Architecture and Design Portfolio 2017

di

CHRISTOPH ZECHMEISTER mas eth ai

2017

ARCHITECTURE & DESIGN PORTFOLIO SELECTED WORKS

di

CHRISTOPH ZECHMEISTER mas eth ai {actual} djambistraat 38-3, nl-1094bb amsterdam {phone} +31 61 079 31 38 {email} chr.zechmeister@gmail.com {virtual} www.christophzechmeister.com

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ARCHITECTURE & DESIGN PORTFOLIO

curriculum vitae PERSONAL DATA

PRIMARY / SECONDARY EDUCATION

HIGHER EDUCATION

DI Christoph Zechmeister MAS ETH AI July 23, 1985 Djambistraat 38-3 1094BB Amsterdam

Volksschule Hollabrunn Gymnasium Hollabrunn Handelsakademie Hollabrunn

2005 Bachelor in Architecture, TU Vienna 2009 Master in Architecture, TU Vienna 2011 University of Portsmouth, UK, Erasmus 2012 Diploma with Honors, TU Vienna 2016 MAS Architecture and Information, ETH Zürich

PRACTICE

Archipel Architekten 2007 DI Architekt Ernst Maurer 2008 2009 - 2011 Tutor at the Departement e253/4, Prof. Will Alsop, Vienna 2012 furniture / exhibition design with NIN Prantner, Vienna 2012 - 2013 Schneider&Schneider Architekten ETH BSA SIA AG, Aarau, Switzerland 2013 - 2014 Frei Architekten Aarau, Switzerland 2015 - 2017 Baumschlager Eberle Architekten Zürich, Switzerland 2017 - current UNStudio Amsterdam, The Netherlands

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speculative articulations MAS CAAD AI THESIS

ETH ZĂźrich 2016 supervised by Ludger Hovestadt

This thesis examines an experimental approach on the generation of architectural artefacts by means of storytelling. Based on the premise that the object of an idea is neither given nor known, but must be represented (articulated) without being able to be directly determined, a series of movie scenes is considered the breeding ground for an architectural narrative.

Contemplating the abstract notion of purport and its infinite articulability it is the task of the architect to process the ephemeral stream of all possible stories contained within the scenes and tell those that are most adequate to synthesize the desired character.

It is the multitude of those stories, constructed by different discourses and disciplines, that makes a piece of design come to life and eventually establishes meaning. Opposing the modernist conception of the independent object, where things barely exist as negotiated entities, the focus in this research is set on the relations of the object’s characteristics, on ratios and symmetries. By recombining different aspects and components the newly generated object basically contains the data of all the others despite being itself genuinely new.

Input Geometry

THE UNFOLDING OF SPACE The unfolding of space is a story on geometry, staged in an abstract space of possibilities and performed as a recombinational process.

Orbiting the question of how to mediate involved geometries, how to establish a rythm according to which they unfold and the corresponding dramatization in an architectural context, floorplans from epic moviescenes are used as geometrical maps to negotiate and morph an array of input geometries. The input meshes are classified by their precomputed mesh saliency and eventually provide the means to rearticulate the original floorplans, becoming actors performing their epos in novel ways.

Using a voxel space, complex geometrical shapes are abstracted into one dimensional vectors. Saliency values determine the probability of a voxel being displayed, thus mediate between different shapes. Through surface reconstruction using the marching cubes algorithm, the object can be rendered as a closed, 3d printable triangle mesh.

Saliency Calculaions - visualized as Color Map and isolated Mesh

One of many Results of the Morphing Process

Individual Instances emanating from the abstract Framework

3d printed Model

NAVIGATING JUNKSPACE Navigating Junkspace is a story on texture, inspired by the movie “Koyaanisqatsi” which can be looked at as a narration of Rem Kohlhaas’ Essay “Junkspace”. Junkspace is what’s left after modernism - a space without structure, just orphaned particles, lacking a connectional framework. Since Junkspace is essentially self-healing, there is no way to escape. The only thing left to try is to navigate it.

A self organizing map (Kohonen network) is used to establish relations between a personal perspective, consisting of a series of movie stills from “Koyaanisqatsi” and the infinite space - all the other images there are - represented by the Flickr API. By training a set of images from flickr with a personal perspective derived from the movie frames, the resulting texture is a reflection of ones personal view, projected into the infinite and rearticulated by all the other possible perspectives there are.

