Draft 3

Winter 2009UG4 Rauol Wallenberg StudioStudio Critic

ALEXANDER TIMMER

COMPLICIT EXPANSION, REMISSION OF GROUND

PATH [DE]CONSTRUCTION

BAR: BIFURCATED AGGREGATION RESORT

INVISIBLE CITIES: RESPONDING TO ITALO CALVINO

SHADOW PAVILLION

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COMPLICIT EXPANSION, REMISSION OF GROUND

This construct is the result of several weeks of research on the border region between the United States of America and Mexico. Research included a week long visit to the border territory in and around Laredo, Texas and Neuvo Laredo, Tamualipas. Studio participants were asked to respond to the research and his or her experience at the border, taking into account issues of exchange, flow, territory and border.

This construct attempts to reconcile the fact that each year hundreds of migrants dies as the result of American consumerism and our desire for drugs, cheaper goods, services, and labor. The victims of fatal crossings of the border go unnoticed and unacknowledged to the country at large. This proposal is a memorial.

Winter 2009UG4 Rauol Wallenberg Studio - ARCH 442Studio Critic: Anca Trandefirescu2009 Rauol Wallenberg Studio 2nd Prize 5

Nuevo Laredo, Tamaulipas, MexicoLaredo, Texas, USA

NAFTA

SITE SIT SSITE

Laredo, Texas, USNuevo Laredo, Tamaulipas, Mexico

NN1 in : 3000 ft

1500’ 3000’ 6000’

Neuvo Laredo

Laredo

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The construct is situated within the Rio Grande River and adjacent derelict land between International Bridge 1 and 2. It is accessible to citizens from either side of the border, regardless of citizenship status, through pedestrian entry points on the bridges. The site finds itself at the intersection of the NAFTA corridor, a manifestation of our consumerism, and the physical border between the two countries.

A view from International Bridge 2 back to International Bridge 1.

The design sketch attempted to resolve the physical manifestation of the eventual structure as is hangs beneath International Bridge 1

9Timmer_Winter 2009_ARCH442

The integration into the bridges allows for equal access to the newly constructed territory. The international bridges are completely accessible to anyone as long as said person does not attempt to cross into his or her non home country. Individuals are able to freely access the space of the bridge and thus freely access the new constructed space of the memorial which lies neither within the United States of America or Mexico.

International Bridge 1 Distorted shadow from study model. The structure was spaced in such a way that the most ground could be eclipsed by the shadow.

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EXPANSION

A view into the territory directly adjacent to the Rio Grande, the fence separating the street and river had been mangled by people passing trough and around it

This proposal sets forth a constructed territory where each death is recognized and marked physically for visitors. The construct records an on going tragedy, as a result it grows physically with each additional death along the border.

Timmer_Winter 2009_ARCH442

This study model focus’ solely on the field of the mass, the resulting aggregation of plates as well as the necessary infrastructure to support the plates.

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The resulting mass consists of 84” x 28” plates, roughly the size of the human body when entombed, supported by a space frame like structure allowing for the occupation of the new space.

Cross’ are tied to the fence seperating Neuvo Laredo from the Rio Grande


Chipboard and twine model.

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The construct is ephemeral and massive. While the shear size of the memorial is of burdensome, the space is one of constant fluctuation. The territory created varies irregularly as shadow and mass intermingle, brought on by the moving sun and the visitors passing through the space of the memorial. The ever changing shadow reaches out and over the land to its north.

A visitor documents the memorial as the shadow of the construct splays out towards the visitor.


Visitors to the space moving about, passing between the plates and structure

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No numbers or names can be found on the plates. They are void of any identity besides that which they have to the viewer and to the structure as a whole. The structure consist of a steel frame and perforated metal walk way facilitating access to the space.

Enlarged section at entrance from bridge.1/16” = 1’-0”

Enlarged plan at entrance from bridge.1/16” = 1’ - 0”


Piano wire, printed paper and collage model shows the growth of the structure over time.

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REMITTANCE

The construct continues to expand between the bridges where it is located. As a result the memorial begins to deteriorate the American river bank and expand the shared territory of the Rio Grande. The more deaths that occur the more land is given up.


PLAN1/64” = 1’3500 Deaths

SECTION 11/64” = 1’3500 Deaths


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2

Plan 3/256” = 1’

Section 3/256” = 1’

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Trapped between the two bridges the memorial moves forward with momentum. More a mass than structure at this scale the construct becomes its own territory.

Printed strathmore, newspaper, and chipboard atmospheric collage model.


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PLAN1/64” = 1’3500 Deaths



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The memorial records an ongoing tragedy, giving the polemic of the migrant a physical presence. The project then is also an act of penance, for as it grows it takes away more and more land from the American side of the border, expanding the shared territory of the Rio Grande into the USA. The continual erosion of the American banks asks each visitor to contemplate their role in the creation of the memorial, whether this role is passive or active. As the sun moves over head the visitors shadow can be seen projected on to the ground and beneath, beside that of the plates.


