DONOVAN WEISS | 2023-24
PERSONAL INFORMATION
PAGES 4-5
1. PROGRESSION
WHITE BOX THEATRE LOCATED IN NEW YORK
(3RD YEAR SPRING FINAL)
2. RESEWN
WELLNESS CENTER LOCATED IN WICHITA
(3RD YEAR SPRING INTRODUCTORY PROJECT)
3. IMPACT
NATIVE CULTURAL CENTER OF TOPEKA (3RD YEAR FALL FINAL)
3. MOVEMENT
LOW RISE HOUSING OF IOLA
(3RD YEAR FALL INTRODUCTORY PROJECT)
PAGES 6-13
PAGES 14-21
PAGES 22-31
PAGES 32-39
SHAWNEE MISSION NORTHWEST, SHAWNEE - HIGH SCHOOL -2016 - 2020
I WAS AN HONOR STUDENT WITH A 3.7 GPA WHERE I TOOK ARCHITECTURALLY SKILLEDBASED CLASSES GAINING SKILLS IN DRAFTING. I ALSO WAS ON THE ROWING TEAM, STRENGTHENING MY LEADERSHIP AND COMMUNICATION SKILLS.
JOHNSON COUNTY CC, OVERLAND PARK - ARCHITECTURE - 2021-2022
I ATTENDED JCCC FOR MY FIRST YEAR OF COLLEGE AND FIRST YEAR OF ARCHITECTURE WHERE I LEARNED MANY DIFFERENT SKILLS IN PREPARATION FOR TRANSFERRING TO ANOTHER SCHOOL SUCH AS SKETCHING, HAND DRAFTING, AND AN EARLY EXPLORATION IN TO CERTAIN ONLINE PROGRAMS.
KANSAS STATE UNIVERSITY, MANHATTAN - ARCHITECTURE - 2022-PRESENT
I AM CURRENTLY A 4TH YEAR STUDENT AND HAVE A 3.3 GPA WHERE I AM CURRENTLY GAINING SKILLS IN ARCHITECTURE AND PLAN TO GRADUATE IN MAY OF 2026.
TRANSFER IMPACT AWARD
TIA SCHOLARSHIP
JCCC ARCHITECTURAL FUTURE AWARD
SKILLS USA 2ND PLACE IN ARCHITECTURAL DRAFTING
LEADERSHIP
COMMUNICATION
REVIT
SKETCHUP
RHINO
ENSCAPE/V-RAY
ADOBE PHOTOSHOP
ADOBE ILLUSTRATOR
ADOBE INDESIGN
MICROSOFT SOFTWARES
IN MANY ART FORMS, WHETHER THAT IS MUSICAL, THEATRICAL, PHYSICAL, ETC., THE FINAL PIECE IS ALWAYS WHAT IS MOST CELEBRATED. THOUGH MANY SAY THAT IS THE MOST IMPORTANT PART, I DISAGREE. I BELIEVE THAT THE PROGRESSION OF ANY ART FORM IS THE MOST IMPORTANT ASPECT OF THE ARTS, BECAUSE PRACTICE AND FAILURE CREATES A NEAR PERFECT PIECE. THE PROGRESSION OF ANY ART FORM IS ALWAYS OVERLOOKED AND FORGOTTEN AND RATHER SHOULD BE CELEBRATED AS WELL. THE CONCEPT WAS DERIVED FROM THIS THOUGHT AND TRYING TO UNDERSTAND HOW TO ENCAPSULATE THIS IDEA INTO A BUILDING SERVED AS THE MAIN ASPECT OF THE DESIGN DECISIONS. WITH THIS BUILDING MAINLY REPRESENTING THE ART OF DANCE WITHIN THE BUILDING I KNEW THE MOVEMENT OF BODIES NEEDED TO BE HIGHLIGHTED WITHIN THE DESIGN, BOTH THE PERFORMERS AND THE AUDIENCE BECAUSE BOTH PLAY A ROLE IN THE PROGRESSION AND THE FINAL FORM OF AN ART PIECE. THE THREE MOST
FOR THIS PROJECT WAS “THE WHAT”, “THE WHY”, AND “THE HOW”. THE “WHAT” BEING THE MOST IMPORTANT PROGRAMMATIC PIECES THAT WOULD REPRESENT THE PROGRESSION OF THE ART OF DANCE, TO WHICH WERE THE REHEARSAL SPACES, THE CIRCULATION, AND THE MAIN DANCE SPACE. THE “WHY” WAS SIMPLE, THE REHEARSAL SPACE BEING CELEBRATED BECAUSE WITHOUT REHEARSALS, THERES NO FINAL PIECE. THE CIRCULATION PLAYED AS THE “IN-BETWEEN” THE REHEARSAL AND MAIN SPACE, REPRESENTING THE CRUCIAL MOVEMENT FROM GETTING FROM THE BEGINNING TO THE END OF THE FINAL PRODUCTION. THE THIRD “WHY” IS THE FINAL PIECE WHICH IS REPRESENTING THE LAST STAGE OF PROGRESSION, SIMPLY, THE END OF IT. FINALLY THE “HOW” WHICH IS NOT REPRESENTED THROUGH PLACEMENT OF PROGRAM, BUT THE MATERIALITY AND THE HIERARCHY.
