Architectural Undergraduate Studies

David Babb_ Undergraduate Portfolio

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Architectural Studies

Undergraduate Design Portfolio

Undergraduate Portfolio M. Arch Candidate David Babb University of Florida 2009-2013

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Connections are the over arching theme of my architectural pursuit. I have studied material, structural and spatial connections throughout my undergraduate career, but my future studies will concern connections to people and between people.

Designing successful architecture is creating spatial connections that, more importantly, form human connections.

Do you wish to be great? Then begin by being. Do you desire to construct a vast and lofty fabric? Think first about the foundations of humility. The higher your structure is to be, the deeper must be its foundation.

-Saint Augustine

Undergraduate Portfolio M. Arch Candidate David Babb University of Florida 2009-2013

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Panel Alteration_ Design 7_ Fall 2012 Professor Donna Cohen Partner_Michael Garcia

NYC Tower Hotel

David Babb_ Undergraduate Portfolio

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Windows & Circulation

Units & Volume

Panels & Structure

Considering a tower in the urban condition is a multi-stepped undertaking.

Three critical areas of the tower are the ground, middle and sky. These three parts affect how successful a tower can be. To address the issue of ground, the lowest five stories are left completely open so that the street can interact directly with the interior lobby and restaurant. The edge has overhead at door-height thresholds to bring down the four story curtain wall, The middle part of the building is characterized by three open volumes which reveal public program and act as sky lobbies for the circulation within the upper floors. The top of the tower is activated with a lounge and simple sloped roof gesture.

This tower was designed in the TriBeCa neighborhood of New York City. The neighborhood is characterized by mid-rise residential buildings and a variety of educational facilities like the Manhattan Community College.

Art galleries and some art studios also are in TriBeCa. Finding a

diversity of program was essential to compliment this neighborhood.

A hotel was the main massing of the tower, with studio space, gallery, catwalks and classrooms all part of the ‘vertical campus’ which translated characteristics from the neighboring schools into tower form. The lower floors

have shops and restaurants which work to bring the public into the building. The sky lobbies, which are pronounced as voided spaces on the facade are clearly visible in section, acting as large voids which allow for insertions of large public spaces .

Design

Conference

Production

Display

Sales

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David Babb_ Undergraduate Portfolio

Densities and Program

Transportation and Entry

Vertical Analysis

Public Space

Panel Assembly

Panel Track Mullions Panels

Occupied Usage

Open

Closed

The action of the interior is pronounced on the exterior facade. The simple zoning of public, large open voids juxtaposed to private rooms with paneled enclosure. It was a conscious decision to push the most private spaces to the edges of the site. This allowed the edge to be activated by the varied usage and desires of the occupants who can chose how much privacy, light and view they desire. The panel system, and operable windows give the user the ultimate control of their space. In this way, the occupant has a direct connection to the building and its usage.

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Analyze

1)

David Babb_ Undergraduate Portfolio

Vertical Arrangement_

Design 4_ Spring 2011 Professor Stephen Bender

Musically Inspired Composition “Undisclosed Desires” by Muse combines elongated bass elements with delicate treble taps. The singers voice comes in at different levels and at points changes pitch so drastically that it is an enigma. By first listening to the piece and drawing its elements as a set of six foot drawings, a musical collage was assembled to derive a base for a new musically inspired piece. The music was broken down into workable units, then was synthesized leading to an assortment of scales. They translated to organized spatial sequences. United by the ‘enigma’ the piece began to again become cohesive. Volumes were inserted based on the three main musical arrangements. Finally a new set of elements was composed vertically, linked by delicate treble- like repetitive elements and heavy bass gestures.

Project

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Compose

Insert

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Curtain Wall

Mullion Columns Horizontal Shading

Entry and Overhead

Charleston presented another opportunity to explore the urban condition. The idea of propagating space was derived from the colonization of the Americas. By picking up culture and transplanting it, a new independent society or space can grow. The food culture of Charleston was transplanted to explore this propagation and transplanting of program.

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Propagating Space_ Culinary Institute Charleston, SC Design 6_ Spring 2012 Professor Jairo Vives

The structure was designed as a culinary arts school, which relates directly to the culture of Charleston. Demonstration kitchens and a completely transparent restaurant put on display the activity and creation of the student chefs.

The arrangement of kichens near the street allows a direct connection between interior and exterior. New street life is made a public spectacle by placing the most active spaces to the street.

