Portfolio of John F. Van Loh

portfolio of john f. van lohuniversity of new mexico 2009-2011

Master of Architecture, University of New Mexico, Albuquerque, NM, December 2011Bachelor of Arts in Art History, University of Oregon, Eugene, OR, June 2006

EDUCATION

j o h n . v a n l o h @ g m a i l . c o m(541) 514 0786

john f. van loh

• Adobe Creative Suite; Illustrator, Photoshop, and InDesign• Revit Architecture 2013• 3D Studio Max 2013• Auto CAD 2013• SketchUp 8• Microsoft Office Suite; Word, Excel, Power Point

COMPUTER SKILLS

• Initiated into Tau Sigma Delta honor society, UNM School of Architecture chapter, November 2011.• Won the Marian C. Donnelly Award for best art historical essay of the 2005/06 academic year, University of Oregon Department of Art History.• Dean’s List, School of Architecture and Allied Arts, University of Oregon, Winter 2005• Elected member of the National Society of Collegiate Scholars, Spring 2005.• President’s Honor Roll, Mt. Hood Community College, Fall 2002, Fall 2003, Winter 2004.

ACADEMIC HONORS

Graduate Assistant, University of New Mexico, Structures I & II: 01/2010-12/2011National Parks Service, Historic Structures Intern: 06/2010-08/2010Nanopore Insulation, Summer Draftsman: 06/2009-07/2009Graduate Assistant, University of New Mexico, Architectural Drawing: 01/2009-05/2009

RELEVANT EXPERIENCE

Seattle Design Festival: 06/2012-09/2012AIA Portland Emerging Professionals Committee: 01/2013-PresentAIA Repositioning Committee

EXTRACURRICULAR

Acknowledgments

This work would not be possible without the support of my family and the many friends along the way who provided much need-ed moral support at just the right times. Special thanks also goes to the faculty who imparted the knowledge necessary to ex-ecute each project.

Designed by John F. Van Loh

Typeset in Futura and News Gothic

Table of Contents

Rammed Earth House01

International House ABQ15

Airport of the Future39

UNM Kinesiology Center27

For the 2009 housing studio I was required to design a small single family house using a form of earthen construction of my choice. Precedent studies led me to choose rammed earth construction which dic-tated a more or less orthogonal organization for the whole structure. However, I used this limitation to my advantage when I coupled it with the organiza-tional geometry, which was tied to my chosen parti. Having read Thermal Delight in Architecture in prepa-ration for the project I wanted to design a modern

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Rammed Earth House

dwelling that was inextricably connected to seasonal changes. I decided to base my organization system off of the geometry of the square with its four sides, corresponding to the number of seasons in a year. The program for the house was spatially grouped into four separate pieces contained within their own square. The theme of the four seasons was carried out in the way the spaces were experienced as well. The primary block containing the main living spaces was to be inhabited during the colder months while the outdoor courtyard was to serve as the outdoor living room in warm months. Finally, this house was a successful attempt to design a modern dwelling us-ing classical tenets, which influenced my early work..

site: albuquerque, nm, ne heightssemester: fall 2009project duration: 5 weeks

03 Portfolio of John F. Van Loh

04Rammed Earth House





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1 second floor plan 2 ground floor plan

1 Master Bedroom2 Guest Bedroom3 Guest Bathroom4 Study

1 Living Room2 Kitchen3 Media Center4 Dining5 Utility Room6 Bathroom7 Lap Pool8 Outdoor Living Room9 Carport10 Craft Room

3 south elevation 4 north elevation

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Rammed Earth House


longitudinal section




For this project each member of the studio was re-quired to create their own program for an abandoned car lot on 1000 Lomas Blvd SE in Albuquerque. Since the site was owned by the University of New Mexico, the program had to be in the interest of serving the educational mission of the University. After much ex-ploration I decided to pursue a program resembling the International House in NYC; a combination of housing for international students and recreational/outreach facilities. The facility is organized in three

International House ABQ

site: albuquerque, nm, lomas blvd.semester: spring 2010project duration: 12 weeks

parts; housing block, atrium, and recreation block. The atrium acts as the connecting tissue for the restrained housing block and the expressive recre-ational area. The parti of this project was the verb “toweave”. Since this building put many people of di-verse backgrounds under one roof I found the verb to weave a very powerful analogy for what a universi-ty’s ideal function is; to weave many individuals into a stronger more meaningful whole. The weaving on the recreation block occurs at the balconies when they weave in and out of the orthogonal curtain wall linking exterior space with interior space. Fur-thermore, this gesture spacially weaves the various floors together by creating voids in the floor plates.

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north elevation


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west elevation

Atrium with main entry foyer at the ground level.


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View looking towards the administration suite.

View looking to the third level containing the gaming area.

Portfolio of John F. Van Loh

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Ballroom with view of the Albuquerque

Skyline in the background.

Green roof at the very top of the recre-ation block.


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Top: View of living room in a typical dwelling unit. Each unit has a south facing window with a balcony.

