Selected Works 2020 | Martin Smith | UMN Architecture

MARTIN SMITH SELECTED WORKS 2

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A rule-based drawing, created with graphite and stencil for fall 2018 studio, aggregates a single unit until a new, branching-out pattern emerges.

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plymouth innovation center A STEM education and learning center inspired by biological processes

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diagenesis pavilion Speeding up a geological time horizon with phase-scaled construction

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pandemic awareness of rituals COVID-19 trace mapping leads to questions about rituals and their adaptations

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the solar grotto A narrative-driven biophilic experience for a public facing flexible workplace

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montessori school - puerto rico A climate resilient school for children with autism and disabilities

smi00680@umn.edu

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703-999-5807

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linkedin.com/in/martin88smith

plymouth innovation center Our 2020 spring semester was split into two sections. The first part, led by Richard Graves, provided an introduction to the site and neighborhood of North Plymouth, Minneapolis. We met our "client" at the site, a developer who is planning to build a clean energy job training center and STEM educational facility. Our second studio, which focused on detailing out a section chunk of our building, was led by Victor Pechaty. As this second studio was completely online due to COVID-19, a shift to an entirely digital mode of working had to take place; this awareness was woven into the concept of my project, discussed on page 8.

This project takes advantage of the site’s unique location that is centrally positioned among 5 parks all within a ½ mile radius. Curved paths branch out of the site and connect the communty to the surrounding parks.

These could also serve as biodiversity corridors for urban animals and pollinators if native plant species were planted along the routes. At the building concept level, when the winding path cuts through the site, it morphs into the two massings - growing upward and integrating with the envelopes as well as the program.

The path is seen more like an organism here, which causes mutations in the static buildings. The urban rewilding center on the 4th floor could also be seen as an urban nature center, which would take on volunteers to maintain the paths and parks and provide educational programs for kids and community members.

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A STEM education and learning center inspired by biological processes

Exploded neighborhood terrarium showing biodiversity pathways connecting to nearby parks

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Earth science related STEM learning

Urban re-wilding center & public events

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STEM education programs

Green business office space

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Energy /tech training labs

Instructor office space

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Energy /tech entry & training labs

Public space

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This unfolded diagram acknowledges the project's meta narrative: switching from our Term A in-person studio to an entirely online, digital studio during COVID-19 ties in with the theme of an unknown, biological entity "taking over" something static. The massings were created via physical concept modeling in Term A, but the biomorphic shape was derived from digital methods throughout both studios. So, in Term B, the biomorphic form alters the envelopes of the massings, enabling growth conditions to occur and spread out.

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1. clay enriched prefab concrete slabs (thickness varies) 2. polycarbonate panels filled with Aerogel 3. sprayfoam insulation (painted white) 4. custom steel trusses (framing into u-shaped girder in wall) 5. 3" dyed GFRC panels 6. aluminum tube and fireproofing for trusses (finished with plaster) 7. curved GFRC interior panels (thickness varies from 1" to 8")

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An experiental render showing how the urban re-wilding center space might appear with daylight pouring through the ribs of its structure.

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corrugated steel deck gypsum board steel roof joists steel truss system supports cantilever 1" insulated glazing unit 1'-0" batt insulation 3" dyed GFRC panels 4" batt insulation 6" fiberboard insulation steel outriggers and channel attached to columns and truss system galvanized steel cladding

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diagenesis pavilion We kicked off Victor Pechaty's Fall 2019 studio with a 4-week pavilion project; after studying precedents of our choosing from the Serpentine Galleries and MoMa PS1 winners, we were asked to create our own siteless pavilion based on a generative idea.

