studio design | build

So, this semester is pretty special. I mean, it has kicked. my. butt.  but its also been really fun.  I think I have learned more this semester than in a long time. But I'll have to save what I'm learning for a different post.  For now, I wanted to update you on the design-build / research based design studio I am in.  In the world of architecture school, design-builds are a fairly unique opportunity. Because they require money and time (two things students are seriously lacking) the chance to design and build a project doesn't come around every semester.   SO the fact that this past year I have participated in 3 design-builds is pretty crazy to think about. and I am seriously addicted.   I don't know how I am going to go back to not operating a chop saw every day, and only see my designs in the abstract. And I have day dreams about taking a semester to do an independent study and building some random structure on my family's farm.  but I digress.

THE PLAYERS
Coleman Coker of Building Studio = our fearless (mostly) leader
11 graduate and undergraduate students
South Texas Botanical Gardens and Nature Center in Corpus Christi

THE PROBLEM
Only 70 acres of the 180 acre Nature Center are developed, and visitors infrequently make it past the developed portion. Yet, Corpus is considered one of the Birdiest cities in the States, and tons of bird watchers come to the area and the center to see migratory birds. Because the Nature Center has different environmental conditions (wetlands, Oso Creek, and meadows) tons of different types of birds come to this one spot. Anyway, the director wants us to build some kind of structure to pull people off the established trails, and into the back portion of the center, towards the creek.

THE PROCESS
After our first site visit, the studio could not really come to a consensus on where exactly our intervention would be situated. After weeks of talking, debating, designing and coffee, we decided on a specific location that only three of us had actually seen in real life. And just a few days before leaving for our second site visit, we pared down 3 radically different designs into 3 less radically different designs into one cohesive idea.

some early ideas

When we got to the site for the second time, we all knew we had chosen the perfect location for our project (save our professor, who was having serious doubts), but our design was too massive for the immediate context. Those two days we spent on the site were really great. Actually being back and experiencing the sites and sounds helped us all be on the same page. It had been several weeks since we were on site, and trying to design when all you have are google satellite images and limited personal photos is really difficult. We found that we had forgotten what it felt like to be there, and were just operating off of our memories, which are inevitably skewed. After the first few hours of thinking we got it completely wrong, we met with the director and explained our design intent.

THE SOLUTION
We want to draw people off the mulch path with a wall that sticks out of the tree line.. visitors will follow this wall, squeeze through it at one point, and step onto a board walk. As they move down the board walk / platform / deck toward a sandy area, the wall breaks to reveal some existing posts in the ground disappearing into the distance. on the other side of the sandy area, the grasses and trees return and create a kind of out door room, on the edge of the creek. There will be another, identical wall, that will call visitors to cross the sandy area, and explore this outdoor room and see the creek.
The director loved it.

It took another week of drawing over each other on tables covered in white butcher paper to hammer out the details, and we are still working on details as we finish the actual construction.

A lot of the design details depended upon what materials were available to us. We scoured craigslist and freecycle and talked to several lumber and milling companies to acquire materials for the wall. The only way we could build it was if we got the lumber cheap or free. We were fortunate enough to get some awesome cedar pieces for $1 a board and two pallets of free redwood, douglas fir and cedar. Included in that were 7 huge cedar beams, one of which was 28 feet long!

two wall panels

testing out the bench

the building deck 

We have 8 days of construction left, and we are all pretty excited to see it installed. Because the site is in Corpus Christi (3.5 hours away), we are constructing everything here in Austin, on a deck on the backside of the architecture building. Everything is broken down into panels and after Thanksgiving, we will load it all up on a flat bed and ship it down. The following two weekends, we will stay down in Corpus installing it on site. Please pray for clear skies!

Warped Interior Boulevard?

sooo.. here is my project. it is a "very interesting project"

This semester, I'm working on a team of three, and while we were assigned the site, we get to choose the program. Above is a model I built for our first review.. it just gets the massing idea across.. platforms (that are now called Decks) that accommodate parking and car program -- drive-in theater, auto shows, and a high class Porsche dealer -- with retail volumes hanging off the side..
Here is an excerpt from the few pages of bs we submitted with our initial proposal.

Summary: The current Whole Foods Parking annex is strategically located on the edge of several conditions – the edge of work, play, and home. This space is meant to be a transition – transition from work to home, home to play, work to play, etc. as well as a transportation transition. Bordered by 6^th St., 5^th St. and Shoal Creek, our site is an under-utilized transportation hub. The proposed program for the site involves integrating the 3 main modes of transport in Austin – the vehicle, the bicycle, and the pedestrian. By intertwining select retail, open space, and public and private parking into one site, we seek to create a new urban environment. Condensing and folding the urban street and storefront in on itself, the project succeeds in producing a new definition of urban density – the Urban Car Park.

The Urban car park creates a node of transition between the automobile, bicycle, and pedestrian. Stacking program vertically, the project promotes interaction between the users of the designed parking space, retail, event space, bicycle facilities and green space. The project is essentially a warped interior boulevard of ramps and parking space, creating an urban sponge of accessibility and program.

The project will integrate seamlessly with the surrounding context – it provides small-scale retail to counter the larger stores on Lamar, parking for shoppers, an open public space for the nearby residents, and a bicycle storage and shower facility for those commuting to work.

