END360 Portfolio

END 360 Portfolio

By Matt Tullo University at Buffalo School of Architecture and Planning

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Introduction: A Summarization of END360 Hello my name is Matt Tullo, I am a second year Environmental Design student with a minor in architecture. I was born and raised in Long Island, New York and attend the University at Buffalo.

The course “END360: Graphic Communications” is a majors-only studio workshop for University at Buffalo students. This class was a hybrid course, with Monday lectures being in person and Friday’s a zoom/in-person mixture. This class is for students who are aiming for a Bachelor of Arts in Environmental Design degree. The studio workshop was designed to introduce how to explore visual literacy to better understand the built environment.

The professor and teaching team provided a class with assignments/projects that honed skills by introducing urban planning and design concepts through readings and handson exercises. The class was set up to have students focus on honing their skills in various programs from the Adobe Creative suite and other 3D programs. For students who took END350, this class was similar and built upon the skills developed in that class.

As previously mentioned, this class was a studio workshop format. Part of the class was lecture-based material during parts of the class, but other portions of the class were reserved for either peer review or assignments.

Many times throughout the semester, students were required to meet certain deadlines for parts of assignments and bring the work for discussion with the teaching team. There is also a chance for peer review, for other students to comment and ask questions about other students’ work. The weekly schedule of classes on Mondays and Fridays allows for research and analyzing data/information for each assignment’s discussion. By the end of the semester, the goal is for students to create well-made work for each assignment.

These assignments range from perspective-based drawings to information and data-based graphics, maps, and street renovations.

The final assignment is a portfolio that culminates all the major works that were assigned during the course timeline. This portfolio is a chance for students to correct their past work while using the skills they acquired throughout the year to create a well-made compilation of their work for the semester.

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Table of Contents Abstract Pattern Poster- page 4 Observation Diagrams- page 6 Information Graphics- page 9 Site Mapping- page 12 Intro to Spatial Design: Case Study- page 14 Neighborhood Walk Street Design- page 16

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Abstract Pattern Poster-Completed Spring Semester 2022

This project was a 24x30 inch poster that combined multiple weeks of work into one assignment. The assignment required us to have 4 main components, a text description of the design process, two 2D drawings, and one 3D drawing. The two components of this assignment I chose for this portfolio were the 2D color drawing and 3D Isometric view. The programs used for these components were Adobe Illustrator and SketchUp 3D. The 2D drawing takes inspiration from the targeting computer scene from Star Wars: A New Hope. I liked the design so I made slight alterations to it and placed the design four separate times with each section’s space connecting to the others.

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For the 3D isometric drawing, I chose to design the model in the shape of a pyramid for a couple of reasons. When I looked at the 2D model, one of the shapes that came to mind was a pyramid shape due to the perspective. From a certain point of view, one would say the 2D model is the top-down view of multiple pyramids.

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Observation Diagrams-Completed Spring Semester 2022

For this assignment, we were tasked with choosing a site to study that was easily accessible to us. The site I chose was the Northtown Center at Amherst, which is located across from the University at Buffalo’s Center for the Arts and Footballs Stadium. For the assignment, we had to create three diagrams. Each of these diagrams was supposed to highlight key features we noticed around the site.

The first one was a hand-drawn sketch that was supposed to extract certain key features of our site.

During my time on the site, I felt it necessary to sketch out maps before and after the construction at the site began. In this sketch, I marked key features like the old baseball fields, the skatepark, the Northtown Center, and parking lots.

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The second diagram was an on-site picture that was to be manipulated in Adobe Photoshop. This diagram was to highlight one specific key feature we noticed on the site. For me, this was the beautiful graffiti design that was on the side of the skatepark. I felt like this feature was different from the rest of the site and was something worth highlighting.

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The third diagram was a digital diagram in Adobe Illustrator to highlight another key observation. For the Northtown center, I chose to highlight access points and quickest routes for the key modes of transportation used on the site. I highlighted key sidewalk paths for pedestrians and all roads that led into the site for automobiles.

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Information Graphics-Completed Spring Semester 2022

For this assignment, our goal was to take information about our sites from the previous assignment and communicate them through infographics. These infographics had different styles and content, ranging from graphs to posters, and demographics to occupancy schedules.

For the first set of graphics, I created infographics based on the racial demographics and occupancy of the site. The racial demographics were within a half-mile radius, and I chose this for an infographic as I felt it is always important to understand the population’s diversity. For the second infograhpic shown on the page I looked at the estimated occupancy of the facility through all hours of the day. This was one of the choices for the assignment and I felt this was easier to identify.

