2008 undergraduate architecture portfolio

John Locke

2008 m.arch II candidate

Academic Work 2001 - 2005

Shape Studio

instructors: Chris Risher & Mark Vaughn studio program: 1. 2d shape: b/w painting studies 2. building investigations automotive paint and repair shops 3. 3d shape: car/truck shape study 4. learn about the site 5. learn about the culture

“we feel as if we had to repair a torn spider’s web with our fingers,�

Wittgenstein

Architecture is a game of limits. Some studios work within the confines of context, program and site, here we explored limits that were more intangible. The studio worked directly with a strong emphasis on space, shape, color, light, shade and shadow. We searched for limits, letting function simmer while heating up the form. We explored limits in three shape studies in a variety of form and media: 1) Two dimensional shape black and white paintings 2) Three dimensional car/truck bondo shape studies and 3) Building design studies: proposals for an automotive body shop and paint shop.

An early limit arose from light illuminating a distant plane, while backlit shapes filled the foreground, creating space and hope, and drawing the worker into his business. I also advocated the use of a strong void space. The black and white paintings evolved from logocentric gestures, yielding overlapping spaces where smaller elements could be brighter than the whole. Contrast functioned as a powerful space-making tool within the project, as well as with the neighboring context. The play between soft, near edges; and farther, harder planes influenced much of the car/truck shape-making, as well as issues of silhouette, color and perceived mass.

Learning about the site: As part of our analysis of the site, we moved beyond standard topographic information. Frequent visits to the site, meeting people, and making sketches, paintings and photographs led to a fuller understanding of the area and yielded a building intervention that had a deeper relationship to the intangibles of the area.

Learing about the culture: Residents of the neighborhood live in the same house they were born in, the same house their grandparents were born in. It became necessary to meet with people and hear their stories and opinions. Local institutions and neighborhood history became additional site considerations. From this extemporaneous, improvised neigborhood, the studio work took on a messy quality that reinforced the sense of immediacy.

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With residential units directly adjacent to the site on the east and west parcels, forms and void spaces were designed to adequately and effeciently facillitate vehicular movement in a “U� formation through the site, to create abstraction and function. >>

AUTO REPAIR SHOP

1//entry and prep area 2//service bay 1 - oil change 3//partially covered prep area 4//service bay 2 - brakes/lift 5//service bay 3 - transmission 6//office/exit

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AUTO PAINT SHOP

1//unpainted vehicle entrance 2//covered lift/masking area 3//paint booth 1 - primer 4//paint booth 2 - finishing 5//paint booth 3 - buffing 6//office/lockers 7//painted vehicle exit 8//ramp up

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The process of turning a dull, faded paint job on a vehicle into a vibrant new exterior surface become one of the primary motivators of the layout of the building. The site would be accessed from the north toward the south. As a means to shorten the perceived space the buildings’ angles were designed with overhangs and vertical orientations to create view corridors - that show an illuminated area, further behind a darker, silhouetted shapes. This serves to draw the viewer in and compress the spatial distance.

color

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The perception of color is relative. The interaction of multiple colors creates a new relationship that alters the nature of the individual shades. The light quality in the project is important to the reading of the building shape, therefore, stable colors were chosen that are also dull, cool and light. The value of the red/blue colors were the same, creating an underlying unity while also influencing the perception of the forms reflecting in sunlight - and hidden in shadow. The colors reinforce the overall formal gesture while maintaining the indivual integrity of the facets.

site adjacent entry vestibules - north facing _study of stable vs. unstable colors near the site

car/truck shape study model 14.5�x7�x5.5� layers of bondo molded over a rectangular metal base

site adjacent entry vestibules - south facing

Performance Container

“The tent has often been used as a means of besieging, invading, colonising and celebrating new and experimental space.”

Greg Cowan, Nomadic Resistance

The Challenge: 1) Analyze and choose a site along the 10.1 mile stretch of park along the Colorado River, which winds through Austin, creating Town Lake. 2) Design a space for artistic performances that is movable, able to transform into an “on” and “off” position.

