Amy Lee StewartUniversity of Texas at Austin, 2011

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Mixed-use, High-Rise, Residential Building

Indoor & Outdoor Theater

Archive

Good Food

Light Aperture

Wood Joint

Camera

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Chapel & Columbarium Wall

Amy StewartUniversity of Texas at Austin, 2011

BS in Architectural Studies

22Tom C. Green Swim Center

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Mixed Use, High Rise Residential BuildingDesign IV

This project began with an exploration of the ur-ban fabric of the River North area of San Anto-nio. Our intent in the redesign of the area was to connect River North to the downtown area while also making it a distinct, more livable space for the direct community. We did this by densifying certain regions that were closest to the down-town River Walk, which we characterized as our major business district. By making these dis-tinct districts, such as an arts district, several liv-ing districts, and a few small business districts, we were able to create a more walkable city.

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After the site analysis, there was a unit exploration that pro-vided an opportunity to test the boundaries between public and private spaces. My intent was to delineate these spaces in such a way that the boundaries got blurred. The placing of a loft within the unit led to a push and pull of the ceiling plane in cer-tain areas that contained more private spaces, and allowed the public areas to take advantage of the double height spaces.

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Midway through the semester, the studio jumped scales again and used the new city plan and the original unit design to create a residential build-ing. I chose to design a high-rise, mixed-use, residential building that was located in the new commercial center of San Antonio. This part of River North was intended to house more residential units and commercial spac-es with a greater density. Within the building, I wanted to break away from the idea that commercial spaces had to remain on the lower levels. By bringing the offices and retail spaces up vertically through the building, it would encourage dynamic interactions between the residents, locals, and visitors, as well as create more opportunities for live/work conditions.

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Indoor/Outdoor Theater in Austin, TXDesign II

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Located between Lady Bird Lake and a major, downtown Austin road, my origi-nal concept for this project was to me-diate between the world of the natural and the world of the manmade. By us-ing the original topographical lines of the site to inform the orientation and place-ment of the theater, I created spaces that mitigated between the two orders. With the indoor spaces, I explored the idea of juxtaposing floating versus grounded as a means of conveying pub-lic or private spaces. I chose to raise the more public portion of the building above the ground plane, while leav-ing the indoor theater portion grounded. The landscape also played an important role in the placement of the outdoor the-ater. The portion of the site where the land slopes toward the lake lent itself to the placement of the outdoor theater.

Wood JointDesign I

This project provided an opportunity to understand the material charac-teristics of wood, while also exploring types of joints that can be employed in the process of design. To begin, I studied the hand and the series of joints that made up the whole. By drawing blind contour images of the hand in certain positions, I was able to better understand joints as they pertain to the body. Next, I studied more specifically wood joints and how they worked, thus being able to create a new joint by using the knowledge obtained during the research stage.

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For my object design, I focused on employing four different joints: the lap joint, housing joint, halving joint, and mortise and tenon joint. I chose to create a wood joint that was chronologically specific in the or-der in which to lock the two objects together. To that end, I was able to carve out a path in a wooden block that was unidentifiable from the exterior views, but that allowed for a smaller piece of wood to lock tightly into place.

ArchiveDesign I

In this project, I chose to archive the Dis-ney animation process. My strategy was to make the visitors feel like they had become part of the animation process. The three stages of animation include storyboards, the character sketches, simulation and photography, and finally the animation stages are complete and the film is viewed. My concept was to use public circulation as a means of rec-reating the animation process within ar-chitectural parameters. Upon arriving at the site, the viewer would walk around a 6-foot tall translucent storyboard as they approached two small museums. This wall gave the spectators the op-portunity to become part of the narrative themselves because their silhouettes could be seen from the viewing area on the other side of the wall. After advanc-ing down the path, the viewer would then come upon two buildings that housed the original sketches. Here, I introduced a large screen that notched the two structures together, creating a transition between the two final steps of animation. Finally, the viewer would arrive at the outdoor viewing area that played the movie in its entirety.

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During this semester, our studio studied projection as it pertains to light, sound, and architecture. For this project, we were to design a light aperture that tested the effects of light in a space. My intent was to interlock bands of light by reflect-ing light off of different surfaces to create various patterns at different times dur-ing the day. After the creation of the aperture, I used sun print paper to es-tablish the patterns that were created at five different times during the day.

Light ApertureDesign II

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A subsequent analysis of the light project was to imag-ine volumes of light created inside the reflection cham-ber. Starting from a 9x9 Cartesian grid, the shape of the reflected light beams was subtracted. The result provided a way to measure the amount of distortion that was effected on the light against the regular grid.

Good FoodDesign III

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This semester we meant to understand the ideas behind sustainable design, while also focusing on the landscape as a major component of the design process. The goal was to design a sustainable food center that housed community gar-dens, teaching gardens, classrooms, a marketplace, and a restaurant. My intent was to create a place that brought at-tention to the relationships between growing, transporting, and preparing of the food. I did this by employing architectural elements that aided in creating specific moments that highlighted the awareness of the stages involved in gardening.

