melius, adam c.Portfolio of work

University of michigan 2007-2010

1: modelspace 2007 My first project done at the University of Michigan. Task was to rearrange and experiment with a given material and amount following guidelines of the given configuration. This model is an abstraction of a play with the cut

and built materials as they split spatial planes.

model made of mdf and bass wood

2: chicago 2007 My first project done at the University of Michigan. Task was to rearrange and experiment with a given material and amount following guidelines of the given configuration. This model is an abstraction of a play with the cut

and built materials as they split spatial planes.

LIBRARY/ ARCHIVALS1240 SQ. FT.

SITTING ROOM1220 SQ. FT.

MECHANICALTASTING AND TOASTING5696 SQ. FTL

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PRIVATE DINING1300 SQ. FTL

GARDENS

MOVING THE HORIZON

ADAM C. MELIUSARCH412 UG4

OCTOBER 12, 2007C. BORUM

FIRST FLOOR DINING FLOOR FIRST ROOFTOP1/8 = 1-0 1/8 = 1-0

LIBRARY/ ARCHIVALS

TASTING ROOM

PRIVATE DINING

KITCHENLAVAT.

GARDENS

GARDENS

SECTION (TYP.)1/8 = 1-0

1/8 = 1-0

GARDENS

SECOND ROOFTOP1/8 = 1-0

DINING FLOOR1/8 = 1-01/8 = 1-0 1/8 = 1-0

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3: detroit 2008Advisor: craig borum

Design-driven by the forms made of a continuous surface that can both cut and make all elements of the program of a culinary school and restaurant in the famous Eastern Market of downtown Detroit. The importance was to open up the street to the market, welcoming the sidewalk into the kitchen, and to make a seat and table

to the larger context of the urban market and the residents of Detroit.

rendering of design in context of Eastern Market

model of ceramic and bass wood

Interior sketch with the design of the market showing the cut moves of the outside facade as they interact with the daylighting and privacy issues of the interior programs. The cafe and market are on the ground floor while the culinary school was above - the design made it necessary to provide the balance between a seclusion and an expression for the school and market.

4: CARDSTOCK 2008Advisor: craig borum

Studio exercise in structure. Utilizing playing cards to elevate and hold a full deck of cards without the use of staples, glue, or tape. Work completed with YuChen Chang.

Various photos of built model using only palying

cards.

5: Piano Wire 2008 Studio project where the stipulations were made of suspending a hard boiled egg over a certain spot above a flat plane using only soldered piano wire and foamcore base. Work finished with Evan Hall.

6: cincinnati 2008 Task was a construction of a public natatorium in the heart of Cincinnati, Ohio. The program was to facilitate a center held by a regulation sized Olympic pool complimented and completed by training facilities, locker rooms, and spectator seating. The design is a play on form finding following the work done with piano wire and 3D

modeling software. Work finished with Dwight Song.

Left: Various design sketches, notes

Right: Diagrammatic renderings of program and space

Early models creating the edges of the form. At the same time defining structure and shape.

ELEVATION

ELEVATION

Interior Rendering

NAbove: Elevation renderingBelow Right: East elevation rendering

Below: Site

Interior Rendering

7: detroit 2008 Studio project where I worked withing the interstitial of urban and rural outside Detroit. The chase was to make a rhizomatic architectural engine piece that can address and reinvent blighted areas.

My design was to utilize the existing infrastructure, namely the roadways, railways, and waterways to densify and then design large residential/manufacturing nodes where the pedestrian scale is encouraged and the vehicular scale is optimized. Work involved finding and using statistics, social trends, and cultural points to derive form

and connection while detailing a utopic vision.

