PETER MATHESONUNIVERSITY OF MINNESOTAUNDERGRADUATE PORTFOLIOB.S. ARCHITECTUREJANUARY 2016

02 FERRY STATION ISTANBUL, TURKEY

07 NATURAL HISTORY MUSEUM MINNEAPOLIS, MINNESOTA

12 URBAN BATHHOUSE DINKYTOWN, MINNESOTA

19 OBSERVATION DEN RAPSON HALL, UMN

20 HAND DRAFTING AND SKETCHING ROME AND ISTANBUL`

1 MILEN

SEA OF MARMARA

BOSPHORUS STRAIT

GOLDEN HORN

TO KADIKÖY

Eminönü

Galata Tower

HISTORIC PENINSULA

BOSP

HORUS C

RUIS

E

TO KABATAS

TO BESIK

TAS

LIQUID INFRASTRUCTURES

Eminönü is an historic neighborhood in the heart of Istanbul. Our class was tasked with redesigning the existing Eminönü ferry station and the surrounding plaza. Criss-crossed by every mode of transit imagin-able, this site is a chaotic mix of program and culture squeezed between the Golden Horn to the north and the New Mosque to the south. Hundreds of visitors stroll across the plaza every minute, dodging hordes of commuters flooding off ferries and incessant peddlers selling wind-up toys or steamed chestnuts. In typical Istanbul fashion, the spatial boundaries of various programs start to blur and overlap as the smells of sea-food and hookah mix with the sounds of ticket salesmen and gossiping locals.

After studying other ferry stations and experiencing the culture of Istanbul I realized that placing a physi-cal building on the site would be a failed attempt at containing or controlling the chaotic mix and flow of program and people in the plaza. Instead I devised a system of independent units that could adapt to the site’s ever-changing rhythms and levels of activity. The units themselves are designed to ambiguously ac-commodate many different activities rather than one in particular, which allows for the overlap of program that naturally occurs in the plaza. With the tug of a rope, a program unfolds from each unit creating usable spontaneous space only when it is needed. This allows the rest of the plaza to remain permeable to foot traffic, accessible to the public, and transparent to maintain views of the water and the New Mosque.

FERRY STATION REDESIGNEMINÖNÜ, ISTANBUL

EXISTING

GOAL

SOLUTION

20 MetersN

In�uences

Existing Site

Context

Circulation

Public / Private

Proposed Plan

Units

Sections

Renderings

20 MetersN

In�uences

Existing Site

Context

Circulation

Public / Private

Proposed Plan

Units

Sections

Renderings

20 MetersN

In�uences

Existing Site

Context

Circulation

Public / Private

Proposed Plan

Units

Sections

Renderings

The existing division between private and public space is an impermeable line.Walls, windows, and fences block views of the Bosphorus, access to the

shoreline, and constrict the flow of foot traffic.

An ideal division between private and public space is a permeable gradient.The station should be transparent and permeable to maintain views of the

Bosphorus, give the public access to the shoreline, and allow foot traffic to flow freely.

An array of poles make up the station. The plaza remains permeable and transparent as pole-units are “unfolded” or “activated” to create points of

private space. The edge of the Bosphorus is now accessible.

1 STATION 1 STATION (roof + walls + shadow moiré) 2 MOUNTAIN

RHINO + PHOTOSHOP RENDERINGS3 DOCK

1.05

.70

.35

4 m

eter

s

5 m

eter

s

3.8

met

ers

In�uences

Existing Site

Propesed Plan

Units

Sections

Renderings

50

.35

2 m

eter

s

5 m

eter

s

3.8

met

ers

2 meters

4 m

eter

s

50In�uences

Existing Site

Propesed Plan

Units

Sections

Renderings

SECTION / PLAN A 1/10” = 1’ SECTION / PLAN B 1/10” = 1’

PLAN 1/32” = 1’N

A

B

TUNNEL UNDER GALATA BRIDGE

TUN

NEL

TO

NEW

MO

SQU

E

3

1

2

In�uences

Existing Site

Proposed Plan

Units

Wait

Sell

Sit

Sections

Renderings

5 meters

In�uences

Existing Site

Proposed Plan

Units

Wait

Sell

Sit

Sections

Renderings

In�uences

Existing Site

Proposed Plan

Units

Wait

Sell

Sit

Sections

Renderings

In�uences

Existing Site

Proposed Plan

Units

Wait

Sell

Sit

Sections

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In�uences

Existing Site

Proposed Plan

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Wait

Sell

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Proposed Plan

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Wait

Sell

Sit

Sections

Renderings

UNIT TYPES DIAGRAMS

MOUNTAIN

STATION

MERCHANT

EDGE

As the Bell Museum prepared to move to St. Paul our class was tasked with designing a small satellite museum (2000 sf. McNamara Plaza) to house the Bell’s collection of taxidermied wolves and related curiosities. Environmentalist Aldo Leopold’s story “Thinking like a Mountain” and Charles Baudelaire’s poem “The Carcass” inspired the form and content of my museum.

McNamara Plaza is the eastern gateway to the university’s Minneapolis campus and home to Antoine Predock’s tectonic alumni center. Within this context my design seeks to block out the commotion of Washing-ton Avenue to the south, embrace the view of the park to the west, and attract the pedestrian stream from the east. Visitors encounter the museum content displayed on the north wall only after turning away from the western window. The administrative block is inserted along the southern wall buffering Washington Avenue.