My project's geological theme perhaps began early-on when I was building rough study models with clay and cardboard, which were very landscape focused. Simultaneously, I worked on a script in Rhino's visual programming tool, Grasshopper, which involves an "attractor" (a curve geometry in this case) which pulls shapes towards it, gradually morphing them as the "force" (a multiplier) becomes larger. A confluence of ideas occured when the earthy physical modeling of "soil walls" met with the computational morphing of "digital walls." Realizing that the primary driver of this pavilion would be a hidden force underground that causes a field of walls to mutate over time, I did some additional research into geological processes and found that suffosion (the scientific term for sinkhole formation) can slowly cause sand and clay-rich soils to cave in. The process of diagenesis, which refers to sediment gradually hardening as mineral crystals cement grains together, explains why the walls become sediment-rich and thicker towards the center of the sinkhole. The pavilion gradually reveals these geological processes at play through 3 phases of construction.

Speeding up a geological time horizon with phase-scaled construction

Construction Ph

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Void underground excavated Lightweight concrete walls cast-in-place Skylight devices placed in hollow "dummy" walls

Center-lying walls partially lowered into void below Walls sculpted to relfect forces from sinkhole Center-lying walls treated with sand + shotcrete mixture

Clay-enriched sh added to centerm Centermost walls bottom of sinkho Two portals w/ ra created, revealin

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hase 1

ctive: 6 months

hotcrete most walls s sunken to ole amps ng sinkhole

Construction Phase 2 Active: 1 year

Construction Phase 3 Active: 5+ years

Phase 3 of construction, the final phase, sinks the inner most walls and opens up portals (fissures), revealing the sinkhole and allowing users to descend below.

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Phase 1

Phase 2

Phase 3

Void formation begins underground

Soil and walls washing into cave

Cave creates fissures and "soil walls"

sandy soil

clay-rich soil

limestone

w-flange columns hidden in larger walls

steel tube framing "roof" structure

concrete foundation walls & monolithic slabs

100 years*

500 years*

2500 years*

12,500 years* *Estimated geological time

pandemic awareness of rituals The spring semester of 2020 was a fascinating time to be studying architecture (and have a prior degree in anthropology). What really turned the dial up on thoughts about global behavior changes, and provided the spatial underpinning to these thoughts, was the elective course titled "Architecting Anthropoveillance," taught by visiting Columbia professor Vahan Misakyan. Our objective for the semester was to take what we were learning from assigned readings on media theory, agency, mapping, and territory, and apply it towards the creation of a map (topics varied per student). This map inspired more questions and additional drawings.

I based my cartesian "trace mapping" (pinpointing locations and tracing the steps of a COVID-19 infected person) from an L.A. Times article that reported the journey of an aerospace consultant from D.C. who unknowingly picked up the virus in the beginning of March. A bit of forensic analysis on my part enabled me to fill in the blanks for locations, however, some routes and modes of transport are speculative. Tweets, which were geolocated using the "Mosquito" plugin for Rhino3D and Grasshopper, are overlayed on top of these maps, which shows how daily rituals adapted just weeks into quarantine. The handshake, society's ritual for greeting, framing the self, and deal-making is called into question, due to virus transmissibility. This sparked deeper questions about a ritual embedded within this very portfolio, perhaps analogous to the handshake.

COVID-19 trace mapping leads to questions about rituals and their adaptations

1" = 1,500'

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How do rituals adapt to different spatial conditions?

How would we analyze these adaptations?

Is a handshake a ritual of greeting, or a threshold marker?

How do rituals of entry and framing allow one access into deeper levels of a space's character?

the solar grotto Fall 2019 studio, led by Victor Pechaty, was tasked with designing a flexible office space for a site located in the Warehouse District of Minneapolis, MN. Working off the idea that "form-accommodates-function," students were given freedom to explore generative design ideas based on site analysis or a conceptual agenda. The only major requirement was 70K sqft allotted to office space program.

