JEREMY TRAVIS BABEL

MASTER OF ARCHITECTURE University of Texas at Austin

JEREMY TRAVIS BABEL

6° REGION, CHILEAdvanced Studio [Spring 2011]Critics: Mauricio Pezo + Sofia Von EllrichshausenPublished in ISSUE: 008

CASA AMURALLADA

Posed as a speculative artist’s community in the Chilean central valley, each member of the studio was assigned one of sixteen adjacent square kilometer plots. For each plot, a proposal was developed for a live/work retreat that interpreted Hans van der Laan’s conception of three distinct zones of space: cell, court and domain. An exercise in radical simplicity, Casa Amurallada explores the possibility that a thickened wall could provide both ample shelter and a framework for understanding one’s place in the landscape. A 2.5 meter narrow rectangular residence encloses a large courtyard. Private and service functions are fixed within the outer one meter of the wall and connected by a stepped ambulatory. Eight voids in the wall allow flexible positioning of public functions and extend the living space into the courtyard.

Through strategic spatial organization and careful material selection, the project aims to organize mythological landscape characteristics in order to heighten the artist’s relationship to their rural setting. The cave-like private spaces of the interior provide for moments individual retreat. As the constrained interior opens and extends public life into the courtyard, outdoor living is organized around fundamental elements: shade, fire and water. From within the idealized, representative landscape of the court, the wall frames the Chilean countryside as a backdrop to daily communal life.

interior walls and celiling:dark stained and

polished concrete

exterior walls:dark stained

board-form concrete

window frames and sills:natural finish

mahogany

exterior paving:cordova shell

limestone pavers

entry threshold:white tumbled

limestone gravel

interior floors:polished cordova

cream limestone tile

cabinetry:natural finishbirch boards

NEW YORK, NY Advanced Studio [Spring 2012]Critic: Gary Wang

NYU CENTER FOR ACADEMIC AND SPIR ITUAL L IFE

With a prominent site on Washington Square Park, at the end of 5th Avenue, New York University desired a Center for Academic and Spiritual Life that could provide both an iconic emblem for the campus and a welcoming and comfortable community center for its student body. While security and privacy were of high concern, the interior yearned for publicness that could engender campus fellowship and complement the civic space of the park. Additionally, the integration of secular and religious functions further emphasized the need for attention to public interaction. In order to organize the diverse interests of its constituents, the project takes the city as its model.

