Katherine Champagne

ARCHITECTURE PORTFOLIO

Tulane University · Masters of Architecture · May 2009

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Drawings

Architecture Design

Landscape Design

Professional Work

DRAWINGS

Grossmunster of Zurich, Switzerland 2007

Basel through a restaurant window 2007

Venice, Italy 2007

View of Rome from the Gianicolo Hill, Rome 2007

Street elevation of Viale di Trastevere, Rome 2007

Detailed elevation of Medieval tower

Piazza on Via Coronari, Rome 2007

Doors of the Baths of Diocletian, Rome 2007

New Orleans

Houma

BatonRouge

Houma’s development along natural ridges

Subsidence occurs near canals

Natural Levees Main Waterways Coastal Marsh MarshUpland Hardwood

.5 miles .5 miles

Shallow WaterSwamp

THESIS: HOUMA, LOUISIANA

THESIS: Design can respond to the needs and chang-es of a site with mitigation and adaptability.SITE: At the intersection of two canals, the site has suffered substantial subsidence.PROGRAM: The thesis is explored via a farming village with private functions of housing and farming along with the public programs of a market and bait shop.GOAL: The design intention is to facilitate the system’s return to dynamic equilibrium, specifically through land accretion. The built work immediately functions to stabilize the land. With time and maintenance by the private user, the system will gain land without sediment from exterior sources.

-4 +0 +0-6” +1’ +2’-5’

open water marsh cypress ridge Intracoastal Canal

lilliesalgae phragmites tall grasses

bald cypressphragmites

water oaklive oakChinese tallowswamp maplepalmettoshumard oaksugar berrysweet gumwax myrtlebald cypress

Site Photographs Site Plan and Section Showing Species Changes According to Elevation

-4 +0 +0-6” +1’ +2’-5’

open water marsh cypress ridge Intracoastal Canal

lilliesalgae phragmites tall grasses

bald cypressphragmites

water oaklive oakChinese tallowswamp maplepalmettoshumard oaksugar berrysweet gumwax myrtlebald cypress

PHASE 1: The initial frame for the village and farm system is built, along with the preliminary road system. The succession planting system begins. Development and land accretion follow the natural system of levees.

PHASE 2: As more people move to the village, more agricultural plots are maintained. The perimeters of the garden frames are protected with fruit-producing trees. They provide extensive root structure to trap accumulating detritus. Blackberry vines reinforce the individual mat gardens. They also create much detritus, which aides in the accretion process.

PHASE 3: The large garden frames are now capable of supporting deep-rooted plants. Both the farms and the individual gardens have increased land stability, begun by the steel frame, but now strengthened by root structures. The planting strategy facilitates overstory growth.

Several land restoration projects are currently in process. Research shows that small-scale attempts at wetland restoration have been more cost-effective than large-scale interventions. However, unlike more expensive projects, these small-scale wetland restorations remain succeptable to erosion. Though accelerated by canal dredging, subsidence is a normal phenomenon that would naturally be balanced by sediment delivered during floods. Levees and locks prevent this flooding. To balance the subsidence at the village scale, this project employs a system maintained by the user. Land is accreted through composting at two scales. The larger agricultural intervention is a system of steel frames on subsided land that is currently open water. Compost is supplied to these frames by the garbage of the city of Houma. Accretion also works at the smaller scale of the user, through elevated backyard gardens of a similar steel framing system. Household waste is used for the compost supply. The steel frame systems perform the wetland service of stabilizing the land until the plants of the rehabilitated wetland mature. 60% of garbage is compostable.

62,458 tons garbage were collected from Houma in 2008.

1 ton of compost = 27 cubic feet (after it has settled to half of its original thickness)

The 22 acre farm (now open water 4-8’ below sea level) requires 283,994 tons compost to return to +0.

In 7.5 years, it would be possible for the entire farm area to return +0, sea level.

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FRAME: The framing system, based on the pin foundation system, is inspired by local weav-ing traditions. The frame acts to stabilize both the land and the dwelling in the event of a hurricane.