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The proposal has no real end, as the prospect of political resolution is grim and there will always be a desire for inexpensive goods and services which will inevitably draw migrants across the border.


Winter 2008UG3 Studio - ARCH 322Studio Critic: Melissa Harris

PATH DECONSTRUCTION

This pavilion is situated along an existing path between a sports field and river located in Ypsilanti, MI. The project gives the visitor a space to pause for contemplation or rest. By physically pushing, pulling and thickening the existing path, spaces for occupation are created. These subtle moves distrub the flow of people along the path creating ebbs in this flow.

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PLANSCALE: 1/8” = 1’

green space major circulation paths pedestrian circulation

built structurespermeable surfacesun-permeable surfaces





The pedestrian flow along the river is is highlighted in blue.

The overall site consist of several flows of traffic around the sports field and along the river.

By breaking and then pushing and pulling the flow of pedestrians new spaces are created.

PLANSCALE: 1/8” = 1’

Walking along the path the pedestrian first comes to a smaller viewing platform several feet above the water. As one moves further down the path the they come closer to the rivers edge. The final platform dips into the river, allowing for pedestrian access.

29Timmer_Winter 2008_ARCH3221/32” = 1’

N

SECTIONSSCALE: 1/8” = 1’

The simple planes create open spaces the direct the view out into the river.

The pavilion cuts through the existing path and trees down to the river, pausing to open up toward the river.





Sections through the pavilion as is works its way down to the river front.

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1/32” = 1’

Fall 2008UG3 StudioStudio Critic: Karl DaubmanGroup: Rick Cosgrove, Bernard Peng. Alexander Timmer2009 TCAUP Undergraduate Merit Award

BIFURCATION AGGREGATION RESORT: B.A.R.

This resort is the result of research on the process of biomimicry and specifically the process of bifurcation. Research included a weekend trip to the site located on Kelley’s Island, Ohio as well as a study of the growth of bacteria in a culture. The island is home to an exhausted quarry. Studio participants were asked to respond to the research of biomimicry and our visit to the quarry and design a facility to host a monastery, hotel and laboratory.

This resort uses the method of bifurcation to divide up the quarry and trap public spaces within the resort. Bars of program, transient and permanent housing as well as laboratory offices, serve to supply public spaces, such as a cafeteria and library, with a basic structure to define the shape and size.

B.A.R. was completed as a group project. All of the concepts behind the design were the result of a collaborative effort. Each decision was thoroughly discussed and agreed upon by each member of the group. Each group member contributed to the drawings and models, whether it be in concept or creation.

Bacteria cultures were constructed to out of acrylic and then filled with agar. The cultures were then contaminated and sealed. The contour lines of the site were super imposed on the custom petri dish.

The bacterial growth was documented and then distilled into a translatable derivative. This diagram of growth was then applied to several study models and ‘growth’ tests.

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The ‘growth’ tests where then distilled further to a diagram of the final diagram of the complex.

The view accross the quarry to the site

Lake Erie

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The site for this project is located within an exhausted quarry close to the shore of Kelley’s island. The island is located within Lake Erie near Sandusky, Ohio. The quarry contains a small pond of water. The project finds itself between the quarry wall and pond of water. The resort stretches out and grows around the lake and out into the quarry.

Site model highlighting the public spaces as they sit within the site. The lines of the bars are carried out into the landscape.

Cosgrove, Peng, Timmer_Winter 2009_ARCH 432

N FIRS

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OO

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AN

1”

= 3

2’

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1. LOBBY

2. HOTEL ROOM

3. FLEX SPACE/CONFERENCE

4. STORAGE

5. BAR

6. KITCHEN

7. CAFETERIA

8. MONASTERY ROOM

9. LABORATORY

10. WATER TESTING SITE

11. LIBRARY

12. OFFICE SPACE

13. AUDITORIUM

Section 1

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First Floor

0 25 50 100

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2’

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1. HOTEL ROOM

2. LOUNGE

3. OFFICE

4. LABORATORY

5. AUDITORIUM LOBBY

6. AUDITORIUM

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PLA

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2’

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1. LOBBY

2. HOTEL ROOM

3. GARDEN

4. RESTAURANT


6. COURTYARD

7. OFFICE

8. LABORATORY

9. LIBRARY

10. AUDITORIUM

N FIRS

T FL

OO

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1”

= 3

2’

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1. LOBBY

2. HOTEL ROOM


4. STORAGE

5. BAR

6. KITCHEN

7. CAFETERIA

8. MONASTERY ROOM

9. LABORATORY

10. WATER TESTING SITE

11. LIBRARY

12. OFFICE SPACE

13. AUDITORIUM

Section 1

In plan the structure works like the diagram. The bars of small scale program (hotel, office and and monastery residential spaces) bifurcate spreading out across the quarry. The bars are then pulled up and down in order to create an additional dimension of space to support the more public spaces.

