Morocco M Branting - Portfolio | Selected Works 2018-2023

m arch candidate

selected works 2018-2023 as above, so below 2023, digital, 6d mk ii

WORK EXPERIENCE Researcher

Turner Construction

OCTOBER 2023 -

Founder

Branting Design JUNE 2021 -

Designer

Morocco M Branting

MBB Architecture JAN 2019 - JAN 23

PR Chairman

Phi Kappa Tau

@branting.design @morocco.branting www

branting.design branting.design@gmail.com morocco.branting@gmail.com

JAN 2018 - JUN 19

3D Modeler Frank Lloyd Wright Building Conservancy

Master of Architecture Candidate

University of Washington BA, Architectural Design

LEED - Building Design + Construction Rhino, AutoCAD, Revit

MBB is a small architecture firm where I worked for four years after undergrad. My roles included construction administration, AutoCAD & Revit production, feasibility studies, code analysis, programming, and sustainability studies. I also provided business card, website, and holiday card design.

Responsibilities included producing graphics, logos, flyers, posters and newsletters representing the chapter or its events; managing social media accounts; web design.

In conjunction with the University of Washington and the Frank Lloyd Wright Building Conservancy, I developed a high fidelity, “digital twin” of Wright’s Tracy House, in Normandy Park, WA.

EDUCATION University of Washington

Woodworking + Furniture Design

After several years of work in architecture, I ventured into woodworking by founding my own design and production studio. Bran.d delivers bespoke, functional furnishings and art pieces with minimal damage to the wallet or environment.

JUN 2017 - JUN 21

3200 E Union, APT # 301 Seattle, WA, 98122

CONTACT

During the 2023-24 academic term, I secured a research fellowship with UW’s Applied Research Consortium. Working with UW and Turner Construction, I am studying the potential application of prefabrication and assembly techniques from other industries to non-standard concrete formwork.

SEPT 2015 - JUN 2019 MAGNA CUM LAUDE

USGBC APRIL 2021

Applied Research Consortium Fellow 2023-24 Neighborhood Design/Build Studio SP 23 Co-founder, Fil-Am sa CBE [Filipino affinity group]

UW Faculty Award for Scholarship + Leadership Tau Sigma Delta Honors Member UW Undergraduate Research Symposium Dean’s List AU 15 - SP 19 Neighborhood Design/Build Studio SP 18 Architecture in Rome 2017 LEED AP BD+C credential, earned through independent interest in sustainable building technologies and processes.

Project Photography Illustration Social Media Management

SPECIALTIES

REFERENCE Robert Pena Associate Professor University of Washington ARCH 300 + ARCH 431 + ARCHITECTURE IN ROME 2017 + ARCH 531

I have worked with Professor Peña consistently throughout my architectural education. He knows my strengths and weaknesses and will give an honest evaluation of how I developed at the University and how I have grown since then.

Email: rbpena@uw.edu

Office: 206.543.7274

WORLD CULTURAL KITCHEN

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INTRODUCTION TO HOSTING 12 L1: Calling All Disc Jockeys L2: Eco-conscious Entertaining

RAINIER VALLEY FOOD COOPERATIVE 22 RANIER BEACH TERRACE 38 UNDER [HYDROSTATIC] PRESSURE 48 LENS & INK 37 STATEMENT 45

WORLD CULTURAL KITCHEN NEIGHBORHOOD DESIGN BUILD STUDIO 2023

Arch 505 | Spring 2023 | UW Farm, Seattle, WA Neighborhood Design Build Studio (NDBS) is a handson construction studio led by Howard S. Wright Endowed Professor Steve Badanes of Jersey Devil. The studio continues to build upon decades of community service and participatory design with each sucessive cohort responding to a different local community in need of physical space but lacking in funding. Students work with community leaders to interpret their needs into designed forms during an intensive 3-week design process. When the design is substantially resolved, students switch into fabrication mode to produce the entire project in the remaining 7 weeks of the quarter. Further design decisions are made on-the-fly during construction. NDBS is a collaborative effort between a mix of senior undergraduate students and graduate students in addition to several building professionals outside of the professors, who assist in educating students about construction work.

figure: Photograph of the final installation during a follow-up visit four months after completion. After a summer of extensive use, the structure remains in excellent condition with no vandalism, weather damage, or other failures.

