3770 Green Hill AveCincinnati, OH 45220

616.292.4985michaelwestrate @ gmail.com

Master of ArchitectureUniversity of Cincinnati College of DAAP, Cincinnati Ohio// anticipated completion June 2012

EDUCATION

Academic Exchange >> China Fall 2006Six months abroad studying Chinese language and cultureCapital Normal University, Beijing China

Bachelor of Fine Arts May 2007Calvin College, Grand Rapids MichiganMajor in Asian Studies // concentration: chineseMajor in Studio ArtAIAS Calvin Chapter // president 2006 - 2007

RELEVANT EXPERIENCE

Graduate Assistant Summer 2009 - Spring 2010School of Architecture and Interior Design, University of Cincinnati

Worked with Assistant Professor Karl Wallick producing a monograph of the work of KieranTimberlake.Release September 2011 // Rizzoli Publishers

Elite Graduate Assistant Fall 2010 - presentSchool of Architecture and Interior Design, University of Cincinnati

Awarded a competitive Graduate Assistantship for the remaining two years of my degree. Responsibilities include teaching classes of 20+ students, organizing software and analogue demonstrations, and grading.

3xSAID // president Summer 2010 - PresentStudent Society of the School of Architecture and Interior Design, University of Cincinnati

Organized and secured funds for lectures as well as entertain guest lecturers of the School of Architecture and Interior Design .

WORK EXPERIENCE

COMPUTER SKILLS

Experienced with Rhinoceros 4, V-ray, Revit, AutoCAD, Adobe Illustrator, Adobe InDesign, Adobe Photoshop, Microsoft Office, Sketch-up. Working knowledge of Grasshopper, Form Z, and 3DS Max

WORK EXHIBITED

FormZ Joint Study Journal 2007-2998, “Digitial Iteration: Defining a Synthesis between Manual and Digital Craft” by James Eckler // Work featured Calvin College Center Gallery // Senior show, May 2007106 South Division Gallery // Artist book display, January 2006Calvin College Library // Ceramics show, Summer 2006

Kieran Timberlake // intern Spring & Summer 2011Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

Worked closely with a team on mostly institutional projects throughout the design development and construction document phases using Revit, Rhino, and the Adobