BENJAMIN KARG ARCHITECTURE PORTFOLIO
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CONTENTS
To Build a Home 4 Studio V - Material Systems Fall 2021 Accessory Dwelling Unit 6 Triplex 10 Cluster Housing - ‘Cabins in the City’
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Value Drawings 20 Drawings River Views 22 Studio II - Site Spring 2020 Urban Agriculture 32 Studio III - Programming Fall 2020
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TO BUILD A HOME Studio V: Advanced Design - Fall 2021 Instructors: Samuel Daley + Krizia Madero Padilla Location: Minneapolis, MN Partner: Haley Thompson
Three years ago the city of Minneapolis published its 2040 Comprehensive Plan. A sprawling and ambitious document, the plan addresses issues related to housing, climate change, racial inequality, public health, and transit. At the time, the plan garnered national attention with its measures to effectively up-zone the entire city. No longer zoning for single family housing, the new policy allows accessory dwelling units as well as multi family developments to be constructed on lots formerly reserved for single homes. The goal of this policy? Increase housing supply, diversity, and location. The means of doing so sets the table for an influx of diverse housing typologies. With housing in the city as our object of focus and structural building systems as our lens. We utilized prefabricated panels to create efficient and expressive architectural responses to housing in the city. Working as a team, our design process focused on developing ‘prototype’ house designs based on adopted structural and material systems. Our work covers a spread of scales from backyard accessory dwelling units, to multifamily triplexes, and culminates in the design of a mixed use cluster development near Cedar Avenue in the Harrison Neighborhood.
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Accessory Dwelling Unit
Under the Minneapolis 2040 plan, backyard Accessory dwelling units have been legalized. This design focuses on reinterpreting traditional cabin vernacular using influence from the ideology of Maison Aux Jeur by Lacroix Chessex Architects.
The above Rendering shows the design’s sleek facade design and its minimalist approach from the alleyway entrance.
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3. Roof + Gutter Detail
Floor 1
2. Window Detail
1. Foundation Detail
Floor 2
Above shows the 3 construction details we incorporated from the precedent we used into the design of our ADU.
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Above shows both floors of the ADU. First Floor contains mostly private space, and the second floor contains all communal space for entertaining
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The design focused heavily on funneling line of site on the first floor into the center of the backyard, while allowing a 270 degree of site on the second - corresponding with privacy level of each floors program
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Triplex
The Triplex design was a result of our desire to show how prefab wood construction is ideal for platform framed structures. Rather than taking the traditional approach to triplex design of having 3 repeated structures attached to one another, we opted for a stacked method. This allowed us to emphasize the stacking nature of the prefab panel and take advantage of the depth of the site - creating a home that emphasizes privacy and communal space simultaneously.
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Floor 1
The above renders show the journey the owners of each unit experience on each floor of the central Stair Atrium, with each floor having a unique experience.
Floor 2
Floor 3
Each Unit contains some unique element, but overall remain similar in spacial organization. Their difference comes in the atrium design which is unique for each unit.
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CABINS IN THE CITY - CLUSTER HOUSING DEVELOPMENT
Cabins in the city was conceived as a private urban retreat mimicking the many cabin resorts throughout Minnesota. The designs of the cabins focus on minimizing overall inhabited space to create a more minimalist and monastic daily life for it owners. Keeping the Minneapolis skyline and its zones of occupancy in mind, the cabins are designed and oriented to maximize a view of “natural” landscape while orienting the project within a strictly urban context. The project was designed using wood frame prefab construction, and was planned with the intension of keeping total construction time to approximately 2 days with the exception of the concrete piers.
Cabins in the City was the final project in To Build A Home, featuring a small development of cabins located within an urban setting of Minneapolis.
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Cabins in the city Provides a private urban retreat that creates a blend between city life and Minnesota Cabin life. Oriented towards a designed “forest” backyard juxtaposed with curated views of downtown Minneapolis.
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The cabins are designed oriented to focus the inhabitants towards the backyard, with small curated “Punched” openings creating views of downtown Minneapolis.
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The cabins are all built using prefabricated construction, and a pier and beam foundation. It’s light touch on the site and prefab design allows for quick construction (In total around 2 Days).
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The cabins are designed to be small and, sleeping 1-5 people depending on client needs. The lack of formal “Living” space enhances the exterior space designated to each cabin for entertaining.
1 Entryway Storage
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4 2 Kitchen Mill-work + Island
3 Stairs
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5 4 Desk + Library
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5 Bedroom Closet + Bed Frame Each cabin contains prefabricated Mill work that is either installed with the wall panels or separately immediately after wall installation.
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Rapson Hall Value Drawings The iconic stairway inside Rapson Hall has unique light qualities that I wanted to capture in Value drawing
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RIVER VIEWS Studio II: Site - Spring 2020 Instructor: Ben Lewis Location: Minneapolis, MN
The focus of River Views was exploring the conceptual and pragmatic content of a project’s site as a means of exploring the intrinsic importance and generative potential of context, as it interacts with a project’s material and use-specific requirements, in the development of compelling and cohesive ordering ideas for architectural form. The River Views Interpretive Center explores and pushes the potential for architecture and landscape to make manifest a latent experience and idea of the site. It engages landscape elements such as the bluffs of Father Hennepin Bluff park, the waters of St. Anthony Falls, and Skies of Minneapolis; Creates places for individuals and community. The exhibit, focused on education surrounding the historical significance of the falls helps start a dialogue between place and culture; infrastructure and movement, and the urban condition and nature. For this project we were given specific program requirements to include in the design, with suggested square footages for each component. This was an individual Project refined over several semesters.
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Businesses + Attraction
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State + Local “Parks”
Transportation
The site is located in Father Hennepin Bluff Park which is centrally located along the Mississippi River and the Arts District of Minneapolis. Making it a Central Location for a Museum and Tourist Attraction
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Site Visit Images
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The design was placed in a central location thats easily accessible to pedestrians. By placing it along the bluff the design engages with the sites topography and highlights its potential for architectural exploration.
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Vertical Circulation
Initial Massing
Latent Views
Program
Existing Paths
1. Lobby, Reception, Outlook
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2. Main Exhibit, Theatre, Restrooms, Storage
The project emphasizes vertical organization along the bluff, Latent views of the city and river, and existing paths through the site.
Final Massing
3. Cafe + Restaurant
4. Classrooms, Kayak Rental, Mechanical
Each floor’s programic elements are typically similar to one another. The exhibit space is cantilevered to emphasize its importance, whereas the others are placed closer to the bluffs or structural needs.
The Rendering above shows how the design is meant to minimize its street side presence and blend into the sites landscape. This protects views present in the popular apartment and historic lofts within the old Pillsbury Mill Building.
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Exhibit Space Small Theatre Women’s Restroom Men’s Restroom Storage Elevator Stairs
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5 7
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Level 2
Level 1
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Level 3
Level 4
The site is located in Father Hennepin Bluff Park which is centrally located along the Mississippi River and the Arts District of Minneapolis. Making it a Central Location for a Museum and Tourist Attraction
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URBAN AGRICULTURAL CENTER Studio III: Program - Fall 2020 Instructor: Bob Ganser Location: Minneapolis, MN Partners: Mason Iverson, Riley Houlihan
The current conditions that can be seen on Lake Street are a result of resilient peoples deciding to make their home here. The outward, diverse characteristics are indicative of a community that is proud of its identity, despite disenfranchisement as a result of suburbanization and other oppressive acts. The residents of the Lake St. Corridor display a strong sense of cultural preservation, which acts to convey their values. Taking care to understand these values helps outline steps towards positive change. With efforts to provide the right tools to the community, a sense of ownership can be strengthened. Hopefully, by combining newfound agency with creative methods of collaborative workspaces, the people will have more power over the ability to shape their environment. By integrating an education-focused community center into a large scale urban farm, a type of incubator new to Lake Street can be created. This hub could create a network from the nearby existing community gardens, and provide resources for the establishment and growth of more urban agriculture in Minneapolis. Implementing Community Supported Agriculture, and educating community members on farming and gardening techniques will help to establish a sense of communal ownership. Here, the owners and participants involved with other community gardens will have more opportunities to reach the community via the food shelf, community kitchen, or farmer market. As opposed to an extractive method where business owners are not based in the community, this system would be more regenerative, keeping resources accessible to residents.
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Downtown Minneapolis
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University of Minnesota
Project Site
The Agricultural Center’s intent is to provide a central space for a number of existing community gardens, shown as green dots on the map above. And to encourage their expansion across Minneapolis.
The Agricultural Center is centrally located along Lake Street on a lot that used to be home to an Orielly Auto Parts. The Idea for using this site was to include brown site remediation in the purpose of our project.
The goal for the center would be to promote further reclamation of space on lake street for community focused agriculture (Like Seen Above), or to promote the use of land throughout Minneapolis for community gardens.
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1 Community Center 2 Grow Center 3 Farmers Market
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The Center provides space for agricultural production but incorporates program more typical of community center design, creating space for many different groups within the community to organize.
1 Wild Flowers & Native Grasses 2 Berry Bush Orchard 3 Fruit Trees & Seasonal Crops 4 Fruit Tree Orchard 5 Grow Right of Way Street scape 6 Aquaponics & Planters
The project included a number of different growing strategies and plant types into the program. While Focusing primarily on food production, it also makes space for flowering plants.
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Floor 1 1 Grow Center
2 Farmers Market/Food Shelf
3 Seed Bank/Food Shelf
7 Test & Educational Kitchen
8 Prep Room
9 Outdoor Farmers Market
4 Atrium
10 Restrooms
13 Outdoor Grounds Storage
5 Shared Workspace 11 Mechanical Room
6 Break/Banquet Room
12 Greenhouse Storage
The first floor primarily focuses on the agricultural program, incorporating many different utilities and learning facilities.
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Floor 2 4 Community Center Atrium 16 Public Study Space
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17 Public Study Space
15 Classroom 2 18 Community Room
The second floor focuses on community center space, providing classrooms and social spaces for education.
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BENJAMIN KARG - RESUME
I am a recent graduate with a Bachelors of Science in Architecture Degree from the University of Minnesota, Twin Cities. I have professional experience with HGA Architects as an intern for the Digital Practice Group during the summer of 2021, and professional experience and advanced knowledge of Revit, 3D Rendering. the Adobe Suite, and digital design with Sketchup and Rhino. In my work I focus heavily on visualization as a way to tell my story through imagery.
Contact
Professional Experience
(651) 707 4831
Digital Practice Group Intern HGA Architects and Engineers Summer 2021
kargbd@comcast.net LinkedIn
BK Portfolio St Paul, MN
Projects Worked On: Playwright Center (St. Paul), Warroad Community Center (Warroad, MN), IRS Renovation (Duluth, MN).
Education
University of Minnesota Twin Cities Bachelor of Science in Architecture
Assisted in the creation and launch of HGA’s new internal Revit training and support platform DPG Link. Gained knowledge of Revit standards, BIM360, and Documentation.
Skills
Developed interview and presentation graphics, and assisted with model Fabrication for project teams and interviews.
Graduated December 2021
Digital Modeling: Revit AutoCAD Rhino Sketchup Dynamo
Visualization: Photoshop InDesign Illustrator Premier Pro After Effects
Fabrication: Physical Modeling
Rendering: Lumion Enscape VRay
Office: Microsoft Suite Google Suite Bluebeam
Soft Skills:
Communication Detail oriented Strong Motivation
Honors
College of Design Deans List
Fall 2021, Spring 2021, Fall 2020, Spring 2020, Fall 2019, Spring 2019
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Assisted project teams with creating Revit starter projects, Modeling existing conditions, setting up Revit files for project teams, and general Revit support.
Academic Experience
To Build a Home Senior Undergraduate Thesis Fall 2021 Researched prefabricated wall construction and how it’s method of fabrication, structural capacities, and installation methods influence the design of a diverse set of emerging housing typologies.
DESIGN COMPETITIONS Beebreeders - Iceland Volcano Coffee Shop International Architecture Competition Ongoing, submission due May 2022
I am taking part in the bee breeders design competition for the Icelandic coffee shop, My design focuses on using cast in place and precast concrete panels in order to incorporate geometric features of the site into the design of a unique cafe and exhibit space.
UMN - China Bridge Design Competition International Architecture Competition Finalist, Spring 2021 Myself and a team of 3 of my friends designed a concept for a location based game application that focuses on improving public knowledge of the environmental implications and consequences of the plastic industry.
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THANK YOU
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