Design Team: Kory Bieg (OTA+), Craig Scott (IwamotoScott Architecture), Surasuk Pattanapanitchakul, Ndemina Abbi Abbiyesuku, Tolegen Batentayev, Lien Thi Ngoc Pham, Jing Cao, Qiao Liu

The building design takes cues from the storied history of Armenia, the diverse and unique cultural heritage of the Armenian people, the dominant presence of the site, the multiplicity of program needs and opportunities, and the beauty of the surrounding and distant landscape. The vertical mass of the building is located at the southern end of the site, making it the dominant focal point when travelling toward the site on Teryan Street. This location maximizes the views from the hotel suites, serviced apartments and the residential living spaces toward the city center and Mount Ararat in the distance. The horizontal mass of the building is spread across the site, promoting the overlap of interior and exterior spaces and the mixture of public and private programs. The larger form of the building is the product of delaminated volumes that peel open in response to programmatic adjacencies, the circulation of people through the building, and to capture views framed through perforations in the building envelope. Prominent views from the building are highlighted to heighten the occupant’s awareness of what lies beyond their immediate space. By opening voids through the project in both plan and section, the building acts as a filter, allowing light to penetrate deep into the center of the building. Visual access between the programs sponsors the active and passive participation of the occupants and promotes a sense of community.

The surface of the building repeats vernacular motifs common to the region. The exterior envelope includes an assemblage of steel frames with transparent and fritted glass. The frames are sized to increase visibility from the interior while also providing shade on the southern facade during the summer. In addition, the modulated depth of each surface component can be tuned to filter sunlight into the rooms during the cold winter months. This pattern is manifest in the traditional coursing of large stone panels that clad a monolithic reinforced concrete core to which the floor slabs attach. The surface motif is repeated in a steel and glass band between each floor level. The mesh is perforated where large expanses of windows are required for views, light and access. The frequency of the perforation is determined by the amount of direct and indirect light that best suits the program behind the surface. Additionally, the component size can vary to produce a denser surface that mimics the monolithic coursing of the stone work. This use of surface pattern reinforces our intent to dissolve boundaries; between multiple programs, and the interior and exterior. From certain views, the proposed building appears to be massive, while from other vantage points, it dissolves and the inner life pours out.

This building would be a great resource for the city and people of Yerevan. It combines multiple programs that will service both occupants and visitors. The program, site and form will draw people to the building and provide a new attraction for residents. As a dominant form, the building will play a role in the future development of the city. At the same time, the location of the site and orientation of the building will continue to attract attention from both local and international travelers.

CITY/SPACE/SHARE operates similar to the zipcar strategy, where spatial and infrastructural resources are shared among multiple users, allowing an economy that is tailored to the needs and abilities of the neighborhood. The studio will focus on the revitalization of urban activity and vacant storefronts in the City Center of San Jose through urban spatial strategies intended to recuperate the street frontage, promote productive inhabitation and initiate micro urbanisms supporting the local condition of the neighborhood. In this way the community can both interact with and inhabit the public interface, which democratizes the ability to participate in and create an urban community, while combining urban regeneration and architectural performance with creative entrepreneurship and the activation of local networks, partnerships and participants.

In the fall of 2008, I led a studio at the California College of the Arts with Andre Caradec to design and fabricate an installation for the Flux Exhibition to be held in the spring of 2009 at the school’s San Francisco campus. We utilized advanced computer technology for both the design and construction of the final installation. The design also provides enough surface area to display graphic content of over 30 projects designed by other architects using similar design methodologies.

The installation, which is over 100 feet long, was built in 2 weeks. Both the vertical mdf ribs and the horizontal HDPE surface were milled from files taken directly from the 3d computer model. Every section of the installation is unique and numbered in sequence, allowing the installation to be easily assembled and disassembled in less than 3 hours.

The exhibition was divided into 8 categories. Each category contained four to eight projects that represent a particular design approach. The surface of the installation adjacent to each category of work was perforated using a technique related to one of the projects from that category.