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WORLD CULTURAL KITCHEN | 5

The 2023 Neighborhood Design Built Studio developed an outdoor kitchen and gathering space for use by UW farm and their major stakeholders, including a group of tribal elders that manage a plot on the farm to grow the three sisters (corn, beans, and squash). Our site was a large clearing on the Western edge of UW Farm's property, land which was home to fishing grounds and a small village before colonization. We began by informing ourselves about some of the orientational and spiritual concepts rooted within the local indigenous cultures, such as the importance of the number 7. It is a sacred number representing the seven directions of orientation (the four cardinal directions, up to father sky, down to mother earth, and inward toward the self). The circle is an important geometry, symbolizing wholeness, interconnectedness, and the cycle of life and death amongst many other meanings. In response to this information, the design was realized as a circle subdivided into 7 modules.

Each module is articulated differently: three are roofed, two are open trellises, and two are completely open. We had an ongoing debate about which way the two-module opening should face - East, to greet the rising sun (an important direction for entry) or West, to open up to the larger field condition and people arriving to the site.

Balancing meaning and function we opted for the Western opening, which would allow gatherings in and around the project to expand into the field.

figures: a. Photograph from within the structure after site work was completed, highlighting the play of light and shadow through the roof purlins, trusses, and slatted sheer panels. All columns are anchored to concrete footings sized to counteract wind loads in addition to live loads and are concealed below the 1/4" minus gravel. b. Photograph documenting the final structure from the exterior center of the project, taken during follow-up visit 4 months after completion. c. Rendering of the structure for the client presentation at the end of week 3. This image can be compared with figure a, which is taken from a similar vantage point. While some materials changed such as for the columns, the overall design did not shift much from the initial concept design from early in the quarter. The truss web changed configuration in response to structural and material efficiency concerns shorter members allowed for the off-cuts from other pieces to be utilized productively instead of being thrown into the wastebin.

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a.

b.

c.

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All students held roles in design development, client and community presentation, and construction of the structure.

My specific roles included development of the panel details, assistance in building the structural model and the presentation models, drafting in Revit, framing, site work, and final photography of the installed structure.

Having prior experience in NDBS as an undergraduate and construction experience from furniture making, I also helped oversee general progress and safety on site.

Professors Steve Badanes Jake LaBarre Damon Smith Miriam Gee Sean Eakman M. Arch Students David Alvarez Bedolla Pamela Aymar Austin Bass Morocco Branting Maddie Crane Marianne Fitzwilliam Emily Presspritch Kana Takagi B. Arch Students Ivan Cherniske Brandon Garza Ian Green Rahda Iyer Yessenia Islas Patrick Norton Caitlyn Truong

figures: a. Photograph of the project after the client installedd the wash sink which was not included in the scope of NDBS. b. Photograph after substantial completion conveying the experiential qualities inherent in a radiused column layout.

The roof slope draws eyes out and away from the structure, into the surrounding Union Bay Natural Area. c. Photograph of the completed structure.

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a. b.

c.

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a.

figures: a. Plan view of the site model. Sanded acrylic sheets were used to represent the transparent, corrogated roofing material. b. Aerial view of the site model illustrating the overall form and the relationship of full sun, partial sun, partial shade, and full shade within the structure. c. Lower aerial view from the exterior center of the structure, highlighting the structural panels. This view begins to speak to the design of the trusses, which are accurately modelled and laser cut. d. Image showing the play of light and shadows through the corrogated roofing material. e. Detail view of the wrapping countertops provided in one section of the structure. The counters were carefully constructed so that each 2x2 would align with the next one in series. Both metal and wood bracing was incorporated beneath the counters for support. f. Photograph depicting the structural connections between column, panel, truss, girder, and roof. g. Rendered perspective (by others) of the conceptual model, used for early client presentation.

b.

c.

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f. d.

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g.

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INTRODUCTION TO HOSTING: ELEVATING LIFESTYLE THROUGH ECONOMICAL DESIGN

Branting Design (bran.d) - Founder | Est. 2021 The spaces we inhabit define our experiences, but there is far more to cultivating the atmosphere of a place than architecture alone. The objects we stage inside the built environment alter its aesthetic, function, and atmosphere, tuning its qualities just as introducing new sounds resonate and alter the timbre of a symphony. By providing the right catalyst, in this case a set of curated furnishings, we can greatly effect the experiences and memories that transpire.

