current project_thesis

Final Study_693_Spring 02011
Texas A&M University College of Architecture

agricenter

On-Screen Presentation: Midterm Presenation

introduction/This final study proposal is two-fold. Firstly, the project proposes reusing an existing historical landmark in the center of Dallas as a new food market which draws inspiration from the traditional markets of Europe and blends them with a modern food grocer to provide a much needed grocery store to the Downtown Dallas neighborhood as well as a centralized market place for the city as a whole. Secondly, the project proposes creating a system of large and small urban farms from left over sites bordering the highways that ring Downtown which will feed agricultural produce into the newly created food market. This proposal attempts to address urban revitalization at multiple scales from the street to the city and posits that social revitalization and urban agriculture are critically important to the resuscitation of an existing urban form.

context/The site is located within Downtown Dallas directly in front of Pearl Station (DART, light rail) just two blocks away from the Arts District, across the highway from Deep Ellum and just a few blocks away from the Main Street District.

program/The Center for Urban Agriculture adaptively reuses the abandoned Old Dallas High School as an open market, small grocery store, and cafe.  A new building to house the Texas A&M College of Agriculture’s AgriLife Research and Extension Center at Downtown Dallas will be designed.  The research and extension center will serve two main purposes, to facilitate research in urban agriculture and urban land issues, and to become an educational resource on agriculture and gardening within the urban communities around Downtown and city of Dallas.  The rest of the 5.4 acre site will be used as public space in the form of plazas and green space as well as a functioning farm/garden which will act as a demonstration garden, and research garden which will supply the market and local food banks with fresh produce.

current project_132 ipswich

Marcel Erminy Studio_606_Spring 02010
Texas A&M University College of Architecture

132 Ipswitch/Boston, Massachusetts

introduction/Propose a mixed use building within the famous Fenway neighborhood in Boston. The program consisted of a 45 room hotel that caters to the visiting baseball team across the street at Fenway Park, as well as a branch of the Boston Ballet School, retail space, and a large green roof serving as a community garden.

context/The Fenway neighborhood is filled with opportunity. Universities surround the area, and two high schools (one for students engaged in performing arts) adjoin the site. Young residents are the majority in the neighborhood, and the Fenway Park baseball stadium provides the area with a unique vibrancy. The roof top garden echoes the public-private gardens found at the Victory Gardens of Back Bay Fens Park. A triangular surface parking lot converts into an open public plaza at the north end of Fenway Park, adjacent to 132 Ipswich.

drawings/The images above are the final presentation boards displaying floorplans, sections, and diagrammatic models.

current project_132 ipswich

Marcel Erminy Studio_606_Spring 02010
Texas A&M University College of Architecture

132 Ipswitch/Boston, Massachusetts

introduction/Propose a mixed use building within the famous Fenway neighborhood in Boston. The program consisted of a 45 room hotel that caters to the visiting baseball team across the street at Fenway Park, as well as a branch of the Boston Ballet School, retail space, and a large green roof serving as a community garden.

context/The Fenway neighborhood is filled with opportunity. Universities surround the area, and two high schools (one for students engaged in performing arts) adjoin the site. Young residents are the majority in the neighborhood, and the Fenway Park baseball stadium provides the area with a unique vibrancy. The roof top garden echoes the public-private gardens found at the Victory Gardens of Back Bay Fens Park. A triangular surface parking lot converts into an open public plaza at the north end of Fenway Park, adjacent to 132 Ipswich.

images/Colors: hotel (yellow), boston ballet school (green), area needed to grow food for one person annually (blue), retail and restaurant space (magenta), garden space (black).

diagram/Program functions and space requirements were realized after a study of the surrounding neighborhood and urban landscape. In order to provide sunlight to the roof garden, as well as maximizing its surface and growing potential, the program was placed below the garden. However, this provided little opportunity for all programs to interact with the garden, and allowed for little interaction between the street and the garden. The hotel was then extracted into a tower at the north end of the site, giving rooms a view out over the city, garden, and stadium. A restaurant sits at the moment where the hotel tower touches the garden, creating a place where the user can sit and eat while looking into the urban garden where the vegetables and spices were grown. In order to bring the garden and the street together, the corner of the garden pushes down creating a scalable hill for pedestrians to enter the community garden. The roof garden’s connection with the street happens at the southern end of the site where there is the least amount of direct sunlight (and therefore the least growing potential) and directly across the street from the new public plaza.

current project_white rabbit

presentation board

axo explosion

axo section

axo program

axo circulation

university ave looking north

university ave looking south

cafe to lounge

gallery

elev front

elve right

elev left

elev back

Craig Babe Studio_605_Fall 02009
Texas A&M University College of Architecture

White Rabbit_Black Rabbit/College  Station, Texas

introduction/Two week academic design project in college station to create a café/lounge/gallery/bookstore/performance space in the commercial and residential Northgate Neighborhood on the edge of the Texas A&M campus.

