Graduate Design Portfolio

DESIGNPORTFOLIO

RACHAELSKYESTURMthe BOSTONARCHITECTURALCOLLEGE29 APRIL 2013

INTRODUCTION

When I made the decision to work towards my Master of Architecture degree, it came after a lot of thought: about what my personal and professional goals are, about what I aspire to achieve, and about whether or not architecture is truly the right path for me. I have long been compelled by the idea of designing for social change, particularly in rural and impoverished communiities. Through venues such as Habitat for Humanity and various design competitions, have scratched the surface of that world, but I am still seeking the right way to make it central to my work. As I’ve explored the idea further, I hahave at the same time been steadily increasing my focus (like many design professionals) on sustainability. Exploring how these two threads come together continues to shape my future goals and my purpose.

About two years ago, I took a class at my local university that focused on sustainable livlihoods and community well-being. The class was taught by two researchers who study food security in rural Native Alaskan villages. We talked about everything from food networks to infrastructure, and from resource harvesting to sustainability frameworks. We discussed in depth the multitude of threats these rural arctic communites are facing in a rapidly changing arctic. The class solidified my intent to work towards a sustainable future for rural Alaskan villages. At the outset, however, I was not convinced my path toto this was through architecture, so I began exploring the realm of science, considering a master’s degree in Natural Resource Management or Anthropology. But science wasn’t quite right. I don’t just want to research these people and their communities, I want to help build them a better future. The more I thought about the issues I want to address and the skills I have to contribute, the more I realized that architecture, and research in its human dimension, was the right path for me. I decided to pursue my M.Arch at the BAC, allowing me to live in Alaska, where I want to focus my work, while getting my degree.

Ever since then, I have been continuing to explore and refine my ideas into a research question I can explore through my thesis project and beyond. It is my intent to use this portfolio as a review of how the core aspects of design that I would like to focus on reveal themselves in my past work, where they are lacking, and how they all connect. The series of icons below appear on every project page, indicating (if black) a focus or aspect of that project, and a lack of focus (if grey). Three elements are emphasized more than the others, and indeed, encompass the others. These three form the categories into which I hinto which I have divided this portfolio: Community Focus, Historical/Cultural, and Sustainable Design.

Urban and rural environments can learn a lot from one another, and the overlap in my work is clear. My urban projects are great studies of the human dimension in design.

Rural communites have strengths that are lacking in urban sites, but they have many disadvantages. Design efforts typically focus on cities, and rural sites need more help.

Working hands-on in architecture is necessary. it strengthens connection to and pride in the work, and the results of designers and builders creating cohesively can’t be surpassed.

So important as to be self-evident. We have a responsibility as architects to design a world which not only sustains but restores our planet for its future generations.

Teamwork is crucial in design, as is working closely with the end users of the space and the builders who construct it. Integrative design brings the best ideas.

I have always gravitated towards a community focus in my project selection and my conceptual design. My future research will focus on community space, public space.

We have much to learn from the history and culture of a place, which have shaped its patterns and its people. Preserving history is a part of sustaining our future.

INTRODUCTIONINTRODUCTION

URBANSETTING |

RURALSETTING |

HANDSON |

SUSTAINABLEDESIGN |

HISTORICAL/CULTURAL |

COLLABORATIVEPROCESS |

COMMUNITYFOCUS |

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RESUME

RESUME’RESUMERESUME’’RESUME’

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EXTRA CURRICULAR

COMMUNITYFOCUS

Top left: Working with the future homeowner’s daughter to apply plaster to woven bamboo walls of a house in Pokhara, Nepal. The homeowners are required to help with construction.Top right: A “brick line” of villagers near Phnom Penh, Cambodia passes bricks to move them from the delivery truck to the job site. Everyone pitched in, even the three-year-olds (for a minute).Bottom left: The bamboo frame of a house before installing walls and plaster. Pokhara, Nepal.Bottom right: Mixing mortar at the job site in a Cambodian village.

