design PORTFOLIO

DESIGN PORTFOLIO

William Stonehouse III University of Detroit Mercy

"Building art is a synthesis of life in materialised form. We should try to bring in under the same hat not a splintered way of thinking, but all in harmony together."

-Alvar Aalto

CONTENTS

FOUNDATION DESIGN [4]

First Year Foundation Studio [6]

Second Year Foundation Studio [10]

VERTICAL DESIGN [18]

Electronic Design Studio [20]

Polish Exchange Studio [26]

Theoretical Design Studio [30]

ART WORK [38]

FOUNDATION DESIGN

[7][6]

Foundation StudioFirst Year 2010Professor: Allegra PiteraLocation: Detroit, Michigan

Foldable Architecture

The simplicity of shelter and the ease of mobility. Architecture developed as a mobile shelter for a destitute individual. The design was based on the folding nature of origami. The piece must be made of easily attainable material, in this case cardboard. The piece must also be collapsible for easy mobility and must be comfortable for the individual using it.

Assembly incorporates a tongue and groove connection to hold the piece together without need for extra materials. Assembly is fast and wasy due to this quick setup design, taking only a few momnets.The final design was a blend of simplicity and mobility allowing for a comfortable haven from the elements.

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[9][8]

[9][8]

Foundation StudioSecond Year 2012Professor: Tom Roberts Location: Plano, Illinois

Birdhouse

The birdhouse project was intended to be a complimenting or contrasting designed based upon the well-known work of another architect. The birdhouse was to be designed for a specific bird native to the site as if it would be placed on the site after completion. This project would be built of real materials, such as wood, concrete, or metals. The project entailed either complementation or contradiction of the work.

I chose the Farnsworth house by Mies Van Der Rohe located outside Chicago Illinois and designed for the American Golden Finch. I designed a complimentary form attempting to create the transparency of the Farnsworth as well as the expression of the structure. The birdhouse is made of 14 parallel wooden panels with the centers cut out to allow two nesting spaces inside the structure. The Golden finch is a tree dwelling bird dictating the birdhouse being hung from a tree.

[10] [11]

[11]

[12]

] [13]

[14] [15]

Foundation StudioSecond Year 2012Professor: Tom Roberts Location: Central Michigan

Block

The block project was a large plot of land 200 by 500 feet, located in central Michigan. The home was to be 2000 square feet and made for a retired couple who have photography as a hobby. The program requirements consisted of a studio space for photography and space for a guest to stay on the site, either a separate building or part of the main house.

Designed as an interpretation of the traditional American farm house form. The elongated form was opened up with large windows facing south with minimal northern exposure. The program consists of a kitchen, dining room, guest bedroom, master bedroom and attic studio space with darkroom. The gable roof covers the attic studio which has exposed structure covered with glass paneling for maximum day lighting. Roofing material is a black slate. The attic floor is made of frosted glass, creating diffused natural lighting throughout the house.

[14] [15]

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VERTICAL DESIGN

Electronic Design StudioThird Year 2012Professor: Wladek FuchsLocation: Royal Oak, MIchigan

Royal Oak Transit Center

A new gateway to Royal Oak, the transit center and transportation system will successfully connect the exsisting bus routes in Detroit into an efficient system. The Royal Oak Transit Center will act as the hub for this new transportation system. Verticality and lighting are the most striking aspects. The design focuses on the aspect of circulation through the curved form. Natural lighting and high ceilings evoke a monumental feeling.

The transit center form consists of a structural shell enveloping habitable forms, such as abbreviated retail and dining . The shell is composed of curtain and concrete walls, surrounding concrete interior forms. The transit center structure is a column and beam construction. The two curtain walls are non-weight bearing. Concrete columns support steel beams hidden within the roof form spanning into a concrete shear wall.

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Polish Exchange Studio Third Year 2013Professor: Anna GrabowskaLocation: Warsaw, Poland

Vistula Informatorium

The Vistula Informatorium is located in the Praga District of Warsaw Poland, prominently sewing architecture within the natural elements of the site. This juxtaposition creates a dialog through the sharp change in untamed nature to define site form. Channels run through and around the Informatorium filling shallow reflecting pools at different elevations responding to varying water levels of the Vistula.

The building form shifts in plan through a modular design and terraces in elevation, contrasting the curved nature of the Vistula. Closing the sides which face the river and opening the parallel, compelling occupants to view the river in parallel perspective. Thick shear walls flank the elongated modular halls allowing unobstructed views to the river and old town clear though the breath of the structure. Capping the structure is an elevated walkway allowing a 360 degree view of the area.

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[28] [29]

elevated walkway plan[28] [29]

ground level plan

Theoretical Design Studio Fourth Year 2013Professor: Anthony Martinico

Memory Image

"Never was but grey air timeless no sound figment the passing light. No sound no stir ash grey sky mirrored earth mirrored sky. Never but this changelessness dream the passing hour.Scattered ruins same grey as the sand ash grey true refuge. Four square all light sheer white blank planes all gone from mind."

-Samuel Beckett "Lessness"

The memory image study is an interpretation of a short work taken from literature which, either implicitly or explicitly, involves the theme of memory. I examined the various implications contained with the work "lessness" by Samuel Beckett.Examining the themes of repetition and scale present in "lessness" the memory image is intended to contain the "feel" of Beckett: cold, grey, disintegration, infused with an emotion of anger. The theme of repetition Is carried over through the succeeding works into the final memorium design.

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Theoretical Design Studio Fourth Year 2013Professor: Anthony MartinicoLocation: Detroit, Michigan

Detroit Memorium

Repetition and disintegration of memory in Samuel Beckett's "Lessness" bleed into the theme of a Memorium contained within Detroit. The galleries each have a vertical circulation element leading to a large subterranean gallery also acting as the connection between the galleries. The subterranean level contains a large gallery space and cafe. The tower sublevel contains support and mechanical spaces while the ground and second floor comprises a multilevel gallery space. The top levels of the tower are comprised of office space.

The Reterritorialization of memory is present with the reintroduction of the building material brick. The apartment buildings originally present on the site were composed of brick, while they are long gone they foot print s and materials have been Reterritorialized as an urban hardscape. The corten steel accents identify the vertical transportation within the galleries.

Placed within each galley are memory objects extrapolated from the galley forms and repeated at a different scale. The Memory object is a vessel for the memories of the city projected into it by the viewer.

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ART WORK

[40] [41]

Foundation StudioFirst Year 2011

Professor: Allegra Pitera

Gees Bend Quilt

[41]

[42]

The Urban Quilt is the discovey of a piece of forgotten Detroit and elevate to a new point of appreciation. I began the process by searching Detroit in order to find the such a moment.A derelict retail front on Lafayette Boulevard.

Foundation StudioFirst Year 2011

Professor: Allegra Pitera

Urban Quilt

1[43]

[44] [45]

Corrupted Guardian

The Photo Essay is an exploration into the fabric of Detroit. I explored the forgotten architecture of the golden era of Detroit and its annexing by the modern invasion of the late twentieth century.

Apath

etic

Declin

e

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Engulfin

g B

ruta

lit

y

The landmarks and bastions of the Detroit's art deco style became commodities and obstacles for the lethargic masses pandering to the populist movement. The great structures of the golden age: Hudson's and the Guardian have been eradicated and defiled by convenience.

Looming Fate

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Bastardized Cardinal

Lethargic Decay

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Mainstream DestinyCorporat

e Compr

ession