Lesson 1: Calling All Disc Jockeys Like architecture, music influences thought and emotion without a need for written language, crossing linguistic and cultural boundaries alike. Furthermore, it is not simply the presence of this space or of this music that generates vibrance; it is the appropriate implementation of this music that is paramount. Piping in signals from unknown sources to speakers far removed from view is to provide nothing more than white noise. To allow sound the freedom to resonate within space and shape human activity, we must display its source in splendor becoming of the music itself.

figures: a. Stereo rack and speaker stands in cherry, oak, and baltic birch. b. Detail shot of the speaker stand's tapering leg as it meets the top rail. The top rail is extended and made a prominent feature to keep any objects placed on top of the stand from falling off if bumped. c. Joinery detail of stereo rack showing pinned mortise & tenon and mitered plywood corners.

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Bran.d has a particular focus on pieces that display functional collections of audio and musical equipment. This stems from a personal interest in music, both as a listener and a life-long musician. Other project not photographed include synthesizer racks and housings, and custom musicproduction workstations.

a.

The pieces featured here and the previous spread are meant to be a cohesive set through their materiality, but were produced 5 years apart (the stereo rack in 2018, the speaker stands in 2023) and certain details are emphasized to show the growth in my craft over those years.

Both pieces utilize cherry lumber, baltic birch plywood, and oak dowel as their material pallettes, although the speaker stands also include black walnut splines.

These pieces were designed with home entertainment in mind, but were not purpose-built for only that use; adaptability is an important tenet of design longevity, and in this case the boxes flat surfaces can facilitate a number of uses or storage functions. For instance, a purpose-built speaker stand will angle each speaker to deliver sound at the targeted ear position, which differs if the listener is standing or seated. For these stands, we have made the top surface of the boxes level with a typical couch backrest height, which puts a speaker placed there at roughly ear height without sloping the plane of the box, which would shoehorn the design to only use as a speaker stand.

The stereo rack's shelves and boxes can also be removed and rearranged on the cherry frame for further configurability.

figures: a. Aerial photo of the stereo rack and speaker stands, providing a better sense of scale to one another. Either set of speakers could be removed to place objects, with the lower box being sized to fit records. b. Close-up joinery detail. The corners are lap jointed and pinned with oak dowels. The legs are also given a round over with a router to give them a more streamlined and contemporary look. c. The corners of these plywood boxes, which are structural, are given black walnut splines for additional strength at the miter. d. Side-profile of the speaker stands. showing tapered return on the lower legs.

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The piece featured in this spread was produced in 2021 as bran.d's first commission. This entertainment console features two open boxes, sized for standard audio equipment, and one closed box for general storage. The open boxes allow for cord connections and plugs while the closed box provides sheer strength to the design. The console measures 50”w x 16”d x 22”h, a flexible size that can suit other uses such as for a television.

The body of the unit is made from baltic birch plywood while the frame is jatoba. The jatoba is incredibly dense and heavy, giving the unit an impressive amount of weight and stability. Maple splines strengthen the miters in the jatoba frame, along with small lap-jointed braces. The frame is deconstructable into two end pieces and the bottom rails, making the piece easier to move dimensionally and weight wise. In the photographs, the piece is being used by the client to display part of their record collection and a fefw pieces of their audio equipment with an antique turntable as the showpiece.

a. c. figures: a. Elevation of the stereo console in jatoba, baltic birch, and maple, commissioned by family. designed in June 2021, produced in July 2021. b. Side-profile of the console, illustrating the deep shine inherent to jatoba when struck by sunlight. c. Three-quarter view of the console after completion and before delivery to the client. The piece is photographed in a natural environment to compliment the warm tones of its wooden construction. d. Elevation of the stereo console without equipment, showing the scale of the open boxes to the larger, closed volume. e. Detail of the mitered corner on the jatoba frame. A pair of maple splines provide strength to ensure the heavy unit is not damaged if moved.

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b. d.

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Lesson 2: Eco-conscious Entertaining The objects we create, regardless of scale, have deep environmental impacts tied to their production, use, and disposal. The "fast furniture" companies we utilize to decorate our homes provide good aesthetics for a low dollar cost, often in exchange for a high environmental costs and a lack of durability. With this project (any many others), bran.d sought to minimize the impact of this product through material reuse. We targeted some white melamine that was not only flagged for disposal at a landfill but also inherently high in embodied energy and sunk environmental costs, and used it as the top surface for our boomerang coffee table. The product is easy to clean and durable, if its exposed edges are protected. The remaining elements are cherry, with most of it coming from our internal off-cut pile which directly reduces the waste we produce.

