ARCH 4341: Portfolio Final Draft - Benjamin Janes

Portfolio.

Selected Works University of Minnesota 2016-2020

Benjamin Janes

Contents.

01

Timeline Theater.

Studio 5: Praxis :: 2019

02

Float.

Personal Project :: 2018

03

Prairie Art Center.

Studio 1: Tectonics :: 2017

04

Urban Dairy Institute.

05

Nordhavn Chair.

Furniture Design Workshop :: 2019

06

Amager Boardwalk.

Studio 3: Critical Programming :: 2018

Studio 4: Urban Design :: 2019

01

Timeline Theater.

Studio 5: Praxis Collaboration with Jolie Dunlap Instructors: Nat Madsen + James Kehl Chicago, Ill. 2019

THE NEW TIMELINE THEATER TRANSLATES THE THEATER COMPANY’S MISSION PROMOTING DIALOGUE AMONG USERS BY STAGING HISTORICAL, CULTURALLY RELEVANT, AND PROVOCATIVE THEATER - INTO PHYSICAL SPACE, AIDED BY CONTEXTUAL ROOTS IN THE URBAN FABRIC AND THEATRICAL PAST OF THE UPTOWN NEIGHBORHOOD.

The renovation and addition to an early 20th Century warehouse on Chicago’s North Side is designed to be the new home of Timeline Theater Company as they grow from a single 99 seat theater in a church basement into a space with two new black box theaters, seating a total of 400 patrons. Timeline has a unique emphasis on historically-based theater, viewed through the lens of current socio-political issues. Additionally, they curate a experiential exhibitions to help visitors engage with these topics. This allows them to promote dialogue between theater-goers, actors, and staff alike about the important issues of our time. The neighborhood they are moving into has its own rich history, from being the heart of entertainment in Chicago during the 1920’s, to the mid-century waves of Asian immigration that reshaped the neighborhood, to the ongoing struggle against gentrification.

Taking inspiration from the found and forgotten spaces between buildings in the dense urban fabric, the building places public space at the core, expanding and contracting in scale much like the alleys themselves. Conversation nooks, tucked into the walls create space for intimate dialogue and exhibition space, set the stage for a new discourse between the existing community and its newest tenants. The new theater boxes themselves also engage in a dialogue with the existing building through structure and materiality in the central atrium.

Traditional theater elements are also a reference point for the new theater - a contemporary marquee creates an outdoor entry space upon arrival, back-lit by the perforated brick facade of the new theater that flashes and glows in familiar fashion. Elsewhere, articulated brick patterns reference the subtle adornments of the palatial theaters just a few blocks down Broadway. Just as Timeline does with its performances, the building seeks to contemporize historical elements to spark important conversations.

Timeline Theater

2

Level 5: Leasable Office Space Open office space to be leased by Timeline to community organizations

Level 4: Timeline Administration Reception, Conference Space, Open Office Space, Private Offices, Private Restrooms

Level 3: Education + Workshop Theater Library, Education Office, Flex Education + Rehearsal Space, Costume + Prop Shop, Private Restrooms, Storage, Second Theater Control Room

Level 2: Second Theater + Exhibition Second Theater, Second Theater Back of House, Main Theater Control Room, Exhibition Space, Intermission Bar, Public Restrooms

Level 1: Main Theater + Exhibition Main Theater, Main Theater Back of House, Rehearsal, Box Office, Public Restrooms, Cafe + Kitchen, Exhibition Space, Courtyard Back of house space includes: dressing rooms, private restrooms, playing space, dimmer + amplifier rooms, and flexible green rooms that open up to the public.

20’

Context heavily influences the building organization.

LEFT: Each level of the theater is dedicated to different functions, with the most public spaces on the lower floors and administrative programs on the upper floors, although public space (orange in the diagram) permeates throughout the building to create space for dialogue between users.

3

Context + Program

RIGHT: The site plan reveals the relationship between the building’s public space some of the ‘found’ spaces in the urban fabric of the Uptown neighborhood, such as alleyways, train underpasses, and the interstitial spaces between houses, as well as the dense commercial Argyle Street just south of the site. Much like these urban spaces, the public space in the theater expands and contracts to create different spatial sensations.

WEST WINONA STREET

WEST WINONA STREET

WEST WINONA STREET

WEST CARMEN AVE

NORTH BROADWAY

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WEST ARGYLE STREET

NORTH WINTRHOP AVE

WEST WINNEMAC AVE

ARGYLE STREET REDLINE STATION

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3

WEST ARGYLE STREET

WEST ARGYLE STREET

NORTH MAGNOLIA AVE

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Timeline Theater

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1: ADD HEAVY THEATER MASSES TO EXISTING BUILDING

2: CARVE ‘FOUND’ PUBLIC SPACES

3: PUNCH HOLES INTO EXISTING BUILDING + SEPARATE FRONT THEATER MASS

4: FORM DIALOGUE NOOKS

The central atrium or spine of the building operates the primary ‘found’ space in the building, and as such is also the primary social space.

ABOVE: The evolution of the building and conceptual process shown in the diagrams helps to create an architecturally and socially charged space in the spine, taking deliberate action on the existing building to open

5

Evolution + Concept

it up to the new spaces while still respecting it’s history.

RIGHT: The openings into the building create an opportunity for the theater to create pre-show conversation spaces and exhibition spaces, promoting learning and understanding among patrons, as they move in and out of the spine.

Timeline Theater

6

The concrete structural of the warehouse became the underlying organizational grid for opening up the existing building to the new spine.

Punched openings around the floors and columns are infilled in places with wooden conversation nooks in the atrium, as well as with exterior windows and patterned brick on the administrative levels.

7

Grids + Layers

Combined with the stair hangers, and steel structure of the spine itself, a layered filigree brings a richness to the space. This layering and filigree can also be seen in section, as the atrium spills out into the rear courtyard.

Timeline Theater

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9

Public Perception

Dialogue with the community begins with the building’s facades.

ABOVE: The rear courtyard creates an intriguing space intended to draw people in from the Red Line, as well as a place for informal performances and community events. Additionally, extruded brick patterns on the exterior of the main theater recall Uptown’s palatial theaters of the 1920’s.

LEFT: Studies showing the evolution of the front facade on Broadway, which completes the street front by filling in the adjacent empty lot. A perforated brick screen on the front of the new theater mimics the arrays of lights on traditional theater signs, while window openings on the existing warehouse are enlarged but still respect the original facade.

Timeline Theater

10

The building’s spine serves as the hub of activity and center for dialogue.

theater additions, representative of the new theater company, and the old warehouse, representative of the existing neighborhood community.

ABOVE: Initial studies framed this spine as a discrete object, facilitating between the interior and exterior of the neighborhood while moving patrons to the main theater. In the final version, the spine is less an object and more a void, although it still facilitates dialogue between the new

RIGHT: From the bridges across the spine, visitors can see the architectural dialogue between these two entities, symbolic of the dialogue in which the theater wants to engage with it’s new community.

11

Dialogue + Spine

02

Float.

Personal Exploration Jordan Lake, WI 2018

INSPIRED BY SUMMER TRADITIONS ON JORDAN LAKE, ‘FLOAT’ AIMS TO ENHANCE THE EXPERIENCE OF BOATERS AND SWIMMERS RE-IMAGINING WHAT A FLOTILLA COULD BE, CREATING TO GATHER, EAT, DRINK, AND RELAX.

It’s something of a tradition on Jordan Lake to gather at the East end of the lake on hot summer days. A sandy, shallow part of the lake, the East end becomes a seemingly random pattern of dozens of boats, creating pockets of water where residents of the lake stand and meet one another for food, drinks, games and entertainment.

‘FLOAT’ is both formally and functionally designed to mimic and supplement this phenomenon. One of the most interesting aspects of the flotilla that forms on the lake are the seemingly random pockets of water that form between the boats as they park - a constellation of spaces of different sizes, shapes, and qualities. There’s also the interesting interplay between those on the boats, often sunbathing, eating, or drinking, and those in the water who are talking or playing. The floating dock structure is designed to riff off of those relationships, with various holes in the deck opening up to the water and a roof lifting up to provide shade, much like the canopies of the boats. Different types of openings facilitate different relationships to the water and between people, imitating the pools in the flotilla. Users are free to picnic while dangling their feet into the water, sunbathe just above the water, or dive in.

The project also addresses some of the shortcomings of the impromptu gatherings. The cafe and supporting bathrooms reduce the need for residents to go back and forth between the lake and their house to use the restroom or restock their refreshments, allowing for more time spent enjoying the lake.

Float

14

1: FLOATING BASE

2: PUNCH TO WATER

3: RAISE FOR SHADE

4: BEND TO FIT LAKE

ABOVE: The idea starts as a simple floating raft, which is then punched through to create various openings to the lake.. A roof plane is then raised to provide shade, and finally, the whole structure is bent to fit the contours of the lack.

RIGHT: The deck space itself emulates the constellation of spaces that

15

Evolution + Concept

the boats would naturally form, supported by a small, enclosed pavilion space offering critical amenities such as restrooms and a kitchen. In section, where the structure’s canopy imitates that of a pontoon boat, a variety of sectional relationships are formed to the water, including picnic tables that float above it, partially submerged decks for sitting in the water and open areas in which children and adults can play and swim.

1- RESTROOM 2- KITCHEN/BAR

20’

2

3- INDOOR DINING 4- BOAT DOCK

5- OUTDOOR DINING 6- SOCIAL POOLS

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3

6

1

4

Float

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03

Prairie Art Center.

Studio 1: Tectonics Instructor: Dan Winden Franconia, MN 2017

AT FRANCONIA SCULPTURE PARK, THE PLACEMENT AND FORM OF THE SCULPTURES USUALLY DICTATES WHAT HAPPENS TO THE LANDSCAPE AROUND IT. THE PRAIRIE ART CENTER FLIPS THE SCRIPT, EXAMINING WHAT HAPPENS WHEN THE ENVIRONMENT PUSHES BACK ON THE BUILT ENVIRONMENT.

The sculptures at Franconia Sculpture Park seem at first like they’re rising out of the native prairie itself, although this idea is quickly dismissed by visitors as they start to move around the park. They move from site to site on trails of short grass, mowed straight through the prairie, and each art piece sitting in its own circle of perfectly manicured grass. With the addition of the these new live-work spaces for visiting artists, as well as exhibition spaces, the Prairie Art Center starts to reexamine this relationship between human forces and nature.

This begins with a reintroduction of prairie grasses and trees to the site, helping it to better blend into its context. The program is then separated into its primary elements - a public gallery and private live and work spaces for visiting sculptors - with each area treated as a separate structure. An elevated path that flows between the different spaces lifts the structures off the ground and gives them the impression of floating above the prairie. Each of these spaces is defined by its own framework and skin, which creates both a sense of rhythm and repetition as well as a unifying form that all the buildings share.

The spaces embrace their surroundings by breaking this form, wrapping around trees and prairies that act like natural sculptures, complementing their man-made counterparts. Building orientation and skin opacity are manipulated to create view corridors to the surroundings, while the interiors are flooded with both direct and indirect natural light, giving them an airy, ethereal feeling that starts to blur the line between the outside and the inside.

picture to be re-rendered to these extents

Prairie Art Center

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1234567891011-

PUBLIC RESTROOMS MECH. / JANITOR KITCHENETTE GALLERY SCULPTURE EXHIBITION PRESENTATION SPACE INTERIOR WORKSHOP EXTERIOR WORKSHOP LIVING + ENTERTAINING KITCHEN + DINING ARTIST’S QUARTERS

1 2

4

5

3

6

11

9 7

11

8

7

10

36’

19

Evolution + Concept

1: NATURAL ENVIRONMENT

2: BUILT ENVIRONMENT

3: INTERSECTION

4: ADAPTATION

What happens when nature acts on the built environment, not the other way around?

RIGHT: Plans show the separated volumes of an artist’s life, from private living quarters to making space to public exhibition, as well as the moments of tension between man-made objects and natural objects.

ABOVE: The buildings themselves draw on the rural vernacular architecture around them in form, but instead of imposing themselves upon the prairie float above it, and adapt their simple forms to make space for the revitalized landscape to be the focal point of each space, recognizing the way our natural environment can be art and sculpture in and of itself.

Prairie Art Center

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ABOVE: The outdoor presentation space also acts as the public lens into the artist’s studios, and the exterior hub of activity for the project; the studios themselves are open work spaces but are more grounded in the earth, representing the strong connection between the artist’s work and it’s siting.

21

Structure + Skin

RIGHT: In many ways like a tree or a prairie, the structure is meant to built from a few simple elements into something much more complex, through prefabricated members and panels that slide together and sit atop a floating concrete base. The panels themselves come in three varieties of opacity, from solid to translucent to transparent to create variation in levels of privacy and frame specific views.

FRAME ELEMENTS

RIDGE BEAM

ROOF PANELS

RAFTERS

PANEL ELEMENTS CHAMFERED BEAMS

WALL PANELS

COLUMNS

CONCRETE BASE

SKIN + FRAME ASSEMBLY

Prairie Art Center

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The interior sculpture and art gallery showcases this relationship between human-made-art and nature-as-art, juxtaposing a large open display area with the architectural response to the natural site conditions.

04

Urban Dairy Institute.

Studio 3: Critical Programming SALA Prize Finalist Instructor: Matthew Byers Minneapolis, MN 2018

THE URBAN DAIRY INSTITUTE AIMS TO CONFRONT CONSUMERS WITH THE REALITIES OF THE COMMERCIAL DAIRY INDUSTRY WHILE PROPOSING ALTERNATIVES, THROUGH COMPRESSION AND RELEASE, DICHOTOMIES OF LIGHT AND MATERIAL, AND COMPLEMENTARY LEARNING EXPERIENCES.

Americans love dairy. However, we don’t often think about where it comes from, and some of the negative side effects commercial consumption and production cause. To bring attention to some of the issues around the dairy industry, the institute acts as a connection point between local sustainable farmers and urban diary consumers.

Users of the institute become like pen-pals with farmers who partner with the institute.

These farmers send their excess milk to the institute every week, where that milk is made into cheese or other dairy products by the consumers themselves. Meanwhile, the those same consumers grow crops in the greenhouse to send back to feed the farmer’s animals during the winter. Additionally, the farmers are able to bring in some of their cattle to graze on the site’s alfalfa fields periodically throughout the year. This creates a relationship within the building that is both cyclical an symbiotic for users and farmers alike, while also promoting a more sustainable relationship with dairy.

But for this method to be most effective, people first have to understand the problem. To facilitate this, first time users are forced through a string of galleries, starting with a dark space that educates about the issues in the industry. After this, visitors take the elevator all the way to the top floor, where they experience the opposite: a light gallery that showcases the work of the local farmers. From there, users spiral down through the tower, experiencing an indoor and outdoor edible gallery that exposes them to different types of dairy products, before finally landing at the intersection of the learning and making spaces: a classroom for learning how to make their own cheese, instead of relying on the commercial industry.

Urban Dairy Institute

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27

Dairy Consumption Issues

Most American’s probably don’t actually know how much dairy we consume, and even the numbers themselves are hard to understand - how can someone really comprehend how much 25 billion gallons of milk is?

However, when we visualize them with comparisons to the skyscrapers and lakes of Minneapolis, however, the extent of our consumption problem becomes clearer.

Given the environmental impacts and ethical concerns around factory and commercial farming, It makes sense to re-examine not just the ways and amounts in which American’s consume dairy, but to educate the wider public about the issue and propose alternative methods of dairy product production.

Urban Dairy Institute

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B: DARK GALLERY

Q: LIGHT GALLERY

L: EDIBLE GALLERY

E: CLASSROOM

ABOVE: As they circulate through the building for the first time, visitors experience a number of contrasting learning spaces. The dark gallery is a deliberately uncomfortable space that reveals the current issues with the dairy industry, while the light gallery instead looks out towards the future, highlighting farmers working more sustainably. The edible gallery is an educational twist on the restaurant, while the classroom aims to make

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Procession + Learning

cheese-making a DIY industry.

RIGHT: The main route for first time visitors is to start in the basement, go to the top floor, and wind down from there - this juxtaposes the dark gallery with the light gallery, before leading them past the growing levels to the edible gallery and ending in the crucible of the building - the classroom.

40’ -

New Visitor Regular Visitor Milk Delivery

Level +4: Enlightenment Level QCD-

Light Gallery Bathroom Elevator

Level +3: Growing Mezzanine OPCD-

Planting Bed Open to Below Bathroom Elevator

Level +2: Main Growing Level OCD-

Planting Beds Bathroom Elevator

Level +1: Consumption Level L MNCD-

Edible Gallery Kitchen Picnic Bathroom Elevator

Level 0: Making Level EFGHI J KCD-

Classroom Open Making Space Cold Storage Office Janitor Storage + Mech.

Receiving Bathroom Elevator

Level -1: Crisis Level ABCD-

Lobby Dark Gallery Bathroom Elevator

Urban Dairy Institute

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Detail 1 Skin + Structure WINDOW FRAME PLASTIC THERMAL BREAK 6” THICK CLT FLOOR PLYWOOD SHEATHING WOOD SPANDREL PANEL MINERAL WOOL INSUL. 36” DEEP GLULAM BEAM CONT. WEATHER BARRIER STEEL ANGLE SEALANT GLAZING 12” X 12” TIMBER COLUMN 2” CERAMIC TUBE 12” ALUMINUM ANGLE (FOR HANGING CURTAINWALL)

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Concept + Structure

ABOVE: That crucible of the classroom sits at the intersection of the horizontal ‘making’ wing and the vertical ‘learning tower.’ Visitors are lead through the tower by a gradient of light, while heavy timber construction offers a more sustainable way to build tall and aligns with the building’s social critique of the status quo, while also subtly

referencing barn construction and other agricultural buildings.

LEFT: Ceramic tubes make up the external screen that creates that gradient of natural light as the spacing between tubes increases as the tower rises.

Urban Dairy Institute

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225’

ABOVE: Juxtaposition with its urban setting in downtown Minneapolis enhances the message behind the institute - our disconnect from dairy production disconnects us from the issues surrounding it. Urban dwellers may rarely see the types of factory farms that produce the goods they buy, but placing the building so prominently on one of the major intersections in the city helps it to act as a visual reminder of the issues at

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Contextual Relationships

stake.

RIGHT: This siting of the building - along with its transparency - helps the institute position itself as a beacon in the community. The size and scale also help to mediate between the lower rise North Loop neighborhood to the north and the higher rise neighborhood of Downtown to the south.

Urban Dairy Institute

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05

Nordhavn Chair.

Furniture Design Workshop Instructor: Natalie Jeffers-Hansen Copenhagen, DK 2019

LIKE ITS NAMESAKE, THE NORDHAVN CHAIR TAKES A FEW NONDESCRIPT, INDUSTRIALLY PRODUCED PARTS AND ADAPTS THEM INTO A COMFORTABLE PLACE TO UNWIND.

The Nordhavn Chair takes inspiration from the neighborhood in Copenhagen in which I lived.

Nordhavn was once one of the main shipping ports of Copenhagen, but is now in the middle of a redevelopment into a contemporary community full of parks, shops, and homes. Due to the combination of industrial past and innovative future, the area has a very distinct feeling of wonder and opportunity.

The chair also began with individual industrial elements - a used metal base and a mass produced wooden shell - and was shaped, modified, and refined into something new and unique.

The ideals behind the Nordhavn neighborhood development are the creation of a certain of communal comfort, and so the design of the chair began with comfort as well. Cushions soften the wooden shell, with straps and tabs allowing them to be changed out for cleaning or as the owner’s color tastes change. Notches cut into the back provide the chair more flexibility and bounce, while adding visual appeal. Finally, the wooden pedestal boosts the height of the seat from the low metal base, and also adds to the reclined angle of the seat.

picture to be re-rendered to these extents

Nordhavn Chair

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1: BASE PLYWOOD SHELL

2: ADD METAL LEGS AND WOODEN PEDESTAL

3: CUT ‘FLEX’ NOTCHES IN BACK

4: CUT NOTCHES FOR REMOVABLE CUSHIONS

ABOVE: The design process started with iterative sketching and form giving, followed by a long build process that included having to solve problems like how to create a base to mediate between the chair shell and metal base and how to attach the cushions.

