P O R T F O L I O

alex libengood

Ghana Design/BuildAbrafo Odumasi, Ghana

ACSA Green Community International Design Competition

Hillside HousingCovington, KY

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MVNU School of NursingMount Vernon, OH

7Solar Grove Pavilion

Clemson, SC9

PROFESSIONALACADEMIC

u n l e s s n o t e d o t h e r w i s e , a l l p h o t o g r a p h s , r e n d e r i n g s , a n d d r a w i n g s a r e t h e o r i g i n a l

w o r k o f a l e x l i b e n g o o d

t h i s p o r t f o l i o i s o r g a n i z e d a s f o l l o w s :

RESEARCH

G H A N A D E S I G N / B U I L D

ONSITE SKETCHESIn the Summer of 2008, I spent 6 weeks in Ghana, Africa with 19 other design students. As a design/build studio, we traveled for 2 weeks, learning the cultures, languages, music, and history of Ghana while designing a school house on the road. For the remaining 4 weeks, we hired 12 workers from the village and together built this 1,000 square foot school house complete with an atrium, office, classroom, and deep porch for protection during the wet season.

COLUMN DETAIL

‘WA WA’ WOOD + PRIMED STEEL

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C O L U M N D E T A I LACADEM

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photo - exterior photo - classroom

PLAN

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G H A N A D E S I G N / B U I L D

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WALL MODULE DETAIL

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CONSTRUCTION PHOTOS

photo - classroom photo - front porch

photo - wall texture

S E C T I O N

1 4 0 7 R E P U B L I C S T R E E T

A C S A G R E E N C O M M U N I T Y I N T E R N A T I O N A L D E S I G N

C O M P E T I T I O N HONORABLE MENTION

We analyzed Cincinnati on multiple scales from vast power systems, to transportation by car, bike, and foot, and even the layering of alleys. We then tied it all into individual residences for lower rent and utility costs in order to revamp the struggling neighborhood. This case study developed at 1407 Republic St, is designed for low income housing made possible by commmunity-wide efficient systems; affordable sustainability - too often an oxymoron. 3A

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S I T E P L A N

A C S A G R E E N C O M M U N I T Y I N T E R N A T I O N A L D E S I G N

C O M P E T I T I O N H O N O R A B L E M E N T I O N

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

P O W E R

A B A N D O N E D S U B W A Y T U R N E D B I K E W A YThe object of this competition was to examine a local

community and redesign it to be more sustainable. With a epicenter of Over-the-Rhine, Cincinnati, my team focused

our design on the idea that the greenest brick is the one that’s already there. We took the abandoned yet maintained

19th century subway system, opened it up to the median on Central Ave, and made it a bikeway. The current infrastructure

was revived, power systems retooled, and accessible transportation ameliorated.

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cst u n n e l r e n d e r i n g

b y j o h n s i m e n i c

H I L L S I D E H O U S I N G COVINGTON, KY 5ACADEM

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E X T E R I O R R E N D E R I N G

H I L L S I D E H O U S I N G COVINGTON, KY

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Suburbia is infamous for its monotony but uncanny for its cost effectiveness. Ancient towns are lurring for their character and expression of site, but prohibitive to build due to labor and cost. The design of this development, driven by the sloping site, consists of four ‘colonies’ protruding out of the hill. While the ‘colonies’ as individuals are irregular, they are identical in layout thus creating a decievingly dynamic yet standardized whole that drives down construction costs. Budget is controlled further by a simple material and design palatte used decisively to articulate the undulating dwellings that tumble down the slope.

S E C T I O N

U N I T C O M B I N A T I O N

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6S I T E P L A N

PROFESSIONAL

M V N U A R I E L A R E N A MOUNT VERNON, OH

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this project is currently under construction

For 15 years Mount Vernon has been promised a new athletic facility. The vision was finally conceived by extension of the existing Student Union into a full competition Basketball and Volleyball Arena. The university was looking for a contemporary building, but also wanted to build on the existing aesthetic. Taking the window bays from the Student Union, we stretched them out and repeated them down the mass of the gym. The connection between the old and new facility is transected by a tall contemporary lobby of glass and fiber cement panel. Standing at the entrance, you can literally see through the other side of the building, leaving its activity exposed to the rest of campus.

rendering from the northwest

rendering from the northeast

PROGRAM: 67,000 sf1 Competition Basketball Court1 Competition Volleyball Court2 Tournament Volleyball Courts3 Practice Basketball Courts6 Locker RoomsAthletic Training/RehabStudent Fitness CenterTeam Weight Room12 Private OfficesMultipurpose Banquet HallAssistant Coaches Open Office4 Classrooms