context/Northgate is the center of college nightlife, yet like most of the Bryan/College Station area, the neighborhood has suffered from suburbanization, and is one of the few areas left with the potential to promote real urban density. The White Rabbit site is at farther end of Northgate adjacent to a chain fast food restaurant, an abandoned groceries shopping center from the 01960’s and a operating bank from the same era. Instead of addressing the adjacent context of upper Northgate, this project focused more on the heavy pedestrian traffic caused by the Texas A&M campus across the street, and the overall context of the Bryan/College Station area. White Rabbit is an attempt to move forward and attract “alternative people” as an alternative to the bar scene just down the street. White Rabbit is an attempt to bring new life and extend the pedestrian friendly area of Northgate.

program/White Rabbit calls for five major programmatic elements: café, lounge, gallery, an independent bookstore, and performance space. The spaces were then defined by the spaces individual needs (for lighting, ceiling height, private or public space, ect.) as well as each element’s relationship to the whole. The café, lounge, and gallery spaces were merged into one indefinitely continuous space, because they share similar definitions. The bookstore and performance space were considered to have different definitions than the café/lounge/gallery. The bookstore is lifted up and pushed out over the sidewalk to create a shaded gathering space at the entrance to the café below. The bookstore also has a small one-piece gallery space overlooking the street in order for the architecture and architectural contents to serve as an advertisement to the pedestrian and automotive traffic below. The performance, needing more control over lighting and circulation, was half-way submerged into the ground. Access to the performance space/basement is handled by an external ramp that opens to the sidewalk. A dialogue is maintained between the gallery above, performance space below, and sidewalk through specifically placed windows allowing separation as well as varying degrees of interaction between the public and private.

circulation/Ramps provide for processional vertical movement.  The ramps are in between programmatic elements, and often serve as buffers between elements. However, these in-between spaces do more than circulate, they accidently congregate. Spaces are provided to both seek solitude in the non-space as well as offer opportunities for socialization with those passing by.

skin/Once the architectural contents of programmatic and circulatory elements were aggregated into a single form, a skin was wrapped around the form to create an interior and exterior. The skin was then panelized for production purposes.

effect_affect/White Rabbit_Black Rabbit is black on the outside and white on the inside. Black Rabbit aims to create a beacon of modernity and progressive urbanism in an otherwise defunct and decaying strip mall environment. White Rabbit creates an enclave for the otherwise neglected demographics of the Bryan/College Station area. The interior spaces of the café, lounge, gallery, and bookstore are drenched in direct and diffuse natural lighting and an ambient white light. The panelized skin is continued on the interior giving the surfaces a faceted form. Socialization and private meditation are provoked through a mixture of open spaces, solitary spaces, calculated external views, lighting conditions, and a garden.

current project_easterwood_overgrowth

Gabriel Esquivel Studio_305/406_Spring 2009
Texas A&M University College of Architecture

Easterwood Airport_OVERGROWTH/College Station, Texas

introduction/Project calling for the redesign of an existing airport in College Station, Texas. Redesign includes doubling the existing size of the airport, adding another gate to the terminal and profoundly changing the overall ambience of the flying experience. The studio theme was Turbulence. I will refer to this project as OVERGROWTH.

concept/the existing building led the user through a disjointed and stale experience that only adds to the angst of flying. After concluding that the existing aesthetics and spatial proportions were inadequate but the overall programming was sufficient, the existing architecture was stripped down to its bare essentials (as shown above in [existing, stripped, stripped in plan]). From there, the programmatic elements were allowed to grow out of their restrictive boxes into free forms in an organic manner. I will refer to the programmatic elements as the Organs of the architecture. The parameters for the growth were the amount of walkable space needed measured in feet²) as well as space needed for affect (measured in feet³).

OVERGROWTH attempts to personalize the spaces where the flying experience can feel the most hectic (baggage check, ticketing, lobby, security, etc.) while the secure spaces provide a sense of openness and freedom (gates, sky bar, restaurant).

research/Ideas and concepts explored in this project were that of translucent skin, structural striations to said skin (both concepts are detailed in previous posts), vegetative growth on man-made architectural ruins, contrasting and appropriately exposing the old orthogonal existing building with the new organic architecture, and using a system of skins that work in layers to add to the affect, as well as the structural, programmatic qualities of the architecture.

