Architectural Portfolio -- Tristan Taylor

Portfolio

Tristan Taylor

Even before beginning my university education, I have always enjoyed challenging myself for the sake of accomplishment. Between the many sports I competed in, including multiple gymnastics teams, and academic decathlon, I have always been able to find and push my limits to see how far I am able to go. My current degree path is another challenge that I am taking on in order to improve my skills and learn new skills as I progress, fueled by a passion for art and architecture.

Education

Lubbock High School Class of 2021

University of Kansas School of Architecture and Design

2021-Present

Experience

Drug Emporium -- Sales Associate 2020-2021

Walgreens -- Customer Sales Associate/Designated Hit-

ter 2022-Present

TimberRidge Adventure Center — Epicenter

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Located in Johnson County, KS is a park that doubles as an activity center, mainly used by wildlife enthusiasts and youth groups for various outdoor activities and team-building exercises.

Following a program for future intentions on the site, I designed an epicenter -- a large building with multiple uses. In this case, the uses include rock climbing/rappelling, high ropes courses, classrooms, and faculty spaces.

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At over 17,000 square feet, my epicenter features a structural concrete column near its center that houses an elevator in its interior and a rock wall on its exterior. The top grows into a stainless steel-plated canopy, mimicing my dendriform inspiration, which provides shade for passive heat control and collects and diverts rain water downhill into Catfish Lake.

South Elevation West Elevation North Section West Section

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Basement 1st Floor

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2nd Floor Roof

Vertical Urban Farm

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Downtown Kansas City, KS is often referred to as a “food desert”. It’s lacking in restaurants, and only has a handful of grocery stores. Just west of the University of Kansas Medical Center however, is the site of my Vertical Urban Farm.

Utilizing hydroponic growing systems, my farm would be able to grow food in a compact space. That food would then be available to bulk buyers, farmers markets, and even donation pantries.

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13,000 square feet are devoted to the greenhouse, and located on each side are remote controlled windows that allow for ventillation and passive cooling throughout the greenhouse and into the warehouse spaces on the East side of the building.

East Section

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South Section

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Pioneer Cemetery -- Chapel and Columbarium

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Pioneer Cemetery, on the western side of KU’s campus, is a small cemetery located on a large plot of land. In order to use this land appropriately, I designed an extension to the cemetery in the form of a columbarium and a non-denominational chapel.

A lesser known extension to a cemetery, a columbarium is a room or space dedicated to the storage of urns. Made with similar sandstone found in both my chapel and other buildings on campus, my columbarium design houses over 2,000 urns.

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The roof of the chapel is formed by stepped wood beams with small glass panels in between each step in order to let in southern light without adding much heat to the main chapel.

West Section North Section

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Original concepts for columbarium (left) and chapel (right).

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Baker Wetlands Birdhide

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A birdhide is a small pavilion in which birdwatchers, wildlife observers, or simply those who want to exist with nature can do so.

Just south of highway K-10 and Lawrence, KS is the Baker Wetlands. with great amounts of wildlife to observe, it is almost a surprise that such a structure does not exist at this site; the closest to it being a small shed with windows.

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While observing the site, I came across many things that gave me inspiration for my birdhide design. There was a dry river bed full of lotus flowers, some beautiful spider webs, and mushrooms growing on a dead log. What caught my attention and stuck with me throughout the rest of my site visit though, was a fallen tree in the middle of the Wakarusa River. Its bark twisted and wrapped around the tree in a way I had never seen before, and I took note of the journey the pattern created from the base to the tip of each branch. This visual followed through to my final design.

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First concept to final model.

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First concept partis.

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Convention Center

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An exploration into site and terrain modification, this convention center was designed on a plot of land on Potter Lake.

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Featuring two floors and a stage for speeches and performances, the convention center sits in the terrain, with a dugout section underneath the building for more space for crowds and gatherings.

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View Finder

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In order to gain a better understanding of space and perspective, I created a viewfinder, in which I identified the perspective of a camera from a photograph of an interior and the interior’s floor plan.

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After I identified the viewpoints, I extruded the significant objects and structures from the floor plan into a three-dimensional model.

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Kit of Parts

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Having been assigned select shapes to assemble into a structure, I arranged them into a spiralling array of balconies and staires.

A group of four students’ structures fit together via a model of the hallway outside the studio room and its entrances.

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Direction of Travel

Structural Supports

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Points of View

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In Motion

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In a comparison between architecture and cinema, this exercise helped visualize the rhythms and dynamics that create a unique building.

Starting with a video of myself pushing backwards in an office chair from my desk, I analyzed said motion and created a diagram and a model emphasizing the change in my body position and shoulder angle.

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Turn static files into dynamic content formats.

Create a flipbook