37

Evolution + Concept

RIGHT: Aside from being a formal detail, one of the main features of the chair are the slots that allow the cushions to easily slide on and off.

The ability to easily swap out cushions by sliding them on and off allows owners to easily clean the upholstery or change it as their tastes change.

Nordhavn Chair

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Amager Boardwalk.

BOARDWALKS ARE OFTEN ASSOCIATED WITH TWO THINGSRECREATION / ENTERTAINMENT, AND CONNECTION TO NATURE. AMAGER BOARDWALK BLENDS THESE TWO BOARDWALK TYPES INTO ONE NETWORK THAT CONNECTS PEOPLE TO EACH OTHER AND TO NATURE, CREATING A UNIQUE COMMUNITY AND SENSORY EXPERIENCE.

Studio 4: Urban Design Most Communicitive Award Winner Instructors: Jeanette + Rasmus Frisk Copenhagen, DK 2019

06

Sometimes overshadowed by Copenhagen, the Amagerbro Neighborhood is a place filled with its own diverse community of students, seniors, children, Danes, immigrants, working class and wealthy citizens alike. It’s a mixture of different groups that often lacks social interactions, creating small pockets of isolated communities. It deserves an urban environment that allows these communities places to meet, to celebrate, to relax; places to be together.

The design for this project began with a long investigative process, involving both interviews and surveys with neighborhood residents, as well as time spent in the neighborhood discovering the feeling of the space. This was vital to understanding the real needs of both the immediate community at Bikubenkollegiet as well as the broader community. The themes that kept coming up were a lack of green space and activity, which contributed to a cold environment that felt unsafe.

The empty lot behind Bikuben became central to the design. The space functions as a hinge between København Universitet - teeming with student life and ripe for activation by the broader community - and the residential neighborhoods. This is the focal point of the project.

On the large scale, it serves as the origin for the whole boardwalk network that extends into the neighborhood, providing green and social spaces for streets that are currently uninviting.

On the medium scale, it’s the entrance to a stronger, clearer path into the university campus.

On the small scale, it’s a place of round-the-clock activity, a hub for the community with plenty of options with which all members of the community can engage, centered around a renewed grassland park that softens the artificial edges of the area, and provides residents with a new, public space to relax and unwind, together.

Amager Boardwalk

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Empty Sidewalks

Open Plazas

The first step was exploration and discovery: interviewing community members, photographing the site, observing the area in and around Bikuben Kollegiet. Four main problems arose from this investigation: lifeless sidewalks, large unprogrammed plazas, streets catering to cars over pedestrians, and physical barriers to the existing community assets. Together they helped to create cold, empty streetscapes that felt

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Large Scale: Community Issues

Wide Streets

Barriers

uninviting at best and unsafe at wost.

These problems were then located on maps, forming the basis of the new boardwalk network that would tie the diverse neighborhood together.

Activated nodes could then be targeted so that they supplemented rather than replaced the existing neighborhood amenities.

250’ EMPTY SIDEWALKS OPEN PLAZAS WIDE STREETS BARRIERS

Amager Boardwalk

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BOARDWALK + PUBLIC SPACE

GREEN BUFFER

PRIVATE GARDENS

CYCLE LANE

BOARDWALK + PUBLIC SPACE

4 CAR LANES

GREEN BUFFER

On the large scale, the new boardwalk network originates around Bikuben and then grows out into the neighborhood along both narrow and wide streets. Small changes are made to these streets to make them more pedestrian friendly - On arterial roads, one lane in each direction was eliminated to provide dedicated bike lanes, a green buffer, and the new boardwalk system. On side streets, one side of parking was eliminated

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Large Scale: Street Transformations

2 CAR LANES

CYCLE LANE

SIDEWALK

CAR SIDEPARKING WALK

to add a narrow green buffer and boardwalk. Both solutions expand and improve public space with relatively minimal impact on car traffic.