...THE PROGRAMMATIC PLACEMENT AND THE HIERARCHAL SENSE WERE THE MAIN FOCUSES WITHIN THE INITIAL DESIGN PHASE. UNDERSTANDING HOW TO MANIPULATE A BUILDING USER TO RESPOND WITHIN THE BUILDING PLAYED A KEY ROLE IN THE INITIAL CARVES AND EXTRUSIONS.
FIRST LEVEL FLOOR PLAN
SECOND LEVEL FLOOR PLAN
FIRST FLOOR ENTRY RENDER
SECOND FLOOR STAIRWAY RENDER
FOURTH LEVEL FLOOR PLAN
STAGE VIEW
...THE DOUBLE CHANNELED GLASS WAS THE MAIN MATERIAL FOCUS, HELPING ENFORCE THE CONCEPT BY ALLOWING FOR THE SHADOWS OF HUMAN FIGURES TO SEEP THROUGH THE STREET SCAPE AT NIGHT AND DRAW SOFT LIGHT IN THE DAYTIME.
PROGRAM DIAGRAM
THE WICHITA WELLNESS CENTER (RESEWN) IS A PROJECT DESIGNED TO PROVIDE THE PEOPLE IN THE AREA WITH ACCESS TO BETTER THERAPY AND WELLNESS SERVICES. THE BUILDING WAS CONCEPTUALIZED WITH THE IDEA OF SEAMLESSLY INTEGRATING THE NEW WITH THE EXISTING, SYMBOLIZING THE PROCESS OF SEWING THE BROKEN WITH THE EXISTING. SITUATED IN A MISSING LOT PIECE, THE PROJECT REPRESENTS A COMMITMENT TO FILLING A GAP IN THE COMMUNITY AND OFFERING VALUABLE RESOURCES FOR MENTAL AND EMOTIONAL WELL-BEING. THE “MODULAR-LIKE” REPRESENTATION IS MEANT TO HELP ENFORCE THE IDEAL OF TAKING WHAT WAS ONCE CRACKED OR BROKEN IN MULTIPLE PIECES AND RESEWING THEM INTO SOMETHING STRONGER AND MORE POWERFUL. THE CIRCULATION PLAYS ONE OF THE MOST CRUCIAL ROLES WITHIN THE CONCEPT, WRAPPING AROUND THE INTERIOR OF THE BUILDING, REPRESENTED IN AND OUTSIDE THE BUILDING, IS SEAMLESSLY PULLING THE MODULAR-LIKE STRUCTURE TOGETHER ALMOST AS A STITCH REPAIRING TORN SKIN WOULD. THE MANY SITUATED WINDOWS ALONG THE NORTH SIDE OF THE BUILDING WAS PLACED IN ORDER TO WELCOME PATIENTS IN THE BUILDING BY SHOWING ACTIVE PATIENTS “HEALING” WITHIN THE BUILDING ITSELF AS WELL AS ALLOWING THE SOFT NATURAL LIGHT TO ENTER THE BUILDING.
