamin bromberg gaber | 2 portfolio 2019

reproducible reproductive | thesis jeffry burchard + ed eigen | winter 2019

Federal commissions have historically been preoccupied with delivering a consistent and fluid formal language. Modular and factory-produced construction methods dominate contemporary architectural practice, so how might federal commissions mobilize these methods? Under such circumstances, how would a reproductive health clinic be designed today? This project proposes a method for designing a network of buildings in which individual instances demonstrate a collectively coherent formal strategy, that is simultaneously sensitive to the specificities of the site. Similar to the post office, in being sites of transactional interactions which are nationally in-demand, these clinics will help us evaluate the capacity for designing unique buildings that can span national geographies and sensibilities.

reproducible reproductive | thesis jeffry burchard + ed eigen | winter 2019

Federal commissions have historically been preoccupied with delivering a consistent and fluid formal language. Modular and factory-produced construction methods dominate contemporary architectural practice, so how might federal commissions mobilize these methods? Under such circumstances, how would a reproductive health clinic be designed today? This project proposes a method for designing a network of buildings in which individual instances demonstrate a collectively coherent formal strategy, that is simultaneously sensitive to the specificities of the site. Similar to the post office, in being sites of transactional interactions which are nationally in-demand, these clinics will help us evaluate the capacity for designing unique buildings that can span national geographies and sensibilities.

benjamin bromberg gaber | 3 portfolio 2019

reproducible reproductive | thesis jeffry burchard + ed eigen | winter 2019

reproducible reproductive | thesis jeffry burchard + ed eigen | winter 2019

benjamin bromberg gaber | 4 portfolio 2019

reproducible reproductive | thesis jeffry burchard + ed eigen | winter 2019

reproducible reproductive | thesis jeffry burchard + ed eigen | winter 2019

benjamin bromberg gaber | 5 portfolio 2019

reproducible reproductive | thesis jeffry burchard + ed eigen | winter 2019

reproducible reproductive | thesis jeffry burchard + ed eigen | winter 2019

benjamin bromberg gaber | 6 portfolio 2019

the dovetail: a universal building in london | option studio simon allford + hanif kara | spring 2018

This studio, part of a semester abroad, asked us to consider what it means to design a universal building at Canada Water, London. If the structure of a building is the first to go up, and last to be torn down, how can it be designed to adapt under continuous adaptation of use and program within? The project was designed in defined chapters to ensure an iterative process.

Envisioned as one large room, the structure allows the building to be subdivided into smaller parts as various user groups move in and out. If floor to ceiling heights are some of the greatest barriers to change of use in a building, this proposal's alternating single and double-height spaces enable a variety of programs to adapt to the building.

Activation of the facade and public space is critical as this building is positioned on the edge of a large development site, so single height space is shifted to this corner where two streets intersect, and a tension structure was added to open up the building visually. The back corner is open, allowing light and air for the whole floor plate, and ensuring that the circulation systems can evolve over time. It also creates a semi-public space for the surrounding buildings.

The structure creates large public spaces but can also be transformed over time to adapt to use within, and in neighboring buildings. The thickened floor slabs in the final version highlight the double height sandwiches, and reduce solar heat gain while celebrating the structure. Although it is an irregular building, it is both universal and specific, efficient but memorable.

An external limit was that all of the deliverables had to fit inside a wedding box to enable transport back to Harvard.

the dovetail: a universal building in london | option studio simon allford + hanif kara | spring 2018

This studio, part of a semester abroad, asked us to consider what it means to design a universal building at Canada Water, London. If the structure of a building is the first to go up, and last to be torn down, how can it be designed to adapt under continuous adaptation of use and program within? The project was designed in defined chapters to ensure an iterative process.

Envisioned as one large room, the structure allows the building to be subdivided into smaller parts as various user groups move in and out. If floor to ceiling heights are some of the greatest barriers to change of use in a building, this proposal's alternating single and double-height spaces enable a variety of programs to adapt to the building.

