Houston Drum

Interlace

Houston — Sun, 11 Jul 2010 16:45:39 +0000

Interlace: Architectural Furniture | A Collaboration with FoxLin
ROGUE Design: 5 from CA Exhibit
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Design Team | Houston Drum, Michael Fox, Juintow Lin
Fabrication Team | Houston Drum, Michael Fox, Juintow Lin, Tony Pacheco, Brandon Gullotti, Ian Carney
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Interlace is an architectural furniture environment designed to accommodate a variety of social scenarios, including both small intimate conversations and large group gatherings. Due to its commanding presence in a space, Interlace is not only a host for these social situations, it is a catalyst. This design interweaves interior and exterior elements with mutual emphasis by creating a semi-enclosed interior and simultaneously allowing for an open connection to the exterior. The functional uses of the environment including seating, armrests, bars, and shelving are embedded within the formal language. A series of cross-sectional profiles are pushed and pulled individually but are ultimately blended together creating one coherent object. The duo-tone finish further accentuates the graphical nature of the extruded form.

[ interlace site ]

Interlace at the ROGUE Design: 5 from CA Exhibit opening

Houston — Sun, 11 Jul 2010 16:01:00 +0000

The opening for the exhibit was a huge success. We discovered that Interlace not only lived up to our envision of being a host for a social atmosphere, but it actually was the catalyst that created the social environment at the gallery. The opening was lively, and Interlace was used for an array of uses, from seating to even a jungle-gym playground for children. Thanks to all who attended, we appreciate your presence. Please look at our site for the project, and the FoxLin website below:

Interlace Website
FoxLin Website

25 Hour City on eVolo Blog

Houston — Wed, 16 Jun 2010 20:17:27 +0000

The 25 Hour City made it to the eVolo blog, check it out here:

eVolo | Los Angeles Skyscraper in 2040

Rogue Designs Exhibit

Houston — Thu, 10 Jun 2010 17:18:43 +0000

In collaboration with Foxlin, I was invited to participate in the ROGUE DESIGNS: 5 from CA Exhibit at LA Contemporary in West Hollywood. We are installing a high-end furniture environment that is intended to be used in a highly social environment such as a club, lounge, or hotel. The functional uses of the environment such as seating, tables, bars, and shelving are embedded within the language of the environment, blending together as one object. The exhibit will be open from July 10 – August 28. Images will follow shortly hopefully.

Cal Poly Pomona Final Reviews

Houston — Wed, 10 Mar 2010 23:58:19 +0000

I was invited to be a jury member for the second year final reviews, as well as Michael Fox’s fourth and fifth year topic studio. The second year is doing a Japanese Tea Museum in Little Tokyo. The project for Michael’s studio is a human colony on Mars.

Submitted for eVolo 2010 Skyscraper Competition

Houston — Tue, 09 Feb 2010 04:42:48 +0000

I recently submitted the 25 Hour City for the 2010 eVolo Skyscraper Competition. There are no restrictions in regards to site, program or size. The objective is to provide maximum freedom to propose the most innovative projects for this fascinating architectural genre. The winners and special mentions will be published in several magazines including eVolo_04. Results will be available on March 8th.