One specific moment of importance is the outdoor café that is located be-tween two main gardens: one on the south side, where the foliage grows alongside and up the trellis that wraps around the exterior space. The other garden is located on the north side where the outdoor café is actually carved into the site so that the gar-dens are at eye level with the observer. This space allows for an opportunity to directly link the beginning stages of food in the ground, to the final prod-uct on the plate, which heightens the awareness of the process as a whole.Along with creating specific moments within the complex, I also manipulated the landscape to create a series of interlocking paths between the build-ings, while still maintaining a sense of freedom of movement within the out-door spaces and between the gardens.

CameraDesign V

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A camera is an instrument that measures time by capturing an illustration of an instant that is then documented in a photographic image. By designing and building a pinhole camera, I was able to use the object as a means to capture an instant in time and then further explore light by extract-ing a three-dimensional space from the two dimensional illustration. The camera’s design was intend-ed to incorporate the basic design of a film camera while employing the simplicity of a pinhole device.

By creating an advancer that actually reels the film, the camera is able to capture up to 16 images at a time. The camera’s exterior en-velope utilizes a series of wood joints that securely fix the corners in order to create a light-tight space, while also adding a layer of de-tail to the construction of the object itself. Also, by using two types of wood, I was able to create a second skin that wraps around the camera, which allowed for an aperture-shielding device that is in-ternally incorporated into the device instead of externally applied.

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After this exploration, I used the photographs of a series of bike racks to extract the space cast by the shadow. I took the shapes of the shadows cast throughout the day and lofted them together in a 3D model. Once the overall figure was determined, I cut a series of sections through the object. From here, I wanted to move away from the shadows, which represent an absence of light, and instead create a three dimensional model of the space within the shadows. By using a transparent mate-rial, I was able to create an object that could itself be an instrument for catching and reflecting light in new ways.

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For this project, we chose a specific aspect from the previous exercise and explored it further in the de-sign of a columbarium wall and chapel. The form that arose from the lofting of the shadows was seeking rel-evance to a chapel in its potential to create an environment of chiaroscuro. I took the form and started to tai-lor it to create moments where there was a juxtaposition of the brightest bights with the darkest darks, which is a known formula for creating a sublime experience. This formula aided in locating the columbar-ium wall at the threshold where dark and light met, and helped to solidify the forms in the given context.

Columbarium Wall + ChapelDesign V

After generating the overall shape, I wanted to address the form at a smaller, more intimate scale in the circulation spaces, which allowed people access to the second level of the columbarium wall. I chose to use a series of wooden vertical louvers, which begin to peel back and open up where the chapel and the large circulation space meet. This detail allowed for the chapel to become more closed off, which created more personal spaces, while also allowing light to still penetrate the space.

Thomas Greene Swim CenterDesign VI - Sound Building

This semester presented an opportunity to gain a more thorough understanding of the conceptual develop-ment of a building by considering structural, mechanical, electrical, electrical, and site integration needs. I start-ed by exploring the concept of selective permeability, where public circulation was indepedent from the pro-grammatic spaces, yet connected by their adjacent views. One such instance in the building is seen in the glass tunnel that bridges the gap between the city and the lake by penetrating the building without allowing inte-rior access. By creating this connector, people can engage the building without ever entering the swim center.

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BUILDING PLAN - GROUND LEVELSCALE: 1/8”=1’0”

ESTCODE

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LAP POOL

OFFICE

STORAGE

MECHANICAL ROOM

LEISURE POOL

LOBBY

FITNESS CENTER

WOMEN’SLOCKER ROOM

MEN’S LOCKER ROOM

Another important concept which helped to drive the design was the idea that the building should help to maintain the escence of the site, which is located in downtwon Austin between Cesar Chavez and Town Lake. The current-day site has a large number of trees that create a significant amount of dappled light on the site. Given this, I wanted to create a roof that helped to create these same daylighting characteristics. I chose to use a series of layerd roof elements that help to bounce the light into the space, without allowing too much light to penetrate the building due to environemtnal concerns. With these factors in mind, I chose to use three different paneling members (translucent glass, blue steel, and gray steel) to create a pattern on the roof which would allow for the desired lighting effects.

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BUILDING PLAN - STREET LEVELSCALE: 1/8”=1’0”

LAP POOL

EXTERIORWALKWAY

LEISURE POOL

CAFE AND BAR

MAIN LOBBY

MENSROOM

WOMENSROOM

MECH.ROOM

KITCHEN

OUTDOOR CAFE AND TERRACE

PUBLIC LOCKERSAND BIKE RACKS STAFF ROOM STAFF ROOM STAFF ROOM

Tertiary Roof Structure: Glulam Beams 1’ depth

Secondary Roof Structure: Glulam Beams 3’ depth

Primary Roof Structure: Composite Trusses 6’ depth

W6x6 Steel Columns

Concrete Slab

Poured-in-place Concrete Shear Walls

Poured-in-place Concrete Columns

28WALL SECTIONSCALE: 1/2”=1’0”

29WALL SECTIONSCALE: 1/2”=1’0”

LONGITUDINAL SECTIONSCALE: 1/8”=1’0”

ESTCODE

30 LATITUDINAL SECTIONSCALE: 1/8”=1’0”

ESTCODEESTCODE

LONGITUDINAL SECTIONSCALE: 1/8”=1’0”

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