C a e s a r s P a r k B o a t h o u s eM i l w a u k e e , W I

One of the primary drivers behind this design was the idea of knitting together the various orientations of the artificial street grids and the natural direction of the river. This was not only a response to the site but provided opportunities to take advantage of the views while controlling the approach. The boathouse and office programs were separated into a pair of structures, oriented along different axes.

These major axes represent the hard edge of the shoreline and the pedestrian bridge to the north. The ground between these axes and the program assigned to them has been inscribed with the memory of separation. The resulting fractured wall and earthen stair both trace the arc of this separation and serve as armatures to unite the structures in plan and section.

The space that evolved from investigations of site and history is meant to be a synthesis of existing natural and imposed artificial conditions along the Milwaukee River. The precipitous change in elevation of some sixty feet from the surrounding residential blocks to the water provides an environment of surprising repose in the park, despite its being surrounded on all sides by active areas of the city.

H o n o r a b l e M e n t i o n , U W M S t u d e n t D e s i g n C o m p e t i t i o n ( 2 0 0 6 )

G a l l e r y / S t u d i o / R e s i d e n c eM i l w a u k e e , W I

This site lies at the junction of two competing grids, both in zoning and physical orientation. There exists at this junction an opportunity to resolve these patterns in a single site. The hybrid nature of this program - a series of spaces serving the living and creative activities of a group of artisan woodworkers- provides a particularly rich set of tools to accomplish this resolution.

The commerical side of Downer Avenue is addressed with the most commercial elements of the program, the workshop space and the gallery. The residential program is situated along Belleview. The unifying element of this design is a wall that alternately surrounds and penetrates the various volumes. This wall recalls the facades of the shops along Downer in its material composition and normative apertures while holding the scalloped edge of the residences as a retaining wall for the front yard. There is an internal courtyard intended as a primarily private space for the artisan-residents to congregate and pass from their housing to their workshops. There is the opportunity, however, to occasionally open this space to the public for outdoor displays, classes, or other events.

The gallery volume that punctuates the corner steps down into the workshop space, allowing for a component of the gallery experience to involve the work in progress. The workshop space makes an important transition between the multi-story retail buildings on the west side of Downer and the single story coach-houses on the east side. A series of rolling doors on the workshop facade serve the practical purpose of allowing delivery of materials and equipment to the workshop while recalling the garages down the street.

A r c h i t e c t ` s O f f i c e / S h o w r o o m Milwaukee, WI

This design for a hybrid space in the rapidly developing Walker`s Point neighborhood of Milwaukee combines a retail showroom for an architectural hardware manufacturer with the offices of an architecture firm. A unique challenge for these related businesses was the integration of program while maintaining separate entrances. The distribution of public and private spaces within this program suggested the precedent of a basilica-and-cloister plan. The more public retail spaces front Pittsburgh Avenue- the side aisle of the basilican plan is reinterpreted as an exterior arcade, creating a multi-story entry space.

The creative activities of the architecture studio are arranged around the central cloister. Workspaces all share a view of this meditative internal courtyard. At the junction between these two programs, shared administrative and physical plant spaces serve as both the literal and figurative lynchpin for the building.

T h i r d P l a c e , U W M S t u d e n t D e s i g n C o m p e t i t i o n ( 2 0 0 6 )

T r i a t h l o n T r a i n i n g C e n t e rMilwaukee, WI

This challenging infill site in Milwaukee`s Fifth Ward afforded the opportunity to both engage the historical context and offer an advancement of the architectural language. The rigor and intensity of ironman triathlon training seemed appropriately situated in this gritty industrial neighborhood, directly bounded to the west by the tracks of a freight rail line.

By responding to the regulating lines and rhythms of the surrounding brick storefront buildings, a common starting point was established. From there, elements of the immediate context morph into a unified modern expression. The terra-cotta panel rainscreen system recalls the surrounding cream city brick and the glass curtain wall introduces a syncopation in the rhythm establishedby the adjacent fenestration.

