p o r t f o l i o

A N N A P O W E R S

CONTENTS

Rural Studio Thesis

Lions Park Fitness Trail

4th Year Studio Chicago Children’s Hospital South Beach Art Venue

3rd Year Studio

Rural Studio Greenhouse

2nd Year Studio

Lake House

Other A Study of Light Drawings Photography Resume

GREENSBORO, AL / HALE COUNTY

THE BLACK BELT

Greensboro is the county seat in Hale County, which is part of Ala-bama’s modern Black Belt region and an area of interest for The Au-burn Rural Studio’s community based projects. “The Southern Black Belt in general, continues to be defined by the legacy of slavery and the plantation agriculture system. Its characteristics include low taxes on property, high rates of poverty and unemployment, low-achieving schools, and high rates of out-migration. The Black Belt is also home to a large proportion of Alabama’s African American population and has a high number of single-parent households, high teen birth rates, and poor access to health-care services. In 2006, the Census esti-mates for the population of Greensboro were approximately 2,598 including 38.3 percent white, 60.9 percent black, and 0.9 percent Hispanic. In 2000, the median household income was $22,930, and per capita income was $13,271.”

Lions Park 2005

LIONS PARK / EVOLUTION

Lions Park is a 40 acre community park for the town of Greensboro. In 2007, the Hale County Lions Club and the city partnered with the Rural Studio for the design and development of the site to be suited to the needs of the park users. The first project by Rural Studio students included the re-establishment of the baseball and softball fields centered around a unifying space nick-named “grand central.”

Lions Park 2013

LIONS PARK / EVOLUTION

Since the reconfiguration of the baseball and softball fields, the studio and community have designed and developed Basketball Courts, a Skate Park, Playscape, Football/Soccer Field, Concession Stand, Bathrooms, Scout Hut, as well as utilities such as water fountains, trash cans, and benches. The last phase was the cultivation of Landscape Features including planting of trees, mounds, rain gardens and maintenance of a newly cleared forest area.

See more at www.ruralstudio.org/projects

Lions Park, 2005

Lions Park, 2014

FITNESS TRAIL / THE NEXT PHASE OF LIONS PARK

The Alabama Department of Public Health offered a grant to Lions Park for the purchase of outdoor fitness equip-ment. This seemed to be a really great amenity for the city of Greensboro whose inhabits suffer high rates of obesity and limited access to health resources. We saw the idea of an outdoor gym as a great way to engage the park and highlight existing landscape features.

(rendering)

red in the landscape

FITNESS TRAIL / THE MACHINES

FULL BODY WORKOUTThe criteria for choosing which pieces of equipment was based on providing a full body workout for upper and lower body. The moving machines selected provide strength, cardio and flexibility training proportional to your own body weight with an average difficulty level. The stationary bars provide a range of difficulty levels from beginner to ad-vanced.

DURABILITYAfter visiting other parks with outdoor fitness equipment, we decided to choose the longer lasting and more expen-sive coating to ensure that the equipment is maintained for as long as possible. As a bonus, we were able to choose from a pallette of color options other than the standard green and almond!

AIR WALKER ROWING PULL-UP BAR PUSH UP BAR

CHEST PRESS LEG PRESS DIP BARS

LIONS PARK / ANALYSIS

The first step to adding a new layer in Lions Park was identifying how the park is used. We observed the more trafficed areas in contrast to some of the untouched landscape within the bounds of the park. Many park users had nev-er visited the south loop of the park, and was unsure if it was property to be accessed by the public. Outside the bounds of the walking trail, we discovered a large portion of the landscape that had never been acknowledged by the community or the Rural Studio. This untouched landscape offered some really great views and opportunities to experience the natural features of the park while taking advantage of neighboring pastoral scenery, which has a unique tone to the rest of the park.

less visited lanscape area of the park

existing paths and destinations

FITNESS TRAIL / PLACEMENT

Since the reconfiguration of the baseball and softball fields, the studio and community have designed and developed Basketball Courts, a Skate Park, Playscape, Football/Soccer Field, Concession Stand, Bathrooms, Scout Hut, as well as utilities such as water fountains, trash cans, and benches. The last phase was the and Landscape Features.

