joshua bremner feldman portfolio 12-2011
DESCRIPTION
Architecture PortfolioTRANSCRIPT
EXPANDING HORIZONS
CARROL STREET BRIDGE
WELCOME CENTER
LIVE / WORK SPACE
QUARRY SHELTER
TIDAL POOL
SECTIONAL HOUSE
BALANCING ACT
NINE SQUARE GRID
PAPER LAMP SHADE
OITA LIBRARY
DUBAI STUDY
STREET FIGHTER - FILM
SAS HALF MOON
MARIST CAMPUS GATES
LEBOW COLLEGE
HIGH SCHOOL ART
CAMEROON SOCCER
SINGAPORE SKETCHES
08
14
20
24
28
30
31
34
36
37
40
44
46
50
52
53
56
58
60
ARCHITECTURE
OBJECTS
PERSONAL WORK
ANALYSIS
PROFESSIONALEXPERIENCE
2004 2005 2006 2007
08
EXPANDING HORIZONSSenior Project Design Studio:Atlantic City BoardwalkHolocaust Memorial CompetitionProfessor: Steven Harris
This project memorialized the enormity of the loss of 11.5 million lives exterminated in the Holocaust and paid tribute to the survivors.
Six vertical slots, one for each extermination camp, were cut into the layers, their height indexing their respective death toll. These slots contained paths ascending from the boardwalk to an elevated chamber suspended within the structure.
The chamber provided a contemplative resting place along the bustling Atlantic City boardwalk. The view to the ocean reminds visitors that even amidst extreme suffering, there is always the possibility of life.
Atlantic City boardwalk showing site.
2008 2009 2010 2011
09
Each square inch of the memorial’s thirty-three stacked layers represents one Holocaust victim.
2004 2005 2006 2007
10
Several study models develop the density and distribution of the horizontal planes.
Layered steel and plexiglass model showing voided slots and resting chamber.
2008 2009 2010 2011
11
Exploded steel plate model, expressing the memorial’s inherent porosity.
2004 2005 2006 2007
12
As visitors ascend, their step height increases, while their view of the horizon expands - symbolically re-enacting the struggle for life by victims.
2008 2009 2010 2011
13
Survivors’ names, engraved on the edge surfaces of the bronze plates adjacent the ascending paths shine from contact with visitors’ touch.
2004 2005 2006 2007
14
CARROLL STREET BRIDGE THEATRESenior Studio:Theatre in Brooklyn Professor: Turner Brooks Adam Hopfner
Falconworks Artists Group, a theatre for social change in Red Hook Brooklyn, called for a radical re-visioning of theatre along the Gowanas Canal. The site I chose was adjacent to the Carroll Street Bridge, which is the oldest of only four retractable bridges in the United States.
The building is activated when the bridge rolls back to deliver the audience to the theatre. The steel rails that the bridge rolls along initiate the arrangement of structural concrete fins, which are hollowed out to enclose the performance and auxiliary spaces. Sliding backdrops, which mediate between public (external) and private (internal) space transform the theatre in response to performance requirements.
View west across the Carroll Street Bridge towards the theatre site on the left.
2008 2009 2010 2011
15
Floor plans reveal the parallel fins and the relationship between the three levels.
The theatre is articulated as a contained volume that sits on the water’s edge.
2004 2005 2006 2007
16
Several sketch models develop the idea of hollowing out parallel fins in relation to the original steel rails.
A lattice of steel frames span the entire site and encloses the theatre and its auxiliary spaces.
2008 2009 2010 2011
17
Concrete fins run the length of the site and drop down to the canal to allow access to the water.
2004 2005 2006 2007
18
The building envelope negotiates the conditions between inside and outside.
The series of parallel concrete fins which originate from the steel rails of the retractable bridge.
2008 2009 2010 2011
19
The sectional model reveals the sliding backdrops which move between public and private space.
2004 2005 2006 2007
20
WELCOME CENTERJunior Studio: Methods and Form in Architecture IIKampong Welcome Center, Miami, FL Jointly designed with Adrian LatortueProfessor: Dean Sakamoto Joyce Hsiang
This Welcome Center for a botanical garden in Miami FL, was conceptualized as a landscape of mangrove roots lifting out of the ground to shelter visitors and contain program. The material strategy made use of local timber, and addressed the tropical climate. The open pavilion was oriented to allow coastal winds to ventilate the sheltered areas. The welcome center straddled the boundary wall, connecting the two sides of the Kampong, and elevated the visitors to a 360 degree view of the garden.