The above is a screenshot from the Grasshopper model built by Andy Payne. Each component of the final design was rebuilt in grasshopper as a parametric model. This method of working allowed us to make real time adjustments to the form that would be automatically updated and ready for fabrication. We were constantly making changes to the design as the content of the show was finalized, sometimes only minutes before the file was sent to the mill for final fabrication.

We were contacted by ConcreteWorks to test the limitations and potential of Ductal; an ultra-high performance fiber reinforced concrete. The material offers superior strength, durability and the capacity to span large openings with minimal thickness when compared to traditional concrete. In addition, the material is highly moldable and can be poured into small pockets, filling gaps that would otherwise be impossible using standard reinforcing.

We used advanced computer modeling software to generate a pattern that would allow seamless tiling from one panel to the next. In addition, the pattern could grow or shrink and be open or closed, depending on the requirements of the client, site and program. The design could be implemented on the exterior of a building as a superficial rain screen, or integrated into a weatherproof exterior facade system. It could also be used on the interior of a building as visual screen or focal wall.

The panel was fabricated using a CNC mill. The mill allowed us to bypass the time-consuming process of drafting 2d drawings. After finalizing the computer model, we simply uploaded the 3d information directly to the milling machine, which then cut the form from a block of foam. Ductal was then poured into the foam mold. After a few days of drying, the final panel is extracted from the mold and ready to be installed.

On the left is an image of the CNC milled foam mold, before the Ductal is poured. The image on the right is a rendering of the 3d computer model used to mill the mold.

We have produced multiple patterns to test a range of uses and techniques that can be accommodated with Ductal. If you would like to use one of these patterns, or if you are interested in having us design a new panel for your project, please contact K Bieg Design.

The President of the United States is the symbolic figurehead of an entire nation, arguably, the world. The building in which he/she lives should be as inclusive as the principles on which this country was founded. Just as a sponge absorbs its environs and filters ineffectual material, the new White House should engage and apply the organizational patterns and logic of the immediate context. As a national symbol, the White House should be an identifiable place, realized through a unique formal expression.

This project proposes that the new White House go beyond the reproduction of historic precedents. The White House should operate symbolically through process; starting with the generation of the design, the organization of the program and the performative capabilities of the building envelope.

The building is split into a house and a multi-floor office tower, connected by a bridge that crosses the implied intersection of the axial corridors established by L’Enfant. This proposal was generated through a series of contextual mappings of park, building and circulation along these axial corridors; which are coded and re-appropriated as surface pattern and formal deformation.

The surface of the building is composed of similar, yet individually unique pre-fabricated modules that opportunistically adjust parameters, such as depth and aperture, according to internal and external conditions. Each module acts as a sponge, absorbing and storing collected rain water. Tunnels originate at some modules, cutting through the building, providing light and transposing the traditional relationship of interior and exterior.

This is the first project of an ongoing renovation to a 100 year old house in the Mission District of San Francisco. The owners wanted a new stair that would eventually connect to a fourth floor addition and roof deck. The new components of the house will be modern, but must complement the existing Victorian architecture.

The articulation of detail on the exterior of the house is matched in our design for the new stair railing. The rail is CNC milled acrylic. The grain of the pattern reflects the direction of the movement through the space. The interior pattern, adjacent to the riser and tread of the stair, is predominantly vertical, while the opposite side is horizontal. Where the two patterns overlap, the acrylic is perforated and lined with a stainless steel attachment. The perforation is small enough to prevent a baby from passing through, but large enough for a cat (at the request of the client).

The project includes six buildings located in a park designed by the Sausalito based landscape firm SWA Group. The park is centered in a typical suburban development. The design hybridizes the form and material of contemporary suburban housing and the agricultural buildings they have replaced. The result is a new geometry that utilizes conventional wood frame construction to formally respond to the complex circulatory networks of the park. The surface also peels away from the building to provide seating, screening, and additional storage.

The buildings are naturally ventilated and lit through openings in the wood slat surface. We used global illumination capable computer software to space the slats according to the lighting needs of the internal program.

