Jason Meyering

DLR Group

Project Roles: project architect, master plan core team member, lead facility assessment team, worked with a team to develop the master plan graphics, coordinated concepts with a cost estimating team

This north suburban school district completed a demographic study and determined that within the next 20 years they would need seats for an additional 500 seats for students in the growing and changing community.  Also, many of the districts existing classrooms where already at or over the school boards recommended capacity of 25:1.  Working with the school district we completed an assessment of the existing schools studying health and life safety, facility conditions, and educational adequacy of the existing learning environment.  We worked with a core team of community members, parents, teachers, and administrators to recommend a course of action to the board.  The core team took the initial step of determining what educational adequacy meant to them through a series of site visits, and research initiatives.  After presenting their findings to the school board, the core team continued to develop a series of master plans to resolve overcrowding and advance the learning initiatives of the school district.  To communicate these options to the community, the master plan was refined to a single sheet encompassing all the elements of the master plan, anticipated costs, and impact on individual taxes.  The school board moved forward with one of these options to a referendum.

DLR Group

Project Roles: project designer, project architect, lead completion of the construction documents, lead construction administration, lead installation of the furniture, fixtures, and equipment, Revit model manager

Located in the cold semi-arid prairie of western North Dakota this new 200,000 square foot middle school accommodates 960 students merging two existing schools.  In the expanding community, the new middle school anchors what will become a new residential and commercial quadrant, also serving many community functions.  Each grade is subdivided into three academic clusters.  Within each cluster a team of four teachers represent the four core disciplines but work together in a flexible learning environment on a curriculum that is project based.  Operable walls between classrooms facilitate cross classroom collaboration.  Reconfigurable walls within each classroom allow further subdivision to facilitate group discussions and team identity.  Distributed media rooms let the traditional library expand its collection and have a direct connection to the classroom environment, while expanding its own identity into a technology rich maker space.  A clustered bar of visual arts and tech workshops put the creative efforts of the students on display and allow easy engagement from artists and professionals from the community.  Performing artists have a black box space that can flex from an intimate performance space to a large theater seating over a thousand spectators.  This new middle school represents a new focus of the school district on cutting edge education and preparing students for dynamic professions.

DLR Group

Project Roles: assisted the lead project designer in development of the proposal  

As the commercial core of Chicago continues to expand west, existing industrial and manufacturing complexes are being converted or rebuilt into denser centers of commerce.  One site along the Chicago River, at the intersection of Chicago and Halsted, is planned to be an early phase in a project that would cost billions and cover hundreds of acres near Chicago’s core.  Responding to the trend for loft style office environments and embracing the resurgence of heavy timber, this project proposed a pair of low rise spec office space with warm finishes inside and out, and expansive views of the river and skyline.  The architecture team and developer used this model successfully in neighboring cities and have continued to expand the deployment of this development model and architecture in cities across the nation.  With the innovation of cross laminated timber and nail laminated timber components, heavy timber has seen a significant increase in market share, offsetting the rising costs of steel and concrete.  Creating a simple and graceful statement along the Chicago River, it reflects traditional architectural elements in an innovative way, responds to the grid of the city, and outlines a redevelopment path forward.

OWP/P | Cannon Design

Project Roles: design team member, project architect, lead completion of the design documents

 Opened in 1967, this north suburban community college is one of the largest in the United States and sprawls over a single 200-acre campus.  Many of the existing structures on the campus are in a brutalist style composed of brick and exposed concrete.  In recent years the campus has grown and experienced new life with several new monumental buildings by prominent Chicago architects using contemporary aesthetic and materials.  The demographic of the community, educational style, technology, and demanded services have also changed significantly since 1967.  Student services were scattered across the campus, dining and campus events did not have a dedicated home, and the campus front door needed new monumental presence to students and visitors.  The existing student center was redeveloped into a multifunction space.  The existing cafeteria at its lower level was reimagined into a multi-option food court.  The existing main and upper level was updated for formal events and informal daily student gatherings.  Additions to the existing building created a new college business office and one-stop for registration and payments.  Career services and student wellness were given more prominent homes to demonstrate the colleges commitment to the students now and in the future.  This consolidated complex greatly improves efficiency, outreach, and engagement by the students.  The new addition pushes the main entry out to meet arriving students and guests.  Several options for monumental monitors at both entrances identify this space as a significant building on campus. 