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PROFESSIONAL PRACTICE 4

01M.J.SOMMERSCHOOL


The most important building in an Alaskan village is the school. In addition to providing education for the youth, rural schools are often the village community center, the gym, the shower facilities, and can even be lodging for out of town guests. For Tanana, Alaska, a town that is seeing its population drift out toward the cities, the deteriorated nature and the grgrossly inefficient systems of their 1958 school were a serious problem. In a two-phased project, we fully re-designed the school’s mechanical and electrical systems, upgraded the building envelope to a superior level of insulation, remodeled the floor plan, and provided all new finishes. The once decrepit school is now the pride of the village.I was essentially the architect’s “right hand man” for this project, assisting with every aspect of design. I made several trips to the village before, during, and after the design process. I hope to continue working with this particular Alaskan town. It is struggling, but its poised and ready to make the changes needed to survive in a changing world.

Storytelling is an important tradition in the Alaskan Athabaskan communities. At the completion of the Maudrey J Sommer School, a ribbon cutting ceremony was held in the village, and the architect and I were invited to attend. The focus of the ceremony, however, was less on the new building, and more on its namesake. Maudrey Sommer was a huge influence in the village, and her family and friends, many of whom no longer life in Tanana, all flew in and gathered to see the new look of the school and share memories of Sommer, who died in 1999.

AAt the left, Josephine Roberts, Sommer’s best friend, shares stories of learning to drive a truck with Sommer while Connie Sommer-Mayo, Sommer’s daughter, looks on. Below to left, the new insulated metal panel siding increased the R-value of the school greatly, and provided a beautiful new canvas for village resident Milo to stencil the Tanana Wolves mascot onto the building. Below, at right, Sommer’s children pose with her portrait, which now hangs in the administrative office of the school. At the far right, a young girl dances around a column of the new entrance canopy of the school. The traditional youth dance group performed at the ribbon cutting ceremony on the new entrance slab.

II was honored to be invited to the opening ceremony and was moved by the magnitude of the community event. It strengthened in me the realization of just how important these struggling Alaskan communities are, and it gave me hope that architecture can do its part to help revitalize them.



02LIBRARYRENEWAL


This project was a complete tear-off and rebuild of the roof of Fairbanks’s public library. For years the library had serious leakage problems, with staff going so far as to cover the booksheles with plastic and install drains and catchment basins in the ceiling. The water was the worst in the springtime, when the snow accumulated on the roof during the winter and ice formed inside due to improper vapor retarder installation melted, dripped, and flooded the interior. This project was the first one where I acted as pacted as project architect, working closely alongside the project manager, coordinating with the engineers, and performing onsite inspections during construction.I began the project several years ago, but a lack of funding stalled it for a while. Construction finished in fall 2012, and the final as-built drawings just left my desk last week. The The re-roof was largely technical details and on the surface not a very design-oriented architectural project, but it taught me a lot about problem solving in design, about working succesfullywith contractors, and the happyresult of the projectis the townis the town’s books are kept dry!


Detailing the various conditions of the existing building and working out how to add a super-insulated roof and tie in fully with the existing vapor retarder was a great exercise in understanding our typical work: renovations in an extreme climate. Since this project, I have taken on almost all of our re-roof projects. I enjoy expanding my knowledge on a specific subject such as this.


Because of the complexity of reroofing an existing (and fairly old) building, either myself of the project manager was onsite every morning to inspect the work and adress any questions that came up. We phased the reroof into manageable sections, so there was demolition and eunearthing of unexpected conditions every few weeks. Although the project was notnot “hands on” in the sense that I actually did any work, I loved being on site every day and truly understanding what was happening to construct the new roof. The relationship we had with the roofing contractors was strengthened by this constant interaction. The town was thrilled at the project completion. The library is very well used and its smooth operation is very valuable to the community of Fairbanks

Fairbanks Daily News Miner

WATER DAMAGE AND PROTECTIVE PLASTIC BEFORE REROOFING NEWSPAPER PHOTO OF DRY INTERIORKETTLE TEMP CHECK TYPICAL DAILY ONSITE INSPECTION