The Solution: 1) A site was chosen in East Austin, near a rundown park in a neighborhood struggling with a lack of facilities for local children.

This is in sharp contrast to other parts of Town Lake that are primarily used as walking and jogging trails for more affluent visitors. The site is also geographically unique, having an insular quality - surrounded by water on three sides - making possible a significant, central entry point.

2) A design was chosen that would still provide a functional purpose when the container was in its “off” position. With the rapidly declining public opportunities for skateboarding, the Performance Container was designed to transform into a skate park, providing a recreation center for the neighborhood. This was accomplished by creating three ribbons that lightly touch the ground and actively engage with the natural landscape of the site to create space. Like a roll of paper, each ribbon could be retracted or unfurled based on necessity.

entry

shade designed to maximize shade for audience/performer summer months

audience seating / skateboard ramps skate ramp / seating

performance stage

meditative spaces

instructors: Tom Phifer / Jim Faircloth studio program: 1. Investigate sites along Austin’s town lake.

2. Design a movable structure to be used for a performance space.

position_fully unfurled ready for performer and audience

position_ribbon 2 unrolled after-hours configuration for one-person show or skate park

architecture // branding

retail store + bar + housing

Increasingly, architecture is seen as an extension of the consumer culture, subjugated to the needs of the marketplace. Architecture becomes the physical manifestation of the brand, sharing common visual and ideological cues, as evidenced in fashion houses Prada and Hermes. The studio was tasked with designing a brand and then creating the architecture.

Not only is Austin the self-proclaimed “live music capital of the world,” but the site was located at the western edge of Sixth Street - the epicenter of the music/bar scene in Austin. With this in mind, the brand “LOT49” was born, with the intent of creating a symbiotic relationship with the music culture of Austin by selling fashion influenced by the music scene, as well as targeting musicians and aficionados with highend speaker systems. The third element became the underground bar, a staple music lore.

The branding exercise became an exploration of coolness and authenticity through design - a natural hybridization when Marc Jacobs outfits Karen O and American Apparel supercedes The Gap. The project uses visual architectural cues/metaphors to tie into the world of music and fashion. Architecture can both reinforce - stay “on brand” - but can always transcend marketing, through the physical, reality of light, form and color.

existing bars

existing music venues

stage 2_bus station stage 1_retail store/ bar/housing

instructor: Larry Doll studio program:

Stage 1:

Create a brand

Design a retail store with housing for that brand

_morning ground-level retail - fashion speaker sales - music

_day ground-level retail - fashion speaker sales - music basement-level bar

Lot49 represents the paranoid modern condition of needing to be seen and conform while maintaining a sense of authenticity and originality.

_evening ground-level retail - fashion basement-level bar / rooftop stage

_after midnight basement-level bar / rooftop stage after-hours entry via Congress Ave.

1// Steel structure wraps over and above facade to create a partially enclosed roof space.

2// Six levels of open loft space.

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3// The “hoodie.” Steel mesh screen wraps building to

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delineate program space as well as provide solar shading to residence units.

4// Acoustically isolated speaker exhibit/experience

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rooms.

5// Three-dimensional rendering of the Black Flag logo,

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both acts as a sublte signifier and provides south facing shading for glazed ground level retail.

6// The space of the ground level fashion retail is 6

comprised of easily demountable partition walls, superimposed with graphic references to musicians.

7// Display racks are designed with castors to easily reconfigure to the changing whims of fashion.

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8// Glazing enclosed retail store at street level.

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9// Black screen defines entry and acts as signage “LOT

49” 10// Illuminated sidewalk signage.