Tagged Images from “Koyaanisqatsi�

https://api.flickr.com/services/rest/?method=flickr.photos.-search&api_key=965584c701ede2c74448aec0afd8de1b&tags=desert,desert,billboard,bill board,desert,desert,desert,&tag_mode=any&sort=interestingness-desc&per_page=10&page=10 http://farm8.static.flickr.com/7371/16325678109_773d6fc7a0.jpg https://api.flickr.com/services/rest/?method=flickr.photos.-search&api_key=965584c701ede2c74448aec0afd8de1b&tags=billboard,desert,desert,dese rt,desert,pattern,billboard,&tag_mode=any&sort=interestingness-desc&per_page=10&page=10 http://farm1.static.flickr.com/80/230099611_a07aa5c903.jpg https://api.flickr.com/services/rest/?method=flickr.photos.-search&api_key=965584c701ede2c74448aec0afd8de1b&tags=people,billboard,people,peop le,yellow,yellow,billboard,&tag_mode=any&sort=interestingness-desc&per_page=10&page=10 http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2054/2396735074_1ba2f4f468.jpg https://api.flickr.com/services/rest/?method=flickr.photos.-search&api_key=965584c701ede2c74448aec0afd8de1b&tags=people,people,yellow,billboa rd,billboard,people,people,&tag_mode=any&sort=interestingness-desc&per_page=10&page=10 http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1106/1372220967_66b4c22813.jpg https://api.flickr.com/services/rest/?method=flickr.photos.-search&api_key=965584c701ede2c74448aec0afd8de1b&tags=traffic,people,yellow,people,r uin,jumbojet,people,&tag_mode=any&sort=interestingness-desc&per_page=10&page=10 http://farm8.static.flickr.com/7175/6774765021_2e83969ca6.jpg

Log - fetching Images from Flickr

resulting SOM Image

Evolving UV Layout

THE INTENSITY VEIL This final story is not about creating new artefacts but rather negotiates the former two - trying to reflect on the notion of texture, pattern and ornament and their significance for the creation of architecture.

Again, a self organizing map (SOM) algorithm is used for it’s capabilities to create a climate to accomodate natures of different kind. By training the mapping coordinates of the mesh with values of a high contrast version of the image, geometry and image are being negotiated, with the object’s UV coordinates continously transforming the placement of the image in a process of constant refinement.

This two way communication between geometry and image which ultimately becomes texture - is not unlike John Ruskin’s wall veil in being both a drapery as it comes from the outside but at the same time an incrustation as it is informed by intensity values as intrinsic properties of geometry. The perception of the image changed - in a process of transition - from a simple wallpaper to becoming the surfaces’ texture.

Speaking in the tone of Ruskin, it becomes an “Intensity Veil”.

object space x,y,z saliency

find best match

image space x,y intensity

get UV Coords

original image

compare and adjust

parameter space u,v

contrast detection, tesselation

Diagram of the Mapping Process

VIDEO

Sequence of the UV Coordinates trained by a SOM https://vimeo.com/179819727

Negotiation in Progress

formĂźbergang GRADED STRUCTURES 1, ELECTIVE ETH ZĂźrich 2015 supervised by Fabio Gramazio, Mathias Kohler, David Jenny The project explores the architectural potentials of robotic extrusion of spatial mesh structures. By continously extruding ABS filament using a robotic arm, spatially graded structures are produced, varying in composition and density. Building up on existing layer based FDM, those structures can be extruded freely in space.

Different topologys and their potentials for the aggregation into large scale structures have been investigated in terms of physical prototypes as well as through simulation. The resulting space truss is considered a prototype for a whole range of possible applications within the architectural context and exhibits a morphological change between two extremes, seamlessly changing the degree of density. in collaboration with Apostolos Apostolinas

Production Setup

Concept of Morphing

Printing Sequence Diagram

Test Prints of Extreme Ends

extensile

ROBOTIC FABRICATION WORKSHOP ETH Zürich 2015 supervised by Achilleas Xydis, Constantinos Miltiadis, Mariana Popescu

Extensile is an installation created during a robotic fabrication workshop at ETH Zürich in summer 2015. The installation consists of 24 sheets of thermoplastic polymer. The sheets were heated locally with a stationary heatgun and deformed with a variety of selfmade tools using a KUKA six axes industrial robot.

By changing the thickness of the plastic sheets through deformation, the way light is scattered through the material is considerably altered, allowing for different grades of translucency and varying optical sensations.

VIDEO

Video recap of the workshop: http://www.caad.arch.ethz.ch/blog/extensile-roboticworkshop/ in collaboration with Despoina Pippa, José Algeciras, Alina Kvirkveliya, Tsung-Hsun Ku, Apostolos Apostolinas, Anna Maragkoudaki

Design Setup

Calculation of Heating Times for every Nozzle

Robotic Production Setup

3d printed / found / handmade Tools

Fabrication Process

animated reticulation

DYNAMICS IN EXTREME ENVIRONMENTS WORKSHOP IAAC Barcelona 2015 supervised by Areti Markopoulou (IAAC), Alexandre Dubor (IAAC), Carlos Bausa (IAAC), Manuel Kretzer (ETH Zürich), Stig Anton Nielsen (Chalmers) This project was developed during the workshop “Dynamics in Extreme Environments” in january 2015 at IAAC Barcelona. Based within the scenario of a considerable global temperature increase and extreme weather conditions in densely urbanized areas, “Articulated Reticulation” explores the advantages of using smart or reactive materials coming from different disciplines, in an architectural context.