Activation of the facade and public space is critical as this building is positioned on the edge of a large development site, so single height space is shifted to this corner where two streets intersect, and a tension structure was added to open up the building visually. The back corner is open, allowing light and air for the whole floor plate, and ensuring that the circulation systems can evolve over time. It also creates a semi-public space for the surrounding buildings.

The structure creates large public spaces but can also be transformed over time to adapt to use within, and in neighboring buildings. The thickened floor slabs in the final version highlight the double height sandwiches, and reduce solar heat gain while celebrating the structure. Although it is an irregular building, it is both universal and specific, efficient but memorable.

An external limit was that all of the deliverables had to fit inside a wedding box to enable transport back to Harvard.

benjamin bromberg gaber | 7 portfolio 2019

the dovetail: a universal building in london | option studio simon allford + hanif kara | spring 2018

the dovetail: a universal building in london | option studio

benjamin bromberg gaber | 8 portfolio 2019

simon allford + hanif kara | spring 2018

residential

refugee

restaurant

the dovetail: a universal building in london | option studio simon allford + hanif kara | spring 2018

the dovetail: a universal building in london | option studio simon allford + hanif kara | spring 2018

benjamin bromberg gaber | 9 portfolio 2019

no shirt, no shoes, no park: a park for the boston seaport | option studio mikyoung kim | fall 2017

This project creates public space in the Boston Seaport neighborhood that suggests methods of occupation but does not dictate the activities of its users. It allows for the users to negotiate amongst themselves what activities will happen here, when, and how. It will allow for groups of all shapes and sizes to gather and participate together.

Cities must create cohesive spaces for public gathering while incorporating all different kinds of activities in the same place. Parks should offer sites for social respite and friction for people at all times.

The brief also called for a public space that could be used for massive protests, while being an enjoyable place for small groups of people.

The project began with an exploration of materials and models that capture kinetic activity in static form to create an engaging environment that would encourage movement throughout the site. The connection between the city and site was analyzed and diagrammed. Retail L's were proposed to attract people to the project beyond times of protest. An undulating skin topography was then placed above, composed of hexagons at the scale of human occupation.

At various "suggested" places of program, the spaces aggregate together to allow for flat or angled gathering places at the small, medium, and large scales. The fractalized units of pentagons allow for fraying of structured space; enabling any user of the space to choose how to occupy the specific moment, and permit a wider variety of topographic elevation.

This project is not about the hexagons, it’s about the moments; the geometric forms are the vehicles for unlimited journeys. Materials are applied to enable activities, but the edges and colors hide the “intended� program in favor of a more fluid experience.

no shirt, no shoes, no park: a park for the boston seaport | option studio mikyoung kim | fall 2017

This project creates public space in the Boston Seaport neighborhood that suggests methods of occupation but does not dictate the activities of its users. It allows for the users to negotiate amongst themselves what activities will happen here, when, and how. It will allow for groups of all shapes and sizes to gather and participate together.

Cities must create cohesive spaces for public gathering while incorporating all different kinds of activities in the same place. Parks should offer sites for social respite and friction for people at all times.

The brief also called for a public space that could be used for massive protests, while being an enjoyable place for small groups of people.

The project began with an exploration of materials and models that capture kinetic activity in static form to create an engaging environment that would encourage movement throughout the site. The connection between the city and site was analyzed and diagrammed. Retail L's were proposed to attract people to the project beyond times of protest. An undulating skin topography was then placed above, composed of hexagons at the scale of human occupation.

At various "suggested" places of program, the spaces aggregate together to allow for flat or angled gathering places at the small, medium, and large scales. The fractalized units of pentagons allow for fraying of structured space; enabling any user of the space to choose how to occupy the specific moment, and permit a wider variety of topographic elevation.