N. Woodside Ave. (2)Northeastern Hwy (2)Alger St. (2)Brush St. (2)Palmer St.13 Mile @John R (3)13 Mile @Dequidre Rd. (4)13 Mile @ Ryan Rd.Groveland St.Townley St.Osmun St.Blairmoor Dr.Edward Ave. (2)Westmore Dr.E. Whitcombe Ave.Pauland Dr. (2)Wexford Dr.Hillcrest Dr. Dawson Dr.Meckl Dr.George Dr.Dell Ln. (2)Gruenburg Dr.Tropea Dr. (2)Shampo Dr.Carlton Dr.Ryan Rd. @ Chicago Rd.Heavenly Ct.Kensington Blvd.14 Mile Rd @ Ryan Rd. (2)14 Mile Rd @ MoundChalfonte Dr. (2)Audubon Dr. (2)Berwyn Dr. (3)S. Tuxedo Dr.Holden Dr. Norrid Dr.Belleau Dr.Wixson Dr.Reid Dr.Blair Dr.Walker Dr. (2)Orvylle Dr. (3)Burssens Dr.Sycamore Dr.Red Oak Dr.Muriel Dr.Runey Dr. (2)Meckler Ln. (2)Trailwood LnWoodpark Cir. (2)Heritage Pkwy (3)Burberry Dr. (8)Lyons Dr. (3)Buchanan Ave.Buchanan Dr.Cloverly Ct. (2)Chicago Rd.Grinsell Dr. (2)Earle Dr.Greenbriar Ave. Lowe Ave. (2)Hartlein Dr.Pine Ridge LnMaple Ridge LnCedar Ridge LnTanglewood Dr.Howard Ave. (2)Herbert St.Moulin Ave. (3)Milton Ave.12 Mile @ Herbert12 Mile @ Ryan (2)Elliott Ave. (2)Winthrop Dr. (2)Fontaine Ave.Shirley Ave. (2)Dulong Ave (2)Tessmer Ct. (4)Lee FrankCommon Rd. (3)Shady Dr.Merrick Ave.Geoffrey Dr.Walter Ave (2)Bradmore Rd.Mackenzie Cir.E. Nottingham Cir.Warner Ave.Peck Ave.Adams Ave.Knollwood Dr. (2)Halmich Dr.Saint Annes Dr.Beebe Ave

147 Homes between John R. Road and Hoover Rd are currently on the market due to foreclosure. (RealtyTrac, Nov. 2008)

380 people will have been forced to move residence. (US Census, 2006).

Where will the Periphery be evolved to retain these hundreds of people and how?

The Periphery as it has arrived to us is as an immense landscape of valuable waste. The growth and survival of the peripheral requires many mechanisms in order to be. There are countless mechanisms tha can be inserted into theis role, but without empty space, the car, cheap raw material, and nomadic minded people the periphery will cease to exist. Without one one characterisitc, the others cannot happen to their highest capacity. The car uses cheap raw material to be made and moved while the care moves materials through vast empty landscapes to people who mostly have come from somewhere else and will see thier children leave from there. Speculative tendencies about in this landscape, in the architecture, work, goods, and homes. How can the periphery then be made as the destination. How can movement over vast tracts of asphalt and concrete be made into an importance on proximity to all users. Can there be a source for identity to be foudn in the periphery, so investment can be made where a warranty is forever? Where does the diversity and adaptation t into this landscape of dislocation and fad?

147 Homes between John R Road and Hoover Rd are currently on the market due to their foreclosure (RealtyTrac, Nov. 2008)

380 people will have been forced to move (US Census, 2006)

Top: Figure Drawing of the site. Not to Scale.

Carving diagram

Densifying Program

Filling Facade

Program into Program

All Top: Process Diagrams

Site Drawing. Not to Scale

Top: Rendered Site PlanRight: Street Scene Day and Night

Below: Abstract Site Elevation

Rendering

Rendering

A connective tissue strategy where individual programs could be placed within the birthplace of Standard Oil, The Flats in Cleveland. I utilized the existing infrastructure, including roadways, pilings, and bridges to connect buildings. My work was to design an education facility that crossed the Cuyahoga river, connecting the peninsula between the downtown Cleveland area and the adjacent community of Ohio City. The want to shore up the deteriorating shoreline and to provide the opportunity of community and

gathering through exhibit spaces and workshop rooms all interconnecting and projectionary.

8: cleveland 2009

Site Analysis

Scale Study30MileAerial The Athens Acropolis Great Pyramid @ Giza

UM Big House St.Peters in RomeA&A Building

HOW LARGE IS THE COLUMBUS PENINSULA?