OWP/P | Cannon Design

Project Roles: assisted the lead project designer with the project proposal and development of the submittal imagery, coordinated work effort with the associate architect

With an enrolment of over 4,000 students, this high school has been a fixture of the north Chicago suburb of Winnetka for over 100 years.  Known for its academic excellence, attention to the arts, and superior athletics the school was in need of an education environment that reflected its commitment to the community.  With limited site area and complex phasing, portions of the existing campus were demolished to make way for a new four level addition.  Incorporating spaces for all the arts, and science programs, new learning suites are the new cornerstone education space on the campus.  At the main level a learning commons is the new hart of the school.  As a center for academic support, research, and access to technology, the learning commons opens the center of the building and creates new sightlines across the campus.  Adjacent to the main north-south access, it sits between the athletic campus, student commons, visual arts studios, and performing arts theaters.  Historic elements of the schools architecture that were important to the community were preserved and respected by the new addition.  A calmly composed, classical, and regular exterior gives way to a flexible and exuberant interior.  The traditional torus shape of the addition allows light to penetrate all the interior spaces.  The rhythmic structural grid creates a cost effective structure that allowed for both soaring interior spaces and is easy flexibility for future plan changes.  Critical to the success of this project was also re-planning the distribution of all the academic departments.  Creating clusters of learning with access to critical resources, without inhibiting cross-connectivity between the subjects is essential to a modern education. 

OWP/P | Cannon Design

Project Roles: project designer, project architect, lead completion of the construction documents, lead construction administration, Revit model manager 

Honors: LEED Gold, IASB Award of Distinction, Learning by Design - Citation of Excellence 

The new elementary school in Savoy is 63,000 SF, K-5, 3 classrooms per grade, and accommodates 425 students.  The school is home to the districts deaf program accepting students from around the region with hearing disabilities.  This required a unique planning approach and close attention to materials and sound isolation.  Each grades home base is designed as a flexible learning environment with the ability to adapt to changing teaching and learning styles.  The three classrooms of each grade level are clustered around a community collaboration space.  Operable walls allow the classrooms and collaboration area to function as one large classroom where the entire grade can learn together.  Each collaboration space is equipped with additional resources, technology, and access to the exterior.  This school community was relocated from an over served area of Champaign to Savoy which is a new suburban community south of Champaign.  Less than 20 years ago this area was undeveloped agricultural land.  Since then this community is now several thousand single family homes.  Developing the project with sensitivity to the land and communicating that to the surrounding community was critical.  The design process engaged the stakeholders through several early workshops that involved teachers, students, and neighbors.  The school also acts as a community center with spaces like the gym, commons, and library accessible after school hours and easily separated from the classroom wings.  The building is heated and cooled with geothermal energy, and passive shading and daylight controls help reduce energy demand. 

OWP/P | Cannon Design

Project Roles: assisted the lead project designer with the project proposal and development of the submittal imagery, Revit model manager 

Originally designed by Max Abramovitz and opened in 1963 Assembly Hall is the home arena for University of Illinois basketball.  As one of the competing design teams we were asked to develop a proposal to modernize and expand the amenities of the arena.  The venue currently has seating for about 16,000 – 17,000 depending on the type of event.  Existing areas for concessions, merchandising, and toilet rooms are limited often leading to lines and unsatisfied patrons.  With a uniform exterior appearance, while deliberate and ingenious at the time, has caused visitors to become disorientated.  The proposal creates a grand entry hall at the west elevation with access to all seating levels from this point.  The new entry hall is also home to team apparel shops and restaurants.  At the four quarter points of the building two story pods tucked below the compression ring of the dome house larger toilet rooms and fixed concession stands at two levels.  This allows patrons access to these facilities close to their seats and without having to travel between levels.  The east elevation of the arena facing the athletic administration facility is a memorial structure dedicated to the Fighting Illini.  Inside the arena the bowl shape was preserved, but new luxury seating and private boxes were installed below upper seating levels.  This gave the University greater potential revenue with the introduction of exclusive seating options.  The area floor was lowered and a second underground back of house area was proposed to allow for faster turnover of events and access by larger equipment.  Along with the improvements to the audio and visual systems of the area, this proposal could have returned Assembly Hall to one of the premier venues of the NCAA. 

OWP/P | Cannon Design

Project Roles: project designer, project architect, lead completion of the construction documents, Revit model manager 

Honors: LEED Gold, IASB Award of Distinction, William W. Caudill Citation, Council of Education Facility Planners International Dr. James D. MacConnell Award Winner 

The northeast area of Champaign has had difficulty with economic inequality for many years, and the school district had also neglected improvements to the areas education structure.  The existing Booker T Washington Elementary School was demolished to allow for the construction of a new Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) Academy that is 53,000 SF, K-5, 3 classrooms per grade, accommodating 425 students.  The project strengthens the existing school community and creates a STEM centric, project based, flexible learning environment.  Each academy is inwardly focused forming a cluster of three classrooms which opens onto a communal collaboration and project work space.  The core of the building is a STEM lab where students connect with professionals retained through programs such as I-STEM at the University of Illinois.  Flanking the core lab are offices for academic coaches and STEM coordinators.  Bookending the core of the building is a reference library, commons, and gym.  The core of the building is planned with the most active spaces in the east transitioning to the most contemplative spaces in the west.  Each space connected to the STEM core and expressing STEM themes through the architecture and applied supper-graphics.  Community involvement was critical during the design phases to develop a sense of ownership by the community to assure continued success of the program. 