eVolo | Architecture and Design Magazine

25 Hour City

Houston — Tue, 09 Feb 2010 01:28:15 +0000

University of California, Los Angeles
Masters of Architecture II
Suprastudio | Megavoids!
Professor Neil M. Denari
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Location | El Toro MCAS | Irvine, California
Site Area | 10.8 sq km
Population | 800,000 people
Density | 80,000 per sq km
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Built Area | 24,600,000 sq meters
Open Space | 5 sq km | 6.5 m2 per person
Towers | 9 Towers | 180 m – 580 m tall
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Tower Height | 580 meters | 145 stories
Tower Width | 280 meters
Tower Inhabitants | 75,000 people
Tower Floor Area | 2,290,000 sq meters
Tower Atrium Space | 120,000 sq meters
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As we move toward the year 2040, the demands for energy, mobility and space in Los Angeles continue to grow in a region already overwhelmed with urban sprawl, traffic congestion, scarce open space, and inferior public transportation. Excessive autonomy of living situations and transportation are at the root of these problems. The 25-Hour City looks to oppose the Los Angeles urban model of autonomy by creating an urban environment with hyper-density and vibrancy by incorporating everything, everywhere, all the time. The hyper-mixing of program allows for the freedom of continuous work or leisure at anytime of the day or night. This urban configuration is coupled with the programmatic dispersal of commercial, residential, retail, public, and recreational space to fulfill the 25-Hour City concept.
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This vertical proposal accomplishes the ultimate level of sustainable responsibility vis-à-vis hyper levels of land-use efficiency. By condensing 75,000 people in one tower, transportation needs are reduced substantially while open space on the ground level is maintained. When dealing with the hyper-dense situation of 80,000 people / km2, parameters of natural light and ventilation become the most prominent influences on zoning and massing throughout the city. Using these parameters of light and air to understand limits in density that can happen at the ground level, the only logical way for a city to grow is vertically. Through the use of this logic, swells in the urban fabric are created that evolve into vertical cities where the limits of density cease to exist.
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Cities as we know it achieve variety through zoning distributions along the horizontal plane; this 25-Hour Tower proposal investigates how this programmatic variety can be accomplished in a vertical format. In order to create a city that includes a multitude of program types and sizes in a vertical situation, the overall building area must increase substantially compared to a typical high-rise in order to provide an extensive amount of programmatic and spatial diversity within the structure. The varieties embedded within a city are developed through different program types and sizes and their mixture. This vertical city proposal reaches a level of ultimate diversity by being composed in a fashion that creates micro-autonomous areas of one program typology, a multitude of mixed program areas, as well as areas of hyper-diversity.
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The vertical city is composed of networked strands of program that expand and contract in their spacing between one another in order to create the desired level of variety. This alteration in the spacing of the strands does not affect the amount of program embedded within the building; the degree of compaction determines the level of programmatic diversity that occurs. A vertical city is also faced with technical issues such as vertical circulation, natural light, ventilation, and structure. The control of these technical parameters are embedded within the massing strategy used for programmatic distribution. The spacing of the strands develops voids for natural light and ventilation, and the continuity of the strand network maintains structural integrity for the massing. A dynamic and robust vertical circulation system is produced by developing a hierarchical system of express and local elevators that create multiple ways to reach a single destination.

[ suprastudio website ]

25 Hour City | Parametrics

Houston — Tue, 09 Feb 2010 01:24:17 +0000

University of California, Los Angeles
Masters of Architecture II
Professor David Gerber
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This is about the parametric case studies performed on the 25 Hour City.

Balut Sac

Houston — Tue, 09 Feb 2010 01:00:29 +0000

University of California, Los Angeles
Masters of Architecture II
Professor Jason Payne
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Digital surfaces that are topologically complex often contain the potential to become monocoques, semi monocoques, or superleggera. Monocoques require that the surface be entirely self-supporting, without the requirement of any secondary structural frame. While rare, such surfaces do exist and simply require careful design of the geometry of the surface itself such that it resists failure through its shape alone. Domes and other form-active shell shapes are examples of pure monocoques. In additon to shape, material choice and scale determine whether a particular surface may be constructed as a true monocoque. Further, clever detailing of key edges through rolling, creasing, pinching, and folding to create manifold surfaces often add strength without compromising the purity of the monocoque category. Semi-monocoques are far more common and arise when an otherwise self-structuring (monocoque) surface contains regions of structural instability that require some degree of framed reinforcement. Generally speaking, semi-monocoques arise when changes to the design of a monocoque to produce complete structural stability in the surface alone (through shape, scale, or material) would compromise the desired overall shape (for example, a modified dome.) Superleggera are tube frames (closely resembling wire-frames) that are sufficiently fine in scale and abundant in number of elements that they approximate a surface. For our purposes, superleggera will be used as the framing that augments compromised monocoques. In other words, a move from a monocoque to a semi-monocoque will be achieved through superleggera.

