table of contentstable of contents

confrontation workshop

hickman chapel

cook field pavilion

selected works

techtown

clifton library

acsa: 2009 green communities competition

froebel and the westcott house

academic individual medium hand drawings, sketchwork, combined with photoshop

academic individual medium hand drawings, sketchwork, autoCAD, FormZ, all combined with photoshop

academic individual medium hand drawings, sketchwork, all combined with photoshop Massing model made from wood and chipboard.

clifton library clifton libraryclifton library clifton library

academic individual medium acrylic paint on canvas, graphite on sketch paper

academic individual medium hand drawings, sketchwork, autoCAD, FormZ, all combined with photoshop

selected works selected works

academic individualclifton library

academic individualclifton library

medium hand drawings, sketchwork, autoCAD, FormZ, all combined with photoshop. Massing model made from wood and chipboard.

confrontation workshop confrontation workshop

academic group effort worked with Ben Breyley and Pat Mcloughlin. All pieces including drawings were done collaboratively. medium hand drawings, sketchwork, autoCAD, photography, massing model, maple froebel set.

hickman chapel hickman chapel

academic group effort worked with Alex Libengood, Silvia Piszczor, Eric Sicks, and Lauren Wetula. All pieces were done collaboratively. medium hand drawings, sketchwork, autoCAD, photography, massing model, maple froebel set.

techtown techtown

confrontation workshopacademic individual medium

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hickman chapelacademic individual

cook field pavilionacademic individual

academic individual

academic individual

clifton libraryacademic individual

clifton libraryacademic individual

clifton library

academic group

academic group

medium combined with photoshop

medium Massing model made from

medium

medium

medium combined with photoshop. Massing model made from

effort worked with Ben Breyley and Pat Mcloughlin. All

effort worked with Alex Libengood, Silvia Piszczor, Eric

medium

collaboratively. medium

Content within this book represents work completed Content within this book represents work completed during my undergraduate studies at Miami University during my undergraduate studies at Miami University from 2006-2009. Currently applying for M. Arch.2006-2009. Currently applying for M. Arch.

john g. simenic table of contentsjohn g. simenic table of contents1

cook field pavilion08.07-12.07

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Cook Field is a popular gathering space for students and faculty alike to relax, to play sports, and to exercise. The dynamic quality of this design represents the activity that is associated with Cook Field while still offering an open, comfortable space with panoramic views out to Cook Field.

john g. simenic cook field pavilion

clifton library03.08-05.08

cincinnati, ohio

The site for Clifton library sits on an urban street corner in Cincinnati, Ohio. Located between the University of Cincinnati campus to the south and the more historic Clifton district to the north, the corner site contains many unique opportunities to serve as a link between the two districts. Also, the current Clifton Library is seen as a landmark for learning and education within the small Clifton community. Taking these observations, I wanted to create a bright and inviting building that would serve as a major landmark in the Clifton community as well as a landmark that would link the campus district with the historical district.

3 john g. simenic clifton library

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My concept was to create an active learning environment that could be viewed by the public. I wanted to “show-off ” the learning environment. To do this, I incorporated a large amount of glazing that enclosed a grand atrium and a series of overlapping mezzanines. All service oriented functions and bookcases are pushed to the east wall, and all reading and learning spaces are pushed toward the west wall glazing where there is natural light and views out to the historic street corner and the University of Cincinnati campus to the south.

john g. simenic clifton library

confrontation workshop07.08-08.08

istanbul, turkey

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The goal of the Confrontation Workshop was to address a diverse but largely impoverished neighborhood in Istanbul, Turkey. Working with Turkish design students, our studio sought to address the underlying cultural fabric that made up the neighborhood and adjacent neighborhoods.

The neighborhood is located in an area that is between three layers of confrontation. Acting as a major line of confrontation to the east is the famous Istiklal Street which is an agglomeration of high-end and low-end shops and restaurants. Also lying to the east is a major line of cultural confrontation where many people from both eastern and western Turkey have settled creating a mixed community in terms of geographical, religious, and economic backgrounds. Acting as a physical barrier to the west is a six-lane street known as Tarlabasi Avenue which completely separates the neighborhoods on boths sides.

john g. simenic confrontation workshop

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My proposal was a community center that focused on weaving together the cultural fabric of the neighborhood into one gathering space that would bring together the diverse population of the direct neighborhood and the adjacent neighborhoods.

john g. simenic confrontation workshop

To begin studying Frank Lloyd Wright our studio first sought to look at Wright’s design process. Little is known about his actual design process but many scholars believe that Wright’s design process was highly influenced by his childhood experience with Froebel sets. So our studio began by constructing Froebel sets out of raw maple. The process began from a basic tactility with a single natural material and simple design exercies. These simple exercies were then taken and applied on a larger scale for an international arts campus masterplan located adjacent to Frank Lloyd Wright’s Westcott House in Springfield, Ohio.

froebel and the westcott house springfi eld, ohio

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group members ben breyley, pat mcloughlin

08.08-10.08

john g. simenic froebel and the westcott house

The goal of the Westcott House masterplan was to explore Frank Lloyd Wright’s design process and to weave landscape and built structure into one. The result is a masterplan design for a multi-functional arts campus that sits low and quiet in the midwestern landscape connected to the Westcott House by only subtle landscape features. The sublety of the design seeks not to dominate the Westcott House but to compliment it by displaying similar design philosophies.

