studiostewardship

Terracing

2008-05-01T20:30:00.000-07:00

Moving A LOT of dirt in order to make terraces. Wow the site look different!

corners, and stepping of pavers

Digging and evening
the landscaping

TEAMWORK!!!

ALL DONE!!!

We really worked hard on the terracing. South Carolina red clay is not easy to shovel. We had some good teamwork and some LONG days and early mornings.

Week 3 CLemson Elementary

2008-05-01T20:19:00.000-07:00

BUILDING A CITY:

4 teams: recreation (green), education (gray), housing(blue), and community (red)

Putting the city together:

Spring Break 2008!!!

2008-03-23T18:03:00.000-07:00

Friday before Break Material Strength Testing with Brad:

1. Putting up a dam:

2.Clearing out rocks

3. Level #1 completed filling dirt for level #2

-messy site

City of Clemson gave JT the keys to the bobcat:)

3. Last level...wishing we still had the keys to the bobcat

4. YAY bobcat!!!! We were really tired by Friday afternoon and it was a big help

-finally getting the tiers flat

5. Last day finishing up with rocks and flattening the soil

Clemson Elementary Week 2

2008-03-23T17:56:00.000-07:00

Floor Plans:
Key Points in the Lesson:
1. Circulation
2.Public Space (guest space)
3. Private Space(family space)
4. Frank Llyod Wright

Presenting their dream floor plans:

Clemson Elementary Week 1

2008-03-23T17:40:00.000-07:00

Pipe Cleaner Gates:

Finished Gates:

Class Photo:

canopy mock-up 03/09-03/15

2008-03-23T15:30:00.000-07:00

-assembling the canopy, row #1 of 27
-assembly continues

-beginning to hang the canopy in two pieces
-still hanging

-the canopy continues to go up

-connecting the top ring

-COMPLETED!!!!

ground breaking photos

2008-03-23T13:26:00.000-07:00

Ground Breaking!!!!

Bob Cat gets it done:)

Now for some work by hand.

Kids in the creek and the peanut gallery

3/2/2008-3/8/2008

2008-03-09T14:35:00.000-07:00

We started the week out with a comprehensive schedule for construction. We mapped out the next eight weeks of our lives. Hopefully the schedule is realistic and we can FINISH construction by the end of April.

Monday was our Ground Breaking Ceremony. It was a really nice day, and we had an audience of parents and children at the playground. The city of Clemson provided a Bobcat and man to operate it. The Bobcat started the ground breaking by clearing dirt away for the first tier of the amphitheater style seating. It also removed a tree stump, and took up the picnic table. We followed up on the Bobcat’s work with shovels and rakes.

This week was all about finalizing and meeting with different people to confirm aspects of the project. We had meetings and phone calls about donations, materials, structure, and material testing. We had a two hour meeting with a German faculty candidate who was very structurally minded. It was interesting to talk to him about the full circle of our development. It started with Frei Otto, an umbrella structure, a circus tent structure, wood latticework and then our final more simple post and cabling system to hang the canopy.

I also went with Jeff and Sara to meet the after-school faculty member at Clemson Elementary. We ran through the plan for Wednesday and watched a first aid video. We checked out the room we’ll be using at the elementary school.

Friday and Saturday we did a lot of shopping. We are working towards a full scale model of the funnel. For the mock-up model, we bought rivets, washers, and 200 sheets of poster board. We learned about a really inexpensive supplier in Greenville. That supplier will hopefully be the source for actually canopy. Saturday we bought tools for construction and stored them in our new pod on site. We also cleaned studio up in preparation for building the full scale mock up. We are currently waiting: for the laser cutter, materials to arrive, and confirmation from engineers. Hopefully next week everything will come together and we can pump some work out.

week of 2/24-30

2008-03-02T21:12:00.000-08:00

The beginning of this week involved a lot of detailing being worked out. Sunday and Monday were spent researching plastic panels and contacting possible suppliers. I learned that high density polyurethane creates a similar panel to the one Clemson makes, only without fiber, therefore making it heavier. I contacted a company called RPI that made 100% recycled plastic. They offered us a very reasonable price, and a possible source for constructing our canopy. When the sample arrived, we realized that the material wasn’t as elegant as the fiber and recycled plastic panels. The dilemma on Wednesday and Thursday was creating structure. On Thursday we finally cracked down on the design, got over group differences of opinion and built a model. It felt good to agree, and get it out there. We took a more costly and daring approach, but I think in the end we will all be happy that we did it. Friday was a very exciting day because we spent the whole time at the site doing a full scale mock-up of the new structure design. We all worked together and erected bamboo and string to represent the vertical structural elements and triangulated cabling system. We also met with our structural engineer to ascertain the feasibility of the design. The weekend was spent preparing and scheduling for ground breaking on Monday.

