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SHAWN BACKSTROMUNDERGRADUATE PORTFOL IO
SHAWN BACKSTROM
3rd Year UndergraduateArchitecture Student
1765 Abinger LaneLawrenceville, GA 30043
OBJECTIVE
To gain experience in the field of design, expand my comprehension of the topic, and prepare myself for a professional work environment.
EDUCATION
Clemson University 3.95 GPAB.A. in Architecture // Minor in Film StudiesStudy Abroad in Genoa, Italy // Fall 2013Expected Graduation May 2015
WORK EXPERIENCE
Clemson Creative ServicesJunior Designer // August 2012 to Present
- Designer of various logos, branding assets, layouts, and marketing material for University departments
- Member of the “Brand Center” development team, performing various duties including: - Space design, modeling, and rendering - Fixture design, modeling, rendering, and spec sheets - Participation in meetings with architects and vendors
- Lead motion graphics designer for the 2013 UCDA Design Competition - https://vimeo.com/72491231
TECHNICAL SKILLS
Adobe Creative Suites 6 Photoshop // Illustrator // InDesign // After Effects // Premiere ProRhinoceros 5AutoCAD 2013
AFFILIATIONS
American Institute of Architecture Students, Clemson ChapterMember // August 2011 to PresentExectuive Board Member // August 2012 to May 2013
Calhoun Honors CollegeMember // August 2011 to August 2013Undergraduate Peer Mentor // August 2012 to May 2013
AWARDS
Eagle ScoutGilman International ScholarJimmy Rane Foundation ScholarSecond Year Falcuty Award [ Clemson School of Architecture ]President’s List [ Fall 2011 // Spring 2011 // Fall 2012 ]Dean’s List [ Spring 2013 ]
CURRICULUM V ITAE
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CONTENTS
5 IMPACT Genovese Memorial/Museum for War and Peace
19 GROUNDED US National Whitewater Center Storage Facility
29 RECONNECT Sterling Community Center
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IMPACTGenovese Memorial/Museum for War and PeaceEvan Arriaza, Shawn Backstrom, Longqing Liu, Johanna NemetzFall 2013 // Genoa, Italy
Memorial: something that keeps remembrance alive; something that commemorates
Museum: an institution devoted to the procurement, care, study, and display of objects of lasting interest or value
Rememberance, reflection, appreciation, understanding; these are gained from visiting places of symbolic meaning. Museums and memorials are perhaps the two most widespread examples. These spaces exist for the sole purpose of perpetuating history, ensuring that the stories of the past are not lost in the present. But despite our efforts to learn from the past, history has a way of repeating itself.
Themes of war and peace have been prevelant since the first societies were conceived. War is brutal and unforgiving; it ravages landscapes and kills thousands. Peace is hopeful, bridging differences in favor of mutual understanding and respect, but it is fragile. After every war, there is but a short time of peace that exists before war tramples back on the stage to perform its misdoings. Ideas of peace and war are not foreign, nor are they out of our control. They are concepts that are entirely human in nature, caused by our own misguidings. How do we reconcile the atrocities of war? How do we find a sustainable peace? These questions may be unasnwerable on a global stage, but on a personal level the answers are achievable. One simply needs to look inside himself to find the answer.
The project calls for the creation of two museum spaces, one exhibiting artifacts representative of war and the other of peace, along with a memorial that commemorates both themes. By combining these two types of reflective spaces, the ideas of war and peace and the emotions they evoke can exist in a symbiotic relationship that focuses on the experience of the occupant and allows for personal interpretation, reflection, understanding, and enlightenment.
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Identify
The site is located at the east end of Genoa’s harbor in the new donwtown area. A portion of the historic city wall borders the site, dividing it into two specific zones. The first is a piazza at the end of Via Corsica that overlooks the highway and offers some of the best seaside views in Genoa. Though frequently visited, the piazza holds no significant purpose other than as a space to pass through or linger. Directly beside the piazza is the second zone: a 7 meter hole formed by the wall. Abondoned and dilapidated buldings cover the overgrown area. After extensive observations and analysis, site analysis drawings were conceived to identify and represent the unique features of the site. These drawings were completed utilizing the Beaux Arts analytique method, resulting in a set of rich drawings that provide a greater understanding of the site.