8 feet

SUBWAY SYSTEM: ROME, ITALYSITE: The site’s temple ruins were found during excava-tions for the Metro C subway line.PROGRAM: Students designed a subway stop and a mu-seum. The main obstacle was designing engagement with the site without tampering with the existing ruins.DESIGN: Consisting of two paths through the ruins, the descending ramp provides access through the site and the museum to the subway while the descending plat-forms offer visitor the opportunity to experience the site at various levels and proximities to the ruins

Site Plan

Concept Rendering

ProgramPaths

Photos showing conditions at site

Diagram illustrating the program change as the ramp descends from the temples through museum, cafe and ticketing areas to the metro level.

Diagram of the two paths through the site. The red ramp leads from street to the metro level. The blue platforms slowly descend through the ruins and under the ramp. At the lowest point is the entrance to the museum.

Street Level

STREET LEVEL

Concept diagram

10m0

Largo and Exhibition LevelRetail and Ticketing Level Metro Level

B

A

Section B5meters

LARGO AND EXHIBITION LEVEL TICKET LEVEL METRO LEVEL

Rendering showing ramp descending through the museum

Section A5meters

Section of museum, retail and metro areas

J.P. MORGAN CHASE COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT COMPETITION 2008: Participating teams were composed of architecture and business school students. The teams of students each partnered with a local non-profit organization. The competition facilitated the assessment of the redevelopment needs of a specific com-munity. Because the Pontilly area was before Katrina the home of the highest concentration of seniors, the neighborhood association wished for a retirement community to be built in the area. This would allow seniors to move back to their neighborhood without the issue of rebuilding. The architecture team closely examined the need for this type of facility in the area, the specific programs feasible, and the most appro-priate location for the facility. The architecture team acted as a bridge between the community and the business team. This required understanding what programs the neighborhood saw as vital and working to fit these programs into the tight budget. The final proposal consisted of the design and the business plan. The Tulane team won third place in the national competition and $10,000 for the Pontilly Neighborhood.

PONTILLY RETIREMENT COMMUNITY: NEW ORLEANS

SITE: After careful study of the Pon-tilly neighborhood, we decided to place the Retirement village at the edge of Ponchartrain Park. This al-lowed longterm leasing with the city and could bring more attention to the historical golf course.

PROGRAM: After studying the area’s demographics, the team decided that a 100-person assisted living facil-ity and a 70-person independent liv-ing facility would serve the needs of neighborhood and the larger metro-politan area. DESIGN: The clusters of independent living form the perimeter of the fa-cility. The community members expressed a strong desire to be in close proximity to their vehicles. The design team wanted each unit to face nature. The assisted living quar-ters are placed with the gymnasium and the cafeteria, to allow the more delicate members to be adjacent to the most activity.

LANDSCAPE: A lagoon was exca-vated to aide in drainage control and to assist in raising the living por-tions of the site four feet, the legal requirement of the area. Paths around the lagoon enable commu-nity members to enjoy nature and remain active.

SouthernUniversityCampus

DrivingRange

Golf Course

PRES

S

Assisted Living

IndependentLiving

Clusters

Site Plan Senior Village

PATTERSON COURTYARD: TULANE UNIVERSITY CAMPUSSITE: Located at the edge of Tulane’s campus, the court-yard behind Patterson dorm has the potential to be a optimal study area. The space is rarely utilizaed because of the exposure to the dorm’s common room.DESIGN: The courtyard layout is designed to create se-cluded areas for studying. Plants block views from the common room and the sidewalk. The planting strategy has a sculptural quality to be viewed from the adjacent dorms. The slate tiles of the existing plan along with the existing water oak were utilized in the final design.

Site Conditions

Rendered Plan8 feet

JAVIER SALINAS ARQUITECTOS: SAN JOSE, COSTA RICA

COMEDOR

COCINA

SALAVISITANTES

JARDIN

SERVICIO

COMEDOR

COCINA

SALAVISITANTES

JARDIN

SERVICIO

techos

planta

ASSIGNMENT: The client wanted 20 houses for a neighbor-hood development. Each employee developed a design based on a sketch from the principal. DESIGN: The firm’s design aesthetic is based on the creation of space not only with walls, but also with variation of mate-rial, light, and level.

Ground Level Plan

Roof Plan

Rendering of entrance

Elevation back facade

Elevation front facade