CONCEPTcourtyard rendering

east elevation

Paper Layerscommunity arts centerPaper Layers

BUILDING PLAN entrance rendering

west elevation

lower level floor plan

upper level floor plan

In third year spring studio the students were asked to create an arts center from any of the disciplines of art. The site was located just north of the down-town ASU campus in an area of transition from the uptown cultural/arts areas and the downtown sports/entertainment areas.

The downtown area is abundant with layers of culture and life which create the urban fabric of Phoenix. Paper Layers is an arts center in Phoe-nix which is surrounded and based on the layers which enclose the site. From vegetation to build-ing systems each component is a layer that de-fines what the art center truly stands for. By creat-ing a transition space between the many layers of the downtown area, Paper Layers will be an area where residents can learn, experience, and create masterpieces from all the disciplines of paper art.

site plan north elevation

DO

WN

TOW

N

AN

ALY

SIS

A DB C

cross plate connection

wall apex

wall model

wall connections plan detail

section detail

Map A details the main bus routes and current ASU buildings around our site. While map B shows the main art areas, public art on display, and sidewalks that are enhanced with shade. Map C shows open green areas, roads with bike lanes, and the city light rail pathways. Map D is a combination of the pervious maps to show how empty the area is that the building site is located. This told me that my arts center was going to be the link between the uptown arts areas and the downtown sports/cultural areas of Phoenix. Providing a perma-nent link between the two areas where resident could engage in both lifestyles.

For our community arts center we were asked to create, design, and build a full sized model of part of our build-ing. With the concept of layers I found it best to use a wall system that would enforce the concept of my site.

Basic concrete and wood frame walls were built while the corrugated and perforated wall application that was used was fully designed from the ground up.

CONCEPT

SITE A

NAYLS

IS

cliff rendering

Protectionborder patrol towersProtection

split axonhelo axon

helo plan cliff elevation

split elevationbridge elevation

PROTOTYPES

helo elevation

split rendering

Fourth year spring studio was about developing a so-lution to a problem that faces Americans today. Most students chose to attack low income housing or green friendly living; however the most prevalent problem I saw was our border security issues. At the time of this studio it was announced that the National Guard was going to be pulled from Arizona’s border and the kill-ings along the Mexico/U.S. border were increasing by the month.

With the economy in a downfall and funding for the U.S. Border Patrol declining I needed to find an inex-pensive solution that would benefit border security. My solution was simple, to make border patrol towers, re-tention basins, and roadways from cargo containers. From research, talking with the border patrol, and my experience in Iraq I developed a series of prototypes that I believe will benefit our Border Patrol and increase America’s border safety.