Site Levels + Sections
Via Corsica Procession
Areas of Action + Repose
Circulation
Historical DevelopmentCity Wall + Views/Visibility General Hard Data
Central Axis + Relationship to the Sea
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Interpret
The Futurist/Cubist method of representation was used next to derive the site’s design approach. The analytique drawings became the foundation for cubist drawings. The drawings were generated by combing the analytiques through a series of overlays. Geometries were extracted from the overlays and articulated through color, tone, and texture. Despite differing artistic approaches, geometric relationships exist between the drawings that are further clarified once extruded into the third dimension.
Cubist Drawings
Cubist Models
Site Formation
Via Corsica AxisMonument Placement +Northern Realginment Wall Extrusion Edge Definition
The paper models constructed from the extruded drawings share similar solid-void characteristics: a volume surrounded by a plane, intersecting axes, narrow bands, and stepped topography. The design language that arose from these characteristics was applied to the site’s basic geometric configuration. Each change to the site was done in response to a certain characteristic.
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Impact
From our analytical methods, we developed a concept of impact embodied by the memorial. The memorial space is the anchor of the site; everything on the site revolves around it, and every space is designed in service to it. Main access occurs at two points: at the end of Via Corsica on the upper portion, and along Strada Statale 1 on the lower portion. The piazza level is left void except for a tring of trees and a lookout platform whose walls become a backdrop to the towering monument. A low green bowl is formed around the monument, leading visitors on a slight descent into the exterior space. The bottom level of the site becomes an enclosed courtyard and serves as the main entry to the museum. The two levels are connected by a stairway that leads from the overlook to the museum lobby. The entire museum space is housed beneath the piazza to maximize usable space and exercise control of the museum space.
Site Plan
1 Peace Museum2 War Museum3 Memorial Space
4 Baggage Claim5 Lobby6 Restrooms
7 Tech / Storage8 Offices9 Meeting Room
Program
10 Cafe11 Courtyard
Circulation Massing
Piazza Entry Perspective
VIA
CORS
ICA
STRADA STATALE 1
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A
B
C
D
Site Sections Section A
Section C
Section D
Section B
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Two Experiences, One Memorial
The memorial is dedicated to the victims of Genoa’s WWII air raids, their names inscribed on the exterior zinc skin. But the seemingly impenetrable mass is more than a monolithic monument; it is an experience. The memorial is first seen at the piazza level, towering above the site to become a landmark on the skyline. The memorial is concerned with remembrance, relfection, and transcendence. The metallic surfaces of the memorial and the glimmering still pool water accentuate these attributes. As visitors enter the space and read the names, they are faced with their own image and left to ponder the complexities of war, the possibility of peace, or anything else they desire. Upon entering the museum, it seems as though the memorial’s sole purpose has been to prepare visitors for the war and peace exhibits housed within. But once again, the memorial is more than that.
Interior Memorial Chamber
Courtyard Perspective Exterior Memorial Experience
20 m
3 m
4m
10:30 12:00
13:00
15:00
14:00
16:00
Monument Detail Section
Memorial Lighting Studies
Monument Specs
Transitioning between the two museums, occupants are led into a dimly lit chamber where they are met with a familiar face. The monument sits in the center of a grotto, suspended beneath the ground and hovering above a similar small pool. Water casacades down the sides of the memorial and a magnificent light from behind the monolith creeps around the grotto walls, filling the space with a mystical ambiance. Behind the memorial, a small portal radiating light permits entry into the structure. Once inside the 3m x 3m space, the occupant looks up the 20m shaft to see the entire memorial is not an impenetrable mass but a hollow metal column opening to the sky. The brief encounter with the exterior provides a second, more powerful moment for repose. Reflection, remembrance, and transcendence come full circle through the completed memorial experience.
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Presentation Boards
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GROUNDEDUS National Whitewater Center Storage FacilitySpring 2013 // Charlotte, NC
The US National Whitewater Center in Charlotte, NC is the largest complex of its kind in the nation. Hundreds of Olympic athletes from across the world travel to the center for training each year. In addition to Olympic training, the center offers many outdoor recreational activities such as rafting, rock climbing, and kayaking. Rafts and kayaks are stored at the flatwater dock. Currently, these vessels are stored on top of the dock and covered by tarps. Maintanence work is conducted on the ground, and service vehicles travel on the same narrow path as pedestrians. In short, the dock was not designed with function in mind. The project aims to create a new master plan for the area that fixes current issues and prevents future ones. There are two essential built components to the site: an open-air maintanence shelter and a semi-enclosed storage facility. Through these two components, along with trail reroutes and service road additions, the flatwater dock can operate as smoothly and efficiently as possible.