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These next graphics were the same process as the previous graphics. I decided to create a schedule of how the occupancy of the site fluctuates to show how it changes for each type of occupant. I divided it into three categories based on who was most likely to be on the property of using the site itself I also created a graph on the age demographics because this type of site would definitely be affected by the average age of the residents in the area.

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The final graphic for this assignment was similar to a poster or page on a website about the site. The graphic compiled information and visuals related to the site to highlight key information about the site that someone unfamiliar with the site should know. My graphic highlighted key aspects of the site, referring to its multiple ice rinks, skatepark, and baseball fields located on the property.

The Northtown Center at Amherst About The Northtown Center at Amherst is Western New York's feature multipurpose sports facility located in Amherst, New York.

The facility includes three NHL regulation ice pads (200" x 85'), one Olympic size ice pad (200' x 100'), a full service pro shop, restaurant and sports training facility. The rink facility allows for multiple uses of its ice sheets. Ice hockey, figure skating, speed skating, public skates, and even the option to convert a rink for roller hockey use are some of the options available in the facility.

There are a variety of teams that play at the facility, including all of UB’s men’s and women’s club hockey programs as well professional women’s hockey for the PHF league.

On the property there is also a skate park located near the Millersport Highway entrance. The skate park is a popular location for younger residents and for students from UB. There are also baseball fields located next to the Northtown Center but they are currently being renovated. There is also the addition of a new structure to go along with the new fields.

Contact Info & Address The Northtown Center at Amherst 1615 Amherst Manor Drive Williamsville, New York 14221 Phone (716) 631-7555

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Site Mapping-Completed Spring Semester 2022

This next assignment had a very simple objective. Once again using our selected site from the previous two assignments, the class was instructed to make detailed maps of the site in 2D and 3D. The 3 maps were each a different type, each with a different goal in mind. This was another assignment using a combination of Illustrator and Sketchup. For this assignment, I selected my best two maps to represent this assignment. The first map I chose was the building footprint map from this assignment. My goal for this map was to show the relationship between the amount of space used by green space and recreation compared to that of the space used by structures. Besides the Northtown center, the main attraction of the site, I marked both residential and commercial buildings within a half-mile radius of the facility.

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For the 3D isometric map took the 2D building footprint map from the previous page and translated it into 3D. The goal of this map was to distinguish certain key features shown from the 2D map.

The 3D isometric map would also serve the purpose of distinguishing building size between the different building types

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Intro to Spatial Design: Case Study-Completed Spring Semester 2022

This assignment was to create a case study poster on a whole new site. The class had to pick a “great street” and research the context of said street. We were required to take that research and create graphics that communicated a narrative of the street and what makes it a great street. This assignment was one of the first to begin asking for a culmination of the types of graphics we had been practicing with during the semester. One of the keys was to make sure the graphics could stand out without text supporting it.

The street I chose was Skillman and 43rd Avenue, a street that recently got a renovation to add safety features for cyclists. One of the main graphics from my poster is the one below, a map of the two streets along with surrounding neighborhoods and attractions.

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This next graphic was a layout of the newly designed street. The renovation made drastic changes to the street, providing better safety for cyclists and pedestrians and reducing accidents. As you can see both bike lanes are located on one side, with a 3-foot buffer zone from the parking lane. The buffer zone is also a safe location for pedestrians when they are attempting to cross the street

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Neighborhood Walk Street Design- Completed Spring Semester 2022 For this last assignment for the semester, another poster was required but this time we were not researching a great street but a flawed one. The goal of this project was to identify and study a neighborhood with a flawed street design. Over the course of weeks, we were to develop a problem statement, as well as a solution to correct the flaws of the street. We had to make arguments for why our suggestions for possible solutions were realistic and plausible for that community as well. This graphic below was a reference map used to understand the layout of the surrounding neighborhood for the street I selected.

Said street, was Bailey Avenue in Buffalo, New York. The specific section was from Winspear to Shirley Avenue.

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The next main graphic from the poster was a cut out from the reference map. For this graphic the problem statement of the project is labeled next to the map. This cut-out focused on the main area where the flaws of the street were prominent. In this graphic, I made specific callouts to each problem and provided a solution to go along with the solutions in the graphics on the next page.

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The final graphics from this assignment were the current street layout and my idea for a possible renovation of the street itself. If you are wondering why the current street layout is so empty and simplistic, that is because it is. Bailey Avenue was an automobile-oriented street with limited accessibility and safety for alternate modes of transport. My idea for a possible renovation allows for better traffic organization, safety and accessibility for alternate modes of transport, and better road quality.

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