The plank size and the angle of the wood slat surface also vary to deter graffiti. Where the surface is most prone to graffiti, the wood is replaced by a resistant cement board panel. The variation between the two materials produces a secondary pattern that further reduces the likelihood of vandalism by providing an undesirable surface to paint.

The design underlines the school’s value of individual diversity and campus community within an installation that will continuously grow. The wall highlights the names of individuals, while also grouping each name within a larger framework. While the names are organized alphabetically and by year, there is also overlap with immediately adjacent years to reinforce the strong relationships formed between students of different years. The names are inscribed on planks that vary in size and shift to create this overlap.

The bowing form of each name plank is derived from the arches found across campus. The organization of the stacked name planks reflects the predominant building material on campus, brick. The plank layout is based on very simple rules that can be easily reproduced when new names need to be added to the installation. As new names are added and the installation grows, these rules will serve as a template for the next portion’s layout.

The scheme establishes nodes along a line that runs straight through campus. each node contains a decade worth of names. The line is not fixed to a particular building or structure. It is directly anchored to the variegated topography of the school’s land and provides another way to tie the campus together.

This project is a renovation to an existing loft in the Potrero Hill district of San Francisco. The client asked K Bieg Design to divide the lower level of their loft into a master bedroom and office. Dividing the room in two would have blocked all natural light to the new office, so we designed a scheme that would provide privacy and separation between the two programs, while maintaining the passage of natural light into the office.

We used computer software to accurately test the bouncing of light through the space. This allowed us to selectively reduce the solidity of the cabinet. We also structured the cabinet so their were no opaque vertical surfaces parallel to the existing window. By maximizing the amount of natural light passing through the cabinet, painting reflective and bright colors on the interior of the cabinet and using a light scattering translucent surface we were able to increase the overall illumination of the space and meet the clients programmatic needs.

Floor plan and acrylic panel layout drawings for the new renovation.

Photos of the Chen Loft under construction. We built a majority of the project in our San Francisco warehouse to minimize disturbance to the occupants.

Sessions is located in an existing retail space at the busy intersection of Market and Guerrero in San Francisco. We were asked to design and build a reception desk with shelving that would attract potential customers and display store merchandise. Limited by a quick schedule and small budget, we designed an integrated desk and shelving wall with one material. To maximize the narrow, but deep, lobby space, we attached the shelving directly to the wall. This new surface peels off the wall to create pockets for display, support for a dividing glass wall between the gym and the lobby, and the surface of the reception desk. The pockets are painted orange to attract the eye and form a backdrop for the products. The project was designed and built in less than a month.

AIDS is one of the worst human crisis in history. It is a growing pandemic of immeasurable loss. The design of the Memorial must address the unique and painful affect AIDS continues to have on the world everyday. The human loss from AIDS is ongoing; the standard design for memorials is no longer relevant as people continue to die and become infected at alarming rates. AIDS is not an event that has passed.

This design addresses the complex and dynamic persistence of AIDS. The Memorial also engages the visitor as a place for both personal and group reflection. The extreme difference in scale between individual loss and the loss of entire populations is reflected in the design. A continuous rolling loop of landscape encircles the center of the Grove. This loop is divided into a patchwork of small plots, each planted with a native plant, flower, or grass. A series of plots connect to form a variety of colorful and rich groups that vary in size and shape.

At the southern end of the new landscape, the form raises from the ground and twists to reveal a surface of inscribed glass panels suspended within a quilt of living vegetation. Each interchangeable panel can be used to display a variety of educational information and rotating exhibitions. This element will be the most prominent intervention on the site and will act as a marker for people to reflect.

Programmatically, the design activates the existing central grass field in the grove. Part of the new landscape forms a mound sloping toward the field under two existing Elm trees. The mound can be used as an amphitheater, further activating the space by providing a place for groups to congregate and host occasional events including vigils, lectures, and performances. The entire design is ADA accessible and there are still multiple paths leading through the grove and the new landscape quilt.

This design will strengthen the grove by unifying the existing design features and embracing the existing circle scheme. By providing a unique, but familiar form, the design will attract visitors and increase national awareness of the grove.