FITNESS TRAIL / UNDERSTANDING THE PLACE

Strong elements of the site include a change in direction of the walking trail as it enters a tree canopy. The trail becomes parallel on either side to a swale and fenceline which opens up to a neighboring pasture with views to a lake. There is a satisfying contrast upon the tran-sition into the narrow wooded site, which is sandwhiched between the open rolling land-scape of the football field and pasture. These experiential qualities are aspects that we felt the need to highlight.

GRADIENT OF VEGETATION

TREELINE AND CANOPY EDGE

TRANSITION ZONE FROM FIELD NTO FOREST, ACITIVITY INTO LEISURE SPACE

SWALE AND TREELINE PARALLEL TO WALK-ING TRAIL WITH VIEWS PERPINDICULAR

PLACEMENT STRATEGIES / UNITY + INDIVIDUAL EXPERIENCE

An important strategy for placing the equip-ment was freeing them from a single pad and allowing them to have an INDIVIDUAL EXPERI-ENCE! Each machine is oriented towards a spe-cific view, while unified by occupying an alley in the trees as a MAN-MADE LINE IN THE LAND-SCAPE. The spacing between the equipment was designed to be a comfortable distance for users using neighboring equipment. It is also meant to occupy the space as the southern “wall” of the football room extending to the bend of the forest.

occupying an alley in the trees (MOCKUP)individually crafted views (MOCKUP)

FOUNDATION / A LIGHT TOUCH IN THE LANDSCAPE

The material chosen for the platform is metal grate because of its durability in exposed weather, as well as the opportunity for a canti-lever supported with pier foundations to avoid tree roots. The transparent quality of the grate allows light and water to pass throuh its suface to preserve the plant material below to achieve the least invasive approach on a delicate site. The goal was not to disturb what is already beautiful about the place.

material observations (steel grate)

FOUNDATION / A LIGHT TOUCH IN THE LANDSCAPE

Conceptually, the directionality of the grate makes a strong gesture towards a crafted view and emphasizes a moment floating over the swale where the excersise is situated. The movement of the grate is perpindicular to the natural flow of the site, forcing one’s attention to the views beyond of the pasture and lake.

FOUNDATION / STEEL GRATE CANTILEVER

The placement of the pier connection was dtermined between a balance of the desired aesthetic of floating over the swale with an extreme cantilever and the movement or wobble of the grate when the exercise equipment is in use. It was important that the system did not move or make the user feel unsteady.

FOUNDATION / CONCRETE PIER + STEEL TRIANGLE SUPPORT

Design Intent: A light touch in the landscape

The piers create a triangulation for maximum stability with a truss supporting the cantilever. We tested different pro-files and systems of the truss with wooden mockups to choose the right aesthetic. To test the structural stability of the desired profile we built several iterations of steel mockups to confirm the necessary size of the members.

profile options tested (wooden mockups)

1. DRILL HOLES FOR PIERS AND ADD REBAR CAGE

5. WELD TOP PLATE AND SPACER ASSEMBLY TO BOTTOM PLATE

6. WELD ANGLES TO BEAM AND FABRICATE TRIANGLE

8. PLACE TRIANGLE/ BEAM/ GRATE ASSEMBLY ONTO FOOTINGS AND WELD

7. CLAMP AND WELD ANGLES

2. MIX, POUR, CURE CONCRETE

3. DRILL AND EPOXY THREADED RODS

4. BOLT BOTTOM PLATE ONTO THREADED RODS

CONSTRUCTION / STRUCTURE TEST

9. TEST

PATH / MOVEMENT VS MOMENT

A Quiet Material

Considerations for a path to connect the metal grate and equipment included the desire for a quiet material, a stable footing and mainta-nence of plant material to provide consistent access throughout the seasons. Conceptually, the path is intended to be very natural, mov-ing with the flow of the swale and walking trail, as if it already existed on the site. The mate-rial used that satisfied this criteria is natural flagstone stone, which is also a local, readily available material and provided an opportunity for craft.

