architectural design portfolio

LANDKAMERCLAIRE

CLAIRE LANDKAMERwww.clairelandkamer.com

Cal Poly, San Luis ObispoBachelor’s of Architecture

2007-2012

DESIGN

mercafir mercato

palazzo giovane

f-stop student lounge

after big oil [architectural thesis]

01

02

03

04

Site Plan

Hot

el

Scho

ol

Ma

rket

Are

as

Rest

aur

ant

Are

as

Park

ing

MERCATOMERCAFIRflorence, italy

BACKGROUND: In the outskirts of Flor-ence, Italy is an industrial area near one of the main entrances to the city where there are plans for future residential, commercial, and transportation growth. Mercafir Market is currently a food distribution center; where produce comes in from the fields and local businesses bring it into town. It is also at a transportation hub as the airport, railroad, highway, and main boulevards are nearby.

DESIGN: In Italy, food is a central aspect to the culture, so at the Mercafir Market, we designed a new market center where the food processes could be appreciated. It includes a culinary school, a 100-room hotel, and several restaurants and markets. The concept for this design was to create a transition between the city grid and the open landscape on opposing sides of the site. In plan and section, the fragmentation of the land blurs the line between the built and green spaces. A system for this break-ing down was developed and applied to geometries of the landscaping and the hotel. This was a 13-week, collaborative project in teams of four.

PERSONAL ROLES: Landscaping plan and hotel design

SKILLS USED: Sketchup, Photoshop, Auto-CAD, physical modeling, hand sketching

01

Hotel Entrance

ALBERGOMERCAFIR

View of Hotel from Restaurants

Hotel Longitudinal Section

Second Floor

First Floor

Hotel Floor Plans

N

Hotel Secton

Hotel Front Elevation

01

Hotel Back Entrance

Physical Models

01Site Planning and Hotel Process Sketches

Initial Hotel from Site

Initial Site Plan and Landscaping

A. Transverse Site Section

B. Longitudinal Site Section

GIOVANEPALAZZOflorence, italy

BACKGROUND: Palazzo Giovane is located in the center of Florence, Italy next to some of the most historically known sites: the Flo-rentine Duomo is merely two blocks away. In this famous, historical city, contemporary design is hardly recognized because of the traditions. Palazzo Giovane currently houses an institution named Casa della Creativita. Its program includes a design school, a cafe, an exhibition area, and a corporation that promotes international connections through events and meetings of youth.

CONCEPT: This design for Palazzo Giovane gives Casa della Creativita, along with the in-ternational youth in Florence, a strong identity in the center. The ideas were to contrast the history in the area by studying Renaissance architecture, and making design moves op-posite of them in a contemporary fashion. The space becomes very light and playful, it draws people in off the street, and is now a place for students to collaborate, interact, design, and exhibit their culture. Palazzo Giovane is meant to bring international youth together to enhance creativity and promote new ideas.

SKILLS USED: Rhinoceros, Sketchup, Illustra-tor, Photoshop, AutoCAD, physical modeling, hand sketching

Main Exhibition Space

02

Entrance PerspectiveSite Plan

Concept and Program Diagrams

Cafe Perspective

02

Floor Plans

Physical Model

Existing Analysis Sketches

02

Process Sketches

F-STOPSTUDENT LOUNGEcal poly, san luis obispo, ca

BACKGROUND: An abandoned room in Cal Poly’s architecture building was the proj-ect for a ten-week, collaborative design-build studio of 22 students and one professor. The final design was to be digitally fabricated and installed by the class. The new program for the space is a small exhibition space and student lounge; it is a refuge from the drafting table, and a comfortable place to be inspired.

FINAL BUILT DESIGN: The Canopy was designed from a geometric patterning system that allowed repetition and growth in spanning the space. The room was redesigned to have permanent seating, storage spaces, and exhi-bition spaces, along with moveable podiums for events. Using a grasshopper definition and a custom designed structural system, hundreds of unique wooden petals were arranged in a canopy leading one from the entrance to the intimate reading spaces. Light is an important aspect in this design as well, and playfulness of a bright color paint and chalkboard walls con-trast the formality of the exhibition spaces.

