An Empathetic Architecture Noah Miller
Noah Miller (832) 724-2434 NoahHirschMiller@gmail.com 4943 Tilbury Dr. Houston, TX 77056
Profile
Education
Highly motivated and solutions-oriented recent graduate. With an affinity for equitable and contextual design, and deep respect for the community utilizing the space. Passionate about the intersection of art and architecture, as exhibited by my choice to attend an interdisciplinary academic institution for my undergraduate degree.
Bachelor of Fine Arts, Emphasis in Architecture
Pre-college Program
Experience
Rhode Island School of Design June 2016 - August 2016 Providence, Rhode Island •
Design Consultant, Texas Bulldog Law Houston, Texas November 1, 2020 - Present
Teaching Assistant, SAIC AIADO Chicago, Illinois
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January 24, 2020 - May 11, 2020
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Design Consultation
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Houston, Texas December 2019 - February 2020
Podiatry Associates of Houston April 2019 - June 2019
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Hiram Butler Art Gallery Houston, Texas May 2016 - August 2016
School of the Art Institute of Chicago August 2016 - May 2020 Chicago, Illinois
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Created business logo used in marketing materials, business documents, website, and interior design elements. Assisted with commercial interior design. Managed holiday card design and logistics for 500+ person mailing list.
Collaborated with professor in architecture curriculum planning for course on light and space, lecture presentations, and weekly critiques. Taught weekly software tutorials and held one-on-one tutoring sessions. Served as a juror on two critique panels.
Commissioned to speculate and draft unofficial plans for the conversion of a two-story 2,720 square foot residence into a mixed-use building with a private OBGYN clinic and a TV studio kitchen. Presented under-budget solutions for the removal of a load-bearing wall.
Collaborated with and assisted the Marketing Director to update the interior design of five office locations in accordance with rebranding efforts. Rebranded multi-office private medical practice with a new logo, updated letterhead, and uniforms.
Installed 3 exhibitions, maintained the rotating auxiliary gallery, and constructed shipping containers for careful handling and exportation of purchased artwork. Introduced visiting patrons to new artworks and staffed 2 gallery shows. Independently digitized and categorized the gallery’s exhibition archives dating back to 1980, as well as the documentation of 4 current gallery shows.
Honors and Awards Tannys Langdon Award
May 2020
Recognition of the excellence of work in SAIC’s AIADO Department and promise as a designer.
2019 NOMAS Competition
Oct. 2019
Nominated to advance as a finalist in the annual NOMAS student design competition.
Student Panel
Apr. 2018
Nominated to sit on a student-led panel to discuss Architecture Theory Journals
Eagle Scout
Feb. 2016
Served in leadership positions for over three years and introduced a patient-run library for the waiting room at Memorial Hermann Hospital.
Key Skills • • • •
Organized, proactive, and efficient Reliable and a good listener Analytical and detail oriented Team player
Software Adobe Suite
Proficient
Rhinocerous
Proficient
V-Ray
Basic
Revit
Basic
Autocad
Basic
Table
of
Tilling Woodlawn Lollipop Kindergarten
Social Infrastructure
Contents
Veiled Reverence Community Center
H+SEEDD The Living Pylon Stitching Civicness Civic Center
Residency and Artist Studio
Economic District
Lollipop Lollipop seeks to introduce students to learning in a unique way by using an informal classroom to serve as a teacher’s tool. Through a versatile workspace,the teacher’s daily lessons are never limited by the room in which the lesson is held in. Instead, classrooms use various surfaces to act as stages, stairs, desks, and built-in ground partitions. By softening square and rectangular corners throughout the structure, the space is now safely inhabitable for the playful, and energetic students. While creative play is highly encouraged, the connection with the natural world is as well. Lollipop features a 2,000 square foot topiary garden that can be occupied by families of the school for a stroll or by the current class. Both serving the community, the students, and the teachers, Lollipop’s versatile layout and workspaces give students more flexibility in their daily routine.
The aggregation above was inspired by Friedrich Froebal. Acting as building blocks for the kindergarten, the geometry is featured throughout the school, stemming from the fusion of the basic circle and square.
Topiary Playground
Like the first day of school, designing for all ages means that sometimes, the child must experience their environment alone. A variety of scaled entrances act as a generation filter, seperating the adoloscent from the adult.
Main Entrance
Classroom Perspective Within each classroom space, the maximum amount of freedom to learn and explore is encouraged through a variety of different surface levels. Through these surfaces, each classroom is granted a spatial agency in which students can make their own.
Kindergarten Lobby Even the lobby of the school encourages imagination and play through different sized thresholds, and soft scapes.