Curiosities from the beginning of the semester (see the "Diagenesis Pavilion") stuck with me when giving this building a geologically-derived name; however, the first generative idea I explored was actually related to the constrained mixing of pedestrians that occurs inside the skyway system downtown. This led me to the idea of creating a "public courtyard" which occurs on the 3rd floor (approximately the same elevation as the skyway across the street). Daylight factor analyses in Ladybug helped me study various skylight configurations for getting daylight down into the "courtyard," which led to a synthesis of ideas: an illuminated biophilic atrium could serve as the primary "mixing device," with the top level acting as it's final destination (a greenhouse). The geometry of the "solar cloak" (black BIPV modules), perhaps aiding in the hiddendiscoveries-lie-within factor, was created with an algorithm that optimizes a roof for maximum solar gain.

A narrative-driven biophilic experience for a public facing flexible workplace

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Urban greenhouse 7

Large office Steel frame roof, skylight + Solaxess solar panels (Building Integrated PV)

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Large office 5

PT cast-in-place concrete floor slabs

Coffee shop, lounge Small office 4

Large office 3

High performance insulating glazing + R-30 walls

Restaurant + courtyard Small office 2

Gym + fitness (2nd level) 1

PT concrete one-way slab and beam frame 0

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Retail and public space Gym + fitness

Basement for HVAC + mechanical

Minneapolis Solar Potential Map

circle sizes and colors associated with rooftop square footage (energy production data taken from NREL's "PVWatts Calculator")

U.S. Bank Stadium - 557,400 sqft 10,602,000 kWh/year ($925,000/year)

Convention Center - 770,000 sqft 14,530,000 kWh/year ($1,268,000/year)

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The generative solar form-finding Grasshopper script shown above was used to find the most optimal roof pitch for energy production. Because the script deconstructs the roof based on 6 verticies, the end result takes on the form of a quad-pitch triangular roof.

montessori school - puerto rico Our Spring 2018 studio, led by Jacob Mans, focused on a real-world adaptive reuse project in Aguadilla, Puerto Rico. We visited the site during spring break, where we were able to take measurements of the existing building, perform a site analysis, and meet our "client" - Soammy Acevedo, founder of the Fundacion Superheroes non-profit. After interviewing her in person and asking programmatic questions, we took on the task of designing a 5-classroom montessori school for children with autism and special needs.

The studio was split into two groups; I was part of the building group, working alongside James Goman, Whitney Zeibel, and Kaitlin DeAngelis (the other group focused on landscape). As the subject of this studio was climate resilience, our team decided to take a multi-purpose approach that not only tied together program, but also sustainable design strategies. We decided that the design proposal should incoporate plenty of flexible space and should leave ample room for future growth. These guidelines, formed early on, inherently forced us to work together as a team to accomplish a system of design moves that are well connected to each other and form a coherent circulation. Sustainability strategies sometimes took the lead, such as when creating an open-air lobby for passive ventilation. They also fell into place; rainwater catchment on the 2nd floor overhang could provide a graywater system for the outdoor classroom garden nooks as well as the bathrooms placed directly beneath them. My role on this project was designing the front elevation outdoor hallway shutter system, which integrates into the planters and provides shading and privacy when needed.

All of the graphics shown here were created by me, however, the majority of the physical model was built by my very talented team members.

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A climate resilient school for children with autism and disabilities

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1. solar panel array + battery storage 2. graywater system for gardens and bathrooms 3. passive ventilation (see analysis to right) 4. integrated shutter system for shaded walkways

admin / lobby

classrooms

therapies

bathrooms

cafeteria

maintenance

54 Annual Wind Study

Ground Floor

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2nd Floor

Universal Thermal Climate Index

Ground Floor

Fâ ° <68

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2nd Floor

Parent Waiting Area / Public Space W.C. / Shower W.C. Classroom

Cafeteria

Future Classroom Add-on

Outdoor Learning

Flex Space / Gathering

Facility Maintenance Office

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Classroom

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cast-in-place concrete banister precast concrete pavers post-tensioned concrete roof slab reclaimed wood dropped ceiling operable wood composite louvers steel rod core allows vertical pivoting reclaimed wood siding cast-in-place concrete planter gravel for drainage