This project is not about the hexagons, it’s about the moments; the geometric forms are the vehicles for unlimited journeys. Materials are applied to enable activities, but the edges and colors hide the “intended� program in favor of a more fluid experience.

benjamin bromberg gaber | 10 portfolio 2019

no shirt, no shoes, no park: a park for the boston seaport | option studio mikyoung kim | fall 2017

no shirt, no shoes, no park: a park for the boston seaport | option studio mikyoung kim | fall 2017

benjamin bromberg gaber | 11 portfolio 2019

no shirt, no shoes, no park: a park for the boston seaport | option studio mikyoung kim | fall 2017

no shirt, no shoes, no park: a park for the boston seaport | option studio mikyoung kim | fall 2017

benjamin bromberg gaber | 12 portfolio 2019

no shirt, no shoes, no park: a park for the boston seaport | option studio mikyoung kim | fall 2017

no shirt, no shoes, no park: a park for the boston seaport | option studio mikyoung kim | fall 2017

benjamin bromberg gaber | 13 portfolio 2019

no shirt, no shoes, no park: a park for the boston seaport | option studio mikyoung kim | fall 2017

no shirt, no shoes, no park: a park for the boston seaport | option studio mikyoung kim | fall 2017

benjamin bromberg gaber | 14 portfolio 2019

olympic flame development, inc. | core 4 studio jennifer bonner | spring 2017

This project rethinks the role of luxury in multifamily housing today. It injects cultural phenomena (including the GIF, the representation tool engaged with throughout the semester) that are symptomatic of our lives into the traditional residential typology of Boston, the triple decker, to propose a new set of typologies that more productively engage with who we are, how we live, and what we care about.

We closely studied the song “Bad & Boujee� by the Atlanta rappers Migos, which expresses the dichotomies embedded in contemporary conditions and ambitions. The artists drink champagne while eating microwaved ramen, they smoke weed inside a BMW X5 while pulled over at a housing project.

Contemporary luxury is about layering. This project uses the ways that people misread objects, forms, spaces, and social constructs, to shape a housing development where all people can share city. Through purposeful misreading, it obscures and disguises luxury in the contemporary city.

Olympic Flame Development consists of 135 buildings that are variations of 5 new residential typologies. These 5 types are all alterations of the traditional triple decker. Variations on luxury were produced by taking the volume of the 5 types, stretching and squashing the mass to produce different heights and slenderness ratios while maintaining the same number of occupants.

No building in the development matches another, but no building is foreign. The urban fabric is cohesive but not monotonous. The project revamps the ordinary triple decker to embody the complexities that we experience in our contemporary lives by layering and misreading.

Teammates: Khorshid Naderi-Azad + Marianna Gonzalez

olympic flame development, inc. | core 4 studio jennifer bonner | spring 2017

This project rethinks the role of luxury in multifamily housing today. It injects cultural phenomena (including the GIF, the representation tool engaged with throughout the semester) that are symptomatic of our lives into the traditional residential typology of Boston, the triple decker, to propose a new set of typologies that more productively engage with who we are, how we live, and what we care about.

We closely studied the song “Bad & Boujee� by the Atlanta rappers Migos, which expresses the dichotomies embedded in contemporary conditions and ambitions. The artists drink champagne while eating microwaved ramen, they smoke weed inside a BMW X5 while pulled over at a housing project.

Contemporary luxury is about layering. This project uses the ways that people misread objects, forms, spaces, and social constructs, to shape a housing development where all people can share city. Through purposeful misreading, it obscures and disguises luxury in the contemporary city.

Olympic Flame Development consists of 135 buildings that are variations of 5 new residential typologies. These 5 types are all alterations of the traditional triple decker. Variations on luxury were produced by taking the volume of the 5 types, stretching and squashing the mass to produce different heights and slenderness ratios while maintaining the same number of occupants.

No building in the development matches another, but no building is foreign. The urban fabric is cohesive but not monotonous. The project revamps the ordinary triple decker to embody the complexities that we experience in our contemporary lives by layering and misreading.