PROFESSIONAL PRACTICE

03URBANBEAUTIFICATION

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The city of Valdez is, as described by its residents, “an ugly town in a gorgeous setting.” It sits on a bay on Alaska’s southern coast with huge, snow-filled mountains flanking it to the north. It is a major tourist attraction in the summer, with an attractive harbor filled with charter fishing boats. Its downtown, however, typically goes unnoticed. My company teamed with a landscape design firm from Michigan to develop urban beautification concepts for Valdez. After some GIS mapping and site analysis, we spent several days in the town meeting with residents. We hadhad a workshop to get input from the townspeople, asking for their opinions on everything from existing buildings to lighting schemes, colors, and artwork. We would have liked more people to come out to the workshops and presentations, but the community participation method was a great experience. This project is still in progress and I hope to have another community input workshop as we proceed.

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The schemes we developed for Valdez included a town square with a snow gauge (marking each years’ max snowfall; Valdez sets records for the nation), a fire place, and paving to allow for a summertime marketplace. We also worked to modify the main street of Valdez, which stems from the highway leading to the town and typically has cars travelling near hightway speeds. To mitigate the traffic issues, we introduced a median, wide crosswalks, and lined the street with trees and vertical artwork. My role after the community input workshop was essentially to develop the artwork for the conceptsconcepts - including the firepit and snowgauge (previous page), roadway and pedestrian gateways, and the verital artwork lining the street (seen here in context sketches and diagrams). The minimal artwork that currently existis in Valdez has a fish theme, because that is what Valdez is best known for, but the residents expressed interest in celebrating the other unique aspects of their town. The artwork I developed featured native flora and fauna, mountains, and extreme winter sports (another tourist attraction).The details of our concepts have been well received by the Valdez community, but there are a few community members who are resistant to change, so things are moving slowly. The project has been an excellent lesson in the benefits and challenges to participatory design, definitely encouraging me to keep it up and make it work!

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04ATHLETECLASS

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The Carlson Center is a large event venue in Fairbanks that serves as the home rink for the University of Alaska Fairbanks Nanooks hockey team. In addition to the Nanooks, the Carlson Center hosts other hockey tournaments, basketball games, concerts, conventions, and more. This project was to renovate the locker room areas of the building to provide for convertible locker rooms/multipurpose spaces on one end and a locker room complex for the Nanook players on the other. Developing a state of the art facility that could be used also to impress recruits was important to the Nanook team, as was balancing the requirements of many different user groups.

Creating a space that serves the needs of the hockey players was crucial, but it was also important to make the space visually compelling, using quality finishes and statement design that would impress potential recruits and donors. Our project manager toured another state-of-the-art locker room complex in Minnesota and spent time discussing the design vision with the coach. The coach described incorporating the Nanook (polar(polar bear) mascot into the locker room, coming out of the ceiling. The PM interpreted that as a three-dimensional, sculptural diving bear, so I worked to develop the tempered glass sculpture to the left, fuly detailing its assembly. The hockey coach saw the design a few times, but was hesitant to comment at first because of his unfamiliarity with the design process. It was not until after the 65% set was submitted that hehe explained what he really wanted: the team logo reinterpreted three-dimensionally on the ceiling. With a rapid turnaround, I came up with the concept on the right.

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I worked closely with our structural engineer to detail the assembly of the final ceiling emblem, termed the ‘Nanook Medallion.’All of the stakeholders, particularly the hockey coach, were thrilled with this statement element in the locker room.

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Since the contract has been awarded for this job, I have had several meetings with the fabricator for the medallion, working with him to solve design issues, adjust for efficency and cost, and create a product that will be as beautiful as the design intended. I constructed a full-size mock-up of the bear emblem to understand how the pieces would work and interplay with the fiber optic light.ThisThis post-bid collaboration has been a great learning experience. Working directly with a fabricator from the outset of design would be hugely beneficial - a clear pro for the design-build process versus design-bid-build.

