INQUIRIES : NETWORKS, DETAILS AND PROJECTIONS
BROOKE HELGERSON
C O L L E C T E D ARCHITECTURAL NETWORKS
DELIBERATE DETAILS
SPECULATIVE PROJECTIONS
PROFESSIONAL WORK
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W O R K
Restitching Villa 31
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Conditions Of Activity
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Programming Infrastructure
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Ambience As Form
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Floating Intervention
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Dwelling Dispersion
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Weathered Atmospheres
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Adapting Valparaiso
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Constructing Future Geologies
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Landscapes Of Energy
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ARCHITECTURAL
NETWORKS
Theming study: model of interior of ‘polar bear’ themed wall, basswood, foamcore, fabric, and elastic; Spring 2012
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RESTITCHING VILLA 31 Buenos Aires Graduate Studio
Instructors Gustavo Cardon and Gerardo Caballero
Fall 2013
Rendering of activity maintained beneath the highway, Rhino, Photoshop, and Illustrator
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15 weeks
Site plan and axon; enclosure options enabled by the upper level’s roof structure; Rhino, Illustrator, and Photoshop
PLATFORM FOR FLEXIBILITY Villa 31 is an informal neighborhood located within the city of Buenos Aires, Argentina. Recently, plans for urbanization of the area have made it the center of political debate and investment; however, the area still lacks education facilities. This project provides resource collection areas, workshops, a library, a cafeteria/learning kitchen, and rehearsal rooms below; these support flexible spaces for students and teachers above. The buildings lift off the ground to preserve public thoroughfares under the highway, and the space between them is utilized for public performances and community events. In-between space used during the day by students
Conceptual sketch of support, activity, and highway as a third roof, pen
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Urban first level plan showing flexibility of use, Rhino and Illustrator; original scale 1 : 250
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15 cm 30 cm 3
hormigon
3 : PARED DE MADERA Y VIGA DE HORMIGON ladrillo 4 : PARED DE VIDRIO 5 : PARED DE HORMIGON Y CONNEXION DE LA COLUMNA acero 6 : COLUMNA Y VIGAS
7 : VISTA DE COLUMNA Y VIGAS
madera
2 hormigon
3 : PARED DE MADERA Y VIGA DE HORMIGON
3 : PARED DE MAD
4 : PARED DE VIDR
5 : PARED DE HORMIGON Y CONNEXION DE LA COLUMNA
5 : PARED DE HOR COLUMNA acero
6 : COLUMNA Y VIGAS
6 : COLUMNA Y VI
madera
Section showing potential configuration of upper level enclosures, Rhino, Illustrator, and Photoshop, original scale 1 : 100; detail drawings, Illustrator, original scale 1 : 5
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1-2 : CIMENTACION
ladrillo
4 : PARED DE VIDRIO
7 : VISTA DE COLUMNA Y VIGAS
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15 cm
1-2 : CIMENTACION, PARED DE LADRILLO, Y PARAPETO
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1-2 : CIMENTACION, PARED DE LADRILLO, Y PARAPETO
15 cm
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30 cm
The upper level is the center of activity where students can identify and build for their own interests. The floating roof structure is built in, but the location and materials of enclosure are to be determined by the school each season. In this way the building can respond to shifting needs of the people within the community, as they are in the unique position of directing their own path of urban development.
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COMMUNITY OWNERSHIP
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30 cm
15 cm
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7 : VISTA DE COLU
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15 cm
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15 cm 30 cm
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2 1-2 : CIMENTACION, PARED DE LADRILLO, Y PARAPETO
hormigon
3 : PARED DE MADERA Y VIGA DE HORMIGON ladrillo 4 : PARED DE VIDRIO 5 : PARED DE HORMIGON Y CONNEXION DE LA COLUMNA acero 6 : COLUMNA Y VIGAS
7 : VISTA DE COLUMNA Y VIGAS
madera
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CONDITIONS OF ACTIVITY Undergraduate Site Studio
Instructor Kristen Paulsen
Fall 2011
15 weeks
Group site model documenting movement, stasis, and boundary on the site, basswood and MDF; scale 1:100
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Process site diagrams, Illustrator and hand sketches with pen
UNFORESEEN FLUIDITIES There is great potential for the city grid to act as a connector of events and places. This infrastructure is prominent around the Cedar Lake Trail in Minneapolis, but falls away at the bike path. This design for a light rail stop and teen center reinterprets the grid to explore the possibilities for fulfilling diverse programmatic needs while accommodating increased traffic on the site. The grid is reimagined as longitudinal strips expanded to three dimensions. Opening up the ground and roof planes allows for a variety of activities to occur within or in addition to the proposed program.