S e c o n d P l a c e , U W M S t u d e n t D e s i g n C o m p e t i t i o n ( 2 0 0 6 )

basement

first floor

second floor

third floor

fourth floor

A p e r t u r e A n a l y z e

Sectionally, the space is initially compressed as one ascends to the cantilevered entry. Both the change in ceiling height and the opening in the roof above the hearth is meant to draw one inside.

The plan seeks to retain the original element of a stacked wood wall. The metal tube volume allows the desk to be facing the only fully open window in the structure. The desk aperture is a reinterpretation of the Jaapanese tokonoma with its staggered height shelf. The shelf becomes the writing desk and the enshrined object becomes the view of Walden Pond. The point at which the desk height steps down is aligned with the entry axis.

Starting with an idea about Thoreau`s airy cabin clad with widely-spaced boards as a primary aperture, I began to develop what was essentially an inhabitable wood shed. The stacked wood acted functionally as both a secondary skin and fuel for a small hearth. The cycle of accumulation, use, and replenishment served as a gauge for the seasons; a kind of constantly evolving veil that was airy in the summer months when the need for wood was low and relatively opaque during the winter when the hearth was more active.

The irregular interstices created by the courses of stacked wood achieved the striations of dark and light I proposed as Thoreau`s view of the world outside.

H o n o r a b l e M e n t i o n , U W M S t u d e n t D e s i g n C o m p e t i t i o n ( 2 0 0 7 )

Each elevation shows a slightly different intersection of the three materials, as well as a different interpretation of transparency and the veil. The four faces are meant to have an equally diverse effect on the interior spatial experience, alternately allowing some views and suppressing others.

east elevation south elevation north elevation west elevation

exterior looking north interior looking north final modelexterior looking south

A I A 1 5 0 A f f o r d a b l e H o u s i n g R a c i n e, W I

2 0 0 7 N C A R B P r i z e W i n n e r

Pictured here is the final prototype for the Racine site team. Each team member was responsible for design, detail, and construction documentation. Community meetings, presentations for local government officials, and master planning activities were all part of the studio process.

The final design is for a two bedroom home with two full baths, open plan living/dining/kitchen, and second floor laundry space. Sustainable finishes such as bamboo flooring and low-voc paints lessen the environmental impact of this structure. On the exterior, fiber cement siding, a standing seam metal roof, and rain garden continue the theme of sustainability.

interior perspectives section looking west section looking north

first floor plan

second floor plan

M u s e u m o f W i s c o n s i n A r tMilwaukee, WI

This project was an investigation of the small, regional art museum. Special care was given to allowing gallery spaces to receive as much natural light as possible while adhering to lighting guidelines regarding delicate and sensitive works of art. The solution was to use doubled channel glass in combination with operable shading scrims. The channel glass also became the sole facade expression, translucent during the day and luminous during the night. Set at the base of a bluff overlooking Lake Michigan, the central court of the museum is on axis with a 19th century stone water tower. From the lakefront drive, the structure becomes both a base and framing device for the tower.

More than half of the gallery space is below ground in a series of spaces washed with light from strategic cuts in the floor above, aligning either with the channel glass facade or the ring of skylights at the center of the courtyard. These skylights also draw attention to the pride of the collection, a panoramic painting meant to be displayed in the round. This painting is displayed in a cylindrical room at the center of the lower level, below the ring of skylights. Visitors enter underneath the painting, where seating incorporated into the cylinder walls allows them to view the painting in its original, unbroken state.