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ACADEMIA - STUDIO I

05MUSICCONSERVATORY

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ACADEMIA - STUDIO I 19









EXTRA CURRICULAR

HISTORICALCULTURAL

Top left: Chainsawing notches replicated from historic removed logs into replacement logs for the Steelecreek Roadhouse in eastern Alaska.Top right: Replacement logs installed at the cribbed corner of the historic roadhouse. Log sizes and lengths replicated the originals, which were removed due to rot.Bottom left: Volunteers in Parks work to secure a new metal roof on a remote historic raindeer herder cabin on the Seward Peninsula in western Alaska.BottomBottom right: Showing volunteers the plans for the historic Jumbo bunkhouse while onsite at the Kennecott Copper Mines National Historic Landmark.

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NOLLI PLAN - CORNERSTONE AND WOOD CENTER PLAZA

GRUENING BUILDING SKETCH

ACADEMIA - URBANISM

06URBANSPACE

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ACADEMIA - URBANISM

This diagram depicts an interpretaton of Robert Trancik’s “Lost Space,” or the ignored and unwanted spaces in urban areas. The orange spaces are unused or inaccessible, detracting from the cohesivity of the two plazas.

Kevin Lynch’s method of diagramming a city is translated to the plazas, identifying landmarks, paths, edges, and nodes on the site. Nodes are the most defined and organized characteristic.

This diagram is based on Jan Gehl’s identification of the uses of public space: necessary, optional, and social. People are brought to the plazas for necessary and optional use, and the resultant use is often social.

SITE SECTION AT CORNERSTONE PLAZA

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ACADEMIA - URBANISM

The plazas at the University of Alaska Fairbanks are alive with life today, such as the young girl playing on the sculptures who I sketched below. But the parks are also full of records of the history of Fairbanks and the university. Pictured here are only a few of the plaques and monuments featured in the space.

SITE SECTION AT CORNERSTONE PLAZA

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ACADEMIA - DESIGN RESEARCH

07DAIRYFARMRESEARCH

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ACAADEMIA - DESIGN RESEARCH

Creamer’s Dairy provided milk and other products to Fairbanks from 1928 to 1966, when the fields that now are filled with migrating Sandhill Cranes were grazing lands for cows. Creamer’s Dairy became Creamer’s Field Migratory Waterfowl Refuge when the Alaska Department of Fish & Game, through the support of the community at large in Fairbanks, purchased the farm. It is a landmark of the city, providing not only refuge for birds and other wildlife but serving as a daily place for getting out and experiencing nature right within the city of Fairbanks.

TheThe dairy/refuge was the subject of my research paper for Design Research in Architecture and Human Relations with David Foxe in Fall 2012. I chose the site not only because of its prominence as both a natural and architectural landmark in Fairbanks, but also because ot the community nature of it - I felt I could focus on the “third place” aspects of it and exolore how public versus private ownership and use changed throughout the history of the place and how they play in to the way it serves the community today.

The research was very interesting and educational and I learned a lot about what types of questions might be explored on the “commun“community” theme. I explored various contexts within which I can expore that research theme. These are outlined in the research paper excerpts on the following page,

Fig. 3. Aerial photo from the 1950s displaying the extent of the buildings which made up the Creamer’s Dairy complex. Today the tool storage shed, Don + Connie’s house, and the feed silos are no longer standing. Only the most central married worker home still exists. Photo adapted from Alaska Department of Fish & Game.

Fig. 4. Modern aerial photo shows the remaining buildings from the original complex. Background image from GoogleEarth annotated by author.

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III. Research QuestionsHow did the transfer of Creamer’s Field from private to state ownership impact the site’s use as an amenity for the greater Fairbanks community? In what ways did the closure of the barns and the opening of the trail network contribute to or detract from the civic nature of the space? What is the value of the wildlife refuge to the community of Fairbanks today?IV. ContextsThereThere are many contexts with which to investigate the transformation of Creamer’s Field. The most obvious is the context of ownership. The farm underwent a significant transition just by changing hands from private to public, and the involvement of the overall community in the process is fascinating. I am very interested in studying the area from the perspective of community, so this context has a lot of appeal. Another lens from which to view the transition from dairy farm to wildlife reserve would be the context of wildlife conservation as a whole. Awareness and efforts of conservationconservation throughout the country may have contributed to the atmosphere in which the farm made its transition. Specifically, this context