OWP/P | Cannon Design

Project Roles: Revit model manager through schematic design  

As the cities first downtown public school John Rex Charter will be a transformative education experience engaging its urban environment.  The school is seen as a launch pad where students utilize the school as a home base for engaging the governmental, business, technological, artistic, and cultural resources found in the urban core.  Home to 500 students the preK-8 school is divided into 8 launchers.  Each launcher serving grades 1-8 houses a series of interconnected spaces for varied teaching models from a lecture style classroom to a project based collaboration environment.  The site is arranged to address the complex security of an urban school, while keeping the campus porous with multiple points of entry accommodating different modes of arrival.  The school is the result of a multiyear collaboration between the city, school, urban residents, business community, and a newly formed urban school board to set a new high standard for the education system in Oklahoma City.

OWP/P | Cannon Design

Project Roles: assisted the lead project designer with the project proposal and development of the submittal  

Honors: LEED Gold 

At the corner of the University of Colorado’s medical campus in Aurora is the Anschutz Health and Wellness Center.  The center’s mission is to transform the lives of individuals and communities through science-based wellness strategies.  The primary functions of the center include a wellness clinic and fitness center.  The goal was to create a place for whole life health.  The wellness portion of the program includes weight and health counseling services, bistro, educational cooking lab, and supermarket lab.  The fitness center includes spin, dance, and yoga studios, state of the art athletic lab and weight training equipment, elevated interior running track, and aquatic center.  The programs are interlaced to allow users to realize the inseparable links between psychological and physical health, and its connection to healthy food selections and eating habits.

OWP/P | Cannon Design

Project Roles: assisted the lead project manager in construction administration reviewing submittals and site observation 

Originally completed in 1911 the Ogilvie Transit Center was constructed as the terminus of the northwestern commuter rail service.  Later rehabilitated in 1984 and 1991, the new head house at the base of the Citicorp Center contained many amenities.  The level below the elevated tracks was also envisioned as a retail complex serving busy commuters.  However, until recently, the idea remained unrealized.  Our efforts transformed the lower north concourse below the tracks into a collection of boutique bars, restaurants, and market.  The market, first of its type in Chicago, was inspired by places like the Milwaukee Public Market.  A uniform framework of stall was constructed to allow each vendor to create a custom experience, but have all the amenities at hand to operate a food stall while keeping the environment clean and safe.  Restaurants anchor the corners of the block with access to the street and concourse.  Adjacent to the track entrances small coffee shops, and bars offer quick service to arriving and boarding commuters.

OWP/P | Cannon Design

Project Roles: assisted the lead project designer 

Facing an aging athletic campus and with the growth in donations to private schools for support of athletics Sacred Heart wanted to create a new monument to the success if its athletic programs.  The new field house would contain multiple practice courts and community rooms with an elevated running track, competition gym for basketball and volleyball with seating for several thousand, 25 meter completion swimming pool, and full athletic training suite with fitness and weight rooms.  The surrounding site would be redeveloped with new tennis courts, running track, competition football and soccer field, competition baseball and softball fields, and multiple practice fields.  The west elevation is curved creating a plaza.  At the eastern point of the curve a canopy reaches out to signify the entrance.  This canopy forms the spine of the field house creating a multi level great hall for large gatherings and display of competition awards.  The competition facilities are north of the spine, and practice and community facilities are to the south.  This athletic complex would become the new center of the campus with Griffin High School the west, Sacred Heart High School to the east, and St. Agnes church and school to the north.

OWP/P | Cannon Design

Project Roles: project designer, assisted the lead project architect in documentation of the design, Revit model manager 

Currently located in the West Town neighborhood of Chicago the existing training center has been fighting tight working conditions and an aging facility for many years.  Adjacent to the Local 130 union hall there was area at the existing site to expand or rebuild.  Currently facing Washington Blvd. the new training center will be directly behind facing Randolph St.  Serving as hands on training center for apprentices the facility must accommodate multiple labs for large scale simulation and classrooms for seminar instruction.  Being located on the Local 130 campus, other apprentice and union organizations are also housed here, centralizing all branches of Local 130 administration.  The building was split into two bars.  The west bar contained workshops, simulation labs, and a large lecture hall.  The east bar contained classrooms, school administration spaces, apprentice communal spaces, and union offices.  Facing east allowed these spaces to capture the most daylight and best views of the city.  The south east corner of the building located adjacent to the heart of the Local 130 campus houses a three story building simulation lab for the construction of a wood structure for students to test installation of plumbing components on a large scale.  The building itself functions as an educational tool exposing structure and systems wherever possible, and pulling back finishes to expose hidden construction.  The project serves as a model for sustainable plumbing techniques utilizing gray water recycling, and rain water capture systems. 