The form of the table was driven by the client's wish for a mid-century-70's aesthetic, which informed the angles and rounded edges. We also shaped the boomerang legs to make for easier circulation around the table in comparison to a table with vertical legs at each corner; by pulling in the legs, the foot can sweep around the open space and the form is visually smaller than a corner leg table. The table meausures 42" l x 18" w x 18" h.

The piece is also fully disassembleable, celebrating a number of expressed hex-head machine screws which allow the table to be deconstructed, packed, and moved.

This made delivery to the client much easier than earlier works and is good practice to ensure the piece does not end up in a dumpster during a big move.

figure: Photograph highlighting the connection of the table top and the boomerang frame, which is intentinally designed with a reveal that makes the top appear to be floating. The beautiful grain of the cherry wood is also captured in this photograph.

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INTRODUCTION TO HOSTING | 19

a.

figures: a. Detail shot of the joint between the boomerang and the supports holding the tabletop. I selected a more expressive grain pattern for the top members of the boomerang, which is more likely to be seen when sitting or circulating around the table. b. Vignette of the table in use, featuring a book about the work of woodworker and designer Sam Maloof. c. View down the edge of the tabletop, displaying the withdrawn structure that creates the shadow line between table top and structure. d. Three-quarter view of the table with no objects placed on it. e. Angled side-profile of the table in situ. The grain glows from the sunlight coming in the window, bringing out some of the figuring.

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e.

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RAINIER VALLEY FOOD COOPERATIVE SOCIAL EQUITY THROUGH FOOD + EDUCATION

Arch 504 | Winter 2023 | Rainier Beach, Seattle, WA Rainier Valley Food Cooperative services the community's immediate need for food security and general wellness while also facilitating the achievement of long-term community development through education and other services. The core program of the building is the food bank, which has its public-facing functions located on the ground floor including a waiting area, reception area, market, and back-of-house area. The ground floor also includes a tool lending library. The second floor is focused on food education with a prominent vertical greenhouse at the street and a flexible event/education space connecting the greenhouse with the exterior learning terrace. The second floor also includes the office space to manage RVFC, a mushroom cultivation room, a seed library, and a place of respite. The third floor turns to food consumption, including a large culinary kitchen which doubles as a commercial kitchen to support any event occurring in the large, multi-use event space that overlooks the greenhouse and exterior terrace. The roof is also activated as a space for cultivation.

figure: Rainier Valley Food Cooperative, viewed from across South Director Street at dusk. As the sun fades for the day, the supplemental pink LED grow lights turn on, transforming the greenhouse into a neighborhood marker - the "pink" house.

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a.

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a.

b

c.

The Rainier Valley is the most diverse area of Seattle, and also one facing severe economic hardship as development pressure and rising real estate costs push inhabitants further south. Food insecurity is a major concern for these residents the few food-focused community centers in the region do not have the capacity to meet the demand. This project is sited within walking distance to several means of mass transit connecting Rainier Beach to greater Seattle, making it an effective location for a sizeable food bank.

Two community food production operations are already going in the area, which could integrate with the foodbank to provide additional fresh produce and educational opportunities. The different growing spaces integrated into the project will provide year-round staple crops in addition to seasonal veggies and berries grown in outdoor spaces.

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figures: a. Map illustrating the transit connections located with a 10-minute linear walking distance from the core intersection of Rainier and Henderson. Red line L1 represents the light rail while other numbers are bus lines.

Dots represent bus stops within walking distance. b. Inital concept section of the program stack and where different needs are addressed. c. Cultivation diagram of the proposed crops to be grown in each space. The staple foods and mushrooms are grown year-round in controlled environments while the seasonal crops and berries are grown outdoors during their typical growing seasons.

b.

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a. figures: a. Rendering of the feature stair which guides visitors up to the large, multi-use spaces and educational rooms on the upper floors. b. Ground floor plan, not to scale. The ground floor includes a covered outdoor waiting area which can be supplemented with heat during the winter. The cafestyle reception area offers warm beverages and snacks while patrons wait to be called for the food bank or while they do paperwork.The wating area is screened by perforated metal panels, obscuring anyone waiting for their turn in the food bank. c. Rendering of the waiting area.

c.

