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Samuel David Funari 106 Sutters Mill Lane, Knoxville, TN, 37909 865 253 4880 sdfunari@gmail.com

ARCHITECTURE

Tower HousePrefabricated Rural HomeBlount County, Tennessee

Haitian HomeHome for an Expatriate Retiree

Fond-Des-Blancs, Haiti

Center for EthicsCampus Building for Emory University

Atlanta, Georgia

Museum of Contemporary Iron WorksMixed use Urban Development

Knoxville, Tennessee

OTHER WORKS

Plywood LampBent Italian Plywood

Wall Section StudyAnalysis of Sirch Woodworking Factory

DemarcationDesign-Build Concrete Delineation

architecture

Tower HouseBlount County, Tennessee

Fall 2011Professor Edgar Stach

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Located near Alcoa Aluminum, this project was meant to serve as an icon of prefabricated, aluminum structures that could be showcased by one of the largest aluminum manufacturers in the country. The goal was to use as many of the existing, off-the-shelf products produced by Alcoa Aluminum and create a sort of “aluminum house”. This solution demonstrates that working from a fixed number of pieces, a kit-of-parts can still yield a highly adaptable structure that is both experientially en-joyable and site-sensitive. The concept of the tower was born from the constraints of the site, which is drastically sloped and adjacent to the shores of the Tennessee River. By using a fixed number of building elements, it would be possible to construct this house from a barge in the river and only have to disturb the site for the four pilings that would support the structure.

The challenges of building a house on this site were daunting. Access to the hill that the Tower House would sit on was non-existant, so a road would need to be carved from the hillside to allow access for the residents. The steep slope lent itself to lifting the house up above the earth and giving it a view of the river. In order to limit the distur-bance of the site, it became evident that a tower scheme would pro-vide more benefits than a horizontal one. The entry level, second and third floors all feature floor-to-ceiling glazing that capitalizes on the spectacular views and are still operable to provide cross-ventilation.

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The building is organized in plan by three layers. The first zone is the vertical circu-lation that is purposely pulled away from the rest of the program. This allows for a clear distinction of space and creates a hierarchy within the massing. The next layer is the core that houses all of the bathrooms and the kitchen. This core rises through all three levels and provides a chase between floors as well as added insula-tion values. The next layer is the living space which has the primary views and also features a balcony at each floor. The entire upper level becomes a roof terrace with panoramic views of the surrounding river and hills as well as space for a garden.

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The skin of the building is made of aluminum panels that frame the glass panels. On the southern facade, aluminum brise soleil are used to reduce thermal gain, but still allow uninterrupted views. Due to the unique site conditions that do not allow for a yard, two outdoor levels were used to sit above and below the living space. This maximization of exterior space can be thought of as a new variation on the typologies of front and back yards. One of these spaces could filled with a garden, chairs for sun-bathing and children’s toys, while the other can be used for more formal occasions.

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Extensive solar studies were performed to ensure efficiency and reduce potential glare from the polished concrete floors. The simple steel framed structure is spanned by open web joists and is highly insulated where possible.

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Haitian HomeIn collaboration with the Christian Haiti Fund, the University of Ten-nessee has made extensive efforts towards establishing a rural com-munity in southern Haiti in an effort to decentralize after the devastat-ing earthquake wreaked havoc on the capital city of Port-Au-Prince. This home is one of six typologies explored that would serve to re-invigorate life into a very undervalued, and underdeveloped region in Haiti. This home in particular is designed for a retired ex-patriate, who would return from his residence in the United States. This small concrete structure needed to incorporate most of the amenities an American would be accustomed to, while still being responsive to the Haitian climate and local resources.

Fond-Des-Blancs, HaitiSpring 2012

Professor John McRae

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The concept of the home was to provide a distinct separation be-tween public and private spaces within the home, since this is of ut-most importance in Haitian culture. This diagram shows the living, dining and porch spaces as being more public in nature, while the bedrooms and bathrooms are reserved for the inhabitants. Also, special attention was given to ensure that deep shad-ows covered the southern facades, which can cause tremendous thermal gain if not properly shaded. To provide cross-ventilation, ventilated concrete masonry units were installed as panels within a structural concrete frame.

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This home is one of the few that would actually need a space to park a car, since travel is so limited in Haiti. The porch, which fac-es the living space and parking is intentionally deep to prevent thermal gain as much as possible and allow for contribution to a vibrant community. Since much of the day of a typical Haitian occurs outdoors in the shade, the porch, opens up through ac-cordion doors into the living and dining space, allowing for year round use. An open kitchen ensures an entertaining-friendly space that could subvert the harmful tradition of groups cook-ing over clear-cut charcoal, by providing a space where a group could fulfill their duties and still interact.