OWP/P | Cannon Design

Project Roles: construction of physical design models, project designer of the athletic buildings and overall campus site plans, assisted in the completion of the construction documents 

Honors: Learning by Design - Citation of Excellence  

Envisioned as a transformative move by the Cayman government, public education services were redistributed, re-imagined, and reconstructed across the island.  Three high schools are planned, each housing 1,000 students.  To achieve speed in the design process and create a cost effective solution we developed a series of prototype buildings placed uniquely on each campus to reflect site constraints.  Each campus contained: a global learning center serving as the main entrance and housing administration, central library, and central kitchen; a performance center containing a performance hall and black box theater with supporting practice rooms; a design and technology center for art labs and simulation shops; a field house with competition gym and swimming pool as well as the campus central chiller and emergency generator plant; lastly, each campus contains 4 academies, each the home base for 250 students.  Each of the academies is a group of learning studios with a student commons and da Vinci studio for combined art and science instruction.  The schools were envisioned as clusters of project bases studios where students could work one on one with teachers and professionals to develop an interest in a subject and pursue that interest through group projects utilizing real world situations.  The campus serves many critical functions beyond the school acting as a gathering point for the community and, designed as hardened facilities, the buildings function as shelters and relief distribution centers during and after hurricanes.

OWP/P | Cannon Design

Project Roles: assisted in the design development of the building skin working with the lead project designer 

Honors: LEED Gold 

Seeking to expand and modernize the services provided in Arlington Heights, Northwest Community envisioned the Renaissance Project.  Making a significant step forward for Northwest Community Hospital, the new bed tower featured single occupancy rooms with outboard toilet rooms.  After significant analysis, development of several options, construction of mockups, and assessment by doctors, nurses, and risk assessment analysts this concept was developed as the best option to elevate patient safety, infection control, and staff access to the patient.  The new bed tower houses intensive care units, labor, deliver, and recovery rooms.  The first floor of the tower expanded the existing emergency department into a flexible environment able to adapt to casualty and pandemic events.  Also included in the expanded hospital was the construction of a new parking deck.  The proximity of the parking deck to the neighbors required significant analysis of the skin with respect to noise, exhaust, and headlight disruption.  The skin of the bed tower and parking garage, although mostly glass, reflected the aesthetic of the existing hospital and was able to blend into the campus while communicating a strong commitment to innovation at the hospital.

Yousif Albustani, Architect  

Project Roles: construction of physical design models, development of all conceptual design drawings 

Located on a wooded bluff in southeast Ann Arbor an existing split level ranch home originally constructed in the 1970’s was demolished down to the existing foundation and a new two story home was constructed in its place.  The dominant element of the architecture is an exterior wrapper of red cedar and standing seam metal twisting its way around the exterior envelope of glass and black ceramic tile.  The wrapper begins at the base of the open living and dining pace, then wraps up and over the house to turn down and form the second floor balconies of the bedrooms.  The existing fireplace of the home remained, but was reshaped from a space divider to a space unifier, giving a warn center to the main dining and living space.  Views to the surrounding forest were transformed from small punched windows to large expanses of glass and skylights that wrap up the walls and across the roof providing a more dynamic view of the forest than just the typical panorama. 

Kowalewski and Associates 

Project Roles: construction of physical design models, development of conceptual plans and final wall sections, framing plans, trim layout, and regular construction observation 

This single story home on North Lake was acquired by one of our repeat clients who wanted to convert it into a spacious weekend retreat with a ‘rustic’ quality.  The existing building was already quite large but rather plain, so our series of additions sought to give the cottage an architectural richness it desperately needed.  The interior of the house was gutted and several sections of the roof removed in order to rearrange the plan to maximize space and take advantage of the beautiful views to the lake.  The additions consisted of: a new front entry, a four foot extension to the south to support the new roof, an expansion of the master bedroom to the east, a ten foot addition to the north to support the new roof, a new breakfast room, and screen porch also to the north.  The new section of roof in the middle of the house has a more dramatic slope above the existing roof and has a pair of dormers to both the north and south to let light into the inner areas of the building.  The exterior finish is cedar bevel siding and trim.  The interior finishes vary from room to room shifting from maple to cherry to oak finished in a similar color. 

Kowalewski and Associates 

Project Roles: development of all hand drawn design and construction documents

The city of Chelsea has been a rural Michigan town for nearly two centuries and in the last several years the downtown area has gone through a major revitalization and beautification.  Located on the corner of Park St. and Main St. on the southern edge of the down town district is a small grocery store and law office owned by a pair of brothers, a butcher and a lawyer.  Several years ago Henry Kowalewski redeveloped the front façade of both buildings, and this project is a beautification and infill of the rear (east) façade facing the alley.  In the addition the east façade of the grocery is stretched across the east elevation of both buildings.  The roof line of the existing buildings is continued from the existing façades to distinguish one building from another.  Inserted between them is a new stair hall which connects all levels of both buildings.  The volume of the stair hall is projected from the east elevation to express it as a point of entry.  The structure of the addition is concrete masonry with fire-cut wood floor joists.  The exterior finish is brick masonry to match the existing structure.