F i r s t P l a c e , U W M S t u d e n t D e s i g n C o m p e t i t i o n ( 2 0 0 7 )

NAME:

ERIK HANCOCKPROJECT:

MUSEUM OF WISCONSIN ARTSHEET NUMBER:

A1.4DATE:

04-06-2007SCHOOL:

UW-MILWAUKEEPHASE:

DESIGN DEVELOPMENT

PLAN DETAIL - CHANNEL GLASS CORNER1 SCALE: 1’-0” = 1’-0”

TRANSLUCENT SILICONE SEALANT

NEOPRENE GASKET BY PILKINGTON

PLASTIC CLIP BY PILKINGTON

3M S20SIAR400 UV FILM ADHERED TO SIDE #2

PILKINGTON PROFILIT K60 OPAL CHANNEL GLASS PLANK

PILKINGTON PROFILIT K60 OPAL CHANNEL GLASS PLANK

GE LEXAN POLYCARBONATE SHEETING

NANOGEL TRANSLUCENTAEROGEL

TRANSLUCENT SILICONE SEALANT

90% OPAQUE FILM ADHERED TO SIDE #3

PILKINGTON PROFILIT K60 OPAL CHANNEL GLASS FLANGE PLANK

TRANSLUCENT SILICONE SEALANT

PLASTIC CORNER CLIP BY PILKINGTON

TRANSLUCENT SILICONE SEALANT

NEOPRENE GASKET BY PILKINGTON

ReClaimingSouth Milwaukee, WI

M a s t e r ‘ s T h e s i s P r o j e c t - I n P r o g r e s s

Innovative educators have learned to seek and nurture the potential in even the most challenging student; by adopting a similar strategy as designers we may reveal the latent potential in maligned buildings and banal sites. The project proposal is for an alternative charter school that is outgrowing its current home in a former church building. This school for at-risk youth would take over a deteriorating strip mall, retaining and transforming the existing building shell both as a means of economy and an act of truly sustainable development. Partnered with this school is an organization that uses an innovative system of urban farming called aquaculture. Diff erent from simple greenhouse operations, this method allows crops to be grown very effi ciently, combining plants and animals to create a nearly closed system that mimics the ecology of a river.

Combining these two programs creates the benefi ts for both institutions; the urban farm has an onsite workforce and the students receive service learning credits for their labor while learning about the technology and operations of this emerging fi eld.

Classroom

Garden

Photovoltaic Array

Gallery Greenhouse

Urban FarmarmCafe

Tallgrass PrairieTallgrass PrairieT

SITE PLAN

SECTION @ CLASSROOM

SECTION @ GREENHOUSE

ENTRY CANOPY ELEVATION

entry perspective

section perspective @ breakout space

development sketches

Fruits & VegetablesFruits & Vegetables

Watercress

Lake Perch

Gravel Growth MediumGravel Growth Medium

4’

Planting Tray

Aquaculture systems duplicate the ecology of a river in miniature. At the scale of a greenhouse, the various components of this ecology are vertically stacked to conserve space. At the top of the system are fruit- or vegetable-bearing plants like tomatoes and cucumbers. Watercress, a valuable water-fi ltering plant, is grown on the intermediate level and fi sh swim in the bottommost trough. Once the aquaculture apparatus is established, the only input is a small amount of electricity to drive the water circulation system. The ecosystem is otherwise self-sustaining as the plants and fi sh continually maintain the ph and nutrient balance of the environment. The harvesting of both fi sh and plants also keeps the system in check.

As part of the proposed school program, this system is a valuable real example of humans acting as a partner in a balanced ecosystem.

Diverse Prairie

Grasses Only

Stone Ridge Bench

Glacial Till Pathway

PaPath of Implied Retr

th of Implied Retreaeatt

The size of the existing strip mall parking lot is well in excess of the requirements of the school, urban farm and cafe programs. Instead of retaining this hardscape, the excess area is converted into a tallgrass prairie. In keeping with the educational goals of this facility, the landscape is treated as a teaching tool to explain the origins of this regional ecology- glacial advance and retreat. The site is conceived of as a glacial moraine in miniature, using the natural west-to-east downward slope to determine the direction of implied glacial retreat. The moraine is actually a series of terraces that double as a rainwater management system for the site. Exposed stone ridges are represented by a series of low gabion walls and gravel pathways represent glacial till deposits. The meaning and natural analogues for each element of the landscape are explained by a series of instructional signs throughout the fi eld.

school aquaculture systemschool aquaculture system

breakout space - kitchen

breakout space - study