FLOOR PLANS

SECOND FLOOR THIRD FLOOR FOURTH FLOOR

FIFTH FLOOR SIXTH FLOOR SEVENTH FLOOR

GROUND FLOOR

CLASSROOM

CLASSROOM

CLASSROOM

CLASSROOM

CLASSROOM

MEETING HALL

CLASSROOM

MEETING ROOM

MUSICROOM CLASSROOM

CLASSROOM

CLASSROOM

CLASSROOM

CONFRENCEHALL

CLASSROOM

CLASSROOM

MUSICROOM

MEETING ROOM

CLASSROOM

CLASSROOM

CLASSROOM

CLASSROOM

CLASSROOM

MEETINGROOM

FLOOR PLANS

SECOND FLOOR THIRD FLOOR FOURTH FLOOR

FIFTH FLOOR SIXTH FLOOR SEVENTH FLOOR

GROUND FLOOR

CLASSROOM

CLASSROOM

CLASSROOM

CLASSROOM

CLASSROOM

MEETING HALL

CLASSROOM

MEETING ROOM

MUSICROOM CLASSROOM

CLASSROOM

CLASSROOM

CLASSROOM

CONFRENCEHALL

CLASSROOM

CLASSROOM

MUSICROOM

MEETING ROOM

CLASSROOM

CLASSROOM

CLASSROOM

CLASSROOM

CLASSROOM

MEETINGROOM

FLOOR PLANS

SECOND FLOOR THIRD FLOOR FOURTH FLOOR

FIFTH FLOOR SIXTH FLOOR SEVENTH FLOOR

GROUND FLOOR

CLASSROOM

CLASSROOM

CLASSROOM

CLASSROOM

CLASSROOM

MEETING HALL

CLASSROOM

MEETING ROOM

MUSICROOM CLASSROOM

CLASSROOM

CLASSROOM

CLASSROOM

CONFRENCEHALL

CLASSROOM

CLASSROOM

MUSICROOM

MEETING ROOM

CLASSROOM

CLASSROOM

CLASSROOM

CLASSROOM

CLASSROOM

MEETINGROOM

Envisioned as a microcosm of its urban context, the program is organized around a long circulation spine that serves as an interior extension of Fifth Avenue and the major boulevard for the building’s users. Rooms of various sizes, designed to flexibly accommodate multiple functions, are loosely stacked against this circulation boulevard. The spaces reveled between the stacked rooms provide intimate secondary public spaces akin to the city’s pocket parks and side streets. These spaces, scattered through the building, provide venue for informal small group meetings or simply a quiet place to read. Additionally, they provide access to the numerous outdoor terraces generated by the protruding volumes of the facade.

AUSTIN, TX Vertical Studio [Fall 2008]Critics: April Clark + Ed Richardson

Z ILKER PARK HERBARIUM

The Zilker Park Herbarium is an advanced research and storage facility for plant specimens. It is located in a metropolitan park along the active Hike & Bike trail and adjacent to the Zilker Botanical Gardens and Nature Center. The facility accommodates community functions and serves the educational mission of increasing the public presence and status of environmental and biological study. The development of the design began with a directed research phase that studied native plant and animal species and the biological processes they use to regulate their environment. This research culminated in a hypothesis of biomimetic design strategies to be explored and tested on an architectural scale for the regional climate.

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hike & bike trail

to zilker botanical gardens

to nature center

roosting strategies for thermal control

sunlight optimization strategy seed protection layers

regulation of heat flow with wingsmexican free-tailed bat [tadarida brasiliesis]

wild shrimp plant [yeatesia platystegia]

naturally ventilated public space exhausts through operable skylights

diagrid shell provides large surface area for building integrated photovoltaics

conditioned space minimized in insulated bars

deep overhang shades open public space creating passive buffer zone between mechanically controlled bars and exterior

stratford drive

so. mopac expressway

hike and bike trail

lady bird lake

Essentially a library of dried plant samples, the herbarium is a critical resource for advanced botanical and biological research. As such, the collected specimens require a protected and regulated environment for their long-term storage. The proposed design employs a layered strategy of physical and thermal protection to address the restraints of the program and site.

Specimen collection and research facilities are lifted off the ground floor and out of the floodplain of the adjacent Lady Bird Lake, freeing the ground floor for public and educational functions, easily accessible from the park. Programs with specific thermal and comfort requirements are compartmentalized and well insulated for efficient regulation with localized controls. Circulation and other informal and flexible spaces occupy the free flowing volume contained by the diagrid shell and curtain walls. This space is passively ventilated and shaded by the deep overhang so that it only requires supplemental mechanical systems in the extreme heating and cooling months.

structural diagram of internal program bars

8” hollow structural steel columns spaced 32’ on center with intumescent coating to minimize thickness of exposed columns

W18 steel girdersspaced 16’ on center

W8 steel beamsspaced 8’ on center

3” steel deckingwith 6” total slab depth

steel stud in-fill with cladding to conceal horizontal structural members, fire proofing and mechanical ducts, and to provide rigidity to bars

The building structure is designed to maximize its efficiency and minimize its visual weight in order to create the transparent volume in which the solid bars of the herbarium are suspended. To do so, vertical and horizontal structure are divided into distinct systems. Thin steel columns pick up the vertical loads of the suspended program bars. Lateral loads are transferred through the diagrid shell, brought down through the end walls of the shell and shear walls, which hide the primary stair and elevator cores.

separation of vertical and lateral structure

thin steel columns resist vertical loads and minimize visual weight of structure lateral loads resisted by

building shell and shear walls

first floor:1 lobby2 cafe

3 meeting rooms4 exhibition hall

5 mechanical room

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second floor:6 research laboratory

7 administrative offices8 specimen collections9 protected specimens

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third floor [not shown]:library

reading roommedia room

AUSTIN, TXPrototype Seminar [Spring 2012]in collaboration with Charles Amos HornCritic: Igor SiddiquiHouston Center for Architecture Student Biennial Exhibition [Honorable Mention]

APERTURE BLOCK PROTOTYPE

Beginning with a series of explorations in form, material and technique, this project-based seminar asked participants to develop a market ready product out of a larger research agenda. Through experiments with flexible formwork casting, we developed an interest in interfacing with a standard concrete masonry unit and finding ways to make playful but functional interventions within a modest and inexpensive construction system.