Scale Study30MileAerial The Athens Acropolis Great Pyramid @ Giza

UM Big House St.Peters in RomeA&A Building

HOW LARGE IS THE COLUMBUS PENINSULA?

Peninsula Size Diagram

Hopping the Cuyahoga DiagramActivating Peninsula DiagramSpace above and Below DiagramLine of Site Diagram

Experimental Site Model

Experimental Building Model

Experimental Site Model

Early Model of Design

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Site and Floor Plan. Not to Scale

FoamCore Model

Sketches of design in cotext

Section

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Elevation

Elevation

Elevation

Project where the design was developed through the hybridization of building elements. The elements I worked with were the stair and the door. Following this was to design a private library in Marfa Texas. My design was to take cues from the nearby railroad tracks and to play off the passing of cargo carriers as they travel through the many small towns of West Texas. Using the elemensts of the entire site I wanted to bring the public square into the collection of books, while providing a barrier from the harsh elements

of the sun and heat.

9: Marfa, tx 2009

Below Right: Figure Ground map of MarfaPage: Birds Eye Rendering

Charcoal Sketches from Big Bend National Park

Left: Emerging Stair ModelsAbove: Rough Stair Abstract

Sections through Site

Right: Site PhotosAbove: City Plan

rst oor

second oor

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privatelibrary

library

privateresidence

Floor Plans

Photos of Model

Elevations

Hand Rendering of Interior View Looking Out

Wall Section and Detail

My thesis culminated in a written book putting forward a guiding principle of my professional age accompanied by images and drawings that put forward rules for the contemporary temple. My position is that temples have dictated architectural forms and faculties for thousands of years and as architects continue to practice in the waning days of the Renaissance, the typology of the architecture of the temple is being continually fractured and scattered into everything architectural. The temple design, shown

only as one section and a narrative, I put forward stands as an example for establishing a projective process in architecture and for my utopian profession.

10: Thesis: Perfect 2009

9-1/2"

2'0" 2'0"1'8-1/4"

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PERFECT.

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Composite roofing with glass embedded to allow for stars of light and dark to come through. Natural lighting with reflec-tive ceiling. Absorbing sound, soft to sound and sight. Roof is a barrier to rain and snow, and harsh sun. The roof is a barrier to mud, bombs.

Steps that require entire occupation of temple to reach. Made of amber attached with metal between stond block and wall.

Back plinth of nobility and dignity. Transitional. Meant to provide cohesion with the front of plinth, a stage set for a play or recital, or podium with which to speak. Raises the temple up off the ground.

Hospital beds of asp or maple. Textured and molded slightly to the human curvature. Storage of hymnals and facing forward. Both to be sat on and laid upon. Attachment for waiting, for coffee, for reading.

Vault with which valuable are held, including medical machines, gold, relics, jewels, documents, and paintings. Resistant to fire, ventilated controlling of temperature.

Judges bench of polished marble, where sitting atop is the president, the oldest and wisest. Highest point in the temple

to physically occupy, yet must have a precarious journey through and up to reach.

Bench for senators, jurors, and janitors. Attached at stone wall and contoured to the sitting person.

Quiet vending machines. A stage set for decrees and announcements. Magazine rack for waiting. Ground is water-worn pebbles that go directly to the stone walls.

Sounds should dampen, the air should be light to breathe.

Forward plinth for assembly and anticipation for entry. Sitting accomodation, departure from context while utlizing the grad

and ground provided. Made of volcanic rock.

Mechanical Space. Theft Proofing, SoundProofing, ChildProofing subertfuge. A respite for the machine to breath,

to exhale, to blink its eyes, and to hide from prying cares.

Punctured concrete mason units, rebar, poured concrete, fiberglass. Has a grain that is achieved by using layers of burl

as formwork. Beautiful. You want to eat off of the wall.

Interloping step, a blasting of bright light and the honking of horns. Conversation that can be off record, a chance to unbotton the top button, a chance to take the shoes off and slide on the imbedded textured concrete and marble.

melius, adam c.Portfolio of work

University of michigan 2007-2010