Play It Safe

Houston — Tue, 09 Feb 2010 00:45:31 +0000

2009 Pool Safety Design Competition
Drowning Prevention Foundation
Second Place
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Drowning prevention technology such as fences and alarms are devices that have been implemented in residential swimming pools for quite some time. However they have only been implemented as autonomous objects “tacked on” to typical pool installations. This proposal looks to fully integrate different methods of drowning prevention into the pool design without sacrificing aesthetic qualities of the project. By integrating these safety devices with the same style and sensibility of the project design, drowning prevention can occur without a blatant obstruction of the swimming pool’s visual qualities.
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In this proposal, four major forms of drowning prevention are implemented. Perhaps the easiest and most assured way of preventing a child from drowning is to create a fence or other form of barrier. However, a banal implementation of an extruded iron fence or a device of similar caliper is a tacky solution that only reduces the aesthetic beauty of a swimming pool and a backyard in general. By using the soil removed from the ground as the pool is being excavated, earth-formed terraces are created as natural barriers that can be implemented into the design on three sides of the pool in order to only allow entrance from one side of the pool. These natural terraces are a better solution than a typical fence because they create a safer environment and heighten the aesthetics of the pool and backyard environment.
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Although the system of terrace barriers is a safe solution, it is impossible and undesirable to completely surround the pool and prevent children from entering with this method. We implemented an early warning system as a long band of “Sensi-Steps” running across the ground a few feet before the pool edge. When a child steps on one of these pressure sensitive tiles, an alarm will sound in the house, and give time for the parent to react before the child even reaches the water. As a last resort item and a back-up alarm to the Sensi-Steps, sub-surface disturbance sensors are integrated in a flush manner into the walls of the pool to sound another alarm in case the child falls in the pool.
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The final preventative method is to ensure clear views from the interior of the house to the pool area. A non-obstructive view is created by using no walls, no planter walls, no vegetation such as trees and plants, and minimal furniture in between the sight lines from the interior of the living areas of the house to the pool. This allows for parents to be inside the house with the ability to have a full view of their children playing in the backyard and allows them to be aware when the child meanders towards the swimming pool.

Vert.edu

Houston — Mon, 08 Feb 2010 22:04:06 +0000

California State Polytechnic University, Pomona
Bachelor of Architecture | Undergraduate Thesis
Professor Juintow Lin
Professor Norberto Nardi
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Location | Downtown Los Angeles | 11th St & Figueroa St
Site Area | 4.5 acres
Building Height | 790 feet | 54 stories
Building Area | 1.1 million square feet
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Students | 2400 Students
Faculty | 133 Faculty
Floors 1-13 | University | Schools of Architecture, Business, and Law
Floors 14-37 | Professional Offices
Floors 38-54 | Residential Facilities
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Like much of the world, the United States is experiencing intense growth in and around its cities. As natural land gives way to strip malls and suburban housing, the environmental balance of exurban and countryside areas in America becomes increasingly uncertain. It is apparent the built environment continues to grow, and urban sprawl in Los Angeles is getting worse. As a consequence, land resources in Los Angeles are rapidly dwindling as more structures are realized. It comes a time when the skyscraper is evolving from its near universal perception as a device of economic speculation into the more established realization that it alone will permit us to achieve the urban densities needed to live sustainably on this planet.
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The city of Los Angeles lacks both a city icon that represents the modern skyscraper trend, and a vibrant Downtown experience of retail, culture and other attractions. An iconic skyscraper hosting a vertical university implemented into Downtown would begin to reverse the symptoms of urban sprawl by significantly increasing the population within the city’s central core, which would in turn spark the growth of retail and culture development. A new university is necessary in Southern California in order to prevent the undeniable future of overcrowding issues in institutions that will have no choice but to prohibit qualified individuals from obtaining a higher education. Due to the depleting land resources and the rising commute times, Los Angeles must begin to develop vertically once again in order to discourage urban sprawl and encourage densification of the city core. The vertical university is the answer to these present issues in Los Angeles and is a proactive agent against foreseeable concerns of the future.
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The building and site are arranged to draw people into the site from the main entertainment area of the Staples Center and L.A. Live, the main entertainment locations adjacent to the site. The main pathway draws people toward the atrium inside the skyscraper. This path steps down into an area intended to become the main interaction location on the site which represents the university quad. This connection between the urban surroundings and the university are key to the survival of an intercity educational institution.
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The atrium extends throughout the entire university, in order to provide a connecting element between all levels of the institution, as well as be the mediator between the building and the university quad. A skip-stop elevator system is implemented, forcing students and faculty to enter and exit the elevator system every three floors. Sky lobbies are placed on these levels, as the occupants are forced to circulate through these spaces, creating a level of interaction desirable for a university. From these sky lobbies located within the atrium, the occupant can then take a stairway to his or her desired level. All occupants of the building must first take the set of elevators located within the atrium and then proceed to pass through the transitional floor located on level four. This public set of elevators extends from the parking levels underground up to the fourth floor. It accesses all the student center levels and the administration. The transitional floor contains the access for each set of elevators going to the university, professional offices and residential facilities. The main structural system of the building is a space-frame structure derived in Paracloud. This structure serves as not only a means to realize the form, it serves to aid in the unification of the skyscraper as one entity, while there are multiple uses housed within.