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b.

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figure: Site section bb, not to scale. This transverse section showcases several key programs and functions: a loading dock for large freight and personal vehicles; the warehouse backof-house space; feature stair; welcome area; staff offices; culinary kitchen; and roof garden. This section also speaks to the dynamic facade which is a carbon sequestering fabric product stretched into double curvature over tube steel fins and rails.

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RAINIER VALLEY FOOD COOPERATIVE | 29

a.

c.

section aa - not to scale

b.

Being a provider to vulnerable communities, the public-facing spaces of the food bank (figure b) combine clean and dignifed design aesthetics with the warmth and familiarity of wood, experessed in structural round timber columns, glulam beams, and CLT slabs. The market also showcases a large fishtank which is connected to the aquaponic growth systems on the upper floors.

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The second floor is dominated by food production and education with a vertical, aquaponic farm located in a polycarbonate wrapped jewelbox at the street. Not only does this space produce food for the market year-round, but it showcases urban farming to the community at large and provides offshoot educational spaces to teach people about plant care and other, low-tech urban farming techniques.

The third floor contains the larg adjacent the large culinary kitc have food education program but is also open for use by loc community groups. Large, slidin can be opened, connecting the vertical greenhouse, bringing the and nature into the space.

gest multi-use space, chen. This space will ms hosted by RVFC, cal schools and other ng glass wall panels e event space to the e smell of fresh plants

The project also seeks to educate users about aquaponic systems, an organic growing method that incorporates fish into the food production cycle.

Utilizing the large amount of catchment surfaces in the project, RVFC captures 100% of the rainwater necessary to operate the hydroponic system and roughly 67% of the power required.

figures: a. Rendering of the event space on the third floor. b. The market is set up like a typical compact grocery store. A large fish tank at the rear of the space contains fish for the aquaponic system which are harvested yearly. c. Longitudinal Section perspective illustrating the spatial relationship between the greenhouse and other areas.

The height of windows into the market can be seen, which are purposefully above eye level to protect the privacy of food bank users.

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The structure celebrates mass timber construction as a sustainable and regional material of the Pacific Northwest, exposing the CLT slabs, glulam beams, and structural round timber columns. The heavy timber expression also ties into traditional methods of building such as the longhouses of the indigenous tribes of the Pacific Northwest. Wood and other natural products are utilized at all doors and railings to provide familiar tactile experiences at the human scale. The building's ground floor facade is also a series of wooden slats composed of different dimensional lumber pieces oriented 90 degrees from one another. The building's upper facade is composed of an array of fabric sails, held in double curvature by metal fins protruding from vertical support trusses anchored to the primary structure.

Depending on the location, polycarbonate or insulated glass units are held with "spider" connectors on the interior side of the trusses which create the thermal barrier of the building's envelope.

figures: a. Structural diagram utilizing photographs of the structural model which depicts all elements to scale. At this size, the facade screen was not possible to model, but the stretched fabric abstracts the idea sufficiently well. b. Rendering of the place of respite, for use by workers and vistors alike. This intimate space features a handful of soft outdoor furniture and a wide variety of plants. c. View of the education terrace which is meant to be used for gathering and teaching planting classes. Dedicated individuals can use the built in planters to produce crops for themselves and the food bank.

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a.

b.

c.

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a.

Model Photographs

figures: a. Pantyhose fabric represents the fabric mesh facade in this 1/16" scale model. Sunlight filters through, representing afternoon light. b. Plan view of model in sunlight showing shadows cast on summer mornings. The facade screen and greenhouse project out to the lot line, overhanging the ground floor by roughly five feet. c. View of the reception breezeway between the project and the 503 residential building to the west. The funnel shape draws pedestrians into the space between buildings. d. Aerial view of the model with supplemental lighting inside of the model to simulate lights from dusk to dawn. Note that actual food production lighting is pink. e. Aerial view capturing the 503 and 504 projects side by side.

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c.