should focus on the practices and philosophies of wildlife conservation in Alaska, a large region with significant wildlife management requirements of its own. Finally, there is the simple context of Alaska itself. There are many factors which contributed to the history of the dairy and its transition to bird sanctuary which are uniquely Alaskan. In what ways did the Alaskan environment and mindset contribute to the desire and ability of the community to rally behind preserving the dairy and its wildlife?VI. Challenges and Further StudiesEach context to explore and research the transformations of Creamer’s Field offers a different and interesting perspective on the subject, but each has its challenges as well. From the viewpoint of ownership one can learn a lot about the history of the place and how it has transformed over time. This context would be particularly well-served by observational research into people’s interactions with the site. and this provokes some limitations because people’s interactions at the site from its past life as a dairy are harder to observe. However, the history of the dairy is recentrecent and local enough that there are people who could be interviewed, there are journals and first hand accounts that could be found, and records of daily farm life which could be interpreted to give a good idea of how people behaved on the site. Interaction of people with the site in modern times might in some ways be simpler, but would still be a complex issue, partly because the site is so large, and partly because there are many user groups with very diverse actions. It would definitely be useful to map how these different groups use the site differently to derive aa comparison between the actual “general public” use of the site in today’s time and when the place served as a dairy. It would also be interesting to compare the work of the farmers on the site today with the historic farmhands daily interactions.I initially investigated the wildlife conservation in a national context, but found the information specific to conservation in Alaska to be much more relevant to the research question, although the national conservation movement certainly played a role on the statewide level as well.

By focusing on the events and changes taking place in the conservation sphere specific to Alaska, the context is more refined. To refine it even further would be to look specifically at Fairbanks and how it may differ from the rest of the state in terms of conservationists and wildlife preservation. TheThe Alaskan context is important, especially when looking at social interaction within the fields and the value of the site on the community. Alaskan communities are unique, and there are aspects to them which could have significant impacts on the way the transformation of the site was treated and received. However, the context still needs to be distilled - Alaska is far to broad (and too big and diverse a place) to provide the right lens to view the subject. In my research I tended to focus on “pioneer spirit,” independence, and a preference to the wild, which I think are importantimportant “Alaskan” characteristics which contributed to the treatment of the transformation of Creamer’s Field. Defining and refining these concepts into an understandable and researchable context would be an important step in furthering this exploration.

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The farm underwent a significant transition just by changing hands from private to public, and the involvement of the overall community in the process is fascinating. I am very interested in studying the area from the perspective of community.

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Alaskan communities are unique, and there are aspects to them which could have significant impacts on the way the transformation of the site was treated and received.

ACADEMIA - DESIGN RESEARCH 34

08HISTORICRESTORATION


I first worked on historic restoration at the Kennecott Copper Mines National Historic Landmark when I was an historic architect intern for the National Park Service in 2008. I detailed the construction of several buildings while on site and assisted in the coordination of a volunteer effort to stabilize the Jumbo Bunkhouse. Since then, I have returned to Kennecott every year for more restoration work, recruiting volunteers whenever I can. Working carefully to restore the physical remnants of the state’s history is appealing work - combining problem solving and design challenges with craft and research. I hope to incorporate historic restoration or historical research with my thesis and definitely intend to continue preservation work in my future career.with my thesis and definitely intend to continue preservation work in my future career.


09RUSSIANLEGACY


At the Holy Assumption church in Kenai, Alaska, I joined Park Service employees and a fire protection engineer to perform a condition assessment. I drafted plans for an ADA ramp to access the front, which of course historically had only stairs. In addition to the ramp, we addressed rotting structural log members in the walls, and the absence of a fire protection system or alarm. ROSSIA, the non-profit organization I am part of, has funded the restoration of the structure so far, and is working to adress the other concerns.