The structure resembles a deer carcass, an indicator of health within an ecosystem.

WOLVES AND WILDLANDSNATURAL HISTORY MUSEUMMcNAMARA PLAZA, MINNEAPOLIS

“As a deer herd lives in mortal fear of its wolves, so does a mountain live in fear of its deer.”

- Aldo Leopold

Visitors enter from the southeast, walk straight to the west window overlooking McNamara Plaza, and encounter the exhibit wall last.

The view becomes part of the collection along with the taxidermy, and writings of Leopold and Beaudelaire.

The interior is left open for wandering, looking across, or alternative programs.

The administrative block and walls buffer the interior from the commotion of Washington Avenue.

WASHINGTON

OAK

ST.

N

STUDY MODELS PARTI

1” = 50’

SECTION A 1/8”

SITE PLAN McNamara Plaza 1/10” = 1’

PLAN 1/16”

SECTION B 1/8”

A

B

1

2

3 4

WASHINGTON AVENUE

OAK

STR

EET

EXHIBITION

CLASSROOMRECEPTION

ARCHIVES

MEN WOMEN

N

LOOKING NORTH

LOOKING SOUTH

SITE MODEL AT 1/8”SECTION MODEL AT 1-1/2” BASS WOOD PHYSICAL MODELS

1 EXTERIOR LOOKING SOUTH

3 INTERIOR NORTH DISPLAY 4 INTERIOR WEST WINDOW

2 ENTRY LOOKING WEST

SKETCHUP + PHOTOSHOP RENDERINGS

DISCOVER CYCLE

Minneapolis is eager for a bathhouse, for a revival of the Scandinavian sauna tradition. The stigmas of nudity and sexuality Americans associate with bathhouses are slowly fading. Could a bathhouse function in Minneapolis? Our studio instructors tasked us with designing a bathhouse and the programmatic elements necessary to make it plausible in a body-conscious city. A topographically unique section of historic Dinkytown, originally Bridgeman’s Ice Cream, was chosen as our site. We were required to maintain at least 50% of the existing facade.

I have designed a bathhouse for university students to use (mostly) individually. Its facade is de-liberately ambiguous, ensuring that only those in-the-know will swipe their U-card and enter. The ownership that comes with being “in on the secret” enhances the experience of the user as they use the facility more and more. The bathhouse is entirely devoid of signage and visible employees forcing users to figure out the program on their own, to solve or discover the possibilities within. This ruleset forced me to generate countless ways of hinting at the presence of other users.

During my solo walks down the Mississippi River bank, and upon entering Istanbul’s mosques last spring, I discovered the importance and power of shedding clothing (shoes + socks) and the vul-nerability that comes with it. My design seeks to emphasize this threshold. There is no receptionist,

you enter from the street immediately into an individual changing room. Upon exiting this room, you find yourself in an outdoor corridor. Depending on the weather you may have to

sprint half-naked through snow to find an empty sauna. Thus starts your cycle from hot to cold, from individual sauna to social steam room.

URBAN BATHHOUSEDINKYTOWN, MINNESOTA

WANDER / SEARCH SOLORECOVER

SOCIALCOOL DOWN

CREATE

SHED

CHANGING ROOM

STEAM ROOMSAUNA

SAUNA / BATHHOUSE DIAGRAM

N

25’50’

100’

4th St.14

th S

t.

1 MILE

A. SITE SECTION LOOKING SOUTH

A

H

F

C

ED

B

G

SAUNA / BATHHOUSE PHYSICAL MODELS

BATHHOUSE MODEL 1/8”

B. SECTION ENTRY

C. PERSPECTIVE EXTERIOR

B. SECTION PERSPECTIVE CHANGING ROOM

DIAGRAM CHANGING ROOM

D WANDER WINTER

E WANDER SUMMER

F STEAM ROOM EXTERIOR

DIAGRAM SAUNA

SKETCHUP + PHOTOSHOP RENDERINGS

SKETCHUP + PHOTOSHOP RENDERINGSH STEAM ROOM INTERIOR

G SECTION PERSPECTIVE STEAM ROOM

INTERIOR EAST EXTERIOR EAST

INTERIOR WESTEXTERIOR WEST

OBSERVATION DEN | PLAN 11/2” = 1’-0”

ELEVATIONS1 1/2” = 1’ - 0”

WALL ASSEMBLYCUT + FOLD

THESISAs the inhabitants get to know the space, they in-

fuse it with their own personal meaning, filling shelves with gathered knowledge, peering through varied apertures, and memorizing the myriad spa-

tial qualities of Vendorville. The den forms over time.

PETER MATHESON + MONICA WOJNOWIAK

OBSERVATION DEN

AGENDAUnbeknownst to the den’s occupants, passersby

catch small glimpses of activity within. Observation goes both ways.

SECTION COLLAGES

PLAN1 1/2” = 1’ - 0”

VENDORVILLE PLAN1/4” = 1’ - 0”

EXTERIOR WEST

INTERIOR EAST

INTERIOR WEST

EXTERIOR EAST

LOOKING WEST

LOOKING EAST

1 2 121 2 12

1 2 121 2 12

View of observation den from Vendorville area

N

PROJECT 1 PROGRAM STUDIO

ROME + ISTANBUL SKETCHES