Teammates: Khorshid Naderi-Azad + Marianna Gonzalez

benjamin bromberg gaber | 15 portfolio 2019

olympic flame development, inc. | core 4 studio jennifer bonner | spring 2017

olympic flame development, inc. | core 4 studio jennifer bonner | spring 2017

benjamin bromberg gaber | 16 portfolio 2019

olympic flame development, inc. | core 4 studio jennifer bonner | spring 2017

C O M P L E X N o . 07

D E C K E R N o . 21

olympic flame development, inc. | core 4 studio

benjamin bromberg gaber | 17 portfolio 2019

jennifer bonner | spring 2017

C O M P L E X N o . 07

T O W E R N o . 18

M A N S I O N N o . 09 14

D E C K E R N o . 21 CO M P L E X N o. 14

TOWER N o. 13

D E C K E R N o. 1 3

MANS IO N No. 08

olympic flame development, inc. | core 4 studio jennifer bonner | spring 2017

olympic flame development, inc. | core 4 studio jennifer bonner | spring 2017

benjamin bromberg gaber | 18 portfolio 2019

mixed-use hotel tower in doha | core 3 studio elizabeth christoforetti | fall 2016

Despite traditions of hospitality within the harsh environment, Doha is a segregated city (expressed as a waffle). In this project, the nested distribution and mixing of programs, people, and environmental systems/structures attempt to provide answers to questions of social and environmental responsibility, bringing the users together (expressed as a pancake).

Programs are distributed such that user groups shift up and down throughout the building, sliding past one another. Tourists using the gym and restaurant are forced past the locals checking out the art gallery, who are forced past the migrant workers in the clinic, who are forced past the service workers using the kitchen facilities.

On one side of the central core are the private rooms with access to views of sunrise and the Persian Gulf. With Vierendeel trusses throughout the floor-plates, the public programs can be located on the opposite corner, creating cantilevers when the program requires a larger floor-plate. The rigid, cellular private half of the building provides structure while also creating a constant dichotomy between private and the free-form, cantilevered public spaces.

Above these enclosed, fully conditioned cantilevers are gardens, wrapped in an additional layer of building envelope for maximum environmental efficiency. This double enclosure creates additional opportunities for interaction between users of different programs, across public and private space, while expressing a stance towards energy use in a climate like Doha's.

Through the social and spatial organization, a new architecture is proposed to fully enable the political and social agency of the hotel users and wider community.

mixed-use hotel tower in doha | core 3 studio elizabeth christoforetti | fall 2016

Despite traditions of hospitality within the harsh environment, Doha is a segregated city (expressed as a waffle). In this project, the nested distribution and mixing of programs, people, and environmental systems/structures attempt to provide answers to questions of social and environmental responsibility, bringing the users together (expressed as a pancake).

Programs are distributed such that user groups shift up and down throughout the building, sliding past one another. Tourists using the gym and restaurant are forced past the locals checking out the art gallery, who are forced past the migrant workers in the clinic, who are forced past the service workers using the kitchen facilities.

On one side of the central core are the private rooms with access to views of sunrise and the Persian Gulf. With Vierendeel trusses throughout the floor-plates, the public programs can be located on the opposite corner, creating cantilevers when the program requires a larger floor-plate. The rigid, cellular private half of the building provides structure while also creating a constant dichotomy between private and the free-form, cantilevered public spaces.

Above these enclosed, fully conditioned cantilevers are gardens, wrapped in an additional layer of building envelope for maximum environmental efficiency. This double enclosure creates additional opportunities for interaction between users of different programs, across public and private space, while expressing a stance towards energy use in a climate like Doha's.

Through the social and spatial organization, a new architecture is proposed to fully enable the political and social agency of the hotel users and wider community.

benjamin bromberg gaber | 19 portfolio 2019

mixed-use hotel tower in doha | core 3 studio elizabeth christoforetti | fall 2016

mixed-use hotel tower in doha | core 3 studio

benjamin bromberg gaber | 20 portfolio 2019

elizabeth christoforetti | fall 2016 Conference - 49th floor

Fitness - 37th floor

Gallery - 17th floor

mixed-use hotel tower in doha | core 3 studio elizabeth christoforetti | fall 2016

mixed-use hotel tower in doha | core 3 studio elizabeth christoforetti | fall 2016

benjamin bromberg gaber | 21 portfolio 2019

circulating + rare book library | core 2 studio max kuo | spring 2016

An extended precedent analysis of the Sou Fujimoto Musashino Art University Library analyzed how although the spiral organization suggests a gradient of experiences, the interaction of users with books and social dynamics among users is fairly homogeneous.