[ download thesis research paper ]

re[TH]inking retail

Houston — Mon, 08 Feb 2010 21:47:32 +0000

California State Polytechnic University, Pomona
Bachelor of Architecture | 5th Year
Professor Sarah Lorenzen
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Location | Hollywood, California | Hollywood Blvd & Highland Ave
Floor Area | 10,000 square feet
Building Height | 76 feet | 5 stories
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This proposal for a TAG Heuer flagship store is sited along Hollywood Boulevard, directly across from the Hollywood and Highland Center. While people worldwide are attracted to Hollywood Boulevard as a symbol of glamour and entertainment, they are often disappointed by the reality of the place. In the last few years there has been significant economic investment in the area, which aims to re-establish Hollywood as a prestigious, urban, and fast-paced environment with a vibrant nightlife. While there have been economic benefits to the area from new development, much of the new architecture has been of a homogeneous and sanitized variety. This project has the potential to dramatically rejuvenate Hollywood’s dilapidated urban environment, without stripping the area of its eccentricity and character. The new building allows for an alley to be used as a cut-through to Highland Ave. In the evening this alley will be used for parties and outdoor events, which will help to attract tourists as well as local residents to the area, taking advantage of Hollywood’s active nightlife.
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TAG Heuer is a high-end, innovative Swiss watch company with prices and elite status comparable to that of Rolex, but with a more modern and youthful image. TAG Heuer’s brand identity focuses on its avant-garde technology, innovation, performance, and prestige. The Hollywood flagship project looks to convey the company’s image through its choice of location, its building and retail skin, and its shopping and event activities.
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The project design aims to capture the qualities of a high-performance watch. The building’s exterior and interior skins are highly articulated and intricately engineered, which give the building a strong mechanical feel. The building program consists of a TAG Heuer retail space and event center on the ground floor, and offices for TAG Heuer on the four floors above. The retail space uses raindrop shaped jewelry cases to display the limited edition TAG Heuer watches, and an articulated interior skin with small spherical cases to display the general watch collection. In addition to the watch cases, there will be a bar, a seating area, and a presentation area for potential sponsors and business partners.
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The raindrop-shaped display cases are used to make the experience of trying on a watch more unique and personal (by eliminating the role of the sales agent in the viewing of watches), and also highlights the value and singularity of the limited edition watches. The raindrops have openings on each side, which allow shoppers to reach in and try on a watch, but prevent the watches from being removed. The interior skin is made up of a series of ribbons that fluctuate in and out to create a fluid surface that is also able to hold a large number of spherical watch cases. The skin changes in scale and reaches its peak dimensions at the level of the display capsules. This change in aperture allows more light to penetrate the skin at this height, giving greater attention to the watches being exhibited. To further capture the essence of motion, the lights located behind the display walls are positioned so as to create streaks of light (an effect similar to that of traffic lights photographed using a long shutter speed.)

MSLC-d01

Houston — Mon, 08 Feb 2010 21:36:37 +0000

California State Polytechnic University, Pomona
Bachelor of Architecture | 5th Year
Professor Michael Fox
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Location | Crater on The Moon
Crater Size | 1 mile diameter
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Population | 10,000 people
Infrastructure Towers | 104 Towers
Tower Height | 440 Feet
Colony Sectors | 7 Sectors
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In approximately the year 2020, man will colonize on the Moon. The process of lunar colonization will be taking 10,000 researchers and scientists to the extra-terrestrial body at this time. Typical construction on the moon cannot be achieved, as cranes and steel beams have payloads that render them impossible to be shipped there. The only realistic method of construction is a modular fabrication system based on in-situ resources. Several small robots equipped with a wide variety of tools will be sent to the moon to allocate resources, and fabricate and place modules that will construct the lunar base. The robots have the ability to collect the materials from the moon’s surface, separate them according to their properties, and then internally 3D-print the modules to exact specifications. The robot will then transport the digitally fabricated module and place it into its specific location based on a set of digital parametric plans. This construction process will emerge into the entire colony.
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To sustain life on the moon, many different supportive elements will be implemented into the colony plan in a minimally supportive fashion. A one-mile diameter dome will enclose and protect the lunar compound by maintaining air pressure and a breathable atmosphere. Within the dome, six supportive sectors will be in charge of growing and researching a specific category of items: one sector dedicated to technology and communication, one in charge of growing genetically engineered meat, two for vegetation, one for textiles, and one for raising fish. Each of these sectors will bring their finished products to the distribution center within the central core of the colony so that they may be re-allocated to the rest of the residents. Research and product growth facilities will take place in large towers within each sector, in order to maximize surface area and reduce the needed size of the dome. Each tower has access to a subterranean level which is connected to the rest of the colony. This underground access is crucial for the occupants’ survival in case of a malfunction or rupture in the dome. These towers are completely air-locked in order to access necessary food supplies in emergency situations.
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The urban form of the MSLC-d01 (Minimally Supportive Lunar Colony-Dome 01) is a free-flowing organic form that breaks the rigidity typically witnessed in spacecraft engineering such as the International Space Station. Considering some residents may inhabit the moon for 2-5 years, the psychological impact of the colony design is imperative to the well-being of the lunar residents. By condensing the built environment and pushing it towards the perimeter of the dome, a vast open space is produced. This open space will be utilized for recreation, fitness, relaxation, as well as the growth trees and other plant species that are too large to reside within the towers. A lunar resident will be able to not only research the moon, but enjoy it through the elegant and organic form that generates a positive and relaxing environment.

