Architectural Portfolio by Eli Greenky Knecht

Architecture Portfolio

Eli Greenky Knecht

projects

borders and boundaries

jetty

tall building

garden

social tree

tea house

elysian reservoir

pasadena road

dodgers stadium

borders and boundaries

Zurich Main Train Station

Prof. Tom Emerson

A spatial inquiry into the segregative qualities of Zurich’s rail tracks when entrying the main train station of Zurich. The existing bridges over the rail tracks are dominated by motorized traffic, while pedestrians are unwilling to walk across ugly jetties. Over multiple kilometres, the rail tracks set physical boundaries upon the range of movement and urban life to pedestrians. The trail racks also harbour a protected microclimate of ruderal plants and wildlife which can freely develop within the ril trqck field. The interuptive nature of rail infrastructure disrupts the otherwise continuous urban fabric of a former industrial quarter that is now rapidly becoming gentrified. The river Limmat runs parallel to the track field.

jetty Zurich train tracks

Prof. Tom Emerson

Designing a pedestrian bridge over the Zurich tracks. The thriving commercial development along the sides of the tracks barely help to connect the seperate quarters on either sides of the tracks, but rather build vertically to maximize rent space. Crossing multiple train tracks recquires an understanding of its standards and rules. The round hollow cross section of the pillars rest on ever changing angles upon the concrete foundation. A textile fabric is connected to the poles and keeps objects from falling onto the tracks below. The rythym of the columns is confined to different distances between the tracks.

Photoshop is used to visualize different scenarios of pedestrian crossings over the railroad tracks of Zurich. The photographic analysis of the trackfield at night extends our understanding of the location, its restrictions and appeareances. The potential to safely harbour local inhabitants who cross the tracks lies within the dichotomy of infrastructure and public space.

tall building

Zurich train tracks

Prof. Tom Emerson

Designing a tall building within the former industrial site surrounding the Zurich train tracks belonging to the Swiss National Railway - SBB. A public library is installed on the corner of a railtrack crossing bridge and a street running parallel. The structural core of reinforced concrete builds alternating levels each with half the surface area of the floors above and below used to protect books from direct sunlight. The larger floor includes well-lit reading tables along the glass facade. In the underground, a seven story archive stores millions of units of Zurichs public archives. The public lobby on the first floor and the public roof helps the building serve urban demands and emanates new cultural and aesthetic qualities. There are four different sized lecturing auditoriums accomodatong several hundred viewers just below the roof.

garden

ETH Hönggerberg

Prof. Tom Emerson

As part of the 1:1 garden project, a team of sixty students constructed a quadratic forum within the existing garden. In a next step, we planted different types of trees and shrubs in the surroundings. Within two week periods both in the spring and fall, the students experimented and learned about garden construction, drainage systems and brick laying for a chimney with a concrete foundation. As the student in charge of all the earth work, I played a crucial role in coordinating the different teams on site and making sure that all technical drawings were respected by the different construction teams.

Youtube video: „Studio Tom Emerson - The Garden - décor de fête“

SESC Pompeia, Lina Bo Bardi

São Paulo

Prof. Tom Emerson

Searching for the social qualities of Lina Bo Bardi‘s SESC Pompeia in Sao Paolo, this axonometric view was drawn to evaluate public access throughout the campus, and the spatial qualities of the so-called “beach“, a wooden deck spanning the local drainage channel.

social tree

Prof. Tom Emerson

Learning from Lina, this public furniture is designed to hold a tree. The intensity of interaction with the centred tree adapts to the variations of the surrounding location. The goal of this design is to integrate tree plants better into the urban fabric.

Masubuchi Tea Club

Timber Behaviourology in Japan

Studio Bow-Wow, Prof. Momoyo Kajima

In the hills above Masubuchi you can find one of Shirakawa’s most valuable resources, the tea plantation of Masubuchi-en. Surrounded by the Hinoki forest and other conifer woods of the mountainous climate, the tea plants are exposed directly to the wildlife of the forest who eat the plants or destroy the crops. In this project, a new network of collaboration was set up by the owner of the new Tea Club, offering a traditional experience of the “tea way of life”, in combination with local game animal hunting and wood workshops. During ceremonial dinner celebrations or day long events like New Years (“Shogatsu”), the traditional food (“osechi-ryori”) is prepared in the central room for cooking and served with matcha tea and wild boar. The central, double height concrete doma kitchen with a central column allows smoke to exhaust through the top windows. The spectacular view over the hilly topography of Masubuchi is enjoyed in multiple drinking and eating rooms ad a balcony facing south-west to capture the evening light. An intimate dining experience is conveyed by the low ceilings in the tatami rooms, at 2.50m with the view controlled by the opening of the structure. The 4 ½ Tatami rooms are separated by sliding doors (“Shoji”) and are connected by a small outer sitting porch. During the winter season, the Tea Club uses local timber as building material for the wood workshop. In particular, tea accessories like cups, spoons and whisks are produced and sold to the tea factory. The structure of the building is oriented around the traditional Minka-Style, including a central “Doma”-space with fireplaces and watersources, a small storage room and several tatami rooms which are elevated 60cm above the ground. For stiffening, single walls in the building are closed by a “itakura method”. The wooden elements of the structure are also protected against decay by the smoke of the central fire place.

reservoir

LA River

Prof. Marc Angelil

The Elysian Park in Los Angeles is the second largest and one of the last public spaces in LA. In this scenario, we articulate the palimpsest history of the landscape and the eradication of mountains by real estate development and city building. We oppose the flattening of the territory by introducing a new dam and increasing the water level of the Elysian Reservoir. The old Figueroa and Arroyo Seco Pkwy will run through this construction.

dodgers stadium

LA River

Prof. Marc Angelil

The Dodgers stadium in Los Angeles harbours 16,000 parking places that cover 150 acres of land in asphalt. In this scenario we move parking spaces immediatly surrounding the stadium into a circular parking lot with public roof access and create a public park in the center. Not only will the temperature in and around the stadium be cooler, but also the ball park can offer a new set of experiences to visitors.

pasadena rd

LA River

Prof. Marc Angelil

The Pasadena Road silces through the Elysian park and its microclimates, seperating fauna, flora and humans and keeping them from passing through the park. In this intervention we introduce a series of both naturally vegetated and pedestrian crossings over the Arroyo Seco Pkwy and the Old Figueroa St., thus reinterpretating the topographical features of Los Angeles’ historically hilly typology.

Publication plans “Durchmesserlinie“

Drawing plans for publication purposes of the new section of the Zurich Main Trainstation.Understanding of a large scale infrastructure project and experience in ArchiCAD.