The design allowed for planting and natural growth in openings integrated into the structure.
The site plan shows the location of the boundary wall as bridged by the welcome pavilion.
2008 2009 2010 2011
21
Physical model showing ramp over boundary wall as well as openings in decking for plant growth.
22
23
2004 2005 2006 2007
24
LIVE/WORK SPACEJunior Studio: Methods and Form in Architecture IIFilm Director’s Home/Studio, West 15th Street, New YorkProfessor: Dean Sakamoto Joyce Hsiang
The design began with the expression of program within individual extruded volumes, cut by incisions that marked the change in angle of the Manhattan grid. The film studio was suspended in the center, surrounded and protected by adjacent residential functions. Interior volumes were punctured to frame views across space, evoking the narrative sequence of a film.
Sketch of visual relationship between individual towers.
Site model showing relationship between existing façades and proposed design.
2008 2009 2010 2011
25
Diagram depicting the evolution of the design from an angled-grid, through vertical extrusion to spatial hollowing.
Several study models examine the envelope and structure of the space.
26
THIRD FLOOR
SECOND FLOOR
FIRST FLOOR
2008 2009 2010 2011
27
The design maintains distinct volumes connected by bridges and landings on multiple levels.
2004 2005 2006 2007
28
QUARRY SHELTERSenior Studio:Shelter at Stoney Creek Quarry, CT Professor: Turner Brooks Adam Hopfner
This project explored the experience of the ‘intimate’ and the ‘immense’ at Stony Creek Quarry. The structure provided a contemplative space for one or two people nested within the fragmented rock face. Both natural and artificial surfaces combined to produce a double volume space contained by an overhead mass of protruding granite.
Approaching on water, the visitor becomes aware of the secluded shelter which screens the sun’s rays and mimics the angular facets of the bedrock surface.
Added platforms and screens transform the immense rock face into a zone of intimacy.
LEVEL 4
LEVEL 3
LEVEL 2
LEVEL 1
2008 2009 2010 2011
29
Bird’s-eye and worm’s-eye views.
2004 2005 2006 2007
30
TIDAL POOL University of Cape TownDesign & Theory Studio IProfessor: Sonja Petrus Spamer
This project required the design of a tidal pool on the beach in Kommetjie, Cape Town. It was necessary to make use of the De Stijl style and concrete slabs of given proportions. A prominent rock provided the pivot for two linear walkways. Inhabitable walls stretched into the ocean and allowed swimmers to descend into the water at various depths.
Hand drawn site plan showing water levels and changing rooms.
2008 2009 2010 2011
31
SECTIONAL HOUSEJunior Studio: Methods and Form in Architecture IHouse Interpretation Professor: Bimal Mendis Peggy Deamer
This project imaginatively reconstructed a given house section in depth both vertically and horizontally.
It negated orthogonal conventions by introducing an oblique volume behind the plane of vision. The given section was taken as public, while the imagined was private. The house was sunk into the ground to achieve greater sectional tension.
Hand drawings showing given section cut and subsequent interpreted plan.
2004 2005 2006 2007
34
Exploded axonometric hand drawing. Several laminated pieces compose the chair-like structure.
2008 2009 2010 2011
35
Various positions are possible according to the distribution of weight.
Vertical human weight counteracts horizontal load of plywood.
BALANCING ACTJunior Studio: Methods and Form in Architecture IIJointly designed with Kristin NotwehrProfessor: Dean Sakamoto Joyce Hsiang
This project required the design of a structure from a single sheet of 8’x 4’ commercial plywood, that withstood the weight of a human body.
The project drew its inspiration from a wine bottle holder that balanced the weight of the bottle against gravity.
2004 2005 2006 2007
36
NINE SQUARE GRIDJunior Studio: Methods and Form in Architecture I Professor: Bimal Mendis Peggy Deamer
This 4 week long exercise developed an understanding of gridding as design strategy. Successive iterations worked with point, surface, volume and color. Careful attention was given to model craft and line drawing.
Week 4 model explored color as a means of visual circulation in and around the 9 square grid.
2008 2009 2010 2011
37
PAPER LAMPSHADE Introduction to Architecture
Professor: Alexander Purves
The design of a self supportive lampshade for a wall-mounted light fixture, made entirely out of paper. A single sheet is scored and held by a laminated paper arch.
The lamp shade was designed to project beyond the bulb and to be sufficiently rigid to prevent the paper from scorching or burning.
