Nick Johnson 2012 - 2014

njohnon.arc@gmail.com 727-215-8871

Clearwater Central Catholic High School + International Baccalaureate ProgramGraduated 2011GPA: 3.8

University of Florida Class of 2015School of Architecture Undergraduate

3rd year student

American Strategic Insurance AgencySummers: 2010-2013I.T. intern - data inventory - computer equipment organization

Humane Society of PinellasSummers: 2010-2011Dog Kennel Assistant

Design Pin Up- Top 10 of class (out of 100 students)(process of admissions to upper division School of Architecture)

General Microsoft: - Word - Excel - PowerPointArchitectural: - Hand Drafting - Physical modeling - Sketching - Laser Cutting - Digital Programs: Proficient • Rhinoceros • V-Ray render • Trimble Sketchup • Adobe Photoshop • Adobe InDesign • AutoCAD Understanding • Maxwell render • Adobe Illustrator • Grasshopper for Rhinoceros

Contact Information

Education

Job Experience

Volunteer

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Skills

3-5

6

7-8

9-10

11-14

15-18

Door Window Stair

Desert

Vertical Datum

Maritime Chapel

Urban Incision

Charleston Study

Table of Contents

Door

Window

Stair

3

Door

Window

Stair

The premise of this project was architecturalizing a piece of media with the concepts of entry/exit, direction of view, and vertical transi-tion (Door, Window, Stair).

The original piece of media analyzed was the film Beasts of the Southern Wild. This generator translated into diagram and then into occupied layered drawings.

These ideas translated into the fi-nal model through various elements. An upper threshold splits forming a longer stairway directly ahead and a shorter side stair that enters a core piece of the project. This room is the most enclosed and direct space and the layered walls open to a small portal towards the floor to allow a specific view of the main space below. This component is elevated from the rest of the spaces and enforces the ideas of isolation and a connection via obscured vision.

The main space below is a statement of irregularity against the cradling armature that wraps the model with strict orthagonality. The transition space on the outer edge attempts to contain the inner as it punches through in areas. This central space itself is akin to a long lawn of sorts. The slight angle of the ground plane is terraced in a select-ed area (registering with the looming isolation pod above) allowing relax-ation and a moment of pause.

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Longitudinal Section

Transverse Section

5

De

se

rt

Analysis of a MarkBurning match + Charcoal

Model Photography Vignettes

Eroding the landscape to discover a system was the main concept behind this study. Beginning with analysis, a series of marks explored this and started to formalize shape and structure. This analysis forayed into an itinerary involving a lightning research facility (inspired by Walter De Maria’s Lighting Field in New Mexico) and a campers den located a distance away. The composition of the facilities relied on the intersection of ground shifts and the implementation of a field of rods to focus potential lightning strikes to a centralized location. An observation tower anchored the project along a cliff face, while a long narrow gallery space mediated the adjacent edge with a variable roof condition that dealt with light in regards to sunrise orientation. The campers isolates itself beyond the lightning field and digs below the surface into a slim ravine, sheltered from the elements of the desert.

6

Vertical Datum

This study approach-es the idea of translating the plan view of a city into a vertical construct with nodes and program. The Chicago Midway was a generator from which main streets and avenues were pulled to discover a structure. This diagramed evolved into a sectional piece that showcased the programmatic pieces of an archery range, opera theater, and hanging gardens.

In particular, the archery range aimed to break the purely vertical thinking of the project, introducing horizontal shifts and gestures. The gar-den emphasized a repeated component and node on the lower half of the tower. And the opera theater experiment-ed with opening up the top space into an acoustic room, elevating the performer high above the listening audience.

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Detail Shot: Archery Range

Detail Shot: Garden Modules

8

Maritime Chapel

This project began at the site of Fort Island State Park beach where the marshy Florida landscape was molded to hold a Maritime Chapel (a sea-side nondenominational space where the passing fishing fleet may be blessed before the season). The design of the complex was inspired by the contours of a wave and the bow of a fishing rod. Arches and curves are a dominant motif that work into the structure. They provide an organic element to the design which smooths the walls back into the groundwork. Accessibility was a driver for the gradual pacing of the entry way and floor plates. The entrance can be accessed via a central stair path or ramp that wraps around the lower courtyard. The intersection of these outlets is another courtyard/breezeway from which the administration building and chapel can be accessed. The single roof plane unifies to adjacent structures and provides shade.

An opening on the northern face allows the sea breeze to penetrate the courtyard while also framing a picturesque view of the water. The chapel occupies the eastern space, ex-posed to the morning sun via floor-to-ceiling window walls. A slat screen acts as a shading device to minimize sun glare and heat radiation in the space. On the south face, a slab is punctured by the voronoi pattern and curves over the space, providing structure and anchorage for the room as it floats over the beach. This also acts as a secondary screen that blends with the horizontal slats to create an interesting visual effect. An exterior deck provides more space and occupancy for the chapel services, which also links to a fishing dock that juts out over the water.

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Urban Incision Introducing an urban fabric, this design had the challenge of working between two existing buildings. The program of a bar and an art gallery inserted themselves into the vertically oriented space. This concept of insertion is realized through the idea of delicate penetration that’s controlled and extruded throughout the building. The 4-story Gallery space is based upon 2 main diagonal gestures that subtly erode the floor plates via columns and push through the upper story in the longitudinal direction. This move is mirrored in transverse section where the same angled support structure extrudes through the top floor and forms the contour of a vertical expanding space. The supports from this detail carry through the floor plates to the opposite wall and push forward through the ceilings of floor 2 and 3 to create exposed beam work.

The facade of the building is the embodiment of control and order with a series of vertical glass tubes draping the from gallery atrium, flanked by a shifting arrangement of slate stone that registers with the neighboring buildings and the interior floors themselves. This system screens the interior penetration of the gallery and, to a lesser extent, the corner bar space. The sheer contrast of this language is kept mostly contained and controlled by the translucent quality of the wrapping glass facade, but lighting it from within at night exposes its nature further. The bar acts almost as a lower organism beneath the strict moves of the gallery space above, but both experiences insert themselves in an internal symbiosis. The interior of the bar is designed off the organic nature and forms of a draping white sheet.

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Interior Gallery Renders

Section Perspective

13

1st Floor Bar Plan + Renders

14

Charleston S.C. Urban Study

This is an ongoing project dealing within the urban context of Charleston South Carolina. The programs of a performing arts theater and an art gallery housing African art pieces are inserted into the rectangular block, wedged between two main roads. The main idea stems from two factors of inspiration. The first being a Greek Temple front; a prominent element in Charleston because of heavy Euro-pean influence during its founding. The second is the rhythmic pattern created by ivy bushes on the adjacent wall. The project as a whole is an exploration of the intersection of these two in conjunction with the prescribed program and the urban context.

The facade is where the Greek temple front comes to fruition. The columns are organized in symmetry and are interpreted with modern tectonic joints. The rhythm of the columns bleeds inside through structural beams and intersects the grid formed from the ivy in an atrium. This space is important in brining light down into the gallery. More slender columns continue along this multi-story open-ing and dissolve out into other more intimate display spaces.

Through elevational diagraming, the facade is broken with an elevated block that registers with a street running perpendicular to the front. The perspective view from this location aligns with the waterfront park 2 blocks east. This space also acts as a display for two pieces of African idol sculpture.

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Site Elevation Study

Facade Elevational Diagram

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Early sketches

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Perspective Plan + Section

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