[ mslc-d01 blog ]

Realizing Kiesler

Houston — Mon, 08 Feb 2010 21:28:45 +0000

California State Polytechnic University, Pomona
Bachelor of Architecture | 5th Year
Professor Axel Prichard-Schmitzberger
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Frederick Kiesler, architect, artist, and philosopher, began to explore a new kind of “endless” architectural space in 1922 and continued to develop this theme throughout the rest of his life. The biomorphic Endless House was Kiesler’s vision of a free-form, continuous, human-centered living space synthesizing painting, sculpture, architecture, and the environment. This case study explored methods of fabrication and precise construction of non-rational forms and double curvatures surfaces. The focus of our research was to analyze parametric construction techniques to minimize the time and cost used for fabrication and assembly.

Silver Lake Apartments

Houston — Mon, 08 Feb 2010 21:27:18 +0000

California State Polytechnic University, Pomona
Bachelor of Architecture | 3rd Year
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Location | Silver Lake, California
Apartments | 28 Units
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This project is an apartment complex design consisting of 28 apartments with various unit types: 2 bedroom, 3 bedroom, and live/work units. The project is located in Silver Lake, CA, on the corner of Silver Lake Blvd. and Glendale Blvd. In this project I wanted the users to be able to have the ‘American Dream’ even in a multi-family setting. The idea is that each user would have their own private yard or terrace, giving a sense of ownership to their outdoor space. I created an outdoor terrace for every unit in the complex. Each terrace would be open to the surroundings and would allow the user to view the sky, and even the nearby public spaces. However, these terraces would need to be private in some fashion in order to maintain the idea of having a personal outdoor space. This is achieved by making every terrace unable to be seen from any of the other 27 terraces throughout the site. Intersecting planes that would intersect the L and U-shaped volumes are implemented in order to create the necessary visual barriers.

Topanga Residence

Houston — Mon, 08 Feb 2010 21:25:25 +0000

California State Polytechnic University, Pomona
Bachelor of Architecture | 3rd Year
Professor Michael Fox
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Location | Topanga Canyon, California
Building Area | 725 square feet
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Topanga Canyon Residence is a project located in Topanga Canyon, CA. The specific site consists of a 48’ x 24’ lot stretched directly over a small creek, accessed only by two footpaths. The program consists of a living area, dining area, kitchen, bathroom, and bedroom, totaling 700 sq ft. The concept for this design is to have two volumes that extend towards each other from both sides of the creek, and to have them connected by another intersecting volume that would float above the creek. This creates a structure that depends on the floating volume in order to stand. The steel structure consists of parallel chord trusses that are held together by the center suspended portion. To amplify the idea of a heavy suspended center piece, the two volumes consist of full glazing and the center volume is devised of a steel structure with grey-colored plaster siding, giving a similar finish of concrete.
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The user enters the space on the top floor, where the public program is located. This allows for an outdoor terrace a top the roof of the bottom floor that can be used by guests. The living area, dining area, and kitchen are all located on the upper floor for the use of both the owner and the guests. The entire bottom floor is the bedroom, the only fully private space. The one piece of program that needed to be shared between both the public and private programs is the bathroom. The bathroom was placed in the center volume at an intermediate height in order to serve both floors. Suspended stairs are used as a means of vertical circulation, further enhancing the floating effect.