1 Lobby2 Hotel Room3 Flex Space 4 Storage5 Bar6 Kitchen7 Cafeteria8 Monastery Room9 Laboratory10 Water Testing Area11 Library12 Office Space13 Auditorium

Section 2

Section 3


N SECO

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PLA

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2’

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1. LOBBY

2. HOTEL ROOM

3. GARDEN

4. RESTAURANT


6. COURTYARD

7. OFFICE

8. LABORATORY

9. LIBRARY

10. AUDITORIUM

Section 2

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Second Floor

0 25 50 100

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Small perspective vignettes describe the relationship between the bars of private program and the public interstitial spaces which they capture. The blue bars in these vignettes represent the private bars.

1 Lobby2 Hotel Room3 Garden 4 Restaurant5 Flex Space6 Courtyard7 Office/Hallway8 Laboratory9 Library10 Auditorium

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N SECO

ND F

LOOR

PLA

N

1”

= 3

2’

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1. LOBBY

2. HOTEL ROOM

3. GARDEN

4. RESTAURANT


6. COURTYARD

7. OFFICE

8. LABORATORY

9. LIBRARY

10. AUDITORIUM

N THIR

D F

LOO

R PL

AN

1”

= 3

2’

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1. HOTEL ROOM

2. LOUNGE

3. OFFICE

4. LABORATORY

5. AUDITORIUM LOBBY

6. AUDITORIUM

Section 002

Thrid Floor

0 25 50 100

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1 Hotel Room2 Lounge3 Courtyard 4 Laboratory5 Auditorium Lobby6 Auditorium

The facade of the resort uses precast concrete panel system that are repeated along the bars of private program. The facade is punctured at different levels provide ventilation, clearstory lighting, and viewing of the landscape.

VENTILATION

CLERESTORY

VIEWS

ENVIRONMENT

The facade of the resort uses precast concrete panel system that are repeated along the bars of private program. The facade is punctured at different levels provide ventilation, clearstory lighting, and viewing of the landscape.


N THIR

D F

LOO

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1”

= 3

2’

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1. HOTEL ROOM

2. LOUNGE

3. OFFICE

4. LABORATORY

5. AUDITORIUM LOBBY

6. AUDITORIUM

Timmer_UG4_Winter 2009 45

Star Wars creator George Lucas wants to force a laser company to stop making a new, high-powered product he says looks too much like the famous lightsaber from his classic sci-fi series. Lucasfilm Ltd. has sent a cease-and-desist letter to Hong Kong-based Wicked Lasers, threatening legal action if it doesn't change its Pro Arctic Laser series or stop selling it altogether. "It is apparent from the design of the Pro

This large section through the restaurant shows the implementation of the facade strategy as well the capturing of public space by the bars of private program.

45Cosgrove, Peng, Timmer_Winter 2009_ARCH 432

INVISIBLE CITIES : RESPONDING TO CALVINO

Fall 2006ARCH 218Studio Critic: Dawn GilpinStudent Show Participant 2007

The goal of this project is to create a response that is directly abstracted from Calvino’s Invisible Cities. Isuara is the specific city that this response is base on. From this response, to our individual individually assigned cities, the construct is translated from the space of the drawing into a three dimensional object. The object is then documented again in a two dimensional format.

The three dimensional translation of the previous two dimensional iteration. The city is once again transformed.

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Isaura, city of the thousand wells, is said to rise over a deep subterranean lake. On all sides whenever the inhabitants dig long vertical holes in the ground, they succeed in drawing up water, as far as the city extends, and no farther. Its green border repeats the dark outline of the buried lake; an invisible landscape conditions the visible one; everything that moves in the sunlight is driven by the lapping wave enclosed beneath the rock’s calcareous sky. Consequently two forms of religion exist in Isaura. The city’s gods, according to some people, live in the depths, in the black lake that feeds underground streams, according to others the gods live in the buckets that rise suspended from a cable as the appear over the edge of the walls, in the revolving pulleys, in the windlasses of the norias, in the pump handles, in the blades of the windmills that draw the water up from the drillings, in the trestles that support the twisting probes in the reservoirs perched on the stilts over the roots, in the slender arches of the aqueducts, in all columns of water, the vertical pipes, the plungers, the drains, all the way up to the weather cocks that surmount the airy scaffoldings of Isaura, a city that moves entirely upward.

Italo Calvino; Invisible Cities

The initial two dimensional response to the Isuara passage. The structure above is supported by and draws up from the lake below.