parafin wax cast with point-supported plastic

membrane

plaster of paris bricks cast with dowel-supported lyrca

formwork

hexagonal concrete tiles cast with dowel-supported

lyrca formwork

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1 - Assemble formwork using collar to lock boards in place 2 - Secure inserts in formwork and apply silicone bead to seams 3 - Mix cement, sand, aggregate and water according to specified ratios

4 - Pour concrete into formwork, vibrate to eliminate air bubbles and trowel top surface level with form

5 - Once hardened, remove formwork and inserts and allow blocks to fully cure

6 - Lay blocks in combination with standard CMUs to create unique wall or brise soleil

Prototyping both a process and a product, Aperture Block was envisioned with two possible channels of delivery. As an off the shelf CMU block product, Aperture Block can be mass produced in a variety of pattern types. Additionally, Aperture Block can be produced through proprietary specifications and kit-of-parts formwork that allow for rapid customization.

CNC-cut foam insert creates aperture

Plywood collar locks formwork in place

Melamine lined plywood formwork

large medium smalllarge medium small

surface pattern blocks

aperture arch

blocks

aperture completion

blocks

1 - float 2 - twist

large medium small

3 - morph

AUSTIN, TXAdvanced Studio: Technical Communications [Fall 2010]in collaboration with Emma LeonardCritic: Vincent Snyder

COMMEMORATIVE A IR FORCE MUSEUM

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town center

market district

runway/urban plaza

The Commemorative Air Force [CAF] is a national organization, based in Texas, dedicated to the preservation and flight of World War II era military aircraft. Currently their collection of aircraft is maintained by individual owners and volunteers at local chapters dispersed throughout the country. The brief called for a major museum to house and display the collection of the Central Texas Chapter, as well as receive rotating exhibitions of aircraft from local chapters around the country. Additionally, the facility would be home to a consolidated CAF administrative headquarters, and host quarterly airshows of the local and visiting fleet.

The site chosen for the new museum is the old Robert Mueller Municipal Airport, Austin’s original commercial airfield, which is currently under redevelopment. The museum proposal provides the opportunity to shuffle the pieces of the currently stagnant redevelopment plan and insert a cultural catalyst that builds on the historical heritage of the site. The new Commemorative Air Force Museum at Mueller intends to be an anchoring cultural amenity and public space at the center of the redevelopment district.

town center

market district

runway/urban district

densify housing

make room for new museum

The form of the museum is defined by a large hangar-like structure that encloses a vast volume of space. Within this space, the program of the museum and the aircraft on display are dispersed to create a three-dimensional landscape of objects within the volume. This interior landscape is navigated by a series of connective ramps that move visitors between and past the displayed aircraft. This allows the visitors a unique experience of inhabiting the same airspace as the planes and viewing them from all sides.

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partial elevation_end wall1/2” = 1-’0”2

wall section_end wall 1/2” = 1-’0”1

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The rigid frame steel hangar structure is enclosed at its ends to accommodate administrative and service functions as well as some traditional gallery space. These enclosed blocks are clad with a taut skin on both sides of the deep steel structure, creating an extra thick wall that mimics both the construction and experiential qualities of a pressurized airplane cabin.

partial section_pod1/2” = 1-’0”1

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detail_cove lighting 3” = 1-’0”2

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lighting cove detail at bench

In the center of the building, the major portion of the enclosure is dissolved, revealing the structure and allowing the public space on the ground floor to flow freely through the museum. In this way, the building acts as a visual and physical gateway to the public runway space as one enters the Mueller site.

SAN DIEGO, CAULI/Gerald D. Hines Urban Design Competition [2010]in collaboration with Johanna Reed, Ryan Buckely, Newsha Mirzaie, Michael RussoAdvisor: Dean J. Almy IIICogburn Family Foundation Architecture and Urbanism Prize [3rd Place]

east_V ILLAGE

east_VILLAGE is a strongly inhabitant-focused community plan. Early in the design process, a series of character studies were developed to define the needs of current and projected users. From this, imagined biorhythms of the city were constructed to test ideas about the neighborhood’s future. This exercise was crucial to inform the vision of active street life and pedestrian oriented development. The resulting design proposes a network of linear parks, promenades and boulevards that position the East Village as a walkable, invitingly-scaled hub central to urban San Diego. The neighborhood builds around the meandering “Faultline Park”, which follows the natural course of geologic faults that slice though the site. The existing transit corridor is revitalized and enhanced, replacing car traffic with cycling lanes and a pedestrian retail promenade. With the injection of social and commercial catalysts, east_VILLAGE is an ideal neighborhood for San Diego’s diverse and hip residents to live, work and play.

