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Architecture Portfolio

Luke Christensen

utopian retreat 1-8

innovation center 9-16

arthouse 17-24

visualization 25-32

utopian retreat The Utopian Retreat is a multi-family housing complex located along the Buffalo Bayou in Houston, Texas that contains both permanent and temporary living units of varying sizes. The project also contains other elements such as a cafe and outdoor amphitheater that serve to establish the project as not just apartment housing, but a destination along the bayou that would be attractive to Houston residents.The project included elements of master planning as a tool for taking the large site and dividing it in a way that would be conducive to integrating the housing with the more public elements of the program.Throughout the project there was a strong emphasis on creating architecture that did not seem alien to the current Buffalo Bayou development.

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The site was intially assesed for qualities that would inform design. Several qualities came to the forefront as important to the proposed development: - The ability to access the site by pedestrian bridge connecting it to other Buffalo Bayou amenities.

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The site was then divided into sections informed by the site analysis: An interior section that would maintain the majority of the mature trees on the site, while regulating the sloping terrain and turning it into a informal amphitheater.

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-The large grove of mature trees grouped towards the interior of the site.

The dividing spline of the housing units ; this section would comprise the majority of the program.

-The potential for visual connection to downtown Houston on the exterior edge of the site.

The exterior section that capitalizes on views of downtown with roof decks and seating for the cafe .

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East Elevation

The elevations above and below show the outer facing sections of the complex. There is an emphasis on capitalizing on views and creating a walkable space that balances percieved safety with openness. This is important in creating a place that not only serves as housing but also is activated as an interactive community space.

Upper Floor Plans

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South Elevation

Program List 1 Check in area 2 Reading/ Computer Lab 3 Lounge 4 Seminar rooms 5 Theater 6 Cafe 7 Mech/ Fire stairs 8 Secretarial 9 Managers Office 10 Facility Managers Office 11 Financial Office 12 Restrooms 13 Existing Museum 14 Outdoor Pavilion

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The image to the left shows a shaded roof deck that is an example of the unique recreational areas positioned throughout the spline of mixed housing. These areas strive to take advantage of the unique opporutnities the project site presents- in this case breathtaking views of downtown Houston and the Buffalo Bayou. The section below shows several of these zones as well as the fragmentation and perforation of the typical apartment double loaded corridor.

South Section

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innovation center The design for the University of Houston Third Ward Innovation Center began with several important goals . The project sought to connect with the community through visibility to the street; it was designed with the pedestrian in mind as the buildings most important visitor, as the rate of car ownership in the Third Ward is low. The building design seeks to encourage interaction and cooperation between the various parts of the programusing the University of Houston College of Architecture as a precedent. The design connects to its surroundings through the use of modest materials such as the local brick common to the Third Ward, adhereing to the strict budget while avoiding the potential of the building to be seen as extravagant and alien to the Third Ward.

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Emancipation

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Site Planning The building footprint was initially pushed to the back of the site with parking out front in traditional “strip mall” format. This was amended early in the design process by pushing the building to the street, creating a more visible project that would foster more community interaction.

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Truxillo

Towards Emancipation Park

True North Site Plan

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Program Public Spaces Cafe ~700 sf Entry/ Reception 500 sf Lobby 500 sf Total: 1700 sf Semi-Private Spaces Break Room 150 sf Classrooms 700 sf Elevator 50 sf Kitchenette 150 sf Lounge 150 sf Resource/ Library 200 sf Studio Space ~1200 sf Total: 2600 sf Private Spaces Copy/ Print Room 150 sf Mechanical Rooms 300 sf Restrooms 600 sf Staff Offices 300 sf Staff Work Stations 280 sf Storage Rooms 200 sf Trash/ Recycle 50 sf Total: 1880 sf

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Net Total: 6,180 sf

Emancipation Ave.

First Floor Plan 14

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The detailed assembly sections to the left were drawn as part of the comprehensive design portion of this project. They were for many students the first real opportunity to bridge the gap between the theoretical and the practical. The section includes structural integration of wide flanges, concrete filled metal decking, window mullion integration, drop ceilings, insulation placement, HVAC, an attempt at a custom skylight, and exterior and interior finishes.

The drawings below were made to help visualize the construction process, and are individually as follows: 1 Existing Site 2 Concrete foundation laid 3 Steel structural system in place 4 Metal studs and decking applied 5 Insulation panels and some finishes 6 Finished construction

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arthouse Arthouse is a mobile pavilion intended to be used by the MFAH as a space to conduct interviews with Houston community members.