Heat responsive materials like polymorph plastics and thermochromic inks are used to generate a reactive canopy, consisting of triangular panels connected by motion enabled, 3d printed joints. Thermochromic inks, mixed into polymorph plastics let the panels change their color corrsponding to the ambient temperature, thus absorbing more or less heat.

Hot or cold water, running in vain like pipes, supports the heating / cooling according to environmental conditions and creates a visual pattern on the surfaces. Inflatable joints make the structure shrink or expand, corrsponding to wind pressure. in collaboration with Dafni - Zoi Arnellou, Nohelia Gonzalez, Shreyas More, Despoina Pippa, Luisa Roth

Triangular Panels with Vains

Panel Assembly

Polymorph Plastics

Thermochromic Ink Test

Panel Layout

different Versions of flexible Joints

By testing 3d printed joints made from flexible, rubber like material, the canopy is able to react to different air pressures and move according to them. The joints are connected by PVC pipes.

black arrow and the diamonds MASTER THESIS

Vienna University of Technology, 2012 supervised by Manfred Berthold, Fridolin Welte, Andreas Rohatsch The High Down Test Site on the south western tip of the Isle of Wight has an extraordinary history as a place for high - tech, performance and science, due to its past as a test site for the british rocket testing program during the cold war. At the same time the area is located directly at the coast, overlooking the famous rock formation “the needles�, a landmark of the Island.

The design comprises the combination of different building typologies and blends them into one continous structure. The building reveals the diverse history of the area as a rocket test site, showcases the spectacular environment and vistas and creates a sense of high tech, speed and dynamics The technical and high performance nature of space travel is a key element of the design. The combination of spectacular vistas, steep cliffs, soft rolling hills and high tech structures creates a special esthetic effect and is an important element of the design strategy. The building seamlessly combines history, the force of nature, and the picturesque landscape and allows the visitor to catch a glimpse of a landscape experience without souvenir shopping.

FILE

Find the complete thesis here: http://www.ub.tuwien.ac.at/dipl/2012/ AC07813536.pdf

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Floor Plan, Entry Level

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Interior View, Museum

Cross Section

Parametric Roof Structure

The parametrically defined roof structure complements the artificial landscape and touches it at defined points. The structure adapts to the programmatic functions of the landscape beneath it and adjusts its grid and aperture accordingly, allowing for a seamless transition between solid surface and structural grid.

The filtered sun creates dynamic shadows on the surface of the landscape and supplements the technical esthetics of the design.

Model Picture - 3d Print / CNC milled XPS Foamboards

3d Print with support Material

velocitas ebike trainseat PRODUCT DESIGN SEMESTER PROJECT

Vienna University of Technology, 2011 supervised by Christian Kern, Fridolin Welte, Peter Auer, Florian Rist Ebikes enable individual and green mobility in an efficient way. In conjunction with public transport the concept is pushed further and provides a powerful infrastructure for commuters.

Velocitas is the developement of a trainseat with an integrated charging station for a foldable ebike. The bike can be stored securely between seats during the trainride and is charged at the same time. Additionally, the seat offers room for suitcases and hand luggage. On entering the train, the bike can be stowed away between the seats, is securely held in place and the electric motor is charged.

The seat is designed in a way that the existing layout of the train does not have to be changed. Even the amount of seats remains the same. The cone shaped space between the seats makes loading and unloading very easy. in collaboration with Nora Pucher

1:2 Design Model, Plaster on Cardboard Frames

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Interior View, Trainseat

load

charge

ready to go!

CNC milled Styrofoam Mould, Sealed for Polyester Lamination

4AM Cup Of Tea - Testing for Seating Comfort

1:1 Polyester Model ready for painting

Finished Full Scale Model at Vienna Design Week 2010

musical instrument museum DESIGN PROJECT

Vienna University of Technology, 2009 supervised by Andras Palffy, Gerhard Schnabl

The museum, located at the “Schweizer Garten” in the City of Vienna, is hovering between treetops, the surrounding garden flows through the building. The avenue towards the “Arsenal” is extended, leads beneath the building and provides accessability to the nearby tramstop.

When approaching the building, the structure seems like an additional layer between the existing trees. The visitor enters the building at an outside staircase and finds oneself on the first floor where the entry, the bar and wardrobe as well as the lounge of the concert hall are located.

The foyer acts as the main link between concert hall and museum. The concert hall provides room for 470 persons and constitutes the east bound ending of the building. On top of it, a café provides a spectacular view of the park.

Level 01

Level 02