The entry was completed by a multidisciplinary team from the University of Texas at Austin, including students of architecture, landscape architecture, urban design and real estate. The highlighted drawings are those that I created or in which I was directly involved.

6:30 leaves his live/work studio6:33 grabs breakfast at Juan’s Cafe7:00 arrives at his first pick up downtown4:30 back at his studio, he works until dinner8:00 meets friends at the Jewel Box Pub

8:25 leaves apartment8:40 gets on trolley, latte in hand8:55 arrives downtown5:30 runs errands near Market Street6:15 walks home through the park9:00 meets up with friends

Kendra, 23, PR Assistant

Justin, 29, Artist/Bike Messenger/Bartender

7:30 leaves Park West on bicycle7:50 picks up coffee at East Village Java8:00 walks into office on 15th & E Street1:00 eats lunch in the plaza7:00 has a drink with coworkers before bicycling home

Ivan, 45, Graphic Designer

6:00 walks to his cafe5:30 closes shop and walks to the bank7:00 meets Louisa for an evening film9:00 walk home through the park

Juan, 38, Cafe Owner

8:15 drops off Nicholas at SDCC Pre-School8:45 bicycles to work along Broadway5:00 picks up dinner and relieves the sitter6:30 walks through park with Nicholas for ice cream

Helen [and Nicholas], 34, Civil Servant

neighborhood center

trolley platform

bus stop

bike lane

trolley rails

bus route

residential

commercial

office

civic

live + work

mixed use: c + r

mixed used: c + o

mixed use: c + r + o

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+activity along new pedestrian corridors

AUSTIN, TXVertical Studio [Summer 2009]Critic: David HeymannHouston Center for Architecture Student Biennial Exhibition [Honorable Mention]

WETLANDS BRIDGE | B IRDING BL IND

The Hornsby Bend Bird Observatory is an informal network of roads and paths surrounding the treatment ponds at the Hornsby Bend Biosolids Management Plant. The ponds also provide one of the premier locations for birding in Travis Country because of the diversity of habitats found within this small area. The 1200 acre facility incorporates deep ponds, wetlands, mudflats, open fields, woods, and a three-mile stretch of the Colorado River. On a given day, a knowledgeable birder can spot more than 50 local and migratory bird species on the property.

structural diagrams

The project called for the design of a wetlands bridge and birding blind to provide access to Pond 3, a large area that includes woods, wetlands and a large deep pond. Design parameters specified standard “2x” wood frame construction as such projects are usually funded by birding communities and built with inexpensive unskilled labor. The project was pursued almost entirely in model, focusing on the proliferation of a “genetic” detail based on a structural logic.

This intervention exploits the necessity of diagonal bracing to create a light and rhythmic substructure for the bridge surface. Above this, the walkway is defined by a system of horizontal and vertical splintering that navigates situational conditions of the landscape and provides integral moments of rest and viewing. The shifting louvered skin of the birding blind accommodates birders of varying eye heights and allows for viewing in both sitting and standing positions.

SAUSALITO, CAVertical Studio [Fall 2009]Critic: Russell KrepartPublished in ISSUE: 006

FACIL ITY FOR THE STUDY OF INTERT IDAL EROSION

Beginning with a study of NASA maps of lunar surfaces, a series of vectorized interpretations were made that explored qualities of landscape, surface manipulation, object densities and movement patterns. These interpretive maps inspired the production of a series of “non-map maps”, which investigated layers of significance and envisioned habitation of the site. This analysis culminated in development of a facility for the tracking of objects. The design takes cues from historical precedents in the surrounding landscape. Once the home of vernacular structures of the Miwok Tribe, the site is now dotted with defunct WWII artillery batteries.

JEREMY TRAVIS BABEL

Please contact me to request additional qualifications or to schedule an interview:

m: 925.548.7592e: jtbabel@gmail.com

w: www.jeremybabel.com