Kowalewski and Associates

Project Roles: construction of physical design models, development of all hand drawn design and construction documents 

This small lake cottage has had several additions in the last few decades all designed Kowalewski and Associates.  Originally the cottage was a small four room house that was primarily used on the weekends during the summer months.  Since the residents have reached retirement age this cottage has become their permanent home and it is now a frequent weekend retreat for their children and extended family.  A lot to the east of the cottage was acquired and a new addition was proposed.  The addition attempts to further accommodate the residents who are in their later years.  A new master bedroom and bath, and laundry room have been added to the first floor, so all the primary living spaces are now on a single level.  Additions to the second floor and loft helped to balance the massing of the two and a half story residence.  Two more additions to the home take advantage of the length of the site and its solar orientation.  To the north there is a sun porch which faces the water and gives a panoramic view of the lake and the close neighbors to the east and west.  A future addition to the south will be a green house.  The structure of the home is entirely wood frame resting on a full basement of concrete masonry.  Exterior finishes include cedar shakes and trim finished to match the existing residence. 

University of Michigan graduate design thesis 

Honors: Thesis Show 2005  

Statement of Thesis

This thesis is a study of city growth, specifically in Oslo, Norway.  It is a study of a methodology for growth and how Oslo, and cities like Oslo, can formulate a plan for future growth.  In a place like Oslo the actions of a ripple begins with the creation of a singular intervention or urban strategy that has a larger affect on the city as a whole, changing how people currently live and want to live in the future.  The creation of architectural or zoned sectors in Oslo will have resounding affects throughout the city, from the center to the edge and back.  It will also have an effect on people’s desires for a fulfilling urban lifestyle and the requirements to attain that lifestyle.  

Architectural Implications

Oslo presents a unique opportunity for the application of the ripple because of its current demand for further development but lack of highly feasible open space in which to build.  So new development of the city must now occur in small pockets and strips, and with the highly advanced system of infrastructure and the overall scale of the city these pockets and strips are highly connected to one another and to the rest of the city making the application and following implication of the ripple easily exportable to the entire city.  Also, because of the topography of the city there is a high level of confinement by steep hills, rock faces, and narrow passes which seal off the city from sprawling or growing beyond its current limits.

Research Methodology

One of the principle components of this thesis is the intensity focused toward conceptual mapping and sieve mapping.  The goal of the maps is to dissect the city into its component parts and internal relationships.  The second aspect of the maps is to extrude them into the third dimension conceptually and physically to communicate the dynamics of Oslo’s topography and that topographic relationship to the city and how that applies to the city’s infrastructure and built form.  The next, and most important, aspect of the research would be to study the relationship of the city to the green and study the dual or duel nature of the two different landscapes.  Because of the drastic topography, the city is surrounded by steep hills covered in thick forests of Burch and pine trees.  This connection to green is important in Norwegian culture, so the physical and visual connection to that green is maintained in the city, and the thesis researched further into this cultural and social connection to the forests, and how to maintain that intimate relationship.  

Design Methodology

The goal of the thesis is to utilize the open and low density pockets and strips within the city to cultivate city growth of a higher density while also maintaining the physical, visual, and cultural connection to the forests at the edge of the city.  Maintaining the idea of the urban ripple, this will give clues on areas of the city that will be more intensely developed once the developable pockets are found.  For instance: a pocket of available land is found near the rail line and developed, this development may cause, and have an effect on, other developments further down the rail line, and since the rail lines lead to the edge of or out of the city the development will hit the barrier of the mountains and forests beyond which no development is allowed, so the ripple will travel back into the city either back to its origin or in a new direction.  To add to the complexity of the ripple is the idea that there may be multiple ripples occurring simultaneously and the areas where one ripple crosses another will cause another level of intensity.  At the center of the ripple proposal is the need for further and denser development within the existing physical limits of Oslo, so the true problem is not the development itself but how to fulfill the needs of the city’s residents, and maintain the intimate relationship with green space inside and outside the city, but within a smaller area.  In order for the city to expand and thrive its residents must begin to desire less, but enjoy no less.