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Site Analysis + Master Planning
The site is charcterized by steep slopes, heavy forestation and a series of bike and pedestrian trails, all of which present significant challenges. The storage facility is placed directly between the dock and the path entrance, minimizing deforestation from the service road. The service road is located on the opposite side of the facility and the pedestrian trail and stops right before intersecting a bike trail. A small service trail allows vessels to be carried between the service vehicles and the facility. On the waterfont, the maintanence shelter is placed at the bend of the widening path, creating an open space for vessels to be worked on without interrupting circulation. Both the storage facility and maintanence shelter are partially embedded in the topography and supported by retaining walls.
Site Analysis Diagrams
Site Master Plan
Section A
Section B
Section C
Shelter Circulation Facility Circulation
Site Circulation
Time (in seconds)
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Maintanence Shelter
The shelter is constructed with a series of wooden frames anchored in a retaining wall. The frames are linked through side cross-bracing and roof panels. The roof is a curving slope that represents a connection between the horizontal ground and vertical canopy. The curve also guides the line of sight upon entry and directs it toward the dock in one fluid motion.
Section A Section B Section C
Perspective Render
Frame Assembly Canopy Structure
Joint Connection
A B C D
Shelter Model
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Storage Facility
The facility mirrors and expands upon the the framing pattern of the shelter to create a structure that gradually opens to the exterior. A large retaining wall wraps around the perimeter, allowing the structure to sit within the topography. A large courtyard in front of the facility provides ample room for rec prep work without hindering circulation, while a service corridor separates private areas from the rest of the facility.
Section A Section B Section C
Perspective Render
Roof Canopy
Roof Beams
Ceiling Structure
Interior Cross Supports
Interior Vertical Supports
Base
1 Equipment Storage2 Office3 Restrooms4 Access Hallway5 Entry
Formation
Basic Grid Cell Separation
Cell Extrusion Structural Articulation
Program
Fragment Model
Structural Axonometric
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Presentation Boards
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RECONNECTSterling Community CenterSpring 2013 // Sterling, SC
The town of Sterling, located just outside Greenville, was once a prominent African American community with a steady growth rate, much like the rest of Greenville and it’s surrounding area at the time. However, in the late 1960’s, the community’s high school burned down. Considered to be the cornerstone of the community, many people abandoned the town in search of different community-centric areas. Sterling has struggled ever since, neglected by Greenville and plagued by high crime rates and poverty. The project introduces a basis for growth in the area through the design of a farmers marker, community center, and business incubation center that become the new core of the town. Beyond local developments, the project aims to reconnect Sterling to the rest of Greenville while maintaining it’s unique sense of community in an effort to reclaim the town’s former prominence.
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Locate
The site is located ten minutes from downtown Greenville at the west end of Jenkins Street, which sits directly behind St. Francis Hospital.
Bridge
The “Green Belt” is a series of parks and public green space surrounding Greenville. Existing green spaces around Greenville can by utilized to create a secondary branch of the “Green Belt” that runs through the heart of Sterling.
Unify
The link formed by the “Green Belt” reconnects Sterling to Greenville, unifying the two areas.
Expand
Strengthened through unification, Sterling can join in Greenville’s rapid expansion and become a significant neighborhood around the city.
Crafting a Master Plan
Design ResponseSite Condition
Existing Zones Program Placement
Vehicular Circulation Parking Placement
Proposed Greenway Placement Shift
Jenkins St. Visibility Form Manipulation
Private vs. Public Residential Privacy
Site Separation Terrace Connection
St. Francis
Site
Downtown Greenville
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1
1
1
1
2
2
2
3
3
33
4
5
56
66
6
Second Floor
Open to Below
Site ProgramResidential
1 Porch2 Interior Space3 Backyard
Farmers Market
1 Public Park2 Market3 Public Patio
Business Center
1 Lobby2 Restrooms3 Cubicles4 Break Room5 Conference Room6 Office
Community Center
1 Community Room2 Kitchen3 Restrooms4 Storage
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3
4
SHOR
T M
INUS
STR
EET
JENKINS STREET
SOUT
H CA
LHOU
N ST
REET
MAL
OY S
TREE
T
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Section A
Section B
A B
Site Sections
35 36
North Elevation
South Elevation
Site Model
Perspective Rendering
37 38
Presentation Boards
39 40