STONE RIVER, Jon PiaseckiCASE STUDY/

PATH / MOVEMENT VS MOMENT

A Quiet Material

Many options were exhausted for the path. The meandering curviinear form seemed essential for the setting, with a contrast to the grate. The pre-ferred material initially was gravel, but it required alot of maintenence to avoid overgrowth of plant material, therefore lacked durability and also cre-ated obstacles for drainage.

Iteration Drawings

CHICAGO, IL / SOUTH LOOP

THE PRINTERS ROW DISTRICT

CHILDREN’S HOSPITAL/ 601 S. CLARK STREET

PROGRAMMING / HARD VS SOFT SPACE

The strategy of this design uses the idea of hard versus soft spaces to group sectors within the hos-pital as intuitively as possible. Spaces that are more private, require heavier equipment and are areas that patients and visitors would inhabit temporarily or not at all are internalized. Areas that are more public and are freely and frequently inhabited by patients, visitors and other users of the hospital are more directly accessable by the main circulation and responds to open views onto the street and into the skyline. Vertically, program elements such as retail and food space are on the lower levels to encourage use by the public who may not be visit-ing the hospital for reasons related to healthcare. Outpatient services are also located closer to the ground floor than elements of the program that require overnight or long term stay in the hospital.

admin.

lobby

waiting

admitting

play area

triage

ambulance

waste/delivery

staff entry

admitting

info desk

main entry

cafe

gift shop

emergency

waiting

ambulance

GROUND FLOOR PLAN

COMPRESS & RELEASE / A BREAK FROM THE GRID

The building form features a diagonal void, which allows for light, green space and offers a break from the city’s grid with oblique views into the skyline. The main lobby entrance opens into an atrium with an experiential Venturi Effect.

garden balcony

nurses station

waste/supply

reception

staff lounge

typical PCU

patient/staff elevator

visitor elevators

visitor lounge

family lounge concession

waste/supply

SMALLER SCALE / COMMUNITY + EFFICIENCY

For many patients and visitors, hospitals can be overwhelming because they are large, overpopulated and difficult to navigate due to complex programs. Such massive building forms that are common of typical hospitals risk “loss of light and views and the proliferation of circulation chaos.” Patient Care Floors especially are often designed to fit the largest number of units per floor.

The proposed design addresses these issues with scale, fostering a sense of community and inti-macy among patients, visitors and caregivers by designating only 10 PCU’s per floor with a 3:1 ratio of patient to nurse. The ability to identify the individual within the whole with a balance distribution of communal spaces versus private spaces/patient versus nurse or doctor spaces enhances the relation-ships between all occupants of the building. This also allows ease and efficiency of circulation, which minimizes both the walking distance of nurses and prevents patients and visitors from becoming disoriented.

PCU Levels

Green Space

Parking + Auditorium

Public + Outpatient

Waste/Supply Elevator

GREEN SPACE + NATURAL LIGHT

GARDEN BALCONY

SOUTH BEACH / MIAMI, FL

THE ART DECO DISTRICT

A VENUE FOR DIGITAL ART / 10TH STREET & WASHINGTON AVE

The venue program includes an elevated sound hall above a gallery space serving as the ground floor entry. These two volumes of space are linked by the passage of light and people. Between the two main programmatic spaces exists an open air balcony. The conjuction of the three distinct volumes and the space created by there configuration is visually and experientially similar to the graphic representations of algorithms and vinn diagrams, which are formulated by human’s ability to decode our world then encode a virtual reality.

sound hall

light +circulation

gallery

“Experiential and multidimensional art forms have led is towards an active participation in the viewing of art. A static relationship between the artifact and the viewing participant is no longer satisfactory. Art forms of the future will invlove a unity of the senses.”