2004 2005 2006 2007
40
OITA LIBRARY ANALYSISJunior Studio: The Analytic ModelProfessor: Ariane Lourie Harrison
An analysis of the Oita Prefecture Library by Arata Isozaki (1966) explored tectonic, massing, circulation, and program.
The tectonic model studied the building according to the logic of traditional Japanese wood framing construction. The massing analysis explored the organization of solid and void through a sequence of sectional cuts.
The investigation into circulation documented foot traffic, translating it into wall thickness.
The program model explored view and privacy as experienced by a user of the library.
The tectonic model interpreted as a system of hanging elements.
2008 2009 2010 2011
41
The massing model is assembled like a pack of playing cards. Section cuts are taken at decisive moments along the east west axis of the building.
SECTION 9
SECTION 10
SECTION 11
SECTION 12
SECTION 13
SECTION 14
SECTION 15
SECTION 16
SECTION 1
SECTION 2
SECTION 3
SECTION 4
SECTION 5
SECTION 6
SECTION 8
SECTION 7
42
2004 2005 2006 2007
A diagrammatic interpretation of the library’s structural walls according to foot traffic.
42
43
2008 2009 2010 2011
Blue and orange signify zones of view and privacey respectively.
Blue nodes indicate locations of privacy for study, overlooking the reading rooms and library stacks.
43
2004 2005 2006 2007
44
zones of change in Dubai’s coastline, 1973 to 2006
DUBAI STUDY Envisioning CitiesJointly produced with Benjamin SachsProfessor: Joyce Hsiang
For the Dubai real estate developer, the city, desert and ocean are treated as tabula rasa for the proliferation of resorts whose master plans resemble horizontal billboards. As seen from satellite images on the internet and upon approach in an airplane these islands simultaneously advertise themselves in a city of ultimate transience.
This phenomenon erases the stability of Dubai’s coastline, creating a dystopia of autonomous master plans, each devouring its neighboring iconographic resort in a lagoon of billboards.
Each one mile square grid of Dubai’s coastline is extruded up or down according to the length of coastline in 2006 as compared to the length in 1973.
2008 2009 2010 2011
45
An imagined map of the future Dubai presenting numerous commercial islands designed in plan according to a company logo or popular icon.
2004 2005 2006 2007
46
00:00:20 00:00:27 00:00:33 00:00:44
00:01:00 00:01:07 00:01:12 00:01:16
00:01:40 00:01:42 00:01:46 00:02:04
Day and night footage reveals the disparate levels of traffic and the kind of activity within the parking garage.
2008 2009 2010 2011
47
STREET FIGHTER FILMEnvisioning CitiesFilm featuring the Temple Street Garage by Paul Rudolph.Professor: Joyce Hsiang
Through a series of still images, animated sequences and motion videos, this short film examined the daily cycles of the Temple Street Parking Garage in central New Haven. The quantity of traffic around the periphery of the building and cars parked inside the garage vary according to the time of day. The film explores the anthropomorphic idea that garages live and breathe in relation to their surroundings and frequency of use.
http://vimeo.com/33103726
00:00:45 00:00:5500:00:53
00:01:19 00:01:3800:01:20
00:02:10 00:02:4400:02:16
2004 2005 2006 2007
50
LEKKER DESIGNSAS-HALF MOON
This project was a competition entry for an extension to the Singapore American School. The design of the façade sought to develop a unique architectural language for the campus while adhering to Singapore’s tropical climate.
A louvered system surrounded the existing semicircular classrooms and took the form of two unequal arches, with the major arch addressing the campus entry. A sense of place was amplified by wrapping images of local flora around the façade.
Parametric façade studies developed a system of louvers representing Vana Miss Joaquim orchids, which wrapped around a semi-circle.
Series of procedural models showing the derivation of the half-cylinder’s form.
Partners Joshua Comaroff in charge: Ong Ker-Shing
Role: Assistant Designer
2008 2009 2010 2011
51
View of the roof garden beneath the arching louvers above the classrooms.
View of the major arch which provides a memorable landmark at the campus entry.
2004 2005 2006 2007
52
LEBOW COLLEGE OF BUSINESS (Far Right)
At Robert A.M. Stern Architects I was also involved in the design development of the Le Bow College of Business at Drexel University, Philadelphia, PA. Through a series of half-scale working models, I helped study the school’s interior atrium and staircase.
RAMSAMARIST COLLEGECAMPUS GATES While at Robert A.M. Stern Architects in New York, I worked on the construction documentation of the new Campus Gates at Marist College, Poughkeepsie, NY. This project required technical drawing work and three-dimensional renderings to satisfy both client and contractor. I worked closely with architect Kevin Smith to finalize design details in the model and in the issued drawings.