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runway

The “runway� becomes the primary vertical circulation element, reinforcing the idea that you, the consumer, are the star and that everyone is watching you as you make a grand entry. Encased in glass, with seating on all sides, the act of entry becomes a focal event. This ramp links the fashion retail store to the basement lounge below.

instructor: Larry Doll studio program: 1. rebrand Austin’s public buses 2. design a new station

architecture // branding bus stop

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station

Far too often the ones advocating increased public transportation are absent when it came to riding public buses. The capital metro brand has become too associated with a misrepresentation of resources and nondescript buses. We proposed to do away with the old name and replace it with ‘Capital Area Transit.’ Much of the imagery for the logo and design of the bus stop came from ‘CAT,’ the idea of nimbleness and sharp vision. This also created something inclusive, bringing more people together by a shared name that allowed the riders to give the transit system their own slang term, not an official nickname.

I wanted to simplify the contradictory organization method, and replace it with a more universal color-coding system: each route will be color-coded and each bus stop will correspond with the color of the bus. With television screens commonplace in automobiles and advertising becoming increasingly obtrusive, we sought to take this one step further: starting with the idea of the eye, I proposed fitting the buses with image protectors. Passing cars, buildings and people all become part of the image. Changing projection and led screens on the bus help target specific audiences. They can be programmed to display different images to specifically target economic and ethnic parts of the city. Also, the coveted rush hour times could bring in increased revenue.

interstate buses,longer queues for routes to houston, leander, etc path for intracity buses, more regular arrivals and departures vehicular route for access to hotel/residential lobby pedestrian path coincident with vehicular paths

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part1.capital metro rebranding

The idea of seeing and being seen is prominent when discussing public bus ridership - a result of connotations of low economic status and hardships. To many, the possibility of being seen on a bus prevents ridership. To counter this the act of looking out was emphasized. From the logo, to the shape of the station, to the idea that advertising could be projected out from the bus, showing that the buying powers of riders - as well as outside viewers - are relevant.

fourth street elevation

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colorado ave. elevation

part2.bus station

The arrival and departure of the city bus, which can easily become a nuisance in an auto-centric city, becomes prominently expressed - spatially weaving above and below programmatic spaces. Their presence is constantly sensed. Queued buses sit and wait under the building, creating another layer of activity.

The goal of the station and metro bus rebranding is for buses to become a welcome and integral part of the urban experience with the cachet afforded to other, higher profile but cost-prohibitive public transportation such as light-rail transit.

The form of the building follows the rhythm along Colorado street, and hovers above the street to allow buses to pass underneath. The narrow slit of light between the two forms brings light down to the bus waiting area and separates the programmatic areas. Along fourth street the theater and hotel lobbies are accessible from a grand stairway, following the historical precedence along fourth street of entering each building on a raised platform and creates a seating/waiting area.

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5 1//theater 2//street closure - outdoor theater 3//lobby - seating 4//hotel and housing towers 5//LOT49 6//open office space cafe/shops below

Castle Clinton performance space

“built to keep people out, now welcomes millions in,�

National Park Service

Since its creation as a defensive fortification during the war of 1812, Castle Clinton has undergone a series of reinventions. While the inner activities have changed, the solid masonry walls have withstood, providing a blank slate - or bowl - for new programmatic activities, from an immigration processing station to an aquarium to its latest iteration as a performance space for lower Manhattan and the centerpiece of a renovated Battery Park.

The challenge became how to maintain the ring shaped exterior walls, while creating a welcoming and inviting space for artistic expression.

To both emphasize the existing historic walls and the new intervention, the differences between the two were played for maximum effect avoiding any attempts at a formal or historic similarly. In stark contrast, each could maintain their individual sense of integrity: new vs. old, light vs. heavy, closed vs. open, solid construction vs. modern building techniques all became overriding principles. In addition, because the intervention is without enclosed volume, the relationship between sharpinside and curved-outside corners were emphasized.

The castle is completed in 1811 as a harbor fortification to repel any British attack on New York

Rechristened the Castle Garden, the former military installation becomes the largest public assembly hall and entertainment center in the U.S. The open theater included an elevated walkway, with views of the harbor.