anatomy/OVERGROWTH uses an anatomical metaphor. Organ + Skin + Bone = Body. Organs are the various elements of the program (baggage check, baggage claim, rental space, offices, security, flight lounges, etc.). Organs consist of space which walls (both existing orthogonal and new organic) wrap themselves around producing one skin. Windows are then punched into this layer of skin in order to provide optimized daylighting even in the hottest of summer days. Image showing exposed Organs is labeled [organs]. Next, the Skin referred to in the equation above is a yellow-tinted performative glass skin that envelopes the program and shades the drop off area. Yellow was chosen for its calming and cheerful qualities. Bone is the structure that allows the organic skin to take its shape and hold it safely.

affect/OVERGROWTH takes on two different personalities, one in the day, another at night. In the daylight the Skin produces a slight yellow glow on the white walls of the Organs. There is an interior Wild Garden that can be viewed from the ticketing area, certain flight lounges, the restaurant, and the sky bar. The Wild Garden integrates itself with the baggage claim and administrative offices. Users experience the twisting of the organic forms as they grow out from the existing program and settle onto the surrounding topography.

At night however, the two layers of skin exude a different affect. Programmatic elements are given alternating blue and red lighting effects. The Sky Bar, filled with bean bags and bar stools floating above the Wild Garden, transforms into a highly personal space and glows with red. The Restaurant, alternately, glows with blue to create a cool and relaxed space for dining. Refer to images [drop off_night, driveway_night, elev_front_night] for examples of lighting effects. On the exterior, the reds and blues of the interior combine with the yellow skin to create a large palette of colors that appear change and dance along the organic Skin as cars drive by along the nearby highway.

current project_easterwood_skin and bones

perspective one

aerial

sxsw elevation

skeleton

skeleton

disection

section

section

section

entrance

ramp

runway

Gabriel Esquivel Studio_305/406_Spring 2009
Texas A&M University College of Architecture

Easterwood Airport Continental Wing/College Station, Texas/Digital Model_Skin and Bones

concept/The newly added space is housed in two new boxes projecting off the side of the existing airport. These boxes are simply conceptual programmatic elements which are enclosed by a system of skin and bones. This new system acts as a sheath for the new elements of the building and firmly attaches itself to the existing structure like an overgrown root on a ruin. Once the program has evolved into its final form, the skin and bones will wrap around it tightly and latch onto the existing building for structural support. The skin and bones system responds to whatever it encases. When on the new structure it is wrapped tightly, accenting the clean form. On the existing structure, however, the skin and bones react harshly to the form, they twist and expand as necessary.

skin/Skin is porous, skin is impermeable. In some places it is entirely opaque, in other places it may be translucent. The airport can be easily summed up, new and existing. New will be completely wrapped in skin and bones, while the existing will be partially covered in the new skin system in order to achieve a continuity of aesthetics and design.

The main element in this project’s skin is glass. Quadrangular subdivision in the initial form of a diamond will be used to facet the surface of the skin. Once subdivided by the diamonds, the skin will now have a organization to it that allows it to react to the various activities of the interior space it encloses. For example, in the waiting area, more of the diamond panels will be fully translucent glass, or yellow tinted glass (for atmospheric effect). In areas where daylighting is not needed or uneconomical, an opaque panel can be substituted. A pattern will emerge that creates the facade of the new structure.

rib/A rib is a bone. A bone is structural by its very nature. Thus, they serve as the support for the glass skin. The ribs will be constructed out of short sectioned steel pieces (for economy) and clad in a light weight aluminum.

materiality/All materials subject to change at any time.

current project_easterwood_analog model two

Gabriel Esquivel Studio_305/406_Spring 2009
Texas A&M University College of Architecture

Easterwood Airport Continental Wing/College Station, Texas/Analog Model_Plastic Turbulence

introduction/My current research, in preparation to design an extension to the Easterwood Airport (purely academic study), involves looking at non architectural materials and making architectural observations. At the persistence of Gabe (studio professor), we each chose a physical material-anything but paper-to study what the effects of movement or possibly turbulence has on the subject. As can be seen above, I chose plastic in the form of commercially marketed water bottles.

editing/With this video I tried to capture a sense of movement through the editing, quick scenes, and stop motion animation.

continuity/This experiment will be continued and elaborated upon over the next two weeks. New experiements on the plastic bottles are in development and a more consise algorithm that will guide the final form will be reached.

current project_easterwood_analog model one

control group

striation group

pattern group

control bottle a

control bottle b

striation bottle a

striation bottle b

pattern bottle a

pattern bottle b

Gabriel Esquivel Studio_305/406_Spring 2009
Texas A&M University College of Architecture

Easterwood Airport Continental Wing/College Station, Texas/Analog Model_Plastic Turbulence

introduction/My current research, in preparation to design an extension to the Easterwood Airport (purely academic study), involves looking at non architectural materials and making architectural observations. At the persistence of Gabe (studio professor), we each chose a physical material-anything but paper-to study what the effects of movement or possibly turbulence has on the subject. As can be seen above, I chose plastic in the form of commercially marketed water bottles.

material/What do plastic water bottles have to do with aviation architecture? or even architecture at large? Nothing. If I were to ask what airports, water bottles, and cell phones have in common, we might get closer to seeing a link. Airports, plastic water bottles, cell phones, and light bulbs will get us even closer.