Scanned copy of Main Gate in-progress rendering describing collaboration with architect.
South and Main Gate elevations and sections. 3-D vignette detailing chamfered brickwork surrounding guardhouse window.
2008 2009 2010 2011
53
Foam core model built at½” = 1’ 0”. Design development focused on the interior façades and main staircase.
2004 2005 2006 2007
56
SENIOR HIGHSCHOOL ARTPaintings addressed issues of contemporary living by critically examining the meanings of iconic images and mundane objects through their humorous juxtaposition.
Works used a multi medium of acrylic paint, charcoal and calligraphy pen on stretched canvas measuring roughly 40” x 60”.
Produced during the peak of the Iraq war, this piece examines an American mind-set.
This piece responds to the words “Light emissions and mechanical tensions.”
SKREWEDLIGHT ENERGY
2008 2009 2010 2011
57
An examination of consumer culture led to this tongue-and-cheek identification of “the real bad wolf”.
This work comments on the discrepancies of contemporary South African living.
This work explores the kinetic elements of stationary art and art making.
KING KONGBREAKING THE CODE ART MOVEMENT
2004 2005 2006 2007
PENALTY SHOOT-OUT - KUMBA
PRE-FINAL CEREMONY - KUMBA
VICTORS CELEBRATION - KUMBA
NATIONAL STADIUM - YAOUNDE
CAMEROONSOCCERIn the summer of 2009, co-captain Alfredo Molinas and I organized a youth soccer tournament in Kumba, a small rural town in Cameroon. Over a period of three weeks, ten under-fourteen soccer teams competed on Kumba’s central field adjacent it’s local brewery. It was incredible to see the attention that the matches generated both on the sidelines and in the local media. The tournament attracted crowds of up to 400 people who came together to support their favorite team.
Following the tournament, I practiced with a soccer team on a dusty field called ‘Omni-Sport’ opposite the National Stadium in Yaoundé. Every day this field not only attracted players and spectators but also food vendors and commuters queuing for taxis. In witnessing firsthand, the powerful gathering force that this sport offers I became interested in multiuse public recreational space in an African context.
I found the ‘Omni-Sport’ intersection particularly vibrant and have since reflected on its potential as a site for a multipurpose community center, taxi interchange and soccer facility. Alongside are images taken in Kumba and Yaoundé.
2008 2009 2010 2011
59
OMNI-SPORT FIELD - YAOUNDE
OMNI-SPORT SPECTATORS - YAOUNDE
OMNI-SPORT VENDOR - YAOUNDEOMNI-SPORT INTERCHANGE - YAOUNDE
2004 2005 2006 2007
60
SINGAPORE SKETCHESSince arriving in Singapore in mid July 2011, I have been interested in the Housing & Development Board’s public housing projects. Housing complexes, locally named HDB’s, are built primarily to provide affordable housing and are home to more than 80% of Singaporeans. These developments also include schools, supermarkets, clinics, food courts as well as sports and recreational facilities aimed at facilitating comprehensive community life. As such, public housing in Singapore does not generally have the same stigma associated with poverty or lower standards of living as in other countries.
While the HDB is steadily building new and more sophisticated communities, the Land Transport Authority is trying to alleviate traffic load on heavily utilized expressways. The proposed North-South Expressway will serve the increasing travel demand between the islands north and northeastern sectors. While this expressway is expected to reduce travel time by 30% it will require demolishing
Rochor Centre; a 30 year old HDB complex. Although residents at Rochor Centre will be offered relocation benefits, their sense of neighborhood and community will undoubtedly be lost.
For Singaporeans and foreigners who prefer and can afford a higher standard of accommodation, a plethora of privately owned condominiums are available for rent. One such condominium that greatly inspires me, is the Colonnade by Paul Rudolph built in 1984. This building, which resembles a stack of shipping containers, reflects Rudolph’s interest in Archigram’s proposed megastructures and the Japanese metabolist movement of the 1960’s. While the design of the Colonnade is centered on the use of prefabricated, modular units, the actual construction was carried out using traditional cast-in-place concrete, which serves the fluidity of the buildings expression.
Alongside are sketches of The Colonnade and the soon to be demolished Rochor Centre.
Sketch of the plaza at Rochor Centre
2008 2009 2010 2011
61
Sketch of the duplex units showing the self- shading nature of the solid void design.
Sketch of the Colonnade depicting the building’s modular concrete form.
