ucb portfolio

PORTFOLIOWesley Alan Harkonen

2013

THE PORTFOLIO OF WESLEY ALAN HARKONENApplying for the Masters of Architecture DegreeGraduate of UC BerkeleyBachelors of Arts in Architecture 2012Minor in Sustainable Design

125 Montalvo AvenueSan Francisco, CA, [email protected]

ARCHITECTURE PROJECTS

TECHNICAL PROJECTS

DRAWINGS

01-52

55-66

69-75

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INDEX

ARCHITECTURE PROJECTS

THE TECTONIC GALLERY

ARCHITECTURE 100BRENE CHOWFALL 2011

The Tectonic Gallery is an exercise in the ability to use structural elements as a basis for design generation. The project began with the analysis of the Goetz Gallery by Herzog and De Meuron as a case study for Tectonic Architecture. Upon investigation I discovered the gallery is composed of three tectonic systems. The primary structure is composed of the concrete foundation and two concrete channels that span across it. The secondary system consists of a wooden Vierendeel truss that rests atop the two concrete channels. The tertiary system is the exterior façade of glass and wood panels. The Goetz Gallery conceals these tectonic systems in a away that adds a quality of lightness to the building.

When designing my Tectonic Gallery I decided to expose these tectonic strategies and make them an integral part of the way the building is experienced. I investigated the potential of the seperate tectonic systems building usesing sketch models. Each iterative model pushed the ability of each structural element to function on both a practical and aesthetic level.

The movement through the Tectonic Gallery is a progression through the buildings three tectonic systems. The concrete channels are extruded between buildings and act as hallways and bridges. The Viendereel trusses are exposed and cantilevered over the tubes housing the stairs. The tertiary system is used to enclose the gallery spaces but peels away in places to reveal the tectonic elements in place. While the Goetz Gallery hid the structural system the Tectonic Gallery treats its structure as a work of art.

SKETCH MODELS

I used investigative models to explore the relationship of tectonic elements. These models helped drive the design of the Tectonic Gallery by informing circulation, lighting conditions, and form.

THE OAKLAND SINGLE ROOM OCCUPANCY

ENVIRONMENTAL DESIGN 11BWALTER HOODFALL 2009

The final project for my second design studio was a Single Room Occupancy apartment complex located around an old quarry in Oakland California. The assignment began by interviewing six strangers on the street, taking note of their occupation, hobbies, and basic likes and dislikes. After selecting the occupants for the SRO the assignment called for customization of each SRO unit tailored to each unique resident. The designs of the rooms varied from an acoustically optimized space for a musician to creating a hideaway equipped with an escape tunnel for a wanted criminal.

The general design of the SRO responded to the steep sight of the quarry. The stepping units manage the slope and provide access to the lake below. The SRO has an inward focus where the communal areas; kitchen, bathroom, and workspace, are centrally located to encourage interaction between residents.

The SRO provides ample daylight and views to the residents. The private rooms are located in the back of each unit to provide privacy but fill with light as one moves towards the entrance. The ciculation cooridor splits the units and encourages chance encounters between residents. At the base of the SRO is a suspended plaza for activities and communal events.

THE BERKELEY ART MUSEUM

ARCHITECTURE 100ABOB SHEPHERDSUMMER 2010

The announcement of the competition to design the new Berkeley Art Museum coincided with the beginning of my first architecture studio. For the final project, the instructor chose to modify some of the competition requirements and assign the design to us. The site of the replacement museum was chosen to be the old Berkeley Printing Plant. One of the design criteria was to use as much of the existing building as possible and upon looking at interior photosI saw that the lighting conditions of the plant were optimal for gallery space.

My design put the large gallery in the existing printing plant and used the old structural unit to generate different spatial conditions for the remaining program. I used the orientation and angle of the structural unit positioned in the existing structural grid to control the quantity and quality of light entering the museum.

Tile Strategy I: The layout of the existing printing plant. The sawtoothe arrangement of the structural unit provides uniform diffuse light. The northern orientation makes the lighting within the existing plant ideal for the large gallery program.

Tile Strategy II: By turning the sawtoothe geometry 180 degrees no light is permitted into the interior. This tile strategy is used in sensitive works gallery where natural sunlight could damage the artwork.

Tile Strategy III: Rotating the structural unit to the south allowed the geometry to catch and bounce light down to the lower levels. This strategy is used to create accents in the main atria and circulation spaces throughout the museum.