8 john g. simenic froebel and the westcott house

hickman chapel08.08-10.08

mill run, pennsylvania

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Built by the local residents of Mill Run in the early twentieth century, Hickman Chapel is a small church located atop a gently sloping hillside. Today, it is a part of the Western Pennsylvania Conservancy and is a subject of possible refurbishment. The goal of this design project was to not only preserve the church, but also create a space that could serve community homecoming events.

john g. simenic hickman chapel

Sitting just miles away from Frank Lloyd Wright’s Fallingwater, I began by using the Froebel process for my design. This involved using a kits of parts and establishing how design elements could be arranged with select site elements in the landscape. My design centered around refurbishing the basement into a useable community area.Within the design, a large outdoor hearth sets up a synergetic relationship between the indoors and outdoors, and sliding doors allow the the space to completely open up to the environment. Natural materials that are warm in color are also used to make the basement and patio blend into the landscape so that the stark white chapel remains the focal point of the hillside.

10 john g. simenic hickman chapel

11 john g. simenic hickman chapeljohn g. simenic hickman chapel

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acsa: 2009 green communities competition01.09-05.09

The goal of the 2009 Green Communities Competition was to rethink current communities and their relationship with the environment. Our group’s goal was to rethink a community in Cincinnati, Ohio known as Over-The-Rhine (OTR). Located adjacent to the downtown, OTR was once a flourishing community. Today, approximately 60% of the standing buildings are vacant, making a dense urban fabric that is not so dense at all. Using the concept that the greenest brick is the one that is already there, our group came up with ideas on how to preserve and reinvigorate a once thriving community that could set an example for communities to come.

Looking at OTR as the focal point of the competition, our group examined Cincinnati at multiple levels of scale while looking for opportunities to rethink sustainability in the community. Knowing that sustainability is not about small production systems, our group sought larger concepts on how OTR can function on a more sustainable level by working with the barebones of what is already there.

john g. simenic green communities competition

group members alex libengood, silvia piszczor, eric sicks, lauren wetula

faculty sponsors john blake, thomas dutton, scott johnston

place honorable mention

Using our “greenest brick” theme, our group saw great potential in taking existing buildings and turning them not only green, but into sustainably responsible foci, that permeate into the conciousness of the entire community.We not only looked into sustainable production systems, but also into urban agriculture and how rooftops and available green spaces can be used for this purpose.

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On a larger scale, our group saw an opportunity to rethink transportation within the city of Cinicinnati. Below an eight-lane avenue exists the largest abandoned subway system in the United States. Running over 16 miles long, this abandoned system runs all the way to the outskirts of Cincinnati. Also, barracading the south of OTR is a long line of parking structures that physically seperates OTR from the downtown area. From these stipulations, we saw an opportunity to turn the underground subway system into a bikepath, which would not only lessen the need for the burdening parking structures, but also lessen the carbon footprint.

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techtown09.09-12.09

Resting on the banks of the Mad River and just blocks away from downtown Dayton, Ohio, Techtown is the site of a future business park which will eventually contain fifteen multi-functional, low-rise office buildings. Using an existing HOK masterplan, our studio, was asked to design an efficient office building for the rising creative class as defined by Richard Florida’s book The Rise of the Creative Class.

Thinking in terms of efficiency and economy I began the design process by coming a up with a simple kit of parts that consisted of a simple cube and simple 1:2 and 1:3 proportions. Working from a this kit of rectangular parts I began to play with ideas of framing and movement. The result is three major forms; a tall central form and two rectangular forms that intersect and slip past and through the central form.

dayton, ohio

john g. simenic techtown

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The central form functions as the circulation core, while the two adjacent rectangular forms serves as tenant spaces. Working from a simple palette of materials I sought to express each form with a distinctive material so as to create a compelling spatial composition.

john g. simenic techtown

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I wanted the tenants to have a sense of connection to the downtown area, the Mad River, and the outdoor environment. A large fenestrated southwest facade serves the function of connecting the tenants to downtown, while large cut-out patios provide connections not only to the outdoors but framed views to downtown Dayton and the Mad River.

john g. simenic techtown

the whirling dervishesacrylic paintings on canvas

the kanyon mallistanbul, turkeygraphite

selected works

john g. simenic selected worksjohn g. simenic selected works18