-Ascott, Art and Education in the Telematic Culture

“In the traditional concert hall, the listener is territorialized, the music produced on stage. In this case, the usual exhibition or theatrical staging situation is repeated: the listening audience becomes the spectator who finds himself in the position of being in front of the artwork. It is in this way that the listener in the concert hall has the sense of “being seated in front of the music” – even though the music can be heard everywhere within the space. This feeling makes it impossible for the listen-er to comprehend his own body as being part of the music space, of the sound space.”Cite: Oscar Lopez. “Bernhard Leitner: Sound Spaces” 23 Sep 2011. ArchDaily. Accessed 5 Oct 2015. <http://www.archdaily.com/168979/bernhard-leitner-sound-spaces/>

In the experience of digital music, the relationship between the “performers” and the “spectators” is reconfigured. The audience of digital music, in a way, are also the performors in an action-reaction relationship between the sender and receiver of sound. The composer manipulates the environment to gain a response from the crowd by constructing a space through light, sound and vibration. The music hall therefore is designed so the “audience” or listener is part of the stage.

action reaction

procession

Section Perspectives

IMMERSIVE, INTERACTIVE, & MULTI-SENSORY

“Over the past fifty years, artists have explored the computer’s potential to create both virtual and physical art forms that embrace the concept of space. Through the use of immersion, interac-tion, and manipulation of both virtual and physi-cal space, computer artists have created powerful aesthetic environments that enable audiences to experience alternative realities. Immersive instal-lations that respond the human body and onlinemulti-user virtual environments satisfy the view-er’s inherent desire to escape physical reality and become part of the art experience itself.“ Cite: Bonnie Mitchell. ‘The Immersive Artistic Experience and the Exploitation of Space’ 3 Feb 2010. CAT 2010 London Conference.http://www.bcs.org/upload/pdf/ewic_ca10_s3paper2.pdf

Examples of Digital Art

Ground Floor/Gallery Perspective

SOUND SPACE & BODY

“Bernhard Leitners’ works deal with the audio-physical experience of spaces and objects which are determined in form and content by move-ments of sound. The focus is the relationship between built structures of sound and the human body. The scale ranges from small objects directly applied to the body to large-scale architectural spaces.”“The visitor inevitably becomes aware of his own body as being part of the unified space of the sound installation. Firstly, a specific spatial posi-tion or even pose is designated for his body. And secondly, within the sound installation the visitor is given the feeling that the tone, which fills the installation space, also flows through his own body. The limits of his own body are consequenty put into question and relativized – and he begins to perceive himself as part of the space of the installation as a whole.”Cite: Oscar Lopez. “Bernhard Leitner: Sound Spaces” 23 Sep 2011. ArchDaily. Accessed 5 Oct 2015. <http://www.archdaily.com/168979/bernhard-leitner-sound-spaces/>

© Atelier Leitner - Sound Tube 1971 © Atelier Leitner - Wall Grid 1972

© Atelier Leitner - Sound Cube 1971

Speaker Grid

Video Wall

PHYSICALLY PERMEATED BY SOUND

WIth the application of a speaker grid used in Robert Leitner’s Sound Cube, a sound hall for digital art and music allows the composer to program the space, using physical architecture as an instrument. Varying experiences can be created for the “experiencer” with the manipulation of the space related to a source of sound that changes. The architectural volume as a whole then becomes the set surround-ing the audience with both sound and display. A video wall wraps along the South and East walls of the building to create more whole-some visual stimulation than the 2D experience of a traditional theater.

Sound Hall Perspective

NEWBERN, AL / RURAL STUDIO CAMPUS

THE RURAL STUDIO FARM + GREENHOUSE

The main design concept of the Rural Studio Greenhouse is to contrast massive structural walls with a light floating roof. The structural walls, which also act as thermal wall, are made up of staggered 55 gallon steel barrels filled with water. The roof and envelope are made of glass panels which create a beautiful, transparent mosaic floating over the grounded sculptural barrels backed by a berm of soil for insulation.

