portfolio

chris nelson masters portfolio university of illinois at chicago 2004-2006


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The destruction of the Jane Adams public housing projects creates an opportunity to change the image and eventually the perception of public housing. Some of the urban planning and architectural techniques for many public housing projects segregate and isolate its inhabitants to the result of an identifiable change in urban fabric and architecture. In this hous-ing project, the design intent is to create appropriate relationships for the new housing project with existing residential neighborhoods near UIC and the differing scales of retail on Taylor and Roosevelt streets in order to weave this public housing project into the neighborhood and city.

Jane Adams Housing ProjectChciago, IL

Housing Studio Fall 2004

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Taylor Street

Roosevelt Road

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The master plan for this project focuses on creating permeable and non-formal environment according to five lifestyles. These desig-nated lifestyles are students, single adults, couples without children, families and seniors which will be dispersed throughout two blocks. Higher concentra-tions of lifestyles were located near beneficial amenities. There are higher concentrations of units for seniors near the park, students near Taylor Street and public transportation and family units near the Daycare Center.

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To create a memorable and tactile experience, the ground is designed to be less compact gravel in more private, intimate spaces and more compact in higher traffic pathways. An accessible and inviting atmosphere will be the result of many access points identifiable by high prairie grasses.


Materially, gravel, limestone, wood and copper set the warm color palate. Both low and high-rise buildings push and pull building mass to create outdoor intimate private spaces for each unit.

scale: 1/2 = 1-0


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highrise design

Andrew Obendorf-lowriseKanisha Williams-masterplanChris Nelson-highrise


The high-rise building design integrates into the overall design materially and volumetrically. The differing quality of living space in the high-rise is expressed with a series of extrusions, creating outdoor private spaces. These extrusions take the form of morphing block letters inspired by graffiti representative of the former Jane Adam's Housing Project. Live-work units along Taylor Street buffer housing from the retail activity. The multi-colored Trespa panels fade based on ages of copper which are also representative of the 5 lifestyles.


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2nd floor plan structural plan diagram & chase locations 6th floor plan and hvac diagram

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Pluming chases are located in the gap between the columns and precast floor slabs. Heating and air-conditioning systems are suspended from the ceiling and enclosed by aluminum stud and drywall soffits.

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GPSPChicago, IL

Long Span Studio Spring 2005

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Millennium Park has brought a renewed interest to Grant Park. With this new interest, Grant Park has poten-tial to become a great public space when the rejuvenation of the housing stock in downtown Chicago is finally inhabited. This idea steered this project to be sculptural in order create an object in the park, maintain-ing the unity of the park.

Skateboarding as a sport does not have an aesthetic or programmatic architectural prototype. As an urban sport, skateboarding creatively appropriates residual spaces to push the limits of the sport. Improvisation in combination with urban exploration, instantaneous creativity and a new way to move through space creates exciting possibilities for GPSP (Grant Park Skate Park).

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basement floor plan

second floor plan

ground floor plan

Balbo Drive

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Program requirements requested a space designed for skateboarding and cycling. A building enclosing a skate park and a veldrome could not fit properly into the site and work with the park environment simultaneously. The first decision was to create an outdoor bike track that connects underground to the lake front bike path. This path continues under the skate park and connects to the Balbo Street viaduct continuing to downtown Chicago. GPSP's design was generated by studying paths of motion, architectural expression and sectional compositions of spaces. The building appropriates park space to create a dynamic indoor skating environment.

GPSP includes bike storage and repair shop connecting to the bike path underground, a pro shop, large skating space, lockers and changing room on the ground floor ramping up to a cafe, seating, administrative offices and a skating bowl on the second floor.

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skating bowlproshop

seatingmain skating area

cafe & administrative officeslockers & bathrooms

bike path


proshop and equipment checkout


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bike path basement entry hallway bike repair

cross section through main skating area and entry

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GPSP Cafe


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A retention channel doubles as a surface for boarders to use for experimentation. Along the exterior of the building, there

are concrete waves which also provide more opportunities for

boaders to explore the sport.

Materially, GPSP is designed to be sleek and responsive to the park environment by wrapping glossy, white resin-coated aluminum panels on the exterior. On the interior of the building, practical plywood emphasizes the architectural expression encouraging skateboarders to ride on the base of the building in the main skate park area. 3' deep steel ribs express the morphing sectional form, determining the shape of the building. A secondary truss system occupies the 20' between the steel ribs which provides the necessary cavity for HVAC

and lighting systems.

2 layers of 1 plywoodsecondary steel truss system

metal decking6 insulation (R40)2 layers of 1 plywood1/8 Kynar resin coated aluminum shingle

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fall 2005 BCN program-France

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fall 2005 BCN program-Spain


fall 2005 BCN program-Italy


Hybrid HousingBarcelona, Espana

Multi-use Studio


In Raval, a neighborhood in medieval Barcelona, narrow medi-eval streets have small retail spaces on the ground floor and apartments above. The larger streets, created by the imple-mentation of the Cerda grid, outside the medieval walls house larger retail spaces, institutions, theatres, apartments, hotels and public transportation. The site for Hybrid Housing lies at the intersection of the medieval fabric, the larger modern, Cerda fabric and a large public park. A goal for this project was to stitch Hybrid Housing into Raval to improve the existing environment and create comfortable new residential units.


Multiple massing experiments tested the effectiveness of the design to continue the rhythm of the medieval fabric and to opening the building up to the park. The final massing consists of a commercial base and residential units with 3 towers projecting into the air, from differing heights. The name Hybrid Housing comes from the hybrid-ization of the building mass in order to be sensitive to its environment and utilize natural light and ventilation.


Program details required the design of commercial space, residential space, public space and a school of drama. Escola Del Teatro positioned at the southern corner of the block adds to the theatre district on Avinguda Paral-lel. A passage carved through the ground floor commercial bisects the site in order to create access to the park. On the northern end of the block, the building was angled to mediate the openness of Avinguda Paral-lel and to invite people into the park.


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The Escola Del Teatro buffers housing from the bustling activity on Avinguda Paral-lel. The school cantilevers out toward the corner in order to establish its presence and to create a gateway to Raval. On the second floor a student lounge leads up to the small scale black-box theatre and classrooms.


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Circulation was another design tool used to orient the apartments views to the park, street and Montjuic. The longitudinal hallways connect the three towers to the base and orient living spaces in the base toward the street and park. Semi-public spaces were created where the tower emerges from the base. In the towers, transverse hallways orient apartments for maximum daylight and provide views from all sides of the towers.


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Given the diverse makeup of the site, a 360 degree design was necessary to fit this dense mixed use complex into Raval. The commercial spaces on the ground floor are small to mesh with the rhythm of the medieval streets. Also, these commercial spaces occupy the full depth of the ground floor to extend the boundaries of the park across Hybrid Housing. On the park side, there are spaces designed for outdoor terraces and/or cafes depending on the business. The street on the park side would be closed for pedestrian use only (besides authorized service vehicles). There is one important pathway through the center of the block which connects the park to the street and makes the large build-ing feel small. The second pathway carved through the ground floor separates the entrance for the drama school from the commercial spaces.


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chris nelson mastsers portfolio university of illinois at chicago 2004-2006



chris

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2006

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portfolio

Documents

new housing project

perception of public

taylor street buffer

public transportation

outdoor private spaces

intimate spaces

housing project

higher concentrations