Arthouse aims to re-establish a connection between the arts and the everyday people that view it. This is especially important for the MFAH’s goals as the interviews conducted will focus on how the museum can better represent the community.

When it then came to visually translating that idea into the design of the story booth pavilion, the imagery of the shotgun house, a building typology important to Houston’s historic residential roots, seemed fitting. An inflatable structure that seemed to “explode” outwards from the simple gabled roof of the shotgun house was then added both to visually connect the pavilion to the arts, but also to serve as a visual reminder of how Houston has exploded outwards in terms of population and diversity from its aforementioned historic roots.

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Conceptual Design The project began with the idea of the inflatable as a method of quick pavilion setup- in the vein of the traditional bounce castle- and quickly absorbed the traditional form of the shotgun house as a means to connect to the historic Houston vernacular.

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Concepts 1 The original inflatable concept- aluminum framework that holds in and shapes the inflatable, with panels of an undecided material modulating lighting.

2 The introduction of the rowhouse, adding a sense of specific place to an otherwise alien construction.

3 Research into inflatables revealed that the one sided balloon (concepts 1 & 2) is harder to maintain air pressure inside of. The two sided balloon is much more realistic.

4 The mandatory outlier- a push in an entirely different direction intended to test different possibilites before settling on one. In this case the pavilion became a split rowhouse, with the inflatable spilling outwards like a cut tube of paint. The idea was eventually discarded because of the loss of the sense of linearity inherent to the rowhouse, and the fact that the inflatable overpowers the design.

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Final Design The final design retains many elements from the conceptual design phase, but also responds to the needs and desires of the client, the MFAH. The clients wanted a quickly transportable unit that responds to the community and offers a space that would be seen as inviting and welcoming. The actual interview considerations were important as well - the seating areas were designed with water bladders and the blower unit was removed far from the potential interview zones. The inflatable material is inherently sound absorptive as opposed to a material such as concrete that creates echoes.

1 Traditional rowhouse form 2 Abstraction of form 3 Addition of inflatable element 4 Interview spaces 5 Planar elements (Undecided wood) 6 Inflatable elements (PVC and nylon)

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Gallery and Prototyping After a mid-semester meeting with the MFAH clients, four projects were assigned teams with which to continue larger scale prototyping for the final exhibition. The prototyping for Arthouse was a long an arduous process due to the nature of learning the ins and outs of the inflatable creation industry. For the prototype, the planar elements were created of inflatables as well, and the clients were able to see the pros and cons of the construction type. The exhibit was an interesting experience in terms of client interaction, and the prototyping gave a real insight into how the designs of architects are actually carried into the real world. The exhibition was also a success for me and my team as the clients selected the project as the best of show to be built by the MFAH. 1 The clients (including curators Caroline Goesser and Cindi Strauss) examining the prototype.

2 View through the prototype during the exhibition 3 Micro-3D prints showing various ways the pavilion could be transformed.

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visualization This section is dedicated primarily to a project called Transient, which was a project for a class during which students were instructed on the basics of game creation through the Unreal Editor, a freeware video game engine currently used to create many AAA games, as well as being used heavily for architectural visualization.

Throughout the project students were encouraged to learn not only graphic techniques to create immersiveness in a presentation, but also audio techniques as well as the inclusion of basic programming to add interactivity to levels. The section also contains several hand sketches in addition as another useful tool in terms of developing projects through the conceptual design phase.

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Concept Art The design of the game began, as many architecture and gaming projects do, with concept art. This phase was intended to develop a unique look and feel for the game world.

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Environmental Control One of the most interesting aspects of the Unreal Engine functionality is that it can give architects something hard to achieve through traditional rendering programs- full control of the environment. The images below and to the left show the ability of the engine to render immersive worlds that can run in real time on a reasonable amount of computing power.

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Fan is set to spin continuously on gameplay start.

Speed can be easily adjusted and a trigger can be added for on/off functionality.

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Blueprinting for Interactivity Blueprints is a Visual Programming Language that the Unreal Editor uses and that can be used to create interactivity in levels. Below are a few examples that were used for the game, and can also be applied to architectural project walkthroughs.

Allows for triggering of specific audio tracks at specific parts of the game level.

Enables input when player is near door and displays button used to open door.

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