The Berkeley Art Museum project began with the assignment of a verb action. I was assigned the verb “to tile” and decided to try to pattern light and dark spaces. I took this strategy and applied it the existing site and program constraints. I used the existing structural bay as the unit and the lighting conditions as the pattern logic.

My design uses the existing plant as the large gallery space. The sawtooth geometry admits northern light and diffuses it in a manner ideal for displaying art.

Using a set of strategies that satisfied the program conditions I was able to generate the overall form of the building. The Berkeley Art Museum uses a repetitive structural system organized in a way that manipulates light.



The C.C.R. is an institutional building designed to support research that bridges traditional disciplinary boundaries. The site was located between the threshold of campus and the Southside Berkeley where the majority of students live.The primary programmatic requirements consisted of three large research studios, conference rooms, a public cafe, and a main gathering atria. Creativity can come from anywhere and the idea behind the CCR is that having as many communal spaces as possible can encourage the cross pollination of ideas and lead to a more productive work environment.

My design focused on using the structural components of the building to create an architecture that encourages researcher collaboration as well as student and public circulation through the site. The CCR explores the pontential of tectonic elements to perform as more than just structure.

The investigation into building tectonics started with the analysis of the Goetz Gallery by Herzog and DeMeuron as a case study. I identified the tectonic elemetns as a concrete foundation, concrete tubes that span the foundation, a wooden truss frame that rests on the concrete tubes, and a glass and wood panel skin.

I adapted these systems to achieve various progammatic goals within the CCR. Along with the programmatic differences, the project also contained a very different site condition. The tectonic systems I adopted from the Goetz gallery became the performative architectural design of the CCR.

The foundations house the research labs and become exposed across the slope of the site where they open to a communal gathering area. The Concrete tubes became channels that housed the primary circulation through the buildings as well as across the entire site. As the tubes extend out from the buildings they also become retaining walls that manage the slope of the site. I adapted the wooden Viendereel truss of the Goetz Gallery to steel frame system that cantileveres over the concrete foundations. These frames house a student gallery as well as the administration areas.

Sketch models helped determine the relationship between the concrete tubes as structural elements, circulation patways, and site retention walls.

The use of sketch models helped me determine the relationship between the different tectonic elements. The movement through the CCR becomes a movement through the structural systems that become exposed across the slope of the site.

The Concrete channels unify the various labs create a comprehensive experience throughout the site of the CCR.

THE URBAN THINK TANK

ARCHITECTURE 101DARELL FIELDSSUMMER 2011

Before the allotment of a program, the Urban Think Tank project called for a mapping of the context surrounding the site located on the famous Telegraph Avenue in Berkeley, CA. Taking note of the counterculture history surrounding the site, I decided to use the Situationist International method of Psychogeography to explore existing relationships in Berkeley. I was able to identify two seperate philosophical networks performing in the surrounding area. The two main groups are the commercial shops and consumers and the vagrants and homeless population. These two categories of users exist simultaneously but seem to be contradicting eachother in spirit. In line with the Situtationist International manifesto, I rearranged the map of berkeley to show the adjacencies of these two networks.

The next step in the assignment was to apply the relationships learned from the mapping exercise to an organizational strategy for the site. I used the two existing networks to inform both the design of the building and the function of the Urban Think Tank.

The homeless population that inhabit Berkeley are a combination of remnant hippies from the late sixties and youthful runaways. They sit along the sidewalk and ask for money to the shoppers entering or exiting stores and students on their way to campus.

I decided that if the new program of an Urban Think Tank was to be injected into this cityscape, it would have to both allow these two networks to permeate it’s site as well as create its own network by distributing the Think Tank program throughout the city.

The assignment also called for the design of the function of the Think Tank itself. I designed my Think Tank to respond to both the commercial interests of Berkeley and the Political attitudes that make it unique. To better control the image of the city, a series of urban revitalization programs are spread thorughout the Berkeley Area.

Since my response to the urban mapping exercise called for the distribution of program thorughout Berkeley, I was able to free up space for public use. The plaza of the Berkeley Marketing Think Tank is open to the public as a platform for public speach.

The site welcomes the the political activists that give Berkeley its color to perform in the plaza. The Urban Think Tank give the soap box activists a venue to voice their opinions.Beneath the plaza houses the Counter Culture Gallery where the art and artifacts of the counterculture movement in the 60’s and 70’s are on display. The gallery serves as both an attraction and as a method of recuperation to capitalize and control the counterculture movements still active in Berkeley.