TILLING WOODLAWN . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Through a means of commoning, a motherboard of green space connects
Washingting park to Oak Woods Cemetary. Where along the way, its circuit board occupies and repurposes clusters of vacant land, making a pathway for multiple generations to come together
Tilling Woodlawn proposes and urban design scheme that brings back
individual economic agency to the West Woodlawn community. Modular housing behaves as a catalyst where by each house is individually owned. This allows the homeowner to ren out two seperate units in addition to leasing a by appointment only commerical space. The modular housing is staggered across its site, becoming a friend to the street by opening up communal spaces to gather and providing the neighborhood with a new means of passive income.
.......
an urban blooming
Tilling Woodlawn:
An Investigation of Urban Density and Vacant Lot Patterns
using Ho ly
MultiFam i
There is a great urban density of vacant lots within Washington Park, which have a significant impact on not only the sentiment, but also the economic strength of the community. Multi-Unit Residential Buildings have remained in their sites, becoming a permanent presence for Washington Park where vacant land consists of mostly infill housing properties.
Densi ty o f ots nt L ca Va
* The grouping of multi-unit residential buildings is present when an adjacent, multi-unit is within two open lots, both horizontally and vertically. In addition, these residential units are also grouped if they share an intersection, or are diagonal across streets and/or alleys.
Urb an
ty nsi De * The clustering of vacant lots are based off of the same adjacency rules as the grouping of Multi-Family Units.
Urb an R
al ew en
* A proposed addition to the boulevard network is placed, connecting Woodlawn, once ignored by Chicago Institutions, to the larger scale of the city.
Solar Panel Factory Factory SolarSolar Factory
Solar Panel Array Solar Factory Solar Array
Education Education Center E 65th St.
A means of commoning through expanding the site of Emmitt Till, making a public square of education. E 66th St.
Solar Panel Array Solar Factory Solar Array E 67th St.
S Cottage Grove Ave
Sited within a context that is single family homes.
S Evans Ave
E 64th St.
S Langley Ave
Factory ModularSolar Housing Modular Housing
S Champlain Ave
S St. Lawrence Ave
S Rhodes Ave
veve r tr tAA erehra bb SSEE ha
rirvieve inig ngDD r trin aa hrerKK MM tinLuLtuhte E 63rd St. E 63rd St.
Mission: Hack a House Approach: Create a mixed use building that contains a duplex for the property owner and two accompanying units: a one bedroom ADA accessible unit and a studio apartment. In addition, a commercial space in the front will be rented out for additional passive income.
Slice Slice
Push Push
Slice
Carve
Push
Carve
Push
Push
Carve
Carve
Push
Carve
Carve
Solar Array
Solar Array
Solar Array
Community Ammenity
One Bedroom Duplex
Circulation
Solar Factory Worker
Residential Unit
ADA Accessible
Residential Ammenity
Community Flex Space
Community Ammenity
Circulation
Community Flex Space
One Bedroom Duplex
Residential Unit
Residental Ammenity
ADA Accessible Unit
Solar Technician Unit
Roof Plan 1/8” = 1ʼ- 0” Roof Plan 1/8” = 1ʼ- 0”
Roof Roof Plan Plan 1/8” = 1ʼ- 0”
Roof Plan 1/8” = 1ʼ- 0”
Third Floor Plan 1/8” = 1ʼ- 0”
6
5b
Third Floor Plan 1/8” = 1ʼ- 0”
Third Floor Plan Third Floor Plan Third Floor Plan 1/8” = 1ʼ- 0”
1/8” = 1ʼ- 0”
4
5a
Second Floor Plan 1/8” = 1ʼ- 0”
Second Floor Plan Second Floor 1/8” = 1ʼ- 0”
Second Floor Plan 1/8” = 1ʼ- 0”
Plan
Second Floor Plan 1/8” = 1ʼ- 0” 1
2 3
Ground Floor Plan Ground Floor Plan 1/8” = 1ʼ- 0” Ground Floor Plan 1/8” = 1ʼ- 0” Ground Floor Plan
Program 1/8” = 1ʼ- 0”
1 Floor Plan Ground 1/8” =2 1ʼ- 0” 3 4 5 6
Commercial Unit Weight Room ADA Accessible Unit Solar-Energy Technician Studio One dedroom duplex Community Flex Space
Veiled Reverence Veiled Reverence seeks to create a space to strengthen the Bronzeville community and proposes a new space for spontaneous interactions. This project uses a combination of unifying architectural elements – an iconic envelope and a generous atrium space – and uses theatrical performance as entertainment to introduce new ways of connecting with the arts. Veiled Reverence actively responds both to the lack of community performance (and rehearsal) spaces and the abundance of denominational churches existing in the Bronzeville community and located in proximity to the former Anthony Overton Elementary School. Just as churches function as spaces for gathering and formal education, Veiled Reverence performs as an anchor for the community offering a new kind of space for collective performance, exchange and learning. Veiled Reverence activates Prairie Avenue by introducing a new building (and its main access), and a connection to the Southeast of the proposed Overton Incubator through the gymnasium; the project is organized through a triple height atrium that enables visual connectivity across multiple levels and indoor/outdoor spaces. Using the Church’s organization, Veiled Reverence is divided through its accessibility and intimacy of program. The existing Overton and Veiled Reverence are unified by a signature skin – a Bronze filigree – composed by an abstract pattern inspired by significant nearby mural, and a symbol of perseverance and permanency in the face of Chicago’s ever changing urban landscape.