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PROFESSIONAL

M V N U A R I E L A R E N A MOUNT VERNON, OH

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The university needed a multi-purpose atheltic facility, but didn’t want their ‘Arena’ to feel like a ‘gym.’ Taking typical telescoping bleachers, we used them as stadium seating that the public enters from the top-down. The adjacent banquet hall serves as a half-time event for donors, or as three seperate classrooms for everyday use. The gym will accomodate not only a NCAA competition basketball game, but also volleyball in the same arrangement. Retract the bleachers, and you can have either two tournament volleyball courts, or three basketball practice courts. The Student seating also pulls back to reveal a stage for concerts, community lectures, or even commencement. The facility also serves as the campus shelter with emergency heat and power.

rendering of the gym

rendering of the main lobby 8

construction photo

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Trees are a natural filter of the elements; dappling the light, providing shelter from the rain, and filtering our atmosphere. This project uses innovative precast geopolymer concrete to create a structure that provides atmospheric and environmental benefits similar to that of a forest – one that not only exists to support, but to educate and improve.

it’s raining

all around you.

fluted trunks

collecting dirt;

intentionally aging.

mitigate the storm

Don’t get wet!

the canopy,

like a forest,

responds to the elements,

soaking up sun,

cleaning the air,

while harvesting,

and directing rain

This project aims to examine precast concrete, and re-evaluate how it’s made by means of a pavilion that will:

PROTECTENHANCEEDUCATE

image by others [11]

This pavilion - like a forest - responds to the elements; soaking up sun, cleaning the

air, and harvesting rain.S O L A R G R O V E P A V I L I O N CLEMSON, SC

I N S P I R A T I O N

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this project is currently under construction

rendering of the gym

The columns were inspired directly by the trees in

the foothills of South Carolina. As rain water runs

down the surface of the columns, dirt and particles

pulled out of the air by the canopy collect in the

grooves of the column surface texture, allowing

the concrete columns to age intentionally.

Rendering - the grooves of the “bark” surfacetexture on the columns collect dirt from rainwater

titanium dioxide turns the canopy white into a photocatalyst depolluter - absorbing the sun to scrub the air and decompose pollution, while also repelling dirt to be washed away by rain water [6]

during a storm, the tensile canvas stretched above the precast canopy produces an audible sound similar to

that of rain hitting leaves

slab on grade is dyed darker to differentiate precast from site-cast concrete. the triangulated grid

harkens back to tree roots

precast permeable pavers envoke the forest floor in autumn

the canopy is cast from light weight geopolymer concrete (using foam additive) [2]

the column is geopolymer concrete cast without the titanium dioxide so that the dirt carried by rainwater running down the surface of the column will be deposited in the “bark” texture

the contrast of the clean white canopy and the “aging” columns serves as an educational tool that poetically discerns the condition of our environment.

gravel at the base of the column and between the pavers allows the rainwater to drain back into the site and prevent runoff

COLUMN DETAIL

TEXTURED COLUMNS KAOLIN CLAY contains the

natural mineral KAOLINITE,

with high amounts of aluminum silicates.[4] [5]

This clay can be found

in the PIEDMONT REGION

of the Eastern United States.[3]

The clay itself is also made up of

other minerals such as

TITANIUM DIOXIDE

which are removed from the clay during processing.[4] [5]

The kaolinite is the base of geopolymer concrete,

effectively replacing PORTLAND CEMENT

The kaolinite is then combined with the

catalyst SODIUM HYDROXIDE

to react with the aluminum silicates

and create polymerized concrete called geopolymer concrete[8] [2]

Clemson, SC is within 100 miles of the

Kaoline Clay Mine, making the use of this

material not only responsible, but directly

contributing to the local economy.

<< sourced from the ash of hardwood trees

Al Si O (OH)2 2 5 4

NaOH

TiO2

GEOPOLYMER CONCRETE

S O L A R G R O V E P A V I L I O N CLEMSON, SCRESEARCH

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this project is currently under construction

POTENTIAL FUNCTIONSTRAIN PLATFORM BUS STATION PAVILION

ASSEMBLY SEQUENCE

PLANDIAGRAM

GSEducationalVersion

the canopy forms are suspended from the perimeter, each hovering around its

central trunk

SECTION DETAIL

S O L A R G R O V E P A V I L I O N CLEMSON, SCRESEARCH

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The canopy was breaking apart when removed from the forms

Steel rods in the formworkThe injection mold is full of concrete

Silicone was used for the site formwork The permeable pavers

The steel eyelets were precast into each column to receive the canopy connections

The column was 3D printed and sili-cone poured around it to make a mold for a repeatable concrete cast

A plaster/cement mixwas used to simulate the titanium doixide canopies

Steel reinforcing was added to the canopy formwork to improve the structural integrity of the canopy forms.

Multiple challenges were faced in casting including the lightweight concrete canopy crumbling without internal reinforcing.S O L A R G R O V E P A V I L I O N CLEMSON, SCRE

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S O L A R G R O V E P A V I L I O N CLEMSON, SCRESEARCH

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