Process movement model, bristol, thread and foam insulation; scale 1/32” = 1’-0”
Rendering of proposed site plan, Sketchup, Illustrator and Photoshop
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Final section and plans with movement paths, AutoCAD and Illustrator; original scale 1/16” = 1’-0”
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PROGRAMMING INFRASTRUCTURE Undergraduate Synthesis Studio with partner Katlyn Flannery
Instructor Dan Clark
Spring 2012
Rendering of network node and urban activity in the informal area of the city, Rhino and Illustrator
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10 weeks
City images showing steep topographic conditions and deteriorating ascensore system developed to address it
VALPARAISO, CHILE Valparaiso is located on the coast amidst steep hills and ravines. These separate the poorer residents of the city, who live in the hills, from the economy and resources in the ‘plan’ area near the ocean. Because Valparaiso was a significant port city until the opening of the Panama Canal, there is a proliferation of European buildings that act to draw in tourists, both from inland and from cruise ships that periodically overwhelm the city. However, most of the city’s residents live away from this economic base. A proposal for a mall near the coastline would only further this disconnection by concentrating tourists in the plan. This foreign typology is not appropriate for the diverse nature of the city’s heritage.
Tourism is centered near the ocean, causing disconnection for residents of the hills
CRYSTAL SERENITY CRUISE SHIP: 3500 TOURISTS 8 HOURS
City section showing effects of cruise ship tourism, Illustrator; Map of tourist concentration, Illustrator
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Stores in malls are internally condensed; ascensores are models for a distributed network of commercial, vertical nodes
RETHINKING THE MALL This proposal, developed with a partner, is inspired by the existing infrastructure of the ascensores, inclined exterior elevators from the early 1900s that help traverse some of the city’s topography. Instead of concentrating the whole mall near the ocean, we created a network of vertical nodes located throughout the city, inserted into the hills. They house the commercial program typical of a mall, but also provide updated infrastructure to reconnect the city by incorporating express elevators into the structure. These nodes bring the public and private together with entrance plazas on top and bottom, and a system of stairs that allow both tourists and residents to meander through the stores.
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Configuration and radiation of strategic nodes based on walkability to amenities and transportation, Illustrator
Network of nodes and diagrams of form, program organization, public space, and vertical infrastructure location, Rhino and Illustrator
Strategic network nodes acting as beacons in the city, Photoshop collage
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D E L I B E R A T E
Structural tower, balsawood, Fall 2011
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D E T A I L S
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AMBIENCE AS FORM Undergraduate Program Studio
Instructor Nat Madson
Spring 2011
Project III, 7 weeks
Experiential image illustrating projection condition, Photoshop collage with picture of final model
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Ornithology collage, Photoshop; Process models showing design evolution, foam core, bristol, and wood; scales 1/8” - 1/4” = 1’-0”
EXPLOITING CURIOSITY The impetus for this design was to create a place to house a collection of rare, hand-colored ornithology books. This initial programmatic idea gave way to an exploration of the possibilities for reproduction and projection of images to influence a space. Both the art and science inherent in the books are celebrated through both intimate viewing space and group study space in three building modules located on the University of Minnesota campus. Model interior, basswood and foam core; scale 1/8” = 1’-0”
Section, AutoCAD and Illustrator; original scale 1/8” = 1’-0”
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FLOATING INTERVENTION Graduate Adaptive Reuse Studio
Instructor Don Koster Spring 2013
Close-up view of model, plaster and MDF
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3 weeks
Construction of the model, plaster, rigid insulation formwork, and MDF; original size 12” x 12”
LIFTING GRAVITY This project was an exploration of material qualities. A series of forms inserted into an existing 12”x12” existing box structure ascend through the space. They are carefully constructed to be self-supporting, with two connection points integrating them with the existing structure. All forms are raised off of the ground, with stairs simply resting on the surface, in order to engage the user with the process of ascension. Spaces are elevated effortlessly and are suspended between the new and existing structures. The extents of the intervention pull away from the existing box, differentiating new from old while simultaneously providing for inhabitable, attenuated spaces around the perimeter. The material, cast plaster, has an inherent haptic quality because of its process of making; this added to the detail of the model, and cultivated within it an atmosphere of contemplation.
Form organization and construction, Rhino and Illustrator
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DWELLING D I S P E R S I O N Graduate Housing Studio
Instructor Robert Booth
Building exterior rendering, Rhino, Vray and Illustrator
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Fall 2012
10 weeks
Site plans, sections, and photos, and rendering, Illustrator and Photoshop
CREATING RITUAL SPACE Housing must provide for the process of peoples’ daily lives and the rituals they go through both as participants of the city and as individuals. The building form achieves this by using program and site to direct its formal organization both in plan and section. Circulation disperses from the interior to each unit, where the user’s need for a gradation of privacy within their home is considered in the layout. The facade is formed by layers of material that wrap the building and screen its most private areas.