CONTRAST / LIGHT GLASS ROOF VS HEAVY METAL STRUCTURE

sun angles summer shading

winter heating

ventilation north wind protection

water collection + drainage insulation

ENVIRONMENTAL DIAGRAMS

PASSIVE / SUN, WIND, WATER & EARTH

The barrels, donated by I.P Callison & Sons, will either be filled with water to collect and store heat or with gravel to insulate the Solar Passive Greenhouse. The soil that is excavated for construction will be used to create the berm along the north wall to protect from the north wind in addition to providing insulation. North and South operable windows as well as large doors on East and West elevations provide natural ventilation during summer months. The roof is designed to collect storm water into a long trough along the front of the Greenhouse to water the plants inside.

A big part of the design process and decision making at the Rural Studio, is the analysis of full scale mock-ups and on-site discussions and reviews. While designing the greenhouse, we tested the durability, scale, aesthetic and proportions of our design and by mocking up different barrel configurations and roof slope.

When designing the details of the Rural Studio Greenhouse, we carried out the concept of a light floating roof supported by a heavy grounded structure. Some important connections designed to accentuate this concept was the operable glass windows to the barrells and the glass panes to the galvanized steel roof frame. WIth mockups, we tested the durability, ease of construction and structural integrity of our designs. The glass panes are secured and sealed with silicone and the widnows are connected to the barrels with a thin line of steel crafted to conform to the lip of the barells. As seen in the drawings, the perlins are designed to sit atop the beams to make the connection of glass to beams more delicate.

LAKE MARTIN / TALLAPOOSA, AL

LAKE RESIDENCE

The design intent was driven by the extreme sloped topography and the observation that views at an angle to the shoreline as opposed to perpindicular are more interesting. The scheme of the house involves three volumes separated for airflow which taper down the slope.

A STUDY OF LIGHTHistory and Theory of Architecturewith Magdalena, Garmaz

“EGYPTIAN BOYS”Cairo, Egypt

“PIDGEONS”Downtow Opelika, Al

“BOY WALKS WITH SINAI MOUNTAINS”The Red Sea, Egypt

ORGANIC GROWTH COMPOSTION SERIES

Ink and Graphite-Bob Faust’s American School

PECAN TREEInk and GraphiteFree Hand Sketch

ORNAMENT DETAIL graphite, Louis Sullivan’s Guaranty BuildingBob Faust’s American School 3rd year

ANNA POWERS

Achievements + Honors + Awards Joe Sewell Award Scholarship Nominee for academics, athletics, leadership, church, community, and character Academic Achievement Scholarship Recipient_AUM Study Abroad Academic Scholarship Recipient_AUM Perspectives in Biology, EGYPT (Cairo, Alexandria, Sharm El Sheikh)_ a gift from Prince Khaled bin Sultan bin Abdulaziz Al Saud Ambassador_AUM Dean’s List_AUM and Auburn University Rural Studio 3rd Year_ Design/Build Collaboration RS Farm Masterplan and Greenhouse Rural Studio Thesis_ Design/Build Collaboration Lions Park Masterplan and Fitness Trail

Skills Photoshop, Illustrator, Indesign, Autocad, Google Sketchup, Kerkythea, basics of Revit, basics of Ecotect, Model Building, Hand Drafting, Artistic Renderings_ Watercolor, Graphite, India Ink, Prismacolor, etc. Welding, Event Design, Floral Design, Small Business Management, Bookeeping, Marketing and Promotions, Web Design

Work + Experience Receptionist/Chart filer_East Montgomery Family Practice Server_ Halftime, Outback, Sinclair’s Restaurants Design Consultant_ Powers Construction Creative & Marketing Director/Designer_ Austin’s Flowers Intern Architect_ Andy Smith Architecture, llc

Education

334.313.1234acp0014@auburn.edu

2003 - 2007 Holtville High School *Ranked 8th_ 3.8 gpa Faulkner University Auburn Montgomery Biology Auburn University Bachelor of Architecture

Auburn Rural Studio Thesis

2010 (Spring)

2012 - present

2007

2007 - 20092008 (Summer)

2007 - 20092007 -2009, 2011Aug 2013 - presentAug 2013 - present

2009 - 2013

2012 - May 2014

2007 - 2009 2006 - 2007

May 2015 - present