 | | This was a junior-year project at Arizona State University. The program was ambiguous, but the site was real. I chose to make a high-density mixed-income apartment complex. The program was developed in close consultation with city planners, local developers, and all the neighbors of the site. After defining the program, the design and presentation were developed in only two weeks. Black and white was chosen in the interest of speed; getting color imagery to look photorealistic is considerably more time-consuming. |
 | | The neighbors, developers, and city planners were all in agreement about one thing: they wanted to see pseudo-victorian brickwork on the street facade. By interweaving the historicized bay windows with a more modernist trellis, I was able to satisfy both the needs of the concerned parties, and my own personal aesthetic. |
 | | Behind the vine-clad trellises are a series of terraces and windows. This side of the structure faces west, and in the Tempe climate it is necessary to minimize western solar exposure during the summer. So the deciduous vines provide shade, evaporative cooling, and a pleasently leafy space. Here, a tensile canopy acts as a roof. |
 | | Behind the upscale streetside condominiums are 20 other units, more inexpensively constructed, arranged around a central courtyard. The eaves are canted to provide maximum shade during the summer, and maximum solar gain during the winter. |
 | | Every apartment, on both levels, has a private courtyard, and a public garden (facing into the central courtyard). |
 | | By canting the courtyard, a variety of different apartment sizes were created. The largest is a 2400 ft² 3-bedroom apartment, and the smallest is a 525 ft² studio apartment. This was done to capture the diversity of lifestyles and economic classes that represent Tempe at its best. |
 | | By using a common width for all apartments, and common utilities and framing dimensions throughout, construction costs could be minimized despite the uniqueness of every space. |
 | | The primary building materials were insulated concrete masonry units, and translucent, insulative "Kalwall" panels. |
 | | The central courtyard. |
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