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RAINIER BEACH TERRACE LIGHT, AIR, AND TERRACED PROGRAMMING

Arch 503 | Autumn 2022 | Rainier Beach, Seattle, WA Rainier Beach Terrace is a five-story, 5-over-1 mixed-use development to be located on the northeast corner of the intersection of Rainier Avenue South and South Director Street near the center of the Rainier Beach neighborhood in southeast Seattle. The four residential floors will introduce 80 new housing units to the local market while the ground floor commercial spaces increase the square footage for restaurant and office uses over the existing condition while incorporating space for a café and live work units which are currently absent in Rainier Beach. Rainier Beach Terrace presents a formal juxtaposition between its monolithic facade along S Director Street and its eroded, curtainwall clad interior, balancing the benefits of a continuous street wall with punctuated openings into intriguing interior spaces to draw pedestrians through the courtyard.

Census data indicates an oversaturation of smaller units in the area with demand for 2- and 3-bedroom apartments so the project provides a variety of unit types ranging from studios to 3-bedroom apartments. 56.25% (45 units) are single/couple focused while 43.75% (35 units) are family oriented. This brings the total residential unit count to 80.

Universal design was a core tenet of this project, and all but one type of studio unit is full ADA Type A accessible.

figure: Perspective rendering of the courtyard from the Rainier Ave entrance, looking East. Ample sunlight penetrates the space during the summers, providing the stage for vibrant community events. Commercial and Residential uses front onto this space, ensuring it remains active with "eyes on the courtyard" at all hours.

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The frontage on Rainier Ave S is dedicated to food-focused commercial space which requires more visibility to prosper while live-work units will have visibility as the institutional building draws people along S Director Street based on its function in the community. The project relies on “eyes on the street” and mixed-use development, two important factors for establishing safe communities discussed by Jane Jacobs. Dedicated commercial spaces occupy roughly 1/3rd of the West side of the site with comingled spaces in the center giving way to residential program on the Eastern 1/3rd. Commercial units face both the street and the courtyard, with proposed tenant spaces for a café, a restaurant, office use, and two live-work units. The café is located on the corner and has bifold overhead doors to open onto the street corner and toward the library. The comingling of the ground floor enables residential staff such as the leasing managers and concierge to work in tandem with business owners to establish a system of overwatch and accountability toward the street and semi-public courtyard. This approach also allows the commercial and residential spaces to share restrooms, lobby waiting areas, and support spaces such as the trash room, eliminating redundancy and providing more useable commercial space.

a. b.

figures: a. Longitudinal section perspective of RBT illustrating the relationship between the micro-shifting ground levels of the public realm and the macro-shifting private realm. b. Perspective view of the project as seen from the Rainier Beach branch of the public library, diagonally across the intersection of Rainier Ave S and S Director St. This image reveals the two facade conditions: 1) brick masses with recessed areas where openings exist, seen where the massing is an extrusion of the property line; 2) glassy curtainwall volumes where the form has been cut back from the property line. b. Perspective view from across Rainier Ave S, looking at the narrow entry into the courtyard which is inspired by Chophouse Row in Seattle.

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section aa

Rainier Ave S

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The building's unique massing and terracing is a response to the site conditions and zoning code. A doughnut shape is established to allow light and air to reach deep into the site. The street corner is cut at a 45-degree angle to respond to the Library across the street, which has a similar angle along the street façade. In response to the major intersection to the north, The entire doughnut shape is cut along Rainier Ave S to create an alley-like opening to pull foot traffic in from the node to the north. A number of residential terraces are inserted into the courtyard, reaching up into the sunlight to provide their respective programs with more natural lighting. The street facade is also articulated by a wider, single-story opening along S Director Street. Thinking of foot traffic as “water,” the northern cut near the primary node is tall and narrow like a canyon of fast-moving water while the opening on S Director Street represents the slow current of a wide riverbed.

As illustrated in the previous renderings, anywhere that the massing dictated by the zoning development boundary retains a neighborhood character of brick and punched windows while the cut away elements are rendered as curtainwall facades. Planes of brick extend beyond the cuts, reacing their original extents in an homage to the work of Mitchell Giurgola.

figures: a. Egress diagram for the roof, typical floor, and ground floor. b. Massing diagram series. 1) site conditions; 2) site extrusion and 100' reserved for 504 project; 4) solar carving; 5) relationship to site context; 6) terrace insertion; 8) final massing 42

a.

b.

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Each residential terrace has a different intended use. The second floor terrace is large and acts as an extension of the community room. The third floor is connected to the fitness room and allows for outdoor exercise such as yoga or calisthenics. The fourth terrace is intended as an inward focused space for individual or small-group relaxation.