This proposal offers a range of experiences for the users although it is suggestive of a consistent experience throughout with platonic geometry and the same pixelated shelf system as found in the precedent. Public, fully accessible, circulatory portals skewer the buildings, instigating incisions, clefts, cantilevers, and shafts. The resultant networks and their associated shelving system and level of transparency to the sky or to the landscape offer a variety of experiences into each building and within each building.

The puncture of the facade by the portals enhances the formal and programmatic organization of the library while also providing the public with new experiences within the park. By trading public space in the Boston Fens Park for enhanced public pathways that connect users to the MFA, the city, and the park, the library reinforces its relationship to the site. The divide of the river and difference in formal systems allow users of the library, MFA, and park to engage with the seemingly arbitrary distinctions between circulating and rare library collections, and the status and attitudes towards each held by the larger knowledge and arts communities.

circulating + rare book library | core 2 studio max kuo | spring 2016

An extended precedent analysis of the Sou Fujimoto Musashino Art University Library analyzed how although the spiral organization suggests a gradient of experiences, the interaction of users with books and social dynamics among users is fairly homogeneous.

This proposal offers a range of experiences for the users although it is suggestive of a consistent experience throughout with platonic geometry and the same pixelated shelf system as found in the precedent. Public, fully accessible, circulatory portals skewer the buildings, instigating incisions, clefts, cantilevers, and shafts. The resultant networks and their associated shelving system and level of transparency to the sky or to the landscape offer a variety of experiences into each building and within each building.

The puncture of the facade by the portals enhances the formal and programmatic organization of the library while also providing the public with new experiences within the park. By trading public space in the Boston Fens Park for enhanced public pathways that connect users to the MFA, the city, and the park, the library reinforces its relationship to the site. The divide of the river and difference in formal systems allow users of the library, MFA, and park to engage with the seemingly arbitrary distinctions between circulating and rare library collections, and the status and attitudes towards each held by the larger knowledge and arts communities.

benjamin bromberg gaber | 22 portfolio 2019

circulating + rare book library | core 2 studio max kuo | spring 2016

circulating + rare book library | core 2 studio max kuo | spring 2016

benjamin bromberg gaber | 23 portfolio 2019

cancer club | core 2 studio max kuo | spring 2016

Although millions of people are diagnosed with cancer each year, undergoing treatment is an isolating and lonely process. This is especially true for millennials; for whom it is rare to be diagnosed.

This project for a cancer “club” inserts itself into the existing cancer treatment infrastructure as a healthcare facility that not only battles the disease and treats member’s symptoms, but also cares for the member’s social well-being.

Although the project centers around communal spaces, the treatment and housing of the members is the primary concern for the club. Thus, the architecture is based around the individual private nodes, the guest rooms and treatment rooms, designed on a rotated 13’x13’ grid to enable full handicap accessibility while preserving privacy. The aggregation and integration of public and private spaces creates a fluid experience for members, in which they are able to socialize with fellow members constantly while still being able to find moments of quiet and private refuge.

By distributing public and private spaces throughout the project around a central atrium, the architecture is an enjoyable and flexible social experience on each floor and throughout the building. The facade treatment reflects this sifting of public and private spaces; the material treatment and orientation represents the difference in use of the space, while the geometry breaks down the barriers between intimate and community spaces. The facade also reflects the club's position within Brutalist Boston.

Instagram, similarly blurs these lines, allowing for the merging of public and private spaces through the exposure of private spaces to a general social media platform while private users can interpret and experience public spaces on their own.

cancer club | core 2 studio max kuo | spring 2016

benjamin bromberg gaber | 24 portfolio 2019

Although millions of people are diagnosed with cancer each year, undergoing treatment is an isolating and lonely process. This is especially true for millennials; for whom it is rare to be diagnosed.