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After translating the city into a three dimensional construct we were asked to document the newly created structure. Through simplification and derivation the features of Isaura begin to be pieced apart from the construct. This editing of the presentation allows for direct connection with the original translation and it derivative text.

Timmer_Fall 2006_ARCH 218

Summer 2009PLY Architecture2009 TCAUP Maker’s GrantPrincipal: Karl DaubmanDesign and Construction: Alex Timmer, Ngoc Thy Phan2010 AIA Small Project Award2010 AIA Michigan Design Award2010 Architect Magazine R&D Award

SHADOW PAVILION

The Shadow Pavilion explores the relationship between material lightness and structural strength. As one removes material the structure becomes lighter but also weaker. The pavilion attempts to address this by using 100 laser cut aluminum cones aggregate in a space frame like structure.

This project was made possible with the help of Taubman College of Architecture and Urban planning through their Maker’s Grant program. The site for this project was provide by the University of Michigan Matthaei Botanical Gardens.

Karl Daubman is the principal for this project and oversaw general concept of the pavilion. Design, development and construction were done by Alex Timmer and Ngoc Thy Phan. All concepts, drawings and models were discuss within the group and each member contributed equally to the creation of the pavilion. When ever scripting was utilized for this project it was overseen by Ngoc Thy Phan.

Fibonacci spiral Aggregated Fibonacci spirals to create a grid

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The Shadow Pavilion utilizes phyllotaxis, or the arrangement of leaves on a plant stem, to start to define the way in which the cones aggregate. Phyllotaxis is defined using a Fibonacci spiral this allows for variation in the size of the cones. This variation is another way that rigidity is designed into the structure.

By scaling the grid changes opacity Replacing grid with circles the resemblance to natural aggregations, such as sunflowers, becomes apparent

Daubman, Timmer, Phan_Summer 2009_PLY

Aggregated Fibonacci spirals to create a grid

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Early on studies where done to determine the best way to aggregate the cones and create a structure that could stay rigid under loading. Cones could take the compression stress better the fuller they where. The rings on the other hand could be severally reduced in size, and still take the tension forces that were the result of the structure supporting itself.

By grouping the cones and rings in a hexagonal grid each cone become even more rigid, supported by the six cones that surrounded it. This method also removes any seams that would allow for folding in the structure as the rings and cones are offset from each other.


By using the script to aggregate the suraface with cones, multiple structures could be developed quickly and easily. Once develop within the computer physical models were built to test the rigidity and strength of each form.

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By adjusting the cone and ring sizes the shape of the structure starts to change. By making the rings smaller tension is built into the structure, essentially pre-tensioning the construct. With this in mind the shape of the structure determines the cone and ring sizes, and vis versa. A script was developed to aggregate cones along different surfaces.

The structure below was able to span beyond the supports by pre-tensioning the surface. By varying the ring sizes the structure dips and rises.


The cones are connected into sections of 7 cones. The rings are then interconnected with rings to create one section of the structure.

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scale: 1’ = 1/4”

In the end it was determined that an ellipsoid would be the most appropriate geometry to develop into the pavilion. By rotating the ellipsoid to into the ground we are able to create a new space and a substantial base for the pavilion. The tip of ellipsoid is cut off to open it up and create an occulous that directs the view of the occupants out in to the landscape beyond.


Scale: 1:20N

The site is located at the entrance to an large open landscape bordered by trees. This landscape alley determines the axis of the pavilion on the site. The pavilion rests next to commonly used walking path.

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S E C T I O N S E C T I O N

P L A N


The plan and sections show the scale of the pavilion in relationship to the occupants.

The rings are made of two sections riveted together. The cones are made by rolling the laser cut aluminum around a paint can, which happened to be the size of the small openings, and then riveting each cone together.

Each ring is riveted to the rings adjacent to it and then to the cones above it

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The cones and rings were laser cut at a local facility and then riveted together in the office shop. The cones and rings were then put together in large sections and brought to the site where they were assembled into the final form.

The max size of the cones is defined by the size of the sheet of aluminum.


The pavilion lands within the prairie and can be seen from the road and entrance to the park. The pavilion then acts as a shelter from the sun, that orients the visitor into the prairie. The aluminum cones pick up the characteristics of its site. Colors and sounds of the site are filtered into the pavilion by the cones.


The oculus of the pavilion frames the prarie beyond.

Timmer_UG4_Winter 2009 71

Star Wars creator George Lucas wants to force a laser company to stop making a new, high-powered product he says looks too much like the famous lightsaber from his classic sci-fi series. Lucasfilm Ltd. has sent a cease-and-desist letter to Hong Kong-based Wicked Lasers, threatening legal action if it doesn't change its Pro Arctic Laser series or stop selling it altogether. "It is apparent from the design of the Pro


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