The fifth floor is a large, open terrace facing a blank wall, intended for use as a movie screening venue. The roof contains a solar array, pet relief area, two large gathering spaces, a small interior kitchen/gathering space, and a long greenhouse. In relation to the 504 project, this greenhouse intended to serve as a space for residents to learn about urban farming and cultivate food themselves, right on their own rooftop.

While there are a number of standardized units in the project which follow typical high-efficiency layouts, the shifting of the building creates many areas where unique stacks of units are located. This architecture embraces a variety of ways to live, from more traditional rectangular arrangements to units with jaunty angles or curtainwalls.

A vast majority of units are designed to be fully Type A ADA Acessible. This means that most units are larger than standard units of that type, which is a welcome push against the developer-led push to live in situations that are too compact and overly generic.

figures: a. Selected unit plans, at 1/8" scale. b. Transverse section illustrating the relationship of the courtyard to S Director St, the mass of the building, and the commercial spaces. The residential terraces can be seen the the background of the image.

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studio A: 345 SF Type B

1bd D: 600 SF Type A

a. selected "standard"unit plans - scale 1/8"

2bd A: 900 SF Type A

3bd B: 1175 SF Type A

= 1'

S Director St section bb RAINIER BEACH TERRACE | 45

Rainier Ave S S Director St

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roof plan

5th floor plan

plans not to scale

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UNDER [HYDROSTATIC] PRESSURE ORGANIC ARCHITECTURE DERIVED FROM FABRIC FORMWORK

Arch 498 | Winter 2018 | Concrete Research Seminar Honesty in form and material is a tenet common to many design schools, but how does that concept apply to the slurry of artificial stone known as concrete? What is the quintessential form of a material that will conform to any mold it is poured into?

Led by visiting professor Mark West in conjunction with Tyler Sprague of UW, this course explored organic and expressive concrete forms by pairing study fabrics and the existing framework of the PERI DUO formwork system. Our goal behind the physical investigations was to capture the natural forms of hydrostatic pressure within formwork by casting against taught, flexible surfaces and constrictors to create soft borders that would respond to the pressure mounting within the formwork rather than a traditional, rigid mold that counteracts these forces. This casting journey was accompanied by a vision to embrace structure as architectural expression, integrating higherthan-industry-standard material efficiencies in the process.

figures: a. Image of the concrete truck beginning to pour into our formwork. b. Macro textural photograph along the surface of the wave.

Note the strong residual texture of the casting fabric and the buldges which break from the form at random. c. Textural photograph along the surface of the wave, capturing the changing angles of the supports.

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b.

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a.

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figure: elevation photograph of our final cast, "The Wave." the wall measures 8' w x 2' d x 4' h

UNDER [HYDROSTATIC] PRESSURE | 51

a.

The final cast used inexpensive plastic landscaping fabric and milled wooden inserts to develop organic and flexible mold systems which were laid within the PERI formwork.

We first modeled a gently waving surface in Rhinoceros, divided it into 13 segments, then transfered this information into a production file for the CNC plywood router. Cutting and assembling our wooden insert took a considerable amount of time but the results produced were well worth the investment. When demoulded, our final wall exhibited gorgeous, soft curvature between the rolling linear divisions from our wooden formwork. Where the fabric had slight material inconsistencies, unique and sensual bulges or taught areas developed due to changes in hydrostatic pressure.

Ultimately, this casting shows how unique and expressive concrete forms can be created by thinking loosely about control parameters, giving some flexibility to the constraints so that physics may shape the result. The integration with the PERI formwork system is also a benefit, because this level of controlled, "freeform" casting can be achieved without needing to create a wooden structural system, just a casting face and fabric to place inside the PERI system.

Project group: Mikhail Zogorski Morocco Branting Nik Rustad Ruisheng Yang

figures: a. Interior view of the wooden formwork before incorporating the casting fabric. as a result of the weight of the concrete, the sharp corners at the top of the form were penetrating the fabric once the form was mostly filled. b. Three-quarter view of the wall, illustrating the wave along the bottom of the wall vs. the top. c. One side of the wave with fabric being attached.

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b.

c.

UNDER [HYDROSTATIC] PRESSURE | 53

The final cast was the product of the combined successes and failures discovered in several previous casts. Weeks before the wave was cast, a scale prototype was cast with plaster and 1/2" MDF formwork. While the model carried our intent, the product of this scale experiment was lackluster due to inconsistencies in scaling the physical properties of the fabric, formwork, and plaster down in relation to the 1:1 pour with concrete and fabric. We used the same fabric, which proved too rigid for the hydrostatic pressure exerted by the lesser volume of plaster, so the form hardly bulged as intended.