Facade Axonometric Diagrams

Teaching Kitchen

Learning

Auditorium

Demonstrating

Restaurant

Producing

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David Babb_ Undergraduate Portfolio

Site Plan

South Section

A main architectural feature is the stairway atrium which proceeds from the first floor to the third in one continuous movement with landings at each floor. The atrium works to bring in light and circulate air within the structure. Because the atrium is adjacent to the outdoor courtyard, the interior has a close relationship to the public street life. The plans depict the rich programming of the culinary arts school with resources for students and the public to enjoy their relationship to food and to the building.

Ground Level Plan Gendron St.

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E Bay St. 1

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Cordes S

West WestWest

North NorthNorth

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David Babb_ Undergraduate Portfolio

Intersection and Propagation Diagrams

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Third Floor Second Floor

Key Restaurant 1.

Bakery Shop 2.

Bakery Kitchen 3.

Exterior Courtyard 4.

Food Storage 5.

Teaching Kitchen 6.

Administration 7.

Auditorium 8.

Student Lounge 9.

Library 10.

East

South

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Stralenvanger_

Shadow Catcher Design 2_ Spring 2010 Professor Martin Gundersen

An architect’s most valuable resource is light. It presence means space, its absence means void. Controlling light is a fundamental element of creating space. Light is controlled through the manipulation of surfaces, the creation of openings and the contrast to shadow. Shadows ground space and pull it back. Shadow is light’s counterpart and each depends on the other to exist. Light can be faded and indirect giving the experience of a larger space. It can also be sharp and acute,

revealing surfaces and openings. This study of light explored the manipulation of light through casting shadows. The shadow map was derived from the itinerary of a university campus. The shadows collide and fold over the three suspending towers which themselves catch light which is internally revealed. Various opacities of the shadow map offer a varied condition which is cast onto the tower surfaces. The light boxes explore receiving light rather than casting shadow.

Horizontal Divide_ Design 4_ Spring 2011 Professor Stephen Bender

Desert Enclave

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Where does the land meet the sky? The desert presents the question of horizon more directly than most other landscapes. The connection between ground and sky is essential to understanding the scale of desert and land.

To begin to question horizon, the first step was to create a landscape. A vast, varied land was created from water color images compiled together. Water color allowed an imagined desert to form in an authentic way, in a similar way to geological deserts. Both desert typologies depend on water to sculpt and imprint the sediment. This new, imagined landscape was traversed and analyzed.

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David Babb_ Undergraduate Portfolio

Extensive studies of desert environments and the exploration of the created landscape led to initial concepts for an intervention.

The structure needed to be a part of the desert if it was to survive.

To become part of the desert, the structure had to originate from the

Exploration of Edge

land. It too was sculpted by wind and water. The intervention was intended to capture cooling evening winds which consistently come from the southeast during the hottest summer nights. Passive strategies were considered especially in the manipulation of light. Direct light was

Massing and Structure

avoided completely during summer months, but allowed during cooler seasons. To bring light in during summer, light is reflected upward from panels below the windows.

The light hits the panel, and then the ceiling to cast even light across the space.

Ground Articulation

Section Model

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Lumineer_ Projecting Light Environmental Technology_ Fall 2012 Dr. Lucky Tsaih

In addition to the concepts of space being a receptacle of light, and light’s relation to shadows, the third basic concept is the projection of light.

Lighting fixtures are some of the most accessible architectural elements and the varied ability of fixtures

to produce light creates different spatial conditions. The goal of this fixture was to produce two types of light. The main condition is an evenly cast direct space lighting. The other condition was the small scale imprints of light which show off the

construction of the lamp. Metal was used for its ability to brighten light and it was sewn together for strength and delicacy. The lamp is intended to function as a set or as independent fixtures depending on need.

Bridging to Island

Surrounding Spring

Tea-Colored River

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Water+Land_ Florida Landscape Studies

Design 5_ Fall 2012 Professor Michael Richmond

Site 2: Newnans Lake, Gainesville, FL

Watershed

Flood Plain

Creeks and Streams

Site 1: Rum Island, High Springs, FL Landscape analysis provides a rich way of approaching architecture.

The urban context is vibrant and provides feedback on intervention.

