Portfolio Done

My bachelor’s portfolio:

Alex Porter – B.ARCH Portfolio

Final Interior/Exterior Panel System

AlexPorter_LS FINAL

Final Project: intentions, process, and findings

Check out the attached PDF for the culmination of my work: AlexPorter_light and shadow

Window Screen trial renderings

Here are a few images and a quick video of how my screen is developing.  I’m designing specifically for a NW facing wall in my studio project that diffuses light in a research library corridor.  The demands of this space are simple: 1. Create dynamic light and rhythm in the 10′ wide corridor that parallels  the wall and 2. Shield the adjacent bookstacks from the damaging effects of UV rays.

As the quick animation shows late evening sun projects light deep into the space…which is a problem.  I wanted to create clearstory windows that would allow afternoon sun into the walkway, but these have the negative effect of then allowing light to hit the bookstacks.  This might be mitigated with a light shelf or with louvers integrated into the screen itself, both are possibilities I am exploring.

The research library space is at the top of my building and overlooks a prominent campus square as a part of our team’s larger urban design for a new UO campus in Portland.  The abstracted square windows allow views down into this space, similar to the Japanese snow windows we discussed briefly in class this morning.  The decision to penetrate fully or carve into the panel is based on my selection of a translucent material for the screen that would allow for variations in the light levels depending on the depth of the carve.  This should be more evident in the test mills.

Assignment 3 early iterations

Here are a few quick videos showing how the milled wood panel has been abstracted into a layered translucent screen.  The quality of the light is more dynamic, but the video quality is low and the light too varied to be believable.  I’m waiting for a nice afternoon to re-shoot and re-post with sunlight.  More soon.

Layered Screen1

Layered Screen2

Film and Architecture Fall 2010

Below is a video and a few photos of a ceramic sculpture I composed for Bob Hermanson’s Film and Architecture Studio at UO in Fall of 2010.

More on Vimeo after the break – Ceramic Light Sculpture

Assignment 2 progress

Working with concept panels developed in Assignment 1 I elaborated on the possibility for deep structure to create occupied edges and distributed, dappled, light.  Working in 3DS Max I developed a wall panel for an interior daylighting model that allowed for a window seat and variously oriented surfaces for catching daylight.  This model was then milled from a plank of 3/4″ Pine using RhinoCAM in the UO’s FabLab.  The paint and the addition of translucent components in the openings was an exploration into breaking down the shadows further and highlighting a senese of time within the space.  More on that in assignment 3.

The results were promising, but not as successful as I had hoped.  In many cases the angles were too oblique to be successfully highlighted by the light, and the yellow paint was too far from the adjacent surface to have a strong impact on the light.  The red reflector worked well as did the texture, but my main concern was the milled south facade.

Finding a way to create a dynamic play of light within the depth of the wall panel is my focus.  Doing so will help guide the development of my final screen as a display piece and will become an integral part of my terminal studio project.

In some of the classwork that was demonstrated last week I noticed many people are taking a layered approach to their projects.  In many cases these assemblies have the depth I am looking for but are more successful at providing dynamic qualities of light.  After speaking with a product designer about milled facade components, and with the intention of coming back to a milling process, I chose to explore a multi-layered panel for assignment 3 that abstracted the geometry of the previous panel.

Final Project Proposal

For my final project I am pursuing the development of a 2’x6′ CNC milled window screen that incorporates the ideas of color and shadow we will be working with in class.  I’ll be presenting this screen at my final review but would like to consider how a duplicate might be exhibited in White Stag.

Light and Shadow Media Proposal

First Impulses

Coming Soon!

Gettin started on bringing ya’ll my latest happenings