University of Michigan graduate design studio 

Located in the Ashanti region of central Ghana, Kumasi and the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology is at the heart of Ghanaian culture.  Formed centuries ago the Ashanti tribe was the national fighting force.  Individuals were selected from each surrounding tribe to join the Ashanti who were dedicated to the protection of the surrounding tribes from invasion by other unfriendly groups.  This union helped Ghana to form a secure and powerful nation early in its history.  These unionized Ghanaians created a melting pot of West African culture to which resulted in something that was unique and universally recognized as Ghanaian.  The university is interested creating a space for exhibiting this Ghanaian culture to the world before it is destroyed by the western consumer culture that is rapidly expanding in Western Africa.  Located five degrees above the equator the temperature in Kumasi remains at a constant 90 degrees Fahrenheit much of the year, and 4 months out of the summer is the monsoon which can result in torrential rains.  When considering the organization of spaces shading and shelter from the occasional rain were important and given the instability of the power grid reliability on electric lighting and air-conditioning unrealistic.  The building is intended to act as the fourth side to a major diag on the campus.  The four other buildings that surround the diag are the graduate library, computer sciences, and the Great Hall which was used routinely for seminars and large lectures.  Facing the diag, the project has an elevated podium for outdoor speeches and the universities graduation ceremonies.  The long block behind the podium formed the formal edge to the diag and the entrance to the academic component of the center.  Contained within this block were a large two story exhibition space and a residence for the director of the gallery and Center for Global Learning.  South of the gallery block was a series of three high-bays for three different labs, each lab was focused on a different aspect of Ghanaian culture.  Connected to these labs is a support block for scholars quarters, craft masters quarters, and computer labs.  These labs and the inner courtyard are intended to act as a lively academic space that could be easily opened to the public for large scale exhibitions of work.  They consist of a family lab studying Ghanaian living conditions impacted by culture, a craft lab studying Ghanaian wood carving techniques, and a weaving lab studying the art of Ghanaian weaving called Kente.  The curve of the complex creates an edge to this corner of the campus while also creating a courtyard for the labs that is sealed off from pedestrian traffic through campus.

University of Michigan graduate design studio

The city of Bombay is home to more than 18 million people and is still growing at a tremendous rate.  What once was only a series of small islands and swampy coastline now is an expansive mass that continues to reclaim sections of the ocean for further expansion.  This rapid growth in Bombay was the result of the textile industry.  With high demand for textile exports to Europe and the West and cheep labor Bombay was at one time the textile capital of the world.  As the mills left large sections of land in the city are now abandoned and awaiting redevelopment.  Our project redevelops a pair of mill sites in central Bombay which straddled the main commuter rail line between the residential areas to the north and the commercial and industrial areas to the south.  After extensive analysis of the city and surrounding neighborhood a development pattern began to emerge.  Through this region of the peninsula a band of hospitals emerged along with several pharmaceutical manufacturing facilities.  We decided to continue this pattern of development by creating a mixed use site that focused on the medical industry and the health of the city.  Through study of Indian attitudes toward healthcare a frequent resentment of western medicine became apparent.  In researching Indian culture the traditional form of Indian medicine called Ayurveda was a common and well accepted alternative.  In this form of medicine ailments are treated with natural supplements.  As we developed the site we attempted to apply the principles of an Ayurvedic lifestyle to all areas of the site.  The main components of the program were an Ayurvedic hospital, a small university for training Ayurvedic practitioners, and a factory for the production of Ayurvedic products.  Occupying the rest of the site were a series of housing complexes, a group of retail shops for the sale of Ayurvedic products, and small doctors offices for private practices.  At the heart of the site was a rail station connecting to the cities main transit line.  Many of the pathways through the site were strictly pedestrian in attempts to limit the amount of city nose that penetrated the site.  Most of these paths are lined with trees to give the site a meditative quality, however open space is kept to a minimum as to inhibit the settlement of squatters.  The central hospital is inverted with a garden wall that faces the street but a lush green interior that is open to the air to aid in the meditation and relaxation of its patients.  This complex is a psychological and cultural retreat in the dense city of Bombay where residents can take a moment to relax and cleanse themselves of the cities toxins.

University of Michigan site design studio 

In 1951 Eero Saarinen was retained by the University of Michigan to develop a master plan for the new north campus.  The campus is nestled in the gradually ascending northern slope of the Huron River Valley.  The entry boulevard and landscaping are composed to create a threshold to the north campus.  The site chosen for the intervention is located on the southwest corner of the Art and Architecture building.  It was chosen because it appeared to exhibit several different microclimates, found in the blue spruces and the apple trees, as well as allowing for the dominant wind to flow through the open field condition.  The installation span from the grove of apple trees on the northeast end of the field, down a gradual slope, and across Bonisteel Boulevard to the southwest corner of North Campus.  Through the use of the pinwheels, the concentration and velocity of the wind will be made explicit at the site both visually and audibly.  The pinwheels were modified to allow them to pivot according to the wind direction.  Tails were attached to the pinwheels to aid in their rotation to the wind direction.  The tails also provided another benefit allowing the field of pinwheels to be read from a distance making the direction of the wind more legible.  We found through wind meter readings, that the pinwheels did not start spinning until winds reached 3 mph.  However, the pinwheels would pivot at speeds below this amount when the wind hit the tail providing a more sensitive reading.  The orientation of the rectangular grid of pinwheels represents the direction of the dominant summer winds for the area.  The length of the grid allows the pinwheels to interact with several microclimates in the area, and the grid crosses the entry boulevard mimicking the threshold created by the pines.  The 8 foot spacing of the pinwheels, after observation, was determined to legible at a large scale but not crowded to overwhelm the landscape.  The pinwheels successfully bring attention to an attribute of the landscape that generally escapes most people’s perception.  The subtle gusts of wind sweep across the site causing the pinwheels to change in unison.  In addition, the foil portion of the pinwheels reflects the sunlight on bright days and the glinting of the pinwheels is amplified when the wind caused them to spin. 