The landscape should be approached with a similar outlook, because it too has complexity and needs to dialogue with the architecture to be built on the site. The Florida landscape provides

a perfect canvas for exploring where the land meets the water. All across the state, swamps, rivers, lakes and beaches provide this direct connection. Like a city block, this edge attracts activity and an opportunity for intervention. The Florida landscape studies shown are from two different site which at first seem so similar

but their subtle differences provide enough diversity for totally different projects. Florida is a subtle landscape, its beauty lies in small details, not in the grand gestures of the West like mountains and canyons. Viewers are so aware of the beauty of the West.

These projects aim to direct attention to Florida’s subtle beauty.

The first site was on a clear blue spring on the Sante Fe River. This river is dotted with springs along its entire route. The mixing of the tea colored river wherever a spring head meets is an interesting connection. The springs are the upwells of the Florida aquifer. A section cut of the aquifer served as inspiration for the section. Imagining how a building could be part of this subterranean cavern system provided a new way to construct a section and a new way to relate to the context.

Site 1: Rum Island, High Springs, FL

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David Babb_ Undergraduate Portfolio

Exploratory Section

Section

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Site 2: Newnans Lake, Gainesville, FL The second site was on a placid lake. The difference between a slow moving river and a stagnant lake provided a way to interpret the site. The structure was imagined as a meditation pavilion. Being mostly outdoors, shading and cross ventilation were vital considerations in the hostile Florida sun. Vernacular pioneer architecture was used as a generator for form, separating the private space from the activity space with an outdoor covered breezeway. The breezeway is a traditional joint used in Florida and works to provide connections between the spaces and from structure to nature.

Cypress and Marsh

Oak Hammock

Highest Ground

Oblique Shelter_ Bus Pavilion Charette Advanced Digital_ Spring 2012 Professor Lee Su Huang

David Babb_ Undergraduate Portfolio

Shadow Cast Through Structure

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This charette explored the possibility of a bus stop as a site for intervention. Concepts that were explored were how to make a bus stop exciting yet retain functionality. The form of the bus stop explored the limits of parametric inputs juxtaposed to the needs of reality, especially the reaction to both a human scale and that of a bus. Scale, light and material selection are Fenestration and Overlap opportuniites for human connection.

Threshold Sequence_ Constructing the Space Between Architectural Theory Il_ Fall 2012 Professor Martin Gundersen

David Babb_ Undergraduate Portfolio

Architecture relies as heavily on the space between as it does on constructed elements. Architecture is therefore a product of both separations and connections. The space between describes not only physical proximity of elements, but also relation to time, and understanding. This collage set examines an itinerary through urban conditions. The collage unfolds to reveal the experience of walking through the city. The street is a first type of space with enclosure typically on three sides. A street occupant has a ground and two walls but the pathway and sky are unrestricted. Approaching the building the facade reveals an entry point and an immediate experience with the building. At this threshold an occupant can interact physically with a building.

When arriving finally into the interior of a building the occupant has a new experience being completely enveloped in space on six sides. The overhead condition continues the sequential experience in a true (six-sided) space.

When inside of a building an occupant can examine the relationship between interior and exterior, to experience the overall city in a new way. Finally, the collage set highlights the experience of a person in an interior space. The threshold sequence continues as occupants traverse space.

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Fastened Edge_ Charging the NYC Block Design 7_ Fall 2012 Professor Donna Cohen Partner_Michael Garcia

David Babb_ Undergraduate Portfolio

This study again explores the urban condition, but on a massive scale. Designing an entire New York City block is a mega project with an enormous set of conditions that must be met. It is important that this new block fit well with the context around it, while keeping in mind that the neighborhood will change dramatically with time. As Manhattan becomes less industrial and work based and more residential and commercial oriented, this neighborhood at the crossroads of W 44th St. and 11 Ave is mostly autooriented with taxi repair shops, tire and oil services

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and the highest density of car dealerships in NYC, will see more mega-block mixed use projects like this. The main intention of this project was to set a precedent for the neighborhood to follow.

By energizing the facade and ground floor the block provides a new condition for neighborhood residents. A rich variety of programming provides this energy through its array of connections to the neighborhood. The second goal was to provide a relief for neighborhood by providing space for taxis and people to escape the street.

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The edge was the driving condition for exploration. By providing a sequence of programs the building is broken down to a human scale and is not a monotonous 800’ building. A restaurant, townhouses, tower lobby and school are shown in the section below and provide this diversity of connections. The edge is activated by the activity of people who enter the public courtyards and roof promenade.