Prior to the creation of Ellis Island, the newly renamed Castle Clinton Emigrant Depot welcomed and processed over 8 million immigrants until it was closed in 1890.

In 1896 the Castle became the New York Aquarium, one of the earliest and largest public aquariums, catering to 2.5 million visitors annually.

IMMIGRATION

1896

1855

ENTERTAINMENT

1824

1811

FORTIFICATION

AQUARIUM

instructors: Tom Phifer and Jim Faircloth studio program: 1.performance space for Castle Clinton, NY

1953

1941

After being declared a national monument, the castle was restored to its fortification appearance in 1975.

Currently, the Castle houses an interpretative center and acts as a departure point for the Ellis Island ferry.

NATIONAL PARK

2005

DESTRUCTION

The castle was closed from 1941-1953 as Robert Moses demolished the structure to reconstruct the battery.

Congress designated the park a national monument and saved the 19th century walls.

PERFORMANCE SPACE

Lightness:The intervention lightly touches the ground at three key locations, both to defer to the weighty timelessness of the existing rubble walls and reinforce the notion that the performance space is part of a continuos cycle of reinvention for the Castle.

Shading: The building forms were designed to maximize solar shading for the performers during the summer months while opening up at an angle that allows the audience to receive the warming winter sun.

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views

Opposite. Views from the performance stage out were carefully crafted and dematerialized by blurring the boundaries with soft, rounded edges in an effort to open the castle up and bring New York in.

This Page. The interpretive center is positioned to force the view out to Liberty Island and Ellis Island in a gesture acknowledging the historical importance these sites have played in the Castle’s history. The Statue of Liberty is framed in the distance and serves as a climax to the processional voyage through the exhibits in the interpretive center.

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SUDS

bowling alley + bar + laundromat

“Landscape, urbanscape, building scapes can all be thought of as ‘infoscapes’...Once those connections are made, it becomes evident to me that what is possible is a much broader coalition, of generic processes that involve the same layer of information, working at different scales, connected by inner hierarchies of logic.”

Cecil Balmond

university of texas state capitol

site lamar ave.

instructors: Vince Snyder studio program: 1. Bar/Laundry/Bowling Facility site: West Campus, primarily student residences and related businesses

The program called for a combination of leisure activities that any college student is well acquainted with: bowling, drinking and washing laundry. The design reflects some of these playful qualities while also creating a ground, a city within a city. The building is meant to provide a strong presence in an area where the inhabitants are recycled every four years - perpetually created anew.

The design is separated along program and wraps itself protectively around a central sunken courtyard that provides shade and solace. The line between inside and outside is blurred through the use of roof gardens, cantilevered overhang spaces and the absence of a traditional central front door to the business. As opposed to one central building, the programmatic elements are separated into a collection of buildings, meant to evoke the layout of a college campus. Inhabitable outside void spaces were key and provide open areas for outside cafes and meeting spaces. Also, each program is expressed separately to accommodate differing hours of operation. The space is unified by a consistent structural grid of 20 x 45 feet.

The mechanical and support areas are articulated in a grouping of vertical towers. The towers reference both the separate programs as well as reinforce the idea of a place in and of itself. The building’s service areas contain vertical circulation, and the roof-packaged air conditioning units are localized in these towers. The collision of the service towers and program areas creates areas of complexity and spatial interest, while referencing the transient nature of the patrons and the interstitial urban gridwork of the University corridor.

mechanical

bowling

bar

laundry

above: 3d arrangement of program blocks based on underlying structural grid middle: landscape carpet, weaves through the program elements creating sectional space and a wayfinding device

study models showing progression of design elements around central void space

Personal Work 2005 - 2007

Hollywood, CA, 2006

more at: flickr.com/photos/jlocke

Joshua Tree, 2007

40 Bond St, 2007

www.lioninoil.net

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I was the co-founder of lioninoil.net with partner and graphic designer Jackie Caradonio. The page is a dynamic showcase of our work in architecture, graphic design, web design, and photography as it unfolds. As well as a business venture to advertise our real estate photography services in the greater Los Angeles area.