2008-02-24T14:48:00.000-08:00

This week was a whirlwind, because we had to meet with the Clemson City Council and we also had an in-house review.

Sunday and Monday were spent preparing for the City Council Meeting. I worked a lot organizing and putting together boards. The boards I worked on included photos of site analysis and process as well perspective drawings from photos to showcase all aspects of the design. I spent a lot of time on Sunday and early Monday working on drawings for the boards. Monday we put finishing touches on the boards and put all the elements together the model. The printing fell through, so at the last minute we threw together a power point presentation. The meeting went well and the council seemed very enthusiastic about our design. They gave us approval to move along with our plans.

Tuesday and Wednesday: Our group collaborated on how to continue after the council meeting and to prepare for the Lee Hall review and actual construction. We worked on ideas for designing the recycled material signage and interactive “tunnel”. I worked on some AutoCAD drawings of this tunnel, with rubber stepping stones and recycling bins.

Thursday: We worked on a diagrammatic site plan for the review. Sara and I wanted to clearly illustrate and work out our concept of threshold. We found that we have nine thresholds across the site. I worked on AutoCAD for a while trying to create some hard line perspectives and elevation. These weren’t fully completed in time for the review, but they were helpful. I really became interested in making the project as sustainable as possible. It really bothered me that we had waste in our wood and plastic textile material. I wanted to figure out a way to utilize the leftover scraps of materials. I used Mark’s files for the wood structure and plastic textile panels and laser cut them out. I then used the excess to make designs and gestural models of recycling bins, signage and the “tunnel”. I feel like material scraps are an important aspect of the project that can be utilized.

Friday and Saturday: I spent time doing last minute modeling and sketching. Sara and I set up the boards and food. We talked and presented to undergraduate, graduate students, professors and passer byers about our project. They all seemed very interested and impressed by our designs and use of innovative and sustainable materials. I believe the two presentations this week were successful. The review on Friday provided lot of feedback to think over and consider. We have a ridiculous amount of work to do in order to get out there and begin the building phase.

Week of 2/10-2/16

2008-02-20T21:53:00.000-08:00

This week, I saw things start to come together. We nailed down a concept and started thinking and working towards a more unified goal. We also worked to prepare for our meeting with the Clemson City Council for approval.

Sunday: I looked into building outdoor furniture as an additional option for park seating. I created some study models from that research. We also had group meeting time.
Monday: We clearly defined the concept of “threshold” for our designs. This concept allowed us to make connections between all the elements. Sara and I worked on a diagrammatic site plan making these connections using the concept of threshold. We also completed the ¼” topographic site model from the week before.
Tuesday: From the diagrammatic site plan we used materiality and process to make these connections. We included two new connections. One of these was to input the tire pieces to clean the run-off water and then implement stepping stones to show that threshold from dirty to clean water. It also brought the wooden decking into the water from the stage to make a stronger threshold between the stage and creek. The other new connection was physically illustrating the process of recycling the plastic bottles to creating the canopy material. We wanted to create a connection of signage from the recycling bins at the entrance of the park to the canopy. We used some site photos to sketch perspective drawings of these new connections.
Wednesday: We did more collaboration as a group. We talked with Brad Putman about the idea of cleaning the creek through the use of recycled tire pieces. We started to prepare a budget. We also spent time at the site mapping things out. The Adams laid out the stage dimensions with surveying tape and we talked about that. It was interesting to some life-sized gestural models on the site.
Thursday: I made a compiled a schedule of times that everyone was available to work. I also made a ¼” model of the proposed material process “tunnel”.
Friday: We did a lot of talking as a group. John Thomas and I went out to the site and mapped out another life-sized gestural model of the retaining wall and seating with stakes and string. It was a very helpful and interesting way of designing. We continued the lines from the stage and really emphasized and continued the concept of threshold.
Sat urday: The Berry, JT, Sara, and I spent time at the site, mapping all the aspects of ground-work. We really were able to be site sensitive and make a cohesive, united design on the site and by following geometric lines between aspects. We carried these over to the site plan.