This project for a cancer “club” inserts itself into the existing cancer treatment infrastructure as a healthcare facility that not only battles the disease and treats member’s symptoms, but also cares for the member’s social well-being.

Although the project centers around communal spaces, the treatment and housing of the members is the primary concern for the club. Thus, the architecture is based around the individual private nodes, the guest rooms and treatment rooms, designed on a rotated 13’x13’ grid to enable full handicap accessibility while preserving privacy. The aggregation and integration of public and private spaces creates a fluid experience for members, in which they are able to socialize with fellow members constantly while still being able to find moments of quiet and private refuge.

2nd floor

By distributing public and private spaces throughout the project around a central atrium, the architecture is an enjoyable and flexible social experience on each floor and throughout the building. The facade treatment reflects this sifting of public and private spaces; the material treatment and orientation represents the difference in use of the space, while the geometry breaks down the barriers between intimate and community spaces. The facade also reflects the club's position within Brutalist Boston.

Instagram, similarly blurs these lines, allowing for the merging of public and private spaces through the exposure of private spaces to a general social media platform while private users can interpret and experience public spaces on their own.

ground floor

cancer club | core 2 studio max kuo | spring 2016

cancer club | core 2 studio max kuo | spring 2016

benjamin bromberg gaber | 25 portfolio 2019

cathedral of saint thomas more | making sacred spaces seminar christine smith | spring 2016

The final project for a seminar on the design of sacred spaces, the Cathedral of Saint Thomas More, located in the Columbia Point neighborhood of Boston is designed to serve as a paradigm for future cathedrals. The arrangement of the cathedral’s programs and liturgical furniture enhances the experience of the congregation joining the clergy in worship.

Located in a politically important location within Boston, and oriented to honor the patron saint of statesmen, the cathedral will serve an important role within Boston’s Catholic and political community.

Built with simple materials, the church reflects the values of the congregation while enhancing the congregation’s spiritual experience. Congregants and visitors from around Boston and the world will look forward to their time spent celebrating the liturgy together as they celebrate the glory of God, praise Christ, and yearn for a future redemption.

cathedral of saint thomas more | making sacred spaces seminar

benjamin bromberg gaber | 26 portfolio 2019

christine smith | spring 2016

The final project for a seminar on the design of sacred spaces, the Cathedral of Saint Thomas More, located in the Columbia Point neighborhood of Boston is designed to serve as a paradigm for future cathedrals. The arrangement of the cathedral’s programs and liturgical furniture enhances the experience of the congregation joining the clergy in worship.

Located in a politically important location within Boston, and oriented to honor the patron saint of statesmen, the cathedral will serve an important role within Boston’s Catholic and political community.

Built with simple materials, the church reflects the values of the congregation while enhancing the congregation’s spiritual experience. Congregants and visitors from around Boston and the world will look forward to their time spent celebrating the liturgy together as they celebrate the glory of God, praise Christ, and yearn for a future redemption.

light from skylight (aligns with altar on Feast of Saint Thomas More)

daily chapel

confessional sacrament chapel

deacons clergy bishop gospel baptismal font

narthex

congregation

altar epistle choir master organ choir communion

back of house

ouagadougou bus shelter network | j-term studio d. francis kĂŠrĂŠ | winter 2016

This project proposes a network of bus shelters in Burkina Faso that will improve public transit experiences for residents and visitors, provide community public spaces, promote education for all ages, provide electricity for the public, and create rent-able spaces.

In addition to seating for bus users, the benches could be used by community members, and the central chalkboard could host tutoring sessions, business meetings, or children learning to write. A design for one medium-sized shelter is explored but a network of various sized shelters is proposed.

Lightweight yet durable, the structure is easily constructible and replicable across the city.

ouagadougou bus shelter network | j-term studio d. francis kĂŠrĂŠ | winter 2016

This project proposes a network of bus shelters in Burkina Faso that will improve public transit experiences for residents and visitors, provide community public spaces, promote education for all ages, provide electricity for the public, and create rent-able spaces.

In addition to seating for bus users, the benches could be used by community members, and the central chalkboard could host tutoring sessions, business meetings, or children learning to write. A design for one medium-sized shelter is explored but a network of various sized shelters is proposed.