SKILLS USED: Rhinoceros/ RhinoCAM, Auto-CAD, Photoshop, Illustrator, CNC routing, laser cutting, wood and metal shop work, hand sketching, physical modeling

LEADERSHIP ROLES: Project manager for the second place design team; Seating coor-dinator for the final installed design

03

Final Installation

Final Photos

03

Digital Model Cut Files

Full Room Physical Modelseating process

Research

03

Laser Cut Prototypes CNC Routing Full Scale Mock-Ups

Final Installation

BIG OILAFTER

reclamation of an obsolete refinery

[exterior at night]

el segundo, ca

[Exterior At Night]

04[Interior Hall]

ABSTRACT: The world’s overreliance on fossil fuels will soon be forced to change. When the oil age ends, how will life as it exists on the planet today be altered? What will happen with the infrastructure that is left obsolete and toxic? This project addresses these issues of the near future with a proposal that reclaims an oil refinery located in El Segundo, CA.

PROPOSAL: The Chevron El Segundo Refinery has operated for 100 years to date. It is located directly on the coastline, sur-rounded on three sides by parts of the Los Angeles metropolis. The goal for the project is to reclaim this degraded site and transform it into an environmentally benign and self-sustaining community that not only re-knits the city fabric together, but also revives the native habitat. The entire project has been divided into five phases. Phase 1 consists of research of bio-remediation clean-up, Phase 2 master plans the entire site, Phase 3 develops how each neighborhood interacts on a community level, Phase 4 gets to the building scale in design-ing the environmental education center complex, and Phase 5 details one of the buildings on the environmental education center complex.

Site Section Environmental Education Center

04

[master plan]

0 1/4 1/2 1 mile

1/4 mile radius from bus stop

1/2 mile radius from bus stop public transportation stop grocery stores

[transit center]

[environmental education center]

Transit Center Organic Farms

2012

2033

2058

2063

2088

2093

2118

2123

TODAY:U.S. consumes an average of 19,150,000 barrels per day [cia world factbook]

OIL REFINERY CLOSES:Earliest predicted end of peak oil. [science20.com]

PHASE 1:Bioremediation clean up ends, development beginsPHASE 2:Bioremediation begins

PHASE 1:Construction is complete and buildings are occupied

PHASE 2:Bioremediation ends, development beginsPHASE 3:Bioremediation begins

PHASE 2:Construction is complete and buildings are occupied

PHASE 2:Bioremediation ends, development begins

PHASE 3:Construction is complete and buildings are occupied

Project Timeline

environmental education center

Axis Diagram

Circulation Diagram

Form Diagram [Complex Site Plan]

04

CONCEPT: The environmental education center was placed on a site within the com-munity that is located on the edge of the pro-posed built spaces just before the land slopes off to the beach below. The land in between the center and the beach is a nature pre-serve for the endangered El Segundo Blue Butterfly. The center itself occupies four tanks remaining from the original refinery. The idea is that the stark contrast between man and nature and old technology and new tech-nology is illustrated in the building’s design. The user experiences strategically framed glimpses both into the giant empty tank and towards the beautifully revived natural envi-ronment as they circulate through the spaces. The program creates an interactive and edu-cational building with laboratories, a library, an auditorium, offices, exhibit spaces, and classrooms.

[floor plans]

auditorium

conference room

office

wcwc

mechanicallobby

lobby

cafeteria

gift shop

classroom

classroom

classroom

classroom

bridge to tank 3

open to below

offices

green roof

open to below

1

1

2

2

1

1

2

2

1

1

2

2

[floor plans]

auditorium

conference room

office

wcwc

mechanicallobby

lobby

cafeteria

gift shop

classroom

classroom

classroom

classroom

bridge to tank 3

open to below

offices

green roof

open to below

1

1

2

2

1

1

2

2

1

1

2

2

[floor plans]

auditorium

conference room

office

wcwc

mechanicallobby

lobby

cafeteria

gift shop

classroom

classroom

classroom

classroom

bridge to tank 3

open to below

offices

green roof

open to below

1

1

2

2

1

1

2

2

1

1

2

2

Floor Plans

04

Building Sections

SKILLS USED: AutoCAD, Autodesk Project Vasari, Autodesk Revit, Adobe Photoshop, Google Sketchup, physical mod-eling, hand sketching

Passive Design Systems SectionsModel Photos

04

[Exterior Main Entrance]

04[Bridge Entrance]