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Center For EthicsLocated adjacent to the Quadrangle in Emory University, this unique site was situated between the iconic Canon Chapel by Paul Rudolph and the infamous Carlos Museum by Michael Graves. This unique position forced a decision to be made to either interrupt the sort of “stare” happening between a Modern classic and a Post-modern masterpiece, or to respect the existing dialogue and build around it. This Center for Ethics was to house a lecture hall, classrooms, offices and residences for three visiting scholars. This program was divided into three separate buildings that would create a common space in between for gathering and discussion, a forum.

Atlanta, GeorgiaSpring 2010

Professor James Rose

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The largest portion of program occurs in the classroom building that creates the largest frontage along the forum. The assembly space occurs underground, and the residences cap off the forum. A clock tower was used to anchor the site on the Quad and provide a much need-ed amenity. Made largely of site-cast concrete, this new development would keep similar massing as the adjacent buildings, but offer a new material and language that would promote public in-teraction and communication.

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To frame the forum, each building had to adhere to the same height and create a surface that had the power to define a volume. The classroom building wraps over the existing bridge that projects from the Canon Chapel in order to define the forum and also provide views and shading.

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Museum of Contemporary Iron WorksLocated on a prominent corner of downtown Knoxville, this site would bridge the gap between the bustling downtown neighborhood and Old North neighborhood. This museum would serve the commu-nity both as a gallery space and an education space for iron casting, where the displayed would be created. It was crucial to maintain a proper massing of the building that would not destroy the context of downtown. Therefore, the building had to adhere to the height of the surrounding buildings and be as compact as possible, while still allowing nearly 50,000 sf of program.

Knoxville, TennesseeFall 2012

Professor Greg Spaw

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The proposed site is currently a parking lot that faces an in-dustrialized swathe of land that has separated downtown from north Knoxville for decades. This project is intended to create further development in this area, which is sorely underde-veloped at this time. Being located at the intersection of Gay Street and Jackson Avenue, however, means that this project has significant street frontage along downtown’s busiest street. Because of this, the corner of the mass is carved away to create a grand entrance that is inviting for visitors and would be espe-cially useful during events such as First Friday, when downtown is inundated with people.

One of the primary challenges was to design a building with proper massing that would function extremely well and not intrude on the existing scale of downtown. Because of this, I began with a maximum allowable mass and began to make major design decisions based on the surrounding context, the necessary program, and the phenomenal potential for views to and from the site. Each move was responsive to at least two of these criteria and resulted in a building that works well with a complicated site and whose scale is appropriate. It was a difficult challenge to mediate the curve of the bridge as a potential entry, so, instead, the building offers seat-ing along that edge and the main entry occurs on the short fa-cade along Jackson Avenue. This also helps create a sense of procession within the entry sequence.

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FIRST TENNESSEE PLAZA RIVERVIEW TOWER THE HOLSTON STERCHI FOLK ART MUSEUM

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MAXIMUM ALLOWABLE MASS IMPRESS FOR PASSTHROUGH CARVE OUT ENTRY

EXTRUDE FOR STORAGE

CALLOUT PROGRAM APPLY SCREEN APPLY GREEN ROOF MODIFY ENTRY TO MEDIATE CONTEXT

GALLERY SPACE

ADMIN OFFICES

CAFE STORAGECAFE SEATING

CHECK OUT

RETAIL STORAGE

RETAIL SPACE

OUTDOOR SPACE

MECHANICAL CORE

FREIGHT ELEVATOR

STAIRS

MECHANICAL OFFICES

MECHANICAL SPACE

ENTRY

OVERFLOW FOR ASSEMBLY

GREEN SPACE

SMALL MEETING ROOMS

ASSEMBLY HALL

STUDIOS

WOODSHOP

CONFERENCE ROOMS

IRON POURING STORAGE

ARTISTS OFFICES

LOADING ZONE

CRITIQUE SPACEUNIVERSAL SPACE

IRON POURING WORKSHOP

GALLERY STORAGE

GALLERY SEATING

CONFERENCE ROOMS

SMALL MEETING ROOMS

ADMIN RECEPTION

PROGRAM CONNECTIVITY

HEIGHT COMPARISON

MASSING TRANSFORMATION

PROGRAM CONNECTIVITY

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By proposing such a compact building, it soon became crucial that the interior spaces were generous and light-filled. Various massing model iterations were produced to find the right balance of usable space and the proper massing. Then, the design process occurred largely in section and in three dimensions. This allowed, not only, interplay of spaces, but also for large moves to be made outside of the floorplan. An atrium that sets up and blocks views based on one’s current loca-tion in the museum is a feature that could only fully be thought through in section. In order to accomplish the large cantilever, a 45’ tall truss wraps the perimeter of the building, attaching to the cores at ei-ther end, and allowing for a dramatic entry and a street presence that could bring additional visitors and dollars into the museum.