ACADEMIA - THESIS PROPOSAL

10RESEARCHPROPOSAL

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Introduction: There are 200 rural villages in Alaska, each with a population less than 1,000 (Alaska Department of Labor 2012). Most of the people living in these villages are Alaska Native who were nomadic until recent (1930s) white colonization (Anders 1986). The majority of public buildings in these villages were built by the state or federal goverment at a time when energy costs were extremely low and a paternalistic attitude towards decision-making existed within government. Alcoholism, domestic violence, and unemployment are rampant problems, and suicide rates are twelve times higher in these villages than national averages (State of Alaska Health and Social Services 2010). The regionregion around these villages is rapidly changing, due to environmental, cultural, economical, technological and other factors (Fenge 1994). These northern communities are also repositories of vast amounts of traditional knowledge and experience (Dahl 1993), yet due to thes factors their future viability is uncertain. Problem Statement: These communities may be unsustainable in part because the existing buildings are poorly designed, severly inefficient, and too expensive to maintain. In addition, these building may actually be detrimental to community health and sustainability because they are culturally inappropriate. As energy prices have skyrocketed, the situation in the rural built environment is reaching a crisis level.

Hypothesis:Hypothesis: Through community interaction and study, it is possible to identify the principles of culturally appropriate building design. These principles can be combined with modern cold climate sustainability engineering practices and returned to the rural communities as part of a larger solution fror sustainability. There is one program that addresses sustainability in rural Alaskan homes (Cold Climate Housing Research Center 2008) but sustainability of community buildings such as schools, community centers, washeterias, andand steam houses are not being addressed. Gathering spaces have played a pivotal role in all cultures historically (MacLean, 1986) and are perhaps even more vital today. This proposed study will focus on those structures.Methods: I will focus on two communities, one Athabaskan (Tanana, pop. 231) and one Yup’ik (Quinhagak, pop. 675), with an anticipated several month stay in Quinhagak during the summer of 2013, and several trips to both villages during fall and winter 2013-2014. I have a close working relationship with Bear Ketzler, the city manager of Tanana. In Quinhagak, I will be working with Dr. Ann Riordan, who has done research in the community for many years, and I will continue my collaboration with the the Cold Climate Housing ResearchResearch Center, which has been designing sustainable prototype houses in that village. I will survey four additional communities representing Athabaskan, Yup’ik, and Inupiaq populations, making at least three visits to each.My methods consist of three parts, with the first founded in community-based participatory research, which “relies upon and validates [that] the community itself makes its own definitions” (Smith 1999). The research will make use of several techniques, including resident interviews (particularly with elders and youth), community-wide surveys, census of building use, and community discussions and meetings. In addition, participatory activities such as photologues, where residents are given cameras to document less tangible concepts, will be used to try to dig deeper than traditional written surveys.TheThe second part of my methods focuses on the buildings and their sustainability. This will consist of on-site facility condition assessments, programming design assessments, and precedent research for cold climate sustainable design techniques.

The potentially transformative aspect of this study comes from the synthesis of parts 1 and 2 of the research. This synthesis involves an analysis of both the results of the social community-based research and the architectural/engineering investigations, distilling and combining these to form a set of principles. These will be presented back to the communities studied, followed by further distillation based on additional community response.AnticipatedAnticipated Results + Significance: I anticipate an intial period during which community members may find it difficult to identify what consititues an effective and appropriate community building. However, through the set of activities I have planned, I am confident that collectively we will be able to identify the aspects of these buildings that are socially important, and what critical elements are missing in the buildings they currently have. Furthermore, by studying multiple communities, I believe I will be able to distill the broad principlesprinciples and specific characteristics of succesful, culturally appropriate community buildings for the rural north. The architecture/engineering assessments of existing buildings will allow me to combine these principles and characteristics with current sustainable technologies and design. To my knowledge this synthesis is novel and unique (intellectual merit).

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Hypothesis: Through community interaction and study, it is possible to identify the principles of culturally appropriate building design. These principles can be combined with modern cold climate sustainability engineering practices and returned to the rural communities as part of a larger solution fror sustainability.

“The second part of my methods focuses on the buildings and their sustainability. This will consist of on-site facility condition assessments, programming design assessments, and precedent research for cold climate sustainable design techniques.