University of Michigan graduate design studio 

This studio sought to study the idea of global nomadism.  We studied the growing commuter culture of the United States and how it is spreading to the rest of the world.  In every corner of the world new freeways are being built and existing freeways are being expanded and demand is barley being met.  We also studied how the culture of mobility has become less of a habit and more of a lifestyle.  Many Americans upon retirement become nomads living full time in a motor-home traveling the nation’s freeways.  Our task in this studio was to create a rest-stop that could accommodate all forms of travelers from commuters to truckers to nomads.  Given the option of three sites two urban and one rural my partner and I chose the rural site of M-14 as the suitable place for a solitary rest-stop outside Ann Arbor.  Encircling Ann Arbor are three major freeways: I-94 connecting Chicago to Detroit, US-23 connecting Toledo and Flint, and M-14 which connects the northern suburbs of Detroit to I-94 west of Ann Arbor.  The site at M-14 was interesting because it was located between the freeway and a slip-road that connected two ramps to two adjacent surface streets.  The rest stop consisted of a series of stopping points scaled to the needs of the traveler that were located in order of appearance from east to west.  Scale in this project fits into a series of relative categories from: time spent, number of guests, or area required.  The first space encountered on the site is a bathroom.  This area is expected to have a high number of guests but their stay will be very shot between 5-15 minutes.  The next area is a restaurant and public pool.  This block of space is the largest on the site since it expects to also have a high number of guests, and the space requirements per visitor in this area have increased.  The next segment of the rest-stop is a hotel and truck parking for overnight guests.  This segment is expected to have fewer guests but again space requirements per person have increased.  The last segment is the RV parking.  A series of camper slots have been placed in the site each having a utility hookup for each visitor to engage the rest-stop.  The element that each of these spaces has in common is the need for water so, crossing the entire site and connecting each of the different spaces is a thick wall that holds all the plumbing services for the entire complex.  At different points piping will emerge or water will flow from the wall signifying it as a common element.  The complex serves all travelers from short distance commuters to life long nomads.

University of Michigan Raoul Wallenberg design studio 

Modular unit masonry has been a common element on construction for the last 9,000 years, and is humanity’s oldest mass-produced building component.  Its composition and proportions have been perfected over the millennia.  This studio went a step beyond asking the brick what it wants to be, by asking the clay want it wants to be, by asking the manufacture how he can mold the clay, and asking the mason how he assembles the clay.  The development of the Shear-Lock module began with a study of the agility of the mason, how they grip the brick, how they apply the mortar, and how they install the brick.  Secondly, case studies examined the masonry techniques of Mies van der Rohe, and how he used multiple interlocking wythes of brick for projects like the Wolf, Esters, and Lang houses.  The ultimate goal of the Shear-Lock is to create a brick module that interlocks forming a tight monolithic structure that is versatile enough to unhinder the design and increase ergonomics for the benefit of the mason.  Wyths can be laid in locked or woven courses as stretchers or headers.  The interlocking units can easily form many shapes from simple corners to complex double curved surfaces.  Several studies showed now the shape and stability of the module could be used to form walls that ingrate roof structure, drainage, openings, and fixtures.

University of Michigan undergraduate design studio 

Honors: 2003 Annual Student Show 

The site for this project is located in the south west corner of central campus at the intersection of Thompson and Packard in what is currently a vacant surface parking lot next to a university parking structure, across the street from the west quadrangle and in the shadow of the south quadrangle student housing structure.  The project is intended to serve as an institute for the study and display of art at the university.  The complex will house up to fifteen artisans of various mediums providing each with an individual studio space.  The building is broken into three longitudinal bars creating four distinct and unique facades.  The bar along Thompson Street contains all the gallery spaces some being single height and others are double height spaces that are woven together along the bars length.  The opposite bar which faces Packard Street contains all the administrative spaces as well as the housing and working spaces for all the resident artists.  The central bar is left open as an atrium space containing walkways and stairways.  Also in the atrium space there is a bridge that stitches across the atrium connecting each artists work space directly to the galleries.  Each of the four elevations is articulated in a different manner with a mixture of materials like wood, glass, and concrete.  In the galleries the façade is designed to give each gallery distinct qualities of natural light.  In the administration and housing bar the façade is articulated to distinguish blocks of housing from blocks of administration.  At the east end of the site the longitudinal manner of the building with its crossing stitches is reflected in a labyrinth of tall hedges for the display of outdoor sculpture.