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A directing device was used to guide visitors through the four levels of the museum. This device was conceived as an amal-gamation of several architectural elements: stair, ceiling, wall and light fixture. This green element winds its way around each level of gallery, highlighting certain exhibits and projecting light where needed. Below the gallery levels are two floor of educa-tion space, where the works of iron would be designed and cri-tiqued, before they are produced on the ground level. The iron casting process would occur outdoors on the parking level and would serve as a community event.

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By integrating with downtown and expanding into an under-developed corridor, this museum would, ideally, promote ad-ditional growth and urban infill, It would likely become a hub in East Tennessee for iron casting, as none that could serve a large number of users currently exists, and would have an unparalled display place for those cast items.

other works

Plywood LampThis project began as a study of Italian plywood and the history of bending wood to make furniture. While we were free to make any piece of furniture, it had to be made largely from bending and lami-nating Italian plywood. From the onset, I was fascinated with proper-ties of reflected light: it is softer, it picks up the color of it’s reflector, and it is easier on the eye. This led to a strict set of criteria for the lamp, which were that it had to reflect light, it had to function as well or better than a standard lamp, and it had to be fully adjustable. Through many iterations, the solution eventually became a curved form with a concrete block for adjusting the angle of the light.

Bent Italian Plywood and ConcreteSpring 2012

Professor Ryann Aoukar

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By sliding the concrete block along the bottom arm of the lamp, the elevated portion is now pulled down to the tabletop. The weight of the block was carefully calibrated to ensure ease of motion, while still allowing the lamp to remain stationary once adjusted. A piece of felt is attached to the underside of the block to create smooth move-ment, and also a shadow gap that visually lightens the concrete mass. The luminaire is actually encased within a painted, plexi-glass sphere that directs the light upward, where it is reflected off the upper arm and then onto the surface of the table. By painting one side of the plexi-glass white and leaving the ends untreated, light is allowed to pass through unscathed in only one direction. The lateral light that could cause glare is dulled by the paint and only leaves a pleasant glow.

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Wall Section StudyThis study began as a team effort to delve into the wall section of certain assigned projects. My team of three examined the Sirch Woodworking Factory in Bohen, Germany by the award-winning Baumschlager Eberle Architects. Beginning with an axonometric wall section, and then progressing into a built model, we studied floor as-semblies, wall assemblies, and facade systems.

Baumschlager EberleSirch Woodworking Factory

Spring 2011Professor Matthew Hall

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The factory features a unique facade system that utilizes lay-ers to create depth and also serve as a rain screen. Almost the entire building is wrapped with slats of Siberian Larch that are spaced apart from each other to allow for limited views into and out of the building and also help to regulate the amount of thermal gain. These elements are often used, but rarely fully understood. By examining in a large scale model, we were able to articulate in three dimensions how each piece of this build-ing would come together.

DemarcationOddfellows Cemetery, located in East Knoxville has been in a state of disrepair for the past four decades. This cemetery is largely ne-glected and has become a haven for crime in recent years. A delicate solution is necessary, as to allow minimal disturbance of the site. A demarcation may be all that is necessary to announce the cemetery to passers-by. This demarcation must be able to take on many dif-ferent forms, including a seat, curb, ledge and demarcating line. The solution is this embodied in a full size mock up that inhabits a com-mon area adjacent to the cemetery. Each typology had to be present, since the public would vote on which mock up they would prefer to surround their cemetery.

Knoxville, TennesseeSpring 2012

Professor Matthew Hall

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The mock up needed to be able to navigate uneven earth, as it would be a solution to surround the entire cemetery. The solution was to use site-cast concrete whose height would be adjustable, from flush, to bench. The bench cap acts as a beam, spanning the ends of the demarcation. This allows light through the demarcation and visually lightens it.

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In order to arrive at a final decision for the texture, color and mix of the concrete, several tests were done. The final deci-sion was to utilize a bubble wrap texture on the lower support, which would promote the growth of nature over the incision that the demarcation would inevitably become. Each portion of the demarcation was designed and built by the students in the class.