A Building Becomes a Friend to the Community: Surprising and influential interactions suggest collaboration
Making a Connection
Finding Similarities
Being Creative together
O u Ve td nu oo e r
A The tr iu m
Co ur
ty ar d
Through the creation of a grid based off of its surrounding churches, a pre-existing, decentralized social infrastructure, Veiled Reverence pulls together its surrounding population. Where churches behave as communal spaces and promote learning experiences, Veiled Reverence is designed to spatially create conversation with a fundamental amenity that shapes the future of the Bronzeville community while simoultaneously being formed by its history.
Establishing a Relationship
Spontaneous Interaction
Prairie St.
Indiana St.
49th Street
Ground Floor Plan
Second Floor Plan:
Library and Office Space
Third Floor Plan:
Auditorium and blacony
East Elevation
A New Campus of Culture
Longitudinal Section
Interior of the Atrium
Icehenge On Sale Icehenge, the iconic desk that sits in the lobby of the Inland Steel Building, serves as an artifact of the innerworking of property development and investment. Its origins are birthed from a 2007 proposal that Frank Gehry presented to his peers of investors as a result of the building’s underperformance. Subsequently, Gehry was asked to design an iconic lobby desk in exchange for 4% of the Inland Steel Building. This performative project amplifies the clandestine operations that revolve around the trading of personal assets. Through the mock-auction of Frank Gehry’s 4% shareholding of the Inland Steel Building, equitability of opportunity is shared with the public.
Auction of Frank Gehry’s ownership of the Inland Steel Building
Stitching Civicness “Stitching Civicness” responds to the physical and invisible boundaries that separate the three wards: gerrymandering, transit, and demographic. Three distinct buildings are connected through a multi-performative wall that introduces the public to their sovereign. As the wall continuously moves through the buildings, it brings the public into the private realm. “Stitching Civicness” reconstructs the invisible boundaries of historical redistricting and introduces spaces of mediation through new public thresholds. The anatomy of civic program and communal amenities then become stitched together through equitable communal spaces within the private sectors of bureaucracy. When the wall goes through a double height space, something special happens. In the first building, the strand acts as a mezzanine overlooking a lecture hall. As it moves to the second building, it becomes furniture and voting booths. Finally in the third building, it pierces through the floor creating pockets of meeting spaces where the community can meet with bureaucracy.
Gerrymandering of Little Italy, Chicago from 1971 - 2015
1971
1981
1983
1995
2005
2015
The Community of Little Italy has faced a vast amount of gerrymandering. Little Italy remains decentralized, leaving the neighborhood with a fleeting trust in their local government and a suppressed voice within the bureaucracy that they live in.
Revised Concept Model
Initial Concept Model
Intersection of Bureaucracy and Community
Private
Final Model
Community
Social Atrium: What is usually isolated from public access now becomes a public forumn to meet with community leaders and discuss what is and what is not working in the community.
Longitudinal Section Scale 1’- 1/16”
Voting Booth:
A voting booth penetra acting as a threshold o only community memb well.
ates the second building, of civic responsibility for not bers but its bureaucracy as
Mezzanine/Auditorium: An auditorium is placed within the most public building, giving the community a designated podium to share ideas and interests regarding the community.
The Living Pylon The Living Pylon embodies Hirst’s formaldehyde works by treating the Old Chicago U.S. Post Office as one of his specimens. Where the skin of the building is symmetrical, the interior spaces take on a stark contrast. Simultaneously, the Living Pylon respects the existing façade by maintaining the original window bays. The north side of 433 W Harrison is anthropomorphized through a series of organ like forms that penetrate the floorplates. These forms, when cut in section, behave like Damien Hirst’s “Mother and Calf”. Programming within these spaces serve the public, supplying them with an accessibility of resources including: workspaces that seeks to reinforce collaboration, an innovation and tech hub, and a butterfly garden that extends through the most public and private programs.