Inner atrium rendering, Rhino, Vray and Illustrator
Site elevation, Vray and Illustrator; original scale 1/8” = 1’-0“
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Evolution of form developed through site mapping, analysis, and modeling
PRIVATE PROCESSION In a loud world, peacefulness is sometimes hard to find. If creating space to experience it is not evident in the way we build cities, it should be built into the way we live--in the home. Insulating those spaces for quiet contemplation and rest from the public city was a driving force for the programmatic organization of units in this design. Each home is formed of a sequence of layered spaces, either branching off from a service spine or radiating from a central space. Semi-public spaces to share with others are located nearest the entrance; the bedroom, the ultimate place for privacy, is at the furthest end of the sequence. Motion between spaces is only implied, allowing each user flexibility in how they give identity to their home.
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Unit axon showing the progression from public to most private space within the home, Rhino, Vray and Illustrator
Second floor plan, Rhino and Illustrator; original scale 1/8” = 1’-0”
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S P E C U L AT I V E
Seed bank section 500,000 years into the future, Illustrator
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PROJECTIONS
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WEATHERED ATMOSPHERES Graduate Adaptive Reuse Studio
Instructor Don Koster
Spring 2013
12 weeks
Project axon showing circulation, layering of spaces, and weather entering the space, Rhino, Illustrator, and Photoshop
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City and neighborhood maps, Illustrator; Existing natural light conditions of the monitors in the building
OPENING UP This proposal for an urban park focuses on the exuberance of existing natural light entering into a vacant factory building in the Hill neighborhood of St. Louis as inspiration for a park that allows for the direct interaction with the exterior. Ceilings and walls of the building are strategically removed, allowing light, water, and air to enter in. Weather becomes an attraction and an event within the building through the insertion of inhabitable curved forms through the monitors and down into the ground to collect precipitation. The separation between interior and exterior is challenged to create new experiences in an old structure.
Strategic removal of monitors and ceilings to allow for infiltration of the outside, Rhino and Illustrator
Weather experience collage, Photoshop; original size 36� x 12�
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Experiential section, Rhino, Illustrator, and Photoshop; original scale 1/4” = 1’-0”
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Final model views and process, MDF, plaster, and beads; scale 1/4” = 1’-0”
CAPTURING POTENTIAL The final form of the curved inhabitable structures was reached through a series of explorations into how the infiltration of the exterior, as seen through the monitor’s clerestory windows, could be cultivated and expanded within the space. With the monitor roof and windows removed, these forms are free to extend above the ceiling level, serving both to catch and reflect light further inside and to provide a surface of collection for water and snow. Their gradual slope makes them an inhabitable surface, inviting people to explore, play and ascend, integrating them with the outside in an atmosphere that changes every day.
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Potential for play and weather experience within the building, Rhino, Illustrator, and Photoshop
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ADAPTING VALPARAISO Field Research and Independent Study
Instructor Stephen Mueller
Spring 2014
Collage of views seen from the Concepcion ascensore in Valparaiso, August 2013
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18 weeks
Ascensore mechanics, Illustrator; ascensore experience, Photoshop; ascensores in the news in Valparaiso, El Mercurio newspaper
ASCENSORE FUTURES Field research reveals that the current situation of the ascensores is fragile: despite governmental attempts at ownership, promised repairs and operations have not taken place. This suggests that the ascensores should be put in control of the community. But as the city has changed, are the ascencores’ historic purposes enough? Speculating into the future of Valparaiso reveals the potential for alternative programs that highlight existing needs and important user groups. These include the Hypertourist, the Courier, the Newsie, and the Outdoorsman.
