Steensland’s Library at St. Olaf College in Northfield, MN
Since our eyes behave on a perspectival bias, elevations help describe structures without distortion. The following front and side elevations of the Steensland’s Library aim to describe the most important structural details of the 104-year-old exterior. Each line and area is scaled at a true dimension of the building.
Steensland’s Library Front and Side Elevation
Pencil, 2015
19 x 24”
Art 225 Architectural Drawing and Design I
Uno Shelter
Pencil, 2015
10 x 14”
Art 225 Architectural Drawing and Design I
Uno Shelter is my first original architectural design. It is a 23 x 26 feet contemporary dwelling that offers a comfortable space and the necessary amenities for one occupant. The living space is shaped to provide an open space for movement flow. The entire shelter is enclosed mostly by wood and bamboo—an attractive material with a short growing cycle. In addition, the back and front facade are partially covered with glass, which enables light to penetrate. Represented in all elevations, the asymmetrical roof design intends to allow the greatest amount of natural sunlight into the dwelling.
Uno Shelter Front Elevation
Uno Shelter Right Elevation
Uno Shelter Left Elevation
Uno Shelter Back Elevation
Uno Shelter Cross section (refer to floor plan)
Studies in Pre-architecture and Sustainability
Design Inspired by Nature
Over the years, nature and evolution have both automatically favored patterns and shapes that are the most efficient in terms of strength, stability, and energy. Design Inspired by Nature is the culminating project of a self-designed major in Studies in Pre-architecture and Sustainability that dives deeper into this phenomenon.
In this project, I use a biomimetic approach to design a sustainable and adaptable shelter to replace poorly designed settlements that have risen from overpopulation and lack of habitable space in my home country, Guatemala. For a strong and energy-efficient shelter, I mimic the icosahedral geometry of viruses, such as the Adenovirus and the Herpes virus. Ensuring a sustainable structure, I also assess and suggest materials such as wood, steel, and aluminum for specific purposes in different proportions. This shelter evolves around a framework for the application of biomimicry by Maibritt Pedersen Zari, a framework of sustainability by Sergio Altamonte, Mark Brandt Luther and J. Coulson, and a set of criteria for the selection of sustainable materials by Jong-Jin Kim. Furthermore, the design focuses on three main categories: Renewable & Environmental Building Materials (what it is made of), Flexible & Adaptive Structural Systems (how it functions), and Innovative Building Envelope Systems (what it looks like).
THE CORE PRINCIPLE:
The Icosahedral Home uses the inter-related principles of geodesic geometry—close-packing and minimal energy use.
Using geodesic geometry, the shelter provides strength and ample space through the connection of points over the shortest distance and the closest packing of objects together. Furthermore, the icosahedral geometry also provides the shelter with the most economic utilization of materials.
THE “ICOSAHEDRAL HOME” IN CONTEXT
New structural concepts can often take time to be adopted by their inhabitants. In order to aid the transition and help inhabitants to adapt to change, the icosahedral structure is placed strategically, giving the front elevation the appearance of a common house shape in Guatemala City. The volume-surface area ratio of the icosahedral shape also makes the shelter energy-efficient as well as material-efficient, an important consideration in areas where such resources cannot be easily afforded. In terms of habitable space, as families grow in number, the shelter’s geometry allows for additional vertical space; it encloses a greater volume for a given surface area than any other type of regular structure apart from a sphere. Lastly, as Guatemala is an earthquake-prone area, the
icosahedron’s core triangulation—12 vertices, 20 triangular faces, and 30 edges—increases the shelter’s stability.
St. Olaf Gathering Place
Architectural Design, 2014
144 x 144’
Art 225 Architectural Drawing and Design I
As main events at St. Olaf College are held at the Skoglund Sports Center, the St. Olaf Gathering Place is a proposal for an elegant yet simple structure to provide an ideal space for special events, assemblies, lectures, concerts, and performances.
The proposed structure gives a sense of greatness through its shape and scale, and elegance through its simplicity and symmetrical form. The doors are large in size to allow flow movement and they face towards the parking lot between St. Olaf’s Ditmmann (Art) Center and Boe Chapel, making the building visible and welcoming to visitors. The inside area surrounding the gathering center is ample in space to allow social interactions and a comfortable movement flow, and also features a gallery space in the empty wooden walls. Two lounges in the corners and restrooms also provide visitors with the necessary amenities. The building exterior is cover in faux stone to blend with St. Olaf’s structures, and the windows and a partial glass roof in the gathering center provide a great amount of sunlight and a unique sky view.
Ditmmann Center
Boe Chapel