Everyday items. Monotony. Each of these items are common products of our modern ‘first-world’ society. Each are incredibly complex in the science that invents them, in the production process that manufactures them, in the ideas that are expressed through them. However, to the average modern human, each of these items have become no more significant than a pencil; they are simply a tool, a product of the modern world.

experiment/Two plastic bottles have been selected for this study. The bottles are of different brands, different heights, widths, striation patterns, striation widths, and are made up of different kinds of plastic. Tops and bottoms of the bottles (horizontal structural points) were removed. Each bottle was twisted one full turn of the wrist to reveal a crinkly, spinning tube of plastic. In order to better understand the movement, the control group was left unmarked, the striation group’s striations were filled in, and a third group received a standardized grid of dots following a 4cm by 8cm pattern. The results can be seen above.

continuity/This experiment will be continued and elaborated upon over the next two weeks. At the end of next week, the final analog models and studies, will serve as the launching pad for digital models and architectural design of the airport’s new terminal. Results will be posted.

current project_easterwood_site visit

easterwood airport

commercail check-in

control tower

service industry

existing, gate two

some pleasing aesthetics

conveyer belt

jet way

pilot’s lounge

plane

plane

airfield

jetway

you’ve been warned

john happ, airport director

Gabriel Esquivel Studio_305/406_Spring 2009
Texas A&M University College of Architecture

Easterwood Airport Continental Wing/College Station, Texas.

intro/On January 30th, our studio was lucky enough to get a guided tour of Easterwood Aiport by the airport director himself, John Happ. The airport makes very little distinction between front of house functions and back of the house functions. The recently installed advertising and flat screen televisions were haphazardly thrown onto various blank walls without any regard to aesthetics or design. Retail and service industry spaces are bland and disconnected from the rest of the architecture, just as in most commercial airports.

image gallery/The second image on the first row shows the check-in area for all commercial flights with Taeg Nishimoto’s ‘Free Flight’ art installation hanging above the waiting area. Images of the existing structure, both inside and out, as well as the existing control tower are shown.

current project_easterwood_research

aaron koblin, flight curves

aaron koblin, flight curves

aaron koblin, flight curves

portland airport, flight paths

portland airport, flight paths

bird migration, flight paths

tip vortex

wake turbulence

univ of minnesota, simulation of turbulence flow

Gabriel Esquivel Studio_305/406_Spring 2009
Texas A&M University College of Architecture

Easterwood Airport Continental Wing/ College Station, Texas.

intro/Studio project to design a new terminal for Continental Airlines (from here on out regarded as the Continental Wing). Being a purely academic study, the program for this addition is incredibly loose and undefined, giving us as designers more room to roam and explore various aspects of the pre-flight process. The theme for this project is turbulence.

research/As a studio, we broke up research by subject. My specific research topic is flight paths. I also bounced around a little and did some looking into turbulence, migration of birds/butterflys, and retail in airports. In regards to the image gallery above, the first row is graphic art from Aaron Koblin (Media Arts, UCLA) showing the flight paths to and from US airports. The second row is arival/departure flight paths at the Portland, Oregon airport. Notice how the jet (comercial) flight paths have a much more streamlined effect, while the non-jet (independent) flight paths are much more chaotic, but still a pattern emerges. The third row looks at turbulence, in regards to both real world physics and controled labratory simulation.

I will be looking further into flight patterns and turbulence in the near future. Also, Gabriel gave us another topic to look into for the weekend: movement. Movement in architecture, sculpture, paint, film, ect.

early objectives/As a studio, we discussed certain ideas to promote with this design. First, you must look at airports in the present era. Security. A passenger should arrive at the airport three hours in advance of a international flight to undergo security and bag checking procedures. Modern flying is more about long lines and waiting than the actual flight itself. The airport has more of an affect on the passenger than the actual flying does. After finally getting bags properly taken care of (hopefully), through various security checks and identification checks, a passenger is forced to wait in a shopping mall-like environment complete with drab retail, food courts, long bland walkways, and uncomfortable chairs. The whole environment is uncofortable. With so many things out of the architects hands (such as security, bag handling, ect.) it seems that designing a possitive, live-able environment should be our number one priority. Giving the airport back to flight. Allowing the passenger waiting on a plane the chance to have the same feeling of excitement and anticipation that early airplane travellors once felt. Remember that first time you flew? Of course you do, it was a memorable experience, something that humans have for centuries dreamed about. So why then do we design airports (an import part in the process of mass flying) with such a lack of excitement?