The south street facing facade advertises the commercial aspect of Telegraph Avenue. The elevation serves as a billboard for the city displaying different graphics and information throughout the year. The commercial element of the urban think tank attempts to market the revolutionary history of Berkeley. The Situationist International warned about the recuperation of counter culture art by society and capitalism. By branding, selling and displaying elements of Berkeley’s radical past, the Urban Think Tank is controlling its relevance and political impact.

SKETCH MODELS

I used investigative models to explore the relationship of the public plaza to the think tank. These design iterations explore the expression of the fluid coexistance of the the public and commercial networks in the city of Berkeley.

At the the same time that the public plaza of the Think Tank is encouraging activism in Berkeley the activities of the Think Tank are strategizing on the commercial interests of attracting tourists and branding the city.In acknowledging and perpetuating this dichotmomy the Urban Think Tank responds to the complex context of Berkeley.

TECHNICAL PROJECTS


ARCHITECTURE 150GARY BLACKFALL 2011IN COLLABORATION WITH PHILIP LI

Structural Calculation and Testing for Lateral Loads in the designing of a Lifeguard Tower. The lifeguard tower is designed for Ipanema Beach in Brazil. The assignment called for the the structure to take into account lateral loads generated by a wind gust that is able to generate 40 lbs/sqft of pressure. the requirment was to get the model of the structure to fail within 10% of a 125lb (equivalent wind load) lateral force. My partner and I used structural analysis software (SAP) to design the tower as a vertical truss to resist the wind forces from any direction. The structure is a wooden truss connected with only pin joints. My partner and I modeled the structure in Rhino, Imported it into to SAP and used the analysis softwere to size the members of the tower accordingly.

AXIAL FORCE WITH VALUES

The red members are in compression and the yellow members are in tension. Looking at this analysis, we determined the members at the base were most susceptible to buckling.

AXIAL FORCE DIAGRAM SHEAR FORCE DIAGRAMMOMENT DIAGRAM

We saw that the lower members received the greatest internal forces and predicted when one of these members was sized to 6” square it would fail. We then built a physical model using the sizing we determined using the software and increased the weight of the lateral load in increments of 15 lbs. Our model failed at exactly 125 lbs and we received extra credit for the project.

THE LOUISIANA ART MUSEUM

ARCHITECTURE 140: Gail BragerSPRING 2012In Collaboration With: Melissa Jimenez, Alexis Dongallo, Chris Lesnett

Our goal was to create a beautiful, naturally lit gallery, whose architecture was derived from the constraints of the climate. The first step was in analyzing the conditions of the gallery’s site. Detroit, with its proximity to the Great Lakes, is subject to a large number of cloudy days and experiences small to moderate diurnal temperature swings. To minimize heat loss and maximize display space, a minimal amount of windows were used, having three choice openings in the building to serve three different purposes. A large window on the south façade is used for passive solar heat gain, a continuous clerestory along the east and north sides provides even, diffuse daylighting, and a long narrow window on the north façade of the building provides a view to the exterior landscape.

To test the configuration of the interior walls we built a scale model and tested its luminosity in a daylight simulator. The results satisfied the requirements of having three lighting zones in the gallery. The axonemetric sections have the luminosity readings projected on them and show the variance of light in the gallery.We created shading masks for the facades of our gallery to make sure the building received appropriate amounts of sunlight throughout the year. Th gallery allows maximum sunlight during the winter and minimal sunlight during the summer.

Our group built a scale model to test the lighting conditions throughout the year. By rotating the model to different oritentations we were able to simulate the location of the sun at any time and any place. We used a physical model with the information we gathered from ecotect to finalize the design of the art gallery.

DRAWINGS

ANALYTIQUE


I was assigned the case study of the Joan and John Miro Foundation by Rafael Maneo. I decided to an unfolded elevation of the gallery space in the museum. The drawing is organized around the procession through the gallery space.

Top: Perspective Study of International Cafe. Charcoal on Bristol

Bottom: Ink and Wash Study.

Top: Ink and Wash Study

Bottom: Free hand elevation of the histor-ic Doe Library on the UC Berkeley Cam-pus. Pencil on Bristol.

Left: Flowers. Colored Pencil on Bristol.

Right: Coat Desk and Chair. Pencil on Bristol.

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