Entering Ascensore Reina Victoria, August 2013
Analysis of ascensore ownership as of 2014, Illustrator
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THE OUTDOORSMAN ASCENSORE ARTILLERIA There is a lack of coordinated outdoor sports in Valparaiso. Yet, the people have found their own entertainment by using the city itself to recreate. This is well and good, but how can Valpo ever hope to be recognized among its extreme sporting peers if there are no facilities at all? The new BMX track is rooted in the same city re-appropriation as the famed downhill bike race, but with amenities that will allow the sport to grow. It is molded into the hill, taking advantage of the city’s natural steep topography and Artilleria ascensore’s location at the northwestern edge of the Chilean foothills. At the same time, the track is just a suggestion, and there are many ways in which it can be used. People are invited to jump, walk, run, even fly here, and only time will tell how far they will innovate the space. 38
“Outdoorsman” plan with diagrammed program and user groups, Illustrator
“Outdoorsman” collage, Photoshop
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CONSTRUCTING FUTURE GEOLOGIES Protologics Graduate Studio Instructor Stephen Mueller https://protologics.wordpress.com
Spring 2014
15 weeks
Stanley, North Dakota: geology, aquifers, and new oil well sites, Illustrator and GIS
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National and Local Paths of Oil mapping, Illustrator and GIS; oil depth model, MDF, acrylic, and thread
http://ngm.nationalgeographic.com/2013/03/bakken-shale-oil/richardsphotography#/05-homeowner-lamenting-vanishing-prairie-life-670.jpg
Oil’s continuous presence, Photoshop
Oil and People: Conceptual Timeline, Photoshop
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Oil intrusion: manipulation of the landscape, Illustrator
Project site section in relationship with city of Stanley, ND, Rhino and Illustrator
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Project site under construction, 2017, Rhino, Illustrator, and Photoshop
Project site rediscovery, 3017, Photoshop
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People Operation: Garbage of the Month Club
Reconstructed visibility of oil machinery’s intrusion, Rhino, Illustrator, and Photoshop
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Project Section, Illustrator; original scale 1/20” = 1’-0”
Farming Operation: Grain Exchange
Oil Operation: Productive Flowback
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LANDSCAPES OF ENERGY Graduate Degree Project Studio
Instructor Elena Canovas
Fall 2014 - Present
30 weeks
Centralized systems (white) and distributed generation (red), visualized throughout St. Louis, Photoshop and Illustrator
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Centralized and distributed transmission and power production; proposed system; specific site concept; Illustrator, GIS, and Photoshop
REDEFINING ARCHITECTURAL ISSUES
Project plan at Grand Avenue showing access ramps (red), Rhino and Illustrator; original scale 1/16” = 1’-0”
Site elevation at MetroLink, Rhino and Illustrator; original scale 1/16” = 1’-0”
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METHODS OF CREATING Throughout my architectural education, process has been crucial to improving the quality of my final work. I have learned about architecture and myself through testing methods of observation, modeling, drawing, sketching, and computer visualizations. True discovery for me relies on questioning what these projects and drawings reveal, and searching to learn more about their potential context within architecture. Both the hand and computer have a unique set of qualities that influences how we think and the connections we make. These raise questions of artificiality and authenticity, analog and digital, urban and commercial, that are irresistible to me, and I incorporate them into each one of my projects.
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BROOKE HELGERSON
bhelgersonportfolio.4ormat.com
email phone
s t a t e m e n t Design is a way forward into new worlds--that is, the exploration of unexpected layers of information
home
and knowledge. I see architecture as part of this, a beautiful way of problem solving. Its relevancy from the
MASTER OF ARCHITECTURE WASHINGTON UNIVERSITY IN ST. LOUIS Sam Fox School of Design & Visual Arts Graduate School of Architecture and Urban Design Buenos Aires Study Abroad Semester GPA 3.94/4.0 BACHELOR OF SCIENCE IN ARCHITECTURE UNIVERSITY OF MINNESOTA College of Design, School of Architecture College of Liberal Arts, School of Music, Music Minor Design and Society in Copenhagen Global Seminar Graduated summa cum laude with high distinction (GPA 3.9/4.0)
2012-2014
HOK INTERN Contributed 3D models and design and technical documents to a variety of existing projects and proposals for buildings around the United States
D I G I TA L Revit; Rhino; AutoCAD; Adobe Illustrator, InDesign, and Photoshop; GIS; Vray; Grasshopper; Sketchup; Kerkythea; 3D Studio Max; Adobe Premiere; Microsoft Excel and Powerpoint
2008-2012
EXPERIENCE WASHINGTON UNIVERSITY GRADUATE STUDIO TEACHING ASSISTANT Engage with professors and students in stimulating ideas and providing critical feedback relating to improving drawing and diagram communication
(218) 779-7783 6639 Alamo Avenue, #3W St Louis, Missouri, 63105
construction detail to the creation of space for interaction make it a powerful tool with endless layers to discover.
E D U C AT I O N
bhelgerson22@wustl.edu
Fall 2014
H O N O R S + AC T I V I T I E S Honor Award Morpholio Pinup Competition (Online) Evelyn Webb Scholoarship
Summer 2014
JLG ARCHITECTS INTERN Worked with project architects to create, edit, and publish project documents for clients while developing improved office organization
2011-2012
MEYER, SCHERER & ROCKCASTLE MODELMAKER Crafted models of the firm’s current projects for client proposals
2010-2011
National Merit Scholar Selected Presenter National Conference For Undergraduate Research Recipient UMN Fibiger Prize For Research Musician
Flute, Violin, And Piano 51