The system also handles extreme rain events efficiently by first filtering through the green buffers before collecting under the boardwalk, where it can be harnessed as part of a water feature or drained into the ocean.

250’

950 FEET : 1 MINUTE

450 FEET : 1 MINUTE

A: PLAYING + MOVING

B: OPENING BARRIERS

C: SITTING + EATING

D: SITTING + GATHERING

The community’s input also helped determine where nodes of programmed activities were necessary to promote more street life .Different types of public furniture are employed throughout the boardwalk system that meant to facilitate some of our basic needs: playing, eating, and gathering to socialize. Providing places to fulfill these needs in the public sphere would help build a sense of community and connections to

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Large Scale: Activation Nodes

neighbors that the area seems to lack. In addition, opening up the private courtyard spaces to the boardwalk adds much needed green space and existing playgrounds and sports courts to the public domain.

In these nodes, the boardwalk itself responds to the need for more public space by expanding and contracting over the water as necessary.

500’ SITTING + EATING PLAYING + MOVING SITTING + GATHERING OPENING BARRIERS

On the medium scale, creating a more tangible link between the neighborhood into the university was critical. København Universitet has many great public amenities on its campus and is teeming with life - during the schoolday. After school hours and on weekends, it’s nearly deserted, possibly because of barrier-like quality of the university buildings themselves that cuts off the surrounding community.

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Medium Scale: Lively Connections

Simply by removing a storefront on one of these buildings and converting an interior vestibule into an exterior pass through, a more inviting connection is created. Introducing more landscaping, lighting, and places to relax quickly change the atmosphere of the space, while the adjacent parking lot can also host food trucks or markets during off hours. What was once a barrier quickly becomes part of the attraction.

250’

450 FEET : 1 MINUTE

Bikuben Site Programming 03:00

06:00

09:00

12:00

15:00

18:00

21:00

A : Yoga

B : Sauna A : Outoor Learning

A : Bus Stop

B : Gathering

B : Swing Set

A : Bus Stop A : Skate Ramps

B : Movie Theatre

A : Lunch Break

B : Bar / Café

A

Yoga

A Outdoor Learning

A

Swing Set

A

Skate Ramps

A

Lunch Break

B

Sauna

B

B

Bus Stop

B

Movie Theater

B

Bar/Café

Gathering

On the small scale at Bikuben, it’s all about programming. This is the point that connects the community and university - activating this hinge throughout the day is critical. Residents routinely voiced safety concerns caused by the openness and emptiness of the ground level spaces. But by programming the space with many different activities, the idea of ‘eyes on the street,” is promoted and makes residents feel safer, while still giving

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Small Scale: Programming the Hinge

the community a valuable space to gather, play, and relax together.

The idea centers on the barren rear lot, which becomes a wetland referencing the large nature park a few kilometers away, as well as creating a large sink for heavy rain events and some calming green space.

Spaces to eat, drink, and relax surround this central wetland space.

A/B A/B

A/B

A/B

A/B

65’ YOGA / SAUNA PAVILION LEARNING / GATHERING SPACE SWING SET / BUS STOP SKATE RAMP / MOVIE THEATER PICINIC / BAR + CAFE

A large sculptural seating feature on the east side of the rear lot provides a place for students and teachers from the neighboring school to conduct outdoor classes, while a bar and cafe space that extends out from the Bikuben platform to create a space for residents and university students to meet and relax after class. Finally, a sauna and yoga studio provides soothing complement the flurry of other activities on the site

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Small Scale: Community Focal Points

The Bikuben courtyard, which before felt scary and unsafe, now becomes a hub of activity both day and night. During the day, the cafe might be used by university students studying over lunch while neighborhood kids skateboard through the courtyard. By night, the same courtyard becomes an inviting space for the community and residents to come together for cookouts, drinks, and watching movies.

Amager Boardwalk

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Email. janes036@umn.edu Phone.

608.235.4475 LinkedIn. www.linkedin.com/in/benjamin-janes-a71b1a127 Website benjaminjanes.myportfolio.com Address.

515 14th Ave SE Apt. A526 Minneapolis, MN 55414

Thank you for reading.