Bottom: View of looking down from the stairs to the common area. Each Unit is two stories, allowing for a double height space that brings more light into the room.

Opposite: Diagram illustrating how the “light scoop” works. This device allows inhabitants to adjust the light levels and shading characteristics based on time of day,season.


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section through housing block


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1 Gymnasium2 Entry Foyer3 Parking4 Women’s Locker Room5 Men’s Locker Room

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2 first floor plan1 Atrium2 Housing Wing3 Administration Suite4 Loading Area5 Cafe6 Storage7 Mail Room

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24International House ABQ

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second level plan1 Craft Room2 Library3 Student Art Gallery4 Storage5 Housing Wing

third level plan1 Pool Room2 Gaming Room3 Table Tennis4 Pub5 Housing Wing

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0 30’ 90’fourth level plan1 Cafeteria / Ballroom2 Kitchen3 Housing Wing

fifth level plan1 Ballroom Mezzanine2 Housing Wing

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26International House ABQ

UNM Kinesiology Center

The vast majority of large-scale modern construction is a descendant of the maison-domino system, made famous through the iconic 1913 drawing by Le Cor-busier. The development of steel reinforced concrete has led to the principles of the free plan where the wall has seen continued diminished structural importance to the point where it now serves as a mere separator of space. It is for this reason that modern architecture tends towards the volumetric rather than the traditional massiveness. On the University of New Mexico campus, where a strict aesthetic code holds sway, the maison-

domino structural system dominates, yet the buildings on UNM’s campus pretend to be massive, as they imi-tate the historic earthen construction of the southwest. In this project I attempted to avoid this contradiction of structural logic that runs rampart on the UNM cam-pus by utilizing a continuous folding concrete plane. This formal gesture accomplishes the task of giving the structure the massive qualities that are a hallmark of historic southwestern architecture while remaining true to the principles of the maison-domino system. Approaching the structure from a distance, either east or west, the concrete folds create the illusion of mass. Yet, once one gets closer to the building and views the folds from the side, the true nature of the structure is revealed as a modern flat-slab and column building.

site: albuquerque, nmsemester: spring 2011project duration: 12 weeks

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On the inside, the building is conceived as a stage for the frenetic activity of the 21st Century. The digital age has led to a greater transparency throughout our society, as the explosion of social networking and “smart-phone cul-ture” reveals a great collective urge for publicity. Architecture serves as a powerful stage in fulfilling that craving, as architecture provides opportunities to see and be seen. The labyrinthine circulation winds the spectator past classrooms encased in transparent walls.


Wide corridors allow people to collect in large groups around these “stages” as experiments are converted into performances. In addition, the transparency on the inside serves a very practical purpose in providing students the opportunity to observe tests and experiments. Further, it serves as a vehicle for publicizing the program to outsiders just passing through the building. No matter what functions are performed in this facility, it remains true to our age not only as a construct but in the way it reflects the social values of our society.

30UNM Kinesiology Center

menʼs womenʼs

exercise teaching lab

par king

audi torium

resistancetraining

classroom

exerciseclassroom

chronicinjury/illnessexercise room

seminar

research labs

massage teaching lab

seminar

library resource room

nutritioncafe

multi-use teaching lab


menʼs womenʼs

exercise teaching lab

par king

audi torium

resistancetraining

classroom

exerciseclassroom

chronicinjury/illnessexercise room

seminar

research labs

massage teaching lab

seminar

library resource room

nutritioncafe

multi-use teaching lab


BicycleParking

Central Ave.

Redondo Dr.

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Johnson Center

George Pearl Hall

Parking Garage

TamarindInstitute

EinsteinBros.

Bagels

ValeroGas

Station

Denny’sRestaurant

Johnson Field

Running Track

Robert HartungHall


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1 Nutrition Cafe2 Chronic Injury Exercise Room3 Exercise Classroom4 Resistance Training5 Locker Room6 Hyperbaric Chamber Suite

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1 Administrative Office Suite2 Conference Room3 Seminar Room4 Exercise Teaching Lab5 Climing Wall Control Area

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1 Auditorium2 Faculty Office Area3 Whirlpool Room4 Massage Teaching Lab5 Computer Lab6 Technical Workshop7 Storage

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1 Library Research Room2 Strength Testing Room3 Research Lab4 Biochemistry Lab5 Multi-use Research and Test-ing6 Reception and Waiting Area7 Consultation Room8 Hydrostatic Weighing Room9 Flume Pool10 Sprint Track11 Outdoor Promenade

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Left: Being situated on Central Boulevard in Albu-querque offers a chance for a statement building that indicates the new direction of the Univer-sity’s architectural style. Massiveness will be bal-anced with a transparency currently lacking on the campus.

Right: The Nutrition Cafe will be the most popular benefit provided by the new facility. Nutirtion ma-jors will have the chance to work with professionals making healthy foods for the student population. The high ceiling, dra-matic views, and abundant natural light will make this one of the most pleasant spaces on campus.