Week of February 4-9

2008-02-10T17:22:00.000-08:00

Sunday: A lot of time was put into collaborative design. I got some books to research structure, and we sketched different ways to support or hang our canopy. I made a couple study models or different structural possibilities. I also made a gesture model of a canopy shape.
Monday: I did some research on bales of recycled bottles. The Kitehill Recycling Center in Clemson was very helpful and informative. There is the possibility for showing process of our plastic textile panels with these bales.
We also spent a lot of time collaborating for our presentation on Tuesday to the Clemson Board of Architectural Review. We worked on designs for ground work such as the amphitheater style seating, prepared drawings and boards. I worked on boards and a section of the groundwork.
Tuesday: We fixed and edited the boards and our model for presentation. John Thomas and I spoke on behalf of the class to the Board of Architectural Review at City Hall. The board appreciated our work and gave their support to the project.
Wednesday: I worked on some gestural models of possible alternative seating for site. John Thomas and I worked on the possibility of the unfolding of a box to create opportunities for seating, play for children and signage. We also made a model of the amphitheater style seating. In making this model I cut my thumb resulting in a trip to urgent care and 4 stitches.
Thursday: Time was spent learning about surveying and surveying our site. We were taught about half a semester worth of surveying information in an hour and a half. We proceeded to the site to take the gain the topographic information. It took us a while to get the hang of things, but we collected over 200 points throughout the site. This gave us updated and more accurate topographic information. We spent the first long stretch of time on our site and learned that 1. It gets very cold at night 2. It is VERY well lit on our site at night 3. Papa Johns is going to get a lot of our business this semester.
Friday: We spent time on AutoCAD placing the topography on top of our site plan. There were some technical difficulties with the original site plan and this required a lot of time. We also did material analysis and research for the groundwork and site.
Saturday: We collaborated on groundwork and stage. We also continued to discuss materials. Sara and I went to the GIS lab and prepared the AutoCAD files for the laser cutter. We cut and glued a majority of a quarter inch scale model of our site with the new topographic and site plan information.

2008-01-27T17:54:00.000-08:00

Our studio traveled to Newbern, Alabama to see a collection of the projects completed by Auburn's, Rural Studio. It was inspiring to see successes and failures, utilized and unutilized student projects. The projects we saw and experienced will be helpful in our endeavors as a design build studio.

The projects that influenced me the most were the architectural interventions at Perry Lake Park. Rural Studio reclaimed a 600-acre park in Perry County, Alabama which was the only public recreational park in the county. The park was closed in the 1970s, because of neglect, and a drowning in the lake. The park was reopened in 2002 after being untouched for 30 years. The park includes natural resources such as plants and trees along Cahaba River and an oxbow lake. The main highlights of the park are the cypress trees growing in the water and Spanish moss hanging off the branches which creating a swamp feeling. There are also hiking trails for the public to view and be immersed in the beautiful setting.

The projects at Perry Lake Park included a pavilion, 3 outhouses, a series of pathways, a bridge, and an observation tower. I enjoyed all of the projects, however, the pavilion is what I’d like to talk about. The Pavilion and Perry Lake Park are very different from our site at Jaycee Park, however, I believe many connections can be made. The multi-use pavilion is situated in a natural clearing amidst trees. It is visible from the pathway and holds views towards the water. The pavilion allowed for many types of functions and gatherings.

The materiality is very complimentary to the surroundings. The concrete which anchors the structure into the ground, was cast with grooves to imitate wood. This technique makes the concrete seem to blend and belong in the environment. The platform itself is cedar wood, and it is floating off the ground. This gives the structure a lighter, airy feeling, and it also is functional because the threat of flooding. Cedar wood is very durable, and it was harvested locally to be used for the floor. It was also used to cast the concrete footings and was cut into chips to repel mosquitoes around the pavilion. The surrounding cypress trees are a light gray color which compliments the sheets of aluminum used for the roof plane. The roof plane undulating roof aids drainage, and mimics the shape of the surrounding tree line.

This project was a lot simpler then the other projects in many ways, but I believe that it is unobtrusive to the beautiful natural settings. I think that the cause of improving this park, which had been untouched for thirty years, was an interesting cause and feat. There were many challenges in the surroundings such as the threat of flooding, the non-convenient location, and the public memory of the drowning in the lake. I feel like the Perry Lake Park interventions were very successful and make the park a very enjoyable space. Each of the projects offer challenges and invent unique solutions, which make an extra attraction to viewing the park land.

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2008-01-20T18:07:00.000-08:00

1. At this time, what do you anticipate being the most meaningful aspect of the projects?
I think that the most meaningful aspect of the project will be the collaborative effort. Working as a group allows for a lot of personal growth and recognition of strengths and weaknesses. I think that we all have a lot that we can learn from one another
2.What kind of community engagement/impact do you expect to have this semester?
I really hope that we can involve and get the community excited for our intervention. I think that the success of the project depends a lot on the acceptance from the community. That being said it's important that we are sensitive to the wishes of the community.
3. What do you anticipate being the most difficult aspect of this project?
I anticipate that group collaboration will be the most difficult aspect of the project as well as the most meaningful. It is difficult to work in groups because we all have different ideas, schedules, attitudes, and design processes.