Our midreview casting was markedly different as it did not utilize any interior wooden formwork. The approach to this cast was to create a large pilaster within the wall by separating the formwork into two sections and providing excess fabric in this area. We also opted to leave one end of the form open with a wealth of fabric to create a naturally rounded edge to contrast the hard rectangular stop on the opposite side. In purposefully leaving extra fabric in the formwork we gave freedom to the concrete so that it could dictate its form. While we did end up with unique pilasters, the lack of uniformity and the propensity to crease (this makes it difficult to remove the fabric as it becomes folded back on itself and sandwiched in the concrete) led us to regularize the pilasters in our later casts. Casting against the PERI formwork directly also gave a completely different macrotexture to the concrete.

The square voids in the formwork for material efficiency allow for the fabric to bulge in a regular manner which is both tactile and visually interesting. figures: a. Plaster scale model of the final cast concept. undulations are hardly visible due to mismatch in material downscaling. cast by Nik R. and Mikhail Z. b. Mdf formwork for the plaster scale model by Nik R and Mikhail Z. c. Scale reference of a hand on our midreview casting's pilaster. the fabric texture on the concrete honestly makes it seem like it should be soft and touching it is an interesting conflict between senses and conceptions. d. Elevation of the best looking side. 8' w x 2' d x 5.5' h. e. Close-up of the cast fabric corner featuring creases and an embedded formtie. f. Macro and micro textures on the surface of the cast. g. A taught section of the pilaster due to formties on the immediate left and right. the result is a evocative of a portrait featuring the curvature of the subject's spine.

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a. d.

b.

c. e.

g.

f.

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ink.

I enjoy using ink pens and markers to explore the unbuilt, giving form to impossible dreams on paper. I focus on creating surreal atmospheres where scale and repetition are the core themes. I also keep a sketchbook for urban sketches which are all in situ drawings while on walkabouts.

2020, lamy extrafine with bulle

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drink the sky 2020, prismacolor on 9x12 fabriano

illustration of c 2021, micron

etproof black and copic. in situ

client’s residence on 11x14 fabriano

interstate

2020, micron on 9x14 fabriano

INK. | 57

lens

valhalla

coro

2022, digital, 6d mk ii

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bran t in g. des ign

m orocco m branting m arch candidate, 2024 eye above

2023, digital, 6d mk ii

To ensure quality design arrives in as many hands as possible, we must deconstruct the cult of design and dim the lights on the era of starchitects and contrived design influences. We must educate ourselves and our communities on the practices of critical design thinking and participatory design so that we may all seize agency in moulding the world around us; so that we may elaborate upon the ways in which design is a tool that can serve our purposes without sacrificing aesthetics, affordability, or the environment; so that we may establish a society which applies critique to improve the status quo rather than let tomorrow stagnate and decay.

onation on the twenty-fourth floor

n

Function, Accessibility, Aesthetics, Environment. These four tenets are what separates the well-designed from designer, enhancement from embellishment.

Design thinking occupies an unfortunate vacuum in our education system, an absence that has come to obscure our ability to differentiate successful designs from cheap copies. This has culminated in a hyperfixation on 'designer' goods that derive their raison d'être from exclusivity rather than the four concepts above. If we are to ensure good design is available to the common person, design must be judged upon the culmination of these factors, from the grand scale of the built environment to the microcosm of furnishings within our spaces. Through woodworking in hand with architecture, I shape and enrich human environments, advocating for the significance design thinking has on the quality of our lives and the wellbeing of our environment with my work as the medium conveying this voice.

2017, digital, rebel t-5

b ra nti n g .d e s i g n @gmail.com

Morocco Branting is the founder of bran.d - branting design, an outfit focused on delivering thoughtfully designed, eco-conscious woodcraft to the spaces we occupy. He is also a research fellow within the College of Built Environments.

Prior to beginning the Master of Architecture program at UW, he worked fulltime in the architecture industry, designing and overseeing healthcare projects, residences, and sustainability studies. He holds a LEED AP BD+C credential in addition to a degree in architectural design from the University of Washington.

@bran t in g. des ign @moroc c o. bran t in g 59