Middle and left: Two chairs for a children’s museum I designed at Randall Stout Architects Right: TV stand for a small Venice apartment.

Professional Work 2005 - 2007

Art Gallery of Alberta

I was involved with this project as a designer at Randall Stout Architects, from the winning competition entry through the construction documents phase. I led a model team and group of junior designers in the production of study and presentation models as well as the graphical representation of the project. I worked closely with Principal-In-Charge Randall Stout on the overall design of the project, specifically the design of the curvilinear roof form that came to be known in the office as the “borealis� as it was inspired to be an amorphous shape that shimmers in the light and references Edmonton’s northern climate.

One of my main responsibilities was to design the form as a physical model to study the light and formal qualities, and then translate the rough sketch into a finished 3d model that became part of the drawing set. Using rhino software, the form was refined into rationalized, constructable surfaces made up of tangent cones and cylinders. What began as a simple rolled form became a highly engineered piece that includes thickness, snow retention devices and heating and cooling systems.

I worked closely with both A.Zahner metal fabricators and DeSimone structural engineers to coordinate the placement and sizing of structural members within the exterior skin and maintain the sense of ethereal lightness.

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nebulous

As the primary designer of the curvilinear “borealis� form, I was responsible for creating and studying the form through paper design models in the design stage and coordinating with various consultants for the finished construction documents model. What began as an impossibly thin paper study became a highly refined and engineered piece, complete with waterproofing, snow retention and heating loops, extreme cold compression joints, and highly articulated glazing and form intersections. The following are a sample of the details that I produced during the construction documents phase.

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destruction, then renovation

existing museum groundbreaking june 2007- opening fall 2009 professional

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+ Through the exchange of structural, fabricator and design 3d models, I was able to efficiently coordinate the placement and sizing of structural members as well as suggest alternate possibilities. professional

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Eli and Edythe Broad Art Museum randall stout architects

I was the project designer for this invited competition project and represented Randall Stout Architects among competitors Zaha Hadid Architects, Morphosis and Coop Himmelb[l]au. The museum, on the Michigan State University campus, will become the new location for the Broad art collection and will mark the northern entry point of the campus as the college’s most iconic building. I worked closely with the principal-in-charge to manifest the design ideas into physical form, and led a group of four designers.

The building design respects the site and campus history by providing a place of solace, a clearing in the woods, in recognition of a campus ground plane surrounded by wilderness. This project sets out to define a new sense of place by giving over the ground plane to gardens, art and community gathering and events spaces.

The building touches the ground in a minimal manner and reads as an extension of the sculpture garden. The site becomes a permeable space allowing accessibility through the building for students and visitors as the building forms hover above the tree canopies.

The building forms are influenced by the scientific principles of emergence, which recognizes the ability of individual cells to respond to stimuli and influence the behavior of the whole organism. Here, the relationship between the functional gallery boxes and celebratory public spaces becomes the agent of form, resulting in a new museum language that yields a seamless convergence between domains of art and community. It expresses the needs of artist and curator as fluently as the iconic presence of a cultural arts center for the community.

As of December 2007, the MSU board has not announced a competition winner.

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P E D E S T R I A N C O N N E C T I V I T Y

PLAZA

HISTORIC CAMPUS CENTER

CAMPUS

CAMPUS

ground level: public space and art receiving

fp01: admin level offices, study collection gallery

fp02: gallery level

roof plan: green roof and solar collecting skylights

CITY

V I S U A L C O N N E C T I V I T Y

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A R E A S

T O PA R K I N G DECK

CAMPUS TRANSIT BIKE RACKS

BUS DROP

V E H I C L E C I R C U L A T I O N + P A R K I N G -

S C H O O L C A M P U S S T O P

A E R I A L

B U S D R O P T R A N S I T

S I T E

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John Locke 2008

thank you.