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David Babb_ Undergraduate Portfolio

Key 1. K-8 School 2. School Yard 3. Tower 1 Business Lobby 4. Business 5. Tower 1 Residence Lobby 6. Town homes 7. Automated Parking Garage 8. Light Manufacturing Assembly 9. Tower 2 Business Lobby 10. Hydroponics 11. Multi-Programmed Courtyard 12. Museum 13. Dealership and Display 14. Retail Lobby 15. Tower 3 Residence Lobby 16. Restaurant

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Raise Street Wall

Place Towers

Cut Tower for Light and Zoning

Main Itinerary

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The relief of the courtyard is an opportunity for public gathering just beside the street.

The courtyard participates with the street with the combination of the restaurant which can fully open with garage doors, tying into the history of the auto-oriented neighborhood. The relief is complemented with the energy of the facade which is activated with colored glass, building in density at the public spaces. The render below shows how the color and shadows of the glass can make a space more dynamic and change throughout the day.

David Babb_ Undergraduate Portfolio

Restaurant, Town homes, Tower, School

Courtyards, Promenade, Approach

School, Business, Factory, Tower, Retail

South Section

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The skin is visually energized with densities of colored glass. The interior court is the epicenter of the diverse program and interacts directly with each tower, the podium and the street edge. The activity of the courtyard can be experienced on the street through the garage style doors at the restaurant.

David Babb_ Undergraduate Portfolio

Interior Courtyard

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Curriculum Vitae Education - University of Florida, College of Design, Construction, and Planning -Bachelor of Design Spring 2013 - Architecture Major - Urban Planning Minor -GPA – 3.77/4.00 - Vicenza Institute of Architecture, Italy, Spring 2013

Professional Experience - Office of Historic Preservation, City of Gainesville Research Intern 2012 -Researched building histories, compiling documents to establish state registered downtown historic district -Sandpearl Resort, Clearwater Beach, Valet and Guest Service Operator 2012 - Accommodated guest needs, maintained Five Diamond service standards -Community Development Department, City of Largo 2010 Bicycle Strategic Plan Update Intern -Research on state standards, grants and funding research, design recommendations, Curb Design Solution, Necessary Facilities, Local and World’s best strategies -Hewitt’s Architects Inc. Intern 2009 -Compiling SketchUp digital models, pre construction site documentation American Institute of Architecture Students Secretary, Member -Attended AIA National Conventions, Miami 2010 and New Orleans 2011 -Organized firm tours, exposing members to professional firm environments while providing networking opportunities -Planned for UF chapter participation 2012 AIAS CrossRoads convention in Charlotte, NC

Community Involvement -Transport Pinellas -2012-present -Founder -Grassroots citizen outreach campaign to educate citizens on alternative transport opportunities -Designed and maintains website, all social media outlets -http://wevote.wix.com/ transportpinellas#!home/mainPage -Libros de Familia -2010-present -Volunteer, through Alachua County School District -Visits 3 migrant family children weekly, teaching math, reading, and writing -Helping and motivating underprivileged children succeed in school -Transition Tampa Bay -2012-present -Member, alternative transport outreach and advocacy group -Sierra Club -2010-present -National member, active in Tampa Bay Chapter -Florida Land and Water Legacy Campaign -2012-present -Volunteer, signature gatherer -UF Sustainability Office -2009-2011 -Eco-Representative

David Babb_ Undergraduate Portfolio

Awards and Achievements -College of Design, Construction, and Planning Dean’s List -Jeff Sharlow Scholarship -Bright Futures Academic Scholar -Eagle Scout, Boy Scouts of America

Skills -2D Software: -AutoCAD -Adobe Photoshop -Adobe Illustrator -Adobe InDesign

David S Babb dbabb@tampabay.rr.com 9126 Maple Court, Seminole, FL 33777 (727) 742-8765

-3D Software: -Rhinoceros SD Modeling -V-Ray Rendering -Brazil Rendering -Grasshopper Generative Modeling for Rhino -Autodesk MAYA 3D

This portfolio is dedicated to my family who has supported and motivated me through my architectural studies, as well as my professors at the University of Florida who have taught me how to analyze and solve architectural issues.

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Undergraduate Portfolio M. Arch Candidate David Babb University of Florida 2009-2013

Undergraduate Portfolio M. Arch Candidate David Babb University of Florida 2009-2013

Architectural Studies

Undergraduate Design Portfolio