Lightweight yet durable, the structure is easily constructible and replicable across the city.

benjamin bromberg gaber | 27 portfolio 2019

extensive/intensive | core 1 studio cristina parreĂąo | fall 2015

This project uses a transformation system in Grasshopper to create an architecture that uses intensive processes of conduction and convection in one state, and radiation in a second to inform the extensive properties and form.

The form enables maximum sun exposure in the compact state and maximum sun and wind exposure in the exposed state.

Through a thick envelope, compact structure and central temperature/people circulation system, the first state utilizes the attributes of the stack effect to drive and enhance its thermodynamic system. As the Grasshopper armature unfolds the geometry into a second, exposed state, the radiation and shading creates a completely different thermodynamic and organizational environment. The proposal references, enables, and explores the dichotomy between environments, geometries, and thermodynamic systems.

extensive/intensive | core 1 studio cristina parreĂąo | fall 2015

This project uses a transformation system in Grasshopper to create an architecture that uses intensive processes of conduction and convection in one state, and radiation in a second to inform the extensive properties and form.

The form enables maximum sun exposure in the compact state and maximum sun and wind exposure in the exposed state.

Through a thick envelope, compact structure and central temperature/people circulation system, the first state utilizes the attributes of the stack effect to drive and enhance its thermodynamic system. As the Grasshopper armature unfolds the geometry into a second, exposed state, the radiation and shading creates a completely different thermodynamic and organizational environment. The proposal references, enables, and explores the dichotomy between environments, geometries, and thermodynamic systems.

benjamin bromberg gaber | 28 portfolio 2019

extensive/intensive | core 1 studio cristina parreĂąo | fall 2015

extensive/intensive | core 1 studio cristina parreĂąo | fall 2015

benjamin bromberg gaber | 29 portfolio 2019

quad neighborhoods dorm | core 1 studio cristina parreĂąo | fall 2015

This project, a dormitory, proposes a system of quad rooms types composed of two doubles lofted together in order to maximize the use of space.

Often dorm quad typologies are used in cases of over-crowding or are remnant space, leftover from other room configurations or converted from common spaces. This proposal creates a dorm centered around this complicated typology, as the rooms combine into a neighborhood arrangement of quads, providing 3 different living styles for students according to their preference for more individuality, smaller clusters, or larger groups.

The project emerged from a brief that had restrictions on the plan, overall organization of the building, and use of stairs, along with a requirement for 270 beds in a given footprint. The eeconomy and efficiency of the quads allows for 330 beds, along with significantly more common space, an important amenity to a college dorm.

quad neighborhoods dorm | core 1 studio cristina parreĂąo | fall 2015

This project, a dormitory, proposes a system of quad rooms types composed of two doubles lofted together in order to maximize the use of space.

Often dorm quad typologies are used in cases of over-crowding or are remnant space, leftover from other room configurations or converted from common spaces. This proposal creates a dorm centered around this complicated typology, as the rooms combine into a neighborhood arrangement of quads, providing 3 different living styles for students according to their preference for more individuality, smaller clusters, or larger groups.

The project emerged from a brief that had restrictions on the plan, overall organization of the building, and use of stairs, along with a requirement for 270 beds in a given footprint. The eeconomy and efficiency of the quads allows for 330 beds, along with significantly more common space, an important amenity to a college dorm.

benjamin bromberg gaber | 30 portfolio 2019

quad neighborhoods dorm | core 1 studio cristina parreĂąo | fall 2015

quad neighborhoods dorm | core 1 studio cristina parreĂąo | fall 2015

benjamin bromberg gaber | 31 portfolio 2019

previous research projects 2014-present

Analysis of pedestrian access in Boston Seaport district for option studio taught by Mikyoung Kim. Fall 2017.

Screen grab of interactive web map about impact of Greco-Roman society's influence on Judaism.

Produced for undergraduate seminar by Marjorie Lehman, based on research by Burton Visotzky.

