2013

C O N N O R J A M E S F I S C H E R

Connor James FischerMaster of Architecture 2013

2128 North Commerce StreetMilwaukee, WI 53212

[01] ORIENTALIS: FRAMING PERCEPTION

[02] ENVELOP: CHANNELING IMPETUS

[03] CARTESIA: BRIDGING PERTINENT SPACE

[04] SYSTEMIC: SEQUENTIAL CONTEMPLATION

[05] KINETOGRAPHIC: HARMONIZING STABILITY

[06] RESONANT: ORDERING ENLIGHTENMENT

ORIENTALIS: FRAMING PERCEPTIONThe Dusable Technology Center is located at the mouth of the Chicago River. The Center is composed as three strands, representing the strong grid of the urban and the verticality of the city. The bars emerge from the water and ultimately orient to the sky, suggesting an amphibian-like progression. The scheme created a three sided courtyard, which faces the rising sun.

The tower is occupied by residential units on the upper floors, and office space below. The first two floors of the back bar are dedicated to retail and dining options. Above, three story lab pods and prep spaces are arranged using the same rhythm established in the tower. A strand of gallery runs below these, reinforcing the three story datum of the courtyard. It cascades down to touch the water, creating auditorium seating and reception space.

Structurally, the center progresses from implicit to explicit. The auditorium is a thin ribbon that rises from the shore and turns on itself. These two surfaces frame views to the river, lake and courtyard. The tower is composed of a double set of frames. These frames engage and envelop symmetrical cores, allowing for a slender profile. The panels of the truss carry the same rectangular cadence of the lab pods. The tower terminates with the trusses reaching beyond the enclosure to the sky.

Nominated for 2013 SUPERjury [SARUP]

CHICAGO RIVER

LAKE SHORE DRIVE

OGDEN SLIP

NAVY PIER PROMENADE

LAKE SHORE PROMENADE

WATER STREETRIVER ESPLANADE

LIVE

WORK

RESEARCH

EXHIBIT

VISIT

Z

Y

X

SKY

HIGHWAY

RIVER

CONCEPTUAL ARMATURE PROGRAM BLOCKS FINAL GEOMETRY ARTICULATED PROGRAM

LIVE

WORK

RESEARCH

EXHIBIT

VISIT

Z

Y

X

SKY

HIGHWAY

RIVER

CONCEPTUAL ARMATURE PROGRAM BLOCKS FINAL GEOMETRY ARTICULATED PROGRAM

NESTABLISH FRAMEWORK LAYER PLANTINGS SLICE TERRACE ERODE PLINTHESTABLISH FRAMEWORK LAYER PLANTINGS SLICE TERRACE ERODE PLINTH

N

N

N

ENVELOP: CHANNELING IMPETUSThe Portal Recreation Pavilion is a bipartite structure that joins a freshwater boathouse and an event reception hall. The site is impacted by two linear advances: a boat slip from the east and a city street from the west. These movements act as a ‘force couple’, manifesting the meeting of the nautical and the urban. Wrapping elements act perpendicularly, serving to blanket and enclose areas of program, circulation and repose. The Pavilion is structured by twenty concrete frames. These frames overlap to link the two halves and create tertiary adjacency. The form is then manipulated in length, height and density. Pairs and quartets of structure unite to define blocks of program. They serve as a subtle reminder of the remnants of industry scattered throughout the harbor.

Awarded the 2012 Inner Harbor Prize [SARUP]

Nominated for 2013 SUPERjury [SARUP]

CARTESIA: BRIDGING PERTINENT SPACEThe Freshwater Challenge Gallery is located in northern bar of program in the Reed Street Yards Freshwater Innovation Cluster. This location is reinforced by the south bank of the river as a physical and ideological boundary. The morphology of the Gallery incorporates city scale and development scale influences, which ultimately manifest themselves into an orthogonal scheme.

The primary gesture of the gallery is to continue the Haussmann-esque street wall along the avenue. This normative bar connects the buildings directly adjacent to the East and West and serves to define the street space. It also serves as a permeable barrier between the large public green space to the south and the more intimate outdoor spaces and river to the north. The secondary gesture is the gallery piece itself, an object that pierces the primary bar. It acts as a visual and conceptual connection to outdoor spaces. It relates the building scale back to the urban scale, paying homage to views of downtown.

In collaboration with Andrew Coenen

Selected as an Honorable Mention in the 2011-2012 ACSA/AISC Steel Design Student Competition [Open Category II]

RIVER

TERRACE

BACK PERIMETER

RIVERRIVERWALK

TERRACEFRESHWATER CHALLE

NGE GALLERY

SIDEWALK

AVENUE

GREENSPACE

FRONT PERIMETER

NORTH-SO

UTH

CROS

S-AXIS

STRUCTURE

EXPANSION

DEPARTURE

ARRIVAL

EAST-WEST MAIN AXIS

FULL STREET WALL OPENING IN WALLRELIEF ON BACK OBJECT INSERTION

RIVER

TERRACE

BACK PERIMETER

RIVERRIVERWALK

TERRACEFRESHWATER CHALLE

NGE GALLERY

SIDEWALK

AVENUE

GREENSPACE

FRONT PERIMETER

NORTH-SO

UTH

CROS

S-AXIS

STRUCTURE

EXPANSION

DEPARTURE

ARRIVAL

EAST-WEST MAIN AXIS

FULL STREET WALL OPENING IN WALLRELIEF ON BACK OBJECT INSERTION

GALLERY CONNECTION TRUSS TOP

GROUND CONDITION BALCONY CORNER

SOLID/VOID MORPHOLOGY

SITE LAYERINGBUILDING LAYERING

COLUMN BASE TRUSS BOTTOM

EXTERIOR ENCLOSURE GALLERY ENCLOSURE

THERMALLY ACTIVATED FLOORING

DAYLIGHTING STRATEGY

SYSTEMIC:SEQUENTIAL CONTEMPLATION

This project concentrates on developing facades, spaces and details that combine to create a composition. The analysis included a bay study, a corner study, and a ground plane connection study. The re-entered corner is used as a condition for the two orthogonal walls to meet. An exterior frame is attached to articulate the exterior sun shades and add another layer to establish phenomenal transparencies. The interior space steps down to the riverfront, and the cascading elevation erodes around a small lecture hall embedded in the substrate of the floor slab.

In collaboration with Andrew Coenen, Sara Maas and Bruno Silva

KINETOGRAPHIC:HARMONIZING STABILITY

This project, in tandem with a dance class entitled ‘body sense for architects’, was the culmination of the first semester graduate studio. The supplementary dance class provided insight into the needs of studying dance, as well as architectural inspiration. The program for the center Center includes a performance hall, three dance studios and a cafe. The parti is movement based itself: two dynamic elements interacting with a stationary datum. The entrance opens to a large south-facing plaza, encouraging impromptu performances and community engagement. Elements of Laban notation, including space, weight, time and flow were incorporated in the design of the building form and enclosure.

RESONANT:ORDERING ENLIGHTENMENT

This project concentrates on a privacy gradient into a newly designed meditation hall. The facade of the building is designed to integrate with both the interior and exterior. The whole site is divided into two corridors; this creates hierarchy between servant and served spaces. This establishes datums through which a transitional promenade is experienced. As one progresses from north to south, the composition increases in imporance, representing knoweldge and enlightenment. As one progresses from west to east, the composition increaces in privacy, allowing a visitor to transition from the busy street front to a quiet moment ofclarity.