C
A
B
A.
Event Hall
B.
Painting Studio
C.
Featured Stair
A.
Foyer
H.
Office
B.
Coat Closet
I.
Guest Room
C.
Kitchen
J.
Laundry
D.
Living Room
K.
Storage
E.
Dining Room
L.
Master Bedroom
F.
Lounge Area
M.
Personal Gallery
G.
Library
N.
Featured Stair
Floor Plan C: Roof Plan
C
D
N
E
M
A
B
F
G
L K
J
I
Floor Plan B: 11th Floor Residence
G
F
B
A
E
C
A. Foyer B. Production Studio C. Fermaldehyde Lab D. Dry Storage Racks E. Walk-in Freezer D
F. Packaging G. Featured Stair: Butterfly Garden
Plan A: 10th Floor Studio
Mechanical Room
East Elevation
Anatomy of Intervention Program
Alone Yet Together
Innovation and Technology Hub
For the Love of Food
The Gallery of Impossiblity
Butterfly Garden
Contemplation of Death
North Elevation
Plan 1
Plan 4
Plan 7 1
4
1
4
1
4
Plan 2
Plan 5
Plan 8
Plan 3
Plan 6
Plan 9
H+SEEDD: The Homan Square Economic Exchange + Design District The Homan Square Economic Exchange + Design District seeks to redistribute economic agency back into the Homan Square area through the scope of incentivizing business and recognizing the potential of design as a means of redistributing economic and communal agency throughout Homan Square. In doing so, three unique banks are stacked on top of one another acting as a structural core not only for the building but for the neighborhood as a whole. Subsequently, a centralized economy is formed within the structure as each bank begins to serve the supplemental program that engulfs it. Sitting atop of H+SEEDD lies an architecture school, satisfied by the collaboration between Chicago’s best. Through a unique program adjacency, and an architecture school that is founded upon financial institutions, H+SEEDD acts as a catalyst to “buy back the block.”
Program Analysis in Section A Financial Program and Education are positioned as the core of H+SEEDD
Consumer programs, designed to contribute to individual capital, will subsequently strengthen the micro economy of North Lawndale
Program Typology
Hydroponic Garden
Classroom
Academic Ex
Co-working Space
Credi
Local Retail
Local Economic
Recreation
Time
xhibition Space
it Union
c Trading System
e Bank
A common trend in the last few years, which has been swept around the Architecture Schools of Chicago, is designing for underserved communities in Chicago. Such an endeavor, specifically by white students using these communities as experiments, has created a distrust between institution and community. As a result, an architecture school crowns the economic exchange in an effort to educate the North Lawndale community about how much agency that they actually have. As in through an architecture and financial education, members of the community can re-envision a home/ neighborhood for themselves.
Woodshop
Hydroponic Garden Business Incubator
Local Retail
Public Market
2 3 4
5
Ground Floor Plan: Public Market + Time Bank 1 2 3
Small Business Market Time Bank Lobby/Kiosks Time Bank Digital Interface
4 5
Time Bank Core Community Recreation
1
Fourth Floor Plan:
Architecture School + Gallery Space 1 2 3 4 5
6 7 8 9 10
4
Foyer Exhibition Space Classroom Advanced Output Center Materials Resale Shop Wooshop Featured Balcony Plaster Room Community Kitchen Storage
5
6
1 3c
7 2
10
3b
8
3a
9
Fourth Floor Plan: Architecture/Design School Scale: 1/8” = 1’0”
Third Floor Plan:
Co-Working Space/Business Incubator + Credit Union
5
20
10
5
50
9
6
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9
Bank Lobby Credit Union Offices Bank Vault Private Work station Co-working Space Cafe Community Kitchen Informal Meeting Space Business Incubation/Mentorship
Second Floor Plan:
Local Businesses + LETS
1 4 3
2
4
7
8
Scale: 1/8” = 1’0” 5
20
10
50
(Local Economic Trading System) 1 2 3 4 5 6
LETS Lobby LETS Offices LETS Vault Local Retail Community Lounge Community Cafe
1 3
5
2
6
4
Street Perspective
Longitudinal Section
Noah Miller (b. 1998) Made by you for you, 2020 Digital Collage
Partial Gift of Homan Square Economic Exchange and Design District
Noah Miller (b. 1998) The New Black Metropolis, 2055 Photograph
Partial Gift of Homan Square Economic Exchange and Design District