University of Michigan undergraduate design studio 

Smart is an avowal to optimize all of the aspects of individual mobility, i.e. scrutinizing existing problems and providing answers in the form of innovative solutions.  All aspects of the Smart program reinvent the idea of conventional car using and car owning.  The Smart has been designed single-mindedly for two people, with ample space, optimum ergonomics, and pleasant materials.  Similar to the previous project this site is intended to be an urban dealership for Smart.  Located near the urban heart of Ann Arbor this site is located on State St. which is a major commercial zone adjacent to the university diag.  The proposal contains two major components reflecting the philosophy of the Smart Company and to address the density of the urban site.  The site occupies the last slot in a series of three story commercial properties.  At the far edge of the site a ‘car-wall’ has been conceived, where cars are stacked five rows high and stretch the depth of the site.  Cars are stacked and moved through an automated tram similar to ones used in high density automated warehouses.  This ‘car-wall’ is intended to critique a common architectural element of downtown Ann Arbor and the urban core, the parking structure.  Across the narrow site is a series of three stacked showrooms.  Despite the fact that below the extra features and body panels the Smart cars are all exactly alike Smart has divided their product line into three major segments.  In this proposal there is one showroom for each segment of the Smart product line.  ‘Pure’ is the first showroom which displays the most basic Smart model.  In the ‘Pulse’ showroom the sport packages are displayed.  The ‘Passion’ showroom displays the elegant options of the Smart.  Wedged between the bands of display and distribution is the dealerships sales and management offices.

University of Michigan undergraduate design studio 

Smart is an avowal to optimize all of the aspects of individual mobility, i.e. scrutinizing existing problems and providing answers in the form of innovative solutions.  All aspects of the Smart program reinvent the idea of conventional car using and car owning.  The Smart has been designed single-mindedly for two people, with ample space, optimum ergonomics, and pleasant materials.  This project is intended to be a rural dealership for Smart located on the edge of the suburbs next to one of the freeways that forms a ring around Ann Arbor.  The project is trying to reflect the design of the Smart car through the integration of architecture and landscape.  The smart is constructed in two major segments: a structural system with interchangeable body panels.  To create a structural system of the project there are two monolithic steel angles that are cut into the ground.  The malleable earth itself is seen as a body panel filled in over the steel angle.  Cars are displayed on this area of the site as well as the logo of the company spelled out in the articulation of the ground with rocks and flowers.  At the intersection of the two angles there is a small building for the other needs of the program such as offices, café, and a small interior showroom.  Extensive studies were done on how the project is perceived by the high speed traffic on the surrounding roadway system of Plymouth Road and the entrance ramp to US-23.

University of Michigan undergraduate design studio 

Cranbrook’s campus is acknowledged widely as one of our nation’s greatest architectural treasures, with designs by architects like Albert Kahn, Eliel Saarinen, Rafael Moneo, and Tod Williams and Billie Tsien.  The landmark buildings are placed carefully on the grounds that include extensive formal gardens, natural woods, lakes and waterways, and America’s largest collection of outdoor sculpture by Carl Milles.  This project is designed to be a live/work studio for an artist specializing in photography.  The building is split into two main zones: a photography studio and adjacent living quarters.  You enter the building from the north which is the common courtyard for many other buildings around the site creating a direct connection back to the larger school environment.  As you approach the entrance of the building you walk beside the wing of the building containing the living quarters, and enter directly into the main studio of the artist.  The physical elements of the building are in part a reflection of the vernacular of the surrounding academy and also serve to create interesting moments of natural light which are very important to the photographer.  The iconographic architectural photography of Julius Schulman helped to inspire the resultant light quality of the project.

University of Michigan undergraduate design studio 

Honors: 2002 Annual Student Show - Honorable Mention 

The legal research building was completed in 1931, and is part of the universities law school.  The building is designed in an ornate gothic style and has a large reading room for law research and study.  In 1981 an addition to the library was designed by Gunner Birkerts to house the bulk of the book stacks of the law library.  This addition is located underground around the existing law research building so as to not dramatically impede on the strong gothic presence of the existing building.  This intervention is intended to act as a study space for a yearly appointed fellow.  The lower level contains open shelving with a reading alcove and a large table for small discussions and group study.  Along the front of the east alcove there is a sliding screen that can be moved to add extra privacy to either the group study space or the reading alcove.  The mezzanine level contains a private book shelving and study space for the research fellow.  The repetitive texture of the wood cladding that wraps the lower portion of the entire reading room is pulled away from the rear of the east alcove and replaced at the front of the study space separating it from the rest of the reading room.

University of Michigan undergraduate design studio 

The University of Michigan demonstrated a clear commitment to conservation in 1906 when it constructed Nichols Arboretum.  The noted designer, Ossian Cole Simonds, sought to preserve the inherent natural beauty of this glaciated landscape, enhancing it with his sensitive landscape design.  Nichols Arboretum serves as an important refuge in Ann Arbor, a restorative environment for people’s mental and physical well-being.  This project is located in the Peony Garden of the arboretum.  We were given a wall that was 100 feet long, 8 feet high and 1 foot thick.  The wall was then articulated by shearing, slicing, separating, and folding the singular mass.  The resulting wall is intended to create a threshold or gateway in to the arboretum followed by a sequence of benches and alcoves terminating in a small amphitheater.  A segment of the Peony Garden was also altered to create a ground texture radiating the curve of the wall across the length of the garden.