The potentially transformative aspect of this study comes from the synthesis of parts 1 and 2 of the research. This synthesis involves an analysis of both the results of the social community-based research and the architectural/engineering investigations, distilling and combining these to form a set of principles. These will be presented back to the communities studied, followed by further distillation based on additional community response.Anticipated

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The potentially transformative aspect of this study comes from the synthesis ... of both the results of the social community-based research and the architectural/engineering investigations, distilling and combining these to form a set of principles.

ACADEMIA -THESIS PROPOSAL

I submitted this proposal to the National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship Program. Although the proposal was not successful in getting funded, it was an excellent exercIse to explore and refine my ideas for my thesis and my future work in design and research.

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EXTRA CURRICULAR

SUSTAINABLEDESIGN

Top left: Constructing a chicken coop to make my own life a little more sustainable. Top right: Answering questions after presenting our concept design for the Sustainable Village.Bottom left: Teaching about sustainble design and resource use in the built environment to an undergraduate freshman class in the School of Natural Resources at UAF.Bottom right: Speaking along with residents of the village, the University Chancellor, and the president of the housing research center at the ribbon cutting for the Sustainable Village.

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ACADEMIA - STUDIO II 42

11theNEWBAC




With Architectural Technology and Core Studio focusing on the same project, we were able to think very holistically about the building and its systems. This digram is meant to convey how all of these systems work together and within the form of the building.













12SUSTAINABLEVILLAGE


This project began as an ideas competition for University of Alaska Fairbanks students. I was taking continuing-ed classes so I joined a team with four other students, including a civil engineering major, a mechanical engineering major, an economics major, and a freshman who had yet to decide his academic focus. Our team synthesized extremely well, with each of us contributing our own strengths and learning from each other. Our use of digital communication methods allowed us to brainstorm and collaborate at any time. The entire project was a great lesson in the benefits of integrative design and collaboration, one which I continue to reference for my work process.OurOur winning design entry included four prototype houses, each with a similar solar-maximizing orientation, floor plan, and technological features, but with different foundations and wall constructions to serve as living laboratory test homes for research. The houses in our design were served by a central community and utility building, which contained the laundry and shower facilities and served as a systems central, treating all the community waste water on site and supplying hot water through a large solar thermal collection and storage system. Power was also centralized, with an extensive solar array adjacent to the site. Each building was designed to fit into the sursurroundings with minimum impact to the site.

PROTOTYPE HOUSE + HIGHLIGHTED FEATURES

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The purpose of this experimental housing project is to develop an affordable and sustainable building method for both urban and rural areas in the north, while addressing issues such as building on permafrost, extreme temperatures, and lack of central utilities. We spent a lot of time familiarizing ourselves with the site and analyzing the conditions, designingdesigning to maximize solar orientation, minimize disruption to the forest and permafrost, and optimize access to central utilities in the community building. Ultimately the project did not have enough funding to construct the community center, which was a key element in our design. After the competition, I joined forces with another student to continue to develop the ideas and hope spearhead fundraising for the project soon. We have begun discussions with other user groups, including the arts, sciences, and Native Alaskans. Many of the ideas I have been exploring for my thesis relate toto this project; while developing the agenda for the community center at UAF, I began to explore the idea of such a space in a rural village setting.

SITE ANALYSIS + CONCEPT SKETCHES

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HANGING VAPOR RETARDER FOR TIGHTNESS

SPEAKING AT RIBBON CUTTING CEREMONY

INSTALLING ROOF TRUSSES SALVAGING MATERIALS

HANGING DRYWALL

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I believe hands-on experience is hugely valuable for an architect to fully understand the design and construction process and the impacts of the building on the environment and its future occupants. I have often sought this sort of experience in projects outside of my professional work, but in this case I was able to serve as both designer and builder, which gave me a very holistic sense of the buildings from start to finish. I found communication betwen parties to be clearer because our roles were crossing over and less exclusively defined. Working in this way has further convinced me to make my full involvement and an integrative design process priorities in my future work.

CONCLUSION

CONCLUSIONCONCLUSION

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Documents

Graduate Design Portfolio