wesley thompson: a portfolio of architecture
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wesley
james
thompson
a
portfolio
of
architecture
Successful design can be found at the intersection of a profound idea and an elegant, efficient solution. As I begin the design process, I make conjectures about what a project wants to be, and I begin to distill them. My goal is that the process eventually reaches that one perfect moment where the set of parameters allows me to make obvious, almost inevitable, decisions; the kind of decisions where I step back and say, “It simply must be resolved this way.” That is the point when the process blossoms.
Since beginning my gratifying, yet arduous, journey through my architecture education, I have begun to see the world differently. It is a more informed view, a view that allows me to see objects and places and know that there is an inherent craft embedded in each. My intent is that this body of work is representative of great care, meaning, and elegance.
sequester 4
structures 20
detailing 22
stone+steel 12
travel sketches 24
photography 26
earthpulse 8
design projects
studio projects
frigid facility 16
The 2015 EXPO will take place in Milan, and its theme is “feeding the planet, energy for life.” The challenge of this studio was to consider what the U.S. pavilion could be. I began by thinking about the potential of capturing and using human kinetic energy. My scheme eventually evolved into a critique of the EXPO itself: with a theme so concerned with protecting the world’s resources, why are visitors expending so much energy to attend the event in the first place? And does this perhaps signal a paradigm shift in how our society views the EXPO?
My project proposes that visitors are separated, or sequestered, into respective paths depending on the method of transportation they used to arrive at the EXPO, which is representative of their individual carbon footprints. The partí became a series of ramps within a box, and the skin is a flexible membrane that undulates in a repeating pattern.
sequesterU.S. PavilionEXPO Milano 2015
kinetic energy collectionwith shock absorbers
below
above
relationship
partí
structure
ramps
skin
structure
plane
car
train
bike
walk
cba
skin
plan
entry popout box exit corner
conditions of the habitable wall
elevation
The Lyceum Fellowship is an annual student competition, and the design problem changes each year. For 2012, the challenge was to design a visitor’s center and artist retreat in the abandoned Wells-Lamson Quarry in Vermont. I chose to look closely at the effects of mining and quarrying processes as they relate to air quality and the production of acid rain.
My proposal is called Earthpulse: it is a device that measures the vital signs of the earth. Since 1990, when the EPA established the Acid Rain Program that capped industrial emissions, the acidity of the rain has decreased. But there is a lag in the habitats that are influenced by this rain, especially in an old quarry now filled with water. I’m proposing that this Earthpulse device measure the various levels in the water that directly affect the recovery of the habitat. The architectural implications of this are a roof that chnages depending on the water level, subdivided spaces for different art studios, and a surface that acts as both a roof and a platform.
EarthPulse Lyceum Fellowship Competition2012
pavilion section
pH
leve
ls
mic
roo
rgan
ism
gro
wth
heav
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etal
co
nten
t
chan
ge
in a
nnua
l wat
er le
vel
seismograph room
the changing roof
1985 SO2 emissons 2008 SO2 emissons
[Although the acidity of rainfall has decreased] “full recovery of New England’s ecosystems will take time...
It will be decades before we see ecosystems restored to their pre-industrial conditions.”
-Environmental Protection Agency
longitudinal section
stone+SteelA Comprehensive Addition toa Palladian Building
This was a project completed during a study abroad trip to Vicenza, Italy. The task was to re-design an addition to the town’s main basilica, which has a façade designed by Andrea Palladio. The program consisted of gallery spaces, an auditorium, and direct access into the basilica itself. The main focus of the project was the creation of a new piazza space, as well as detailed wall studies, asking questions about how the proposed façade would speak to that of Palladio.
My proposal was a steel structure that included a large atrium where the galleries would exist, as well as a façade made of small, stone louvers. The louvers would be adjusted between 0, 45, and 90 degrees, which would determine the wall’s composition.
auditoriumnew piazza piazza dei signori
cardo + decumanus
green space
water system
main basilica level
gallery level
longitudinal section site plan
panel size distribution
panel opacity based on program
main façade sectional study
piazza dei signori elevation
window wall
panel of stone louvers
frigid facilityCold Storage Facilityand Wetland Remediation
This design problem encompassed the design of a 300,000 SF cold storage facility near a protected wetland in West Eugene, Oregon. The current facility on the site (which the studio proposed to replace) handles large quantities of refrigerated and frozen food that is later distributed throughout the country. The professor intentionally kept this studio very diagrammatic so many ideas and systems could exist simultaneously.
My process focused on issues of truck traffic on site, solar orientation to maximize efficiency of freezers, and rainwater runoff issues to protect the wetland site. The buildings themselves consist of large trusses that span the freezer spaces, and each bay has access to trucks and train cars that are filled before distribution. In the latter part of the design phase, I looked into the embodied energy of food production and proposed a system of on-site food sales to lower this embodied energy.
sun
soil
plant farm
processing
shipping
cold storage
distribution
consumer
animal
concept models looking at form, variation, and site constraints
high embodied energy of current food system
concrete slab
drain below
truck dock
cold storage
train access
footing to bioswale
site amongwest eugene wetlands
bioswales on site
building response
w. 5th avenue
a-3 channel
terracing biosw
ales
paved truck exits
site section
site plan
Hanging By A ThreadA Steel Frame Market at an Urban Train Station
0 50 Feet
This project asked us to design a steel structure with an arc plan, exploring fundamental principles of support, span, and brace; and how each is manifested spatially. The result was a scheme that used cantilevered overhangs of different sizes that were all supported by steel cables connected to large masts.
Market Hall
structural design Both projects completed with fellow student, Christopher Smith
central space model top view
This project involved the design of a wood roof structure (on existing concrete walls) without using a horizontal tension chord spanning across the space. We implemented a stepped system where each cantilever relies on the one above and below for stability. Multiframe structrual analysis software was utilized to understand shear and moment forces.
Roof Truss
physical model of truss
initial load sketch
This course in building enclosures focused on two design detailing projects, and they consisted of both hand and computer drafted drawings. The first project (this page) was a heavy wood-frame entry with a window wall infill. It explored fundamental details such as window-wall-to-floor connection, roof eaves, and window jambs. The second project (facing page) was a steel structure with two main building wings: one finished with a terra cotta rainscreen, the other a window wall. I chose to design a double façade and explored it in an axonometric drawing. The end of the project focused on the performance of the sunshades on the east façade during a late summer morning when it received a lot of direct solar exposure.
details Enclosure Design and Performance Analysis
timber roof eave window wall section
window wall to opaque wall plan
shading performance
terra cotta rainscreendouble glass façade
terra cotta rainscreen parapetdouble glass
façade
travel sketchesItalySwitzerland
These sketches were completed during a study abroad trip to Vicenza, Italy. From our studio in Vicenza, we had short
excursions to Cinque Terre, Como, and several small towns in Southern Switzerland.
photographyItalyFrance U.S.
contact
thompson.wesleyj@gmail.com+01.775.846.2205
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