This project was part of the Fentress Architects Global Challenge: Airport of the Future competition. My inspi-ration for this design was spurred by my explorations of early Jet Age terminals, such as the ones designed by Eero Saarinen, which in turn, caused me to seek to seek a design that would evoke the same optimism for the future that was embodied in many airports of that era. To accomplish this, I set out to open up the air-port terminal to the sky, making a spectacle out of the events in the sky. In addition to this I designed this air-

Airport of the Future

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port to deal with the issue of future space constraints within a major city. In an ever urbanizing world, land for constructing a new airport becomes increasingly dif-ficult to procure. Therefore, with this in mind I chose to “recycle” an old airfield in Seattle. Predating the Jet Age, Boeing Field is less than ideal for a new hub. With such space constraints this airport would have to rely heavily on mass transit since almost no space for park-ing exists. The solution to this problem was to create a terminal organized along a linear strip where passen-gers can be dropped off and picked up close to their gate. This linear organization allows for the most effi-cient flow of traffic, as both vehicular drop-offs and pick ups can be stacked along with a light rail line..

site: seattle,wa, boeing fieldsemester: fall 2011project duration: 16 weeks

1. Forms of public transportation should be integral to the final design scheme for purposes of density and efficiency.2. The overall experience of the airport should be greatly enhanced through the architec-tural design.3. Plant life and water features shall be incorporated wherever possible to give the airport a connection to the natural environment.4. The Architecture should re-connect the traveler with the mystique of aviation, providing points of observation for viewing take-offs and landings as well as views to the sky and oth-er features outside the airport.5. Design shall reflect optimism for the future that was latent in many Jet Age era airports.

Project Goals


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Seattle Tacoma International

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King County International

Airport (Boeing Field)

Seattle

Bellevue

Renton

Tukwila

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Boeing Field in Seattle, WA, an existing airport with a rich history of aviation, and a close proximity to the downtown core of Seattle provides an excellent opportunity to create an airport that is designed as an integrated transportation hub. A light rail system connected to downtown as well as nearby SeaTac International airport pro-vides the easiest access. With parking dispersed along the line there will be no need for parking at the airport itself, making it possible to build a modern terminal on such a narrow site. Passengers arriving to the airport by car will still be able to drop-off and pick up passengers. Traffic from both the light rail system and automobiles travel in a straight line, allowing for the most efficient flow of traffic.

LOCATION 47°31’57” N, 122°17’54” W



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Passengers arriving to the airport by rail or by automobile will be able to stop at an individually numbered sector listed on an electronic ticket confirmation. From there he will be able to proceed in a more or less straight path to the airplane. This linear organization allows for the shortest possible distance from curbside to airside. Traf-fic from both the light rail system and automobiles travel in a straight line, allowing for the most efficient flow of traffic.


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In the airport of the future there will no longer be a ticketing counter. A combination of self-serve kiosks and de-vices such as smart phones with ticket apps will make the ticket counter of today’s airports obsolete. Automated baggage handling equipment will relay checked luggage to the bagage handlers below the main level.

Airport of the Future



With the ticketing counter eliminated there will be no need for barriers visually separating landside from air-side. The airport of the future will be one large continu-ous space, appropriate for the grandeur of air travel.

With many checkpoints there will be fewer lines and shorter waiting periods. These changes along with the grand space allotted to these checkpoints will go a long way in reducing the discomfort associated with air travel today.


Any sort of distress caused by a small delay at a checkpoint will be mitigated when one looks up to see the show in the sky. Concrete, steel and glass mixed with white clouds and blue sky will be the appropriate blend for our airports tomorrow. Such changes will be made possible with advancements in glazing technology. Suntek’s “Cloud Gel” is one contemporary example of a hight performance low-e glass.


1 first level plan1 Passenger Pick-up Area2 Baggage Claim3 Waiting Area4 Atrium / Venturis

2 second level plan

1 Train Depot2 Electronic Ticketing Kiosks3 Security Checkpoint4 Concourse

3 third level plan

1 Passenger Drop-off Area2 Electronic Ticketing Kiosks

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The concourse area will provide plenty of opportunities for eating and shopping as well as observation areas for watching jetliners take-off and land. Additionally there will be many spaces to lounge around and take in sights and relax while waiting for a flight.


There will be many “sky cafes” and “sky bars” throughout the concourse, providing a dining experience unseen in today’s airports. It will be fashionable once more for travelers to arrive to the airport early. The airport will once again be a place to see and be seen.


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Lastly, the airport of the future will incorporate small doses of nature to counterbalance the sometimes over-whelming existence of the 21st Century. Large atriums that support the glass canopy will also double as small courtyards providing access to fresh air and green trees. When open these atria utilize the venturi effect, taking air into the terminal and inducing natural ventilation (diagram right). The importance of energy conservation will make such steps an imperative.



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john f. van loh

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Portfolio of John F. Van Loh

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