FIRST SECOND
THIRD FOURTH
...“HEALING YOURSELF IS CONNECTED WITH HEALING OTHERS”. THE EXTERIOR RELATIONSHIP OF SEEING ALL THOSE HEALING WITHIN AND THE STAIRWELL PULLING THAT SELFHEALING WITH OTHERS IS WHAT IS MOST IMPORTANT THROUGH THE BUILDING RELATIONSHIP.
The idea of understanding the meaning of “impact” or the influence of going through adversity and challenges that may inflict on a group of people is where the design process began with this project. Although the Native culture has endured a lot of negative impacts, through all that, the pride of Native American Culture has never faded away which should not only be celebrated within closed walls of a building but rather celebrated beyond. Based upon that ideology and understanding of the impact that the culture has within the native community, Impacts have a hierarchy, whether physical (like water or glass) or symbolic such as the culture natives share, which almost has a rippling effect starting at one or more points and dispersing beyond that. Celebrating the impact of culture starts with unity and to which the built environment brings that unity together and is centered within the site to emphasize that hierarchical status. The overall design for the building is derived from the physical understanding that impact has to which the building appears to be peeling out from the site based upon. The idea of stepping down into the site within the building not only relates to being more connected to the site to which the native culture relates but also the value of oneself disconnecting from the outer world to connect with the culture that should be celebrated of the six nations represented within. Though the built environment stands as the most important (based on hierarchy), the rest of the site holds other points of impact that celebrate the native culture whether that is through the powwow, sculpture garden, interpretive garden, or amphitheater. The site itself is broken upon non-orthogonally to represent these major impacts as well and the hierarchy of these impacts is represented in height differences.
...“WE REMEMBER THE PAST AND LEARN FROM IT. WE REJOICE AND CELEBRATE IN THE PRESENT, AND WE RE-IMAGINE THE FUTURE”. THESE SITE “SHARDS” REPRESENT THE IMPORTANCE OF THE PAST, PRESENT, AND FUTURE OF THE NATIVEAMERICAN CULTURES AND THE IMPACT IT HAS MADE.
EXTERIOR ENTRY RENDER
EXTERIOR LOWER LEVEL RENDER
COUNCIL CHAMBER RENDER
PERFORMANCE HALL/GALLERY/ENTRY
GALLERY RENDER
THE OVERALL CONCEPT OF THE LOW RISE HOUSING PROJECT IS TIED TO THE POSITIONING AND MATERIALITY OF THE BLOCKED UNITS, WHICH IS CONNECTION. THE IDEA OF CREATING CONNECTION IS IMPORTANT IN ANY COMMUNITY IN WHICH THE LANDSCAPE/ COURTYARD CREATES THAT SENSE OF COMMUNITY PROVIDING GARDEN SPACES AS WELL AS THE SPACIAL CONNECTIONS CREATE BENCHES AS WELL. THE BASE LEVEL OF THE BUILDING AND LANDSCAPE CREATES A STATIC LAYER THAT DEVELOPS MOVEMENT AND CIRCULATION WITHIN THOSE SPACES EITHER INTO THE BUILDING OR OUTER COMMUNITY AREAS. THE “VARIABLE LAYER” OR SECOND LAYER OF BOTH THE BUILDING AND LANDSCAPE WAS DEVELOPED IN STRATEGIC MOVEMENTS IN ORDER TO HELP DEVELOP THE SPACES THROUGH THE ENTIRE SITE IN ORDER TO ENCLOSE PUBLIC VS PRIVATE SPACES AS WELL AS FURTHER THE DEVELOPMENT THE CIRCULATION WHETHER THAT IS ENTRY SEQUENCE OR INNER CIRCULATION WITH THE COMPLEX. ONE OF THE MAIN ENGAGEMENTS TO COMMUNITY AND CIRCULATION IS THE STAIRS WHICH IS LIFTED BY A DOUBLE HEIGHT CEILING GIVING YOU THAT OPEN FEELING UPON ENTRY AS WELL AS THE SLAT STRUCTURE TO THE STAIRS THAT PROVIDES AN MORE OPEN FEELING AS WELL TO THE SPACE WHICH ALSO TIES BOTH THE STATIC AND VARIABLE LEVELS TOGETHER.