One of the latest models.. we spent 2 weeks developing the ground site and courtyards.. so they are staying put while we develop what the heck happens above ground.

We had our first formal critique (with outside professors) a week and a half ago, and we were torn apart. Project was called a vertical suburban strip mall and a glorified garage. but we took a few days off, rallied, and are changing the way we talk about and describe the project.. "Parking Platforms" and "Garage" have been eliminated from our vocabulary, and we are pressing on! Next review is on Wednesday... hopefully it will go a lot better. We'll be better prepared to present the project, i think.

sooo... this project is nothing like what I want to do with my life.. and just when I was getting discouraged, I got an email about a lunch session with Katie Swenson -- who is pretty much who I want to be as far as architecture goes.. here is her bio from the email:

"Katie Swenson, a national leader in sustainable design for low-income communities, recently named an emerging leader by the Design Futures Council, and to Steelcase’s prestigious Green Giant list. She is the Vice President of National Design Initiatives at \Enterprise Community Partners, Inc. She is also the Director of the Rose Architectural Fellowship and Affordable Housing Design Leadership Institute."

The Rose Fellowship is AWESOME, and something I have had in my "opportunities for the future" list for years... you have to have a professional degree, so I definitely plan to apply once I'm done at UT. Anyway, I'll be meeting her on Thursday, so I've got to come up with some great questions and become her best friend. advice? AHHHH so excited!

sketch models

First project is OVER.!

So, I guess I will chronicle the studio events in my life. hah cause i'm lame like that.

For the first project (well second really, the first was a bunch of mapping of the site) we made a series of sketch model that were to depict Attitude, Concept, Space and Form. They are supposed to be really abstract and "fun!" these are my favorites from our group - we made like 13 models hah



We started by talking about what interested us about the site.. Right now, it is an overflow employee parking lot for the Whole Foods on Lamar.. it butts up to the rear service entrance of Whole Foods, and is on the edge of the creek. There is a ton of shopping and single family housing to the west, tall condos to the south, offices to the north, and bars/downtown to the east.



Our site is kind of this transition space between work - home - shopping but it is kind of an eye-sore right now. So our plan is to make this space a pause button of sorts.. a place where you drop by on your way somewhere else and can help foster this transition to work, or to home, or a night out. We don't really know where these ideas are leading.. but i know we will provide open public space, retail, and revolutionize the parking situation! but since we get to pick our own program (no restrictions!) it should be pretty fun!




credits: YT, James Sherman and Chad Bunnell

walking toourr

On Friday, my studio class went on a walking tour of parts of downtown..

We started on the 17th floor of the Shore - my professor's apartment.

some gorgeous views!


we analyzed why this sunken public space does not work.


It was a beautiful day for some exploration, but we were exhausted by the time we actually reached our site!

this week

Hi friends,

So, I’ve now had my first week of classes – although I might place out of one and I haven’t yet attended another… oh well. First graduate school assignment? Create an object that appears to be a circle in plan, a square in elevation, and a triangle in another elevation. It took me the remaining 10 minutes of class to figure it out, and the next 1.5-hour lecture to determine how to build it. K you got it? Go.

I’ve been able to get to know a little bit about my studio-mates. there are 12 of us in my studio, and it seems pretty well divided between newbies and the second years. First question to ask? Where is the best place to sleep?

Answer? Across the street in the “presidential suite” of the student union. AWESOME.

In other happenings, I think my keychain has doubled in weight in the past 7 days. I need to find a way to divide it up.. any advice? I have car, home, lake house, apartment, bike lock, studio, studio desk lock, and mail key. I guess I could take the house keys and car keys off.

Also, today, I went to a new church. Last week I went back to Austin Stone – which I know is a solid, great church, but I am not certain it’s for me. Today, however, I went to check out Austin City Life. I went in thinking that I wanted to just check it out, not expecting to like it. On their website, they say, “We’ve been told our downtown gathering ‘feels like Austin.’” And, “On Sundays you'll find an interesting juxtaposition of theological depth and cultural expression. You might say we are ‘theologically conservative and culturally liberal.’”

I think they identify closely with the Acts 29 church movement? Any thoughts on this? I really want your input, so I know I am supported in which church I choose to join.

About City Life – It was so cool! They meet in the Ballet building downtown, and there were fewer than 100 people there today. 3 people introduced themselves to me before the service began – which was really great and refreshing. It seems like they have great community, and are really invested in each other’s lives. They kept saying that they wanted this to be a place to meet God and stressed that ‘church’ to them is the gathering of people and community, not just meeting on Sunday in a building. We talked about generosity today, I heard the gospel, and they made a point to say that the point of today’s talk was not that you don’t give enough and to go give, but that we should seek God so we can begin to understand His great grace and generosity towards us.

Anyway, I really liked it. And although they are not listed on the 9marks site, they did have some of 9marks’ literature on a table. Soo idk. oh and they used to have sunday services in a bar on 6th st - the local college bar hangout aka where Jenna Bush was ticketed for MIP.

oh AND they played Sigur Ros - Staralfur while we were filing out of the auditorium. this is like one of my favorite songs, and this simple act scored major points in my book.

Ok. Gearing up for week 2.

and let me add a picture because this post is lacking visuals.

the painted desert summer 2008.