Spring 2015. Still version published in Aphrodite and the Rabbis by Burton Visotzky (St. Martins Press: 2016).

Analysis of typologies of Istanbul urban development for undergraduate architecture studio taught by Karen Fairbanks. Fall 2014.

Still version of interactive web map showing development of Lower East Side. The interactive component demonstrates the relationship between census granularity and mapping capability. Produced with Sara Shalam for an undergraduate seminar taught by Leah Meisterlin. Fall 2014.

1920

870,000

370,000 180,000

50,000

county

1920

1900

1880

0 1860

Map analyzing educational attainment of nativeborn Americans compared to immigrants. Produced for undergraduate seminar by Leah Meisterlin. Fall 2013.

number of immigrants

1860

tract

previous research projects

benjamin bromberg gaber | 32 portfolio 2019

2014-present

1950

Analysis of pedestrian access in Boston Seaport district for option studio taught by Mikyoung Kim. Fall 2017.

1980

1960 2010

first gecekondus

Screen grab of interactive web map about impact of Greco-Roman society's influence on Judaism.

Produced for undergraduate seminar by Marjorie Lehman, based on research by Burton Visotzky.

Spring 2015. Still version published in Aphrodite and the Rabbis by Burton Visotzky (St. Martins Press: 2016).

gecekondus settlements

gecekondu “landed over night�

population growth millions of people 20

15

10

5

Analysis of typologies of Istanbul urban development for undergraduate architecture studio taught by Karen Fairbanks. Fall 2014.

0 1900

Still version of interactive web map showing development of Lower East Side. The interactive component demonstrates the relationship between census granularity and mapping capability. Produced with Sara Shalam for an undergraduate seminar taught by Leah Meisterlin. Fall 2014.

1920

2014

870,000

business information

370,000

% of total immigrants

asian eastern european other total # immigrants

180,000

50,000

county

tract

block group

2014

2000

1980

1960

1940

1920

1900

1880

0 1860

Map analyzing educational attainment of nativeborn Americans compared to immigrants. Produced for undergraduate seminar by Leah Meisterlin. Fall 2013.

number of immigrants

1860

1910

1920

1930

1940

1950

1960

1970

1980

1990

2000

2010

2020

professional work Square footage by program type in basketball facilities

Populous Architects - Boston, MA Summer 2017 Created a US university athletic facility database.

Included maps, spatial data, performance metrics, and design information.

sports medicine

practice

lounge

study

service

spectator

Pei Cobb Freed & Partners - New York, NY Summer 2016 Built a 1:200 model for a Jerusalem mixed-use development project (acrylic, museum board, foam core, 3d prints). Also worked on schematic designs for additional Israeli development projects and client presentation books.

Experion Design Group - New York, NY Summer 2014 - Spring 2015 3d modeled a Miami residential speculative proposal.

Incorporated Grasshopper script and suggested new uses for 3d printed concrete structures.

Fentress Architects - Shanghai, China Summer 2013 Compiled schematic design sketches and client presentation documents for a mixed-use development in Kunming, China. 3d model and proposal for a commercial development competition in Xian, China.

office

other

TEXAS A&M

professional work

benjamin bromberg gaber | 33 portfolio 2019 Square footage by program type in basketball facilities

Populous Architects - Boston, MA Summer 2017 Created a US university athletic facility database.

Included maps, spatial data, performance metrics, and design information.

sports medicine practice lounge study service spectator

Pei Cobb Freed & Partners - New York, NY Summer 2016 Built a 1:200 model for a Jerusalem mixed-use development project (acrylic, museum board, foam core, 3d prints). Also worked on schematic designs for additional Israeli development projects and client presentation books.

Experion Design Group - New York, NY Summer 2014 - Spring 2015 3d modeled a Miami residential speculative proposal.

Incorporated Grasshopper script and suggested new uses for 3d printed concrete structures.

Fentress Architects - Shanghai, China Summer 2013 Compiled schematic design sketches and client presentation documents for a mixed-use development in Kunming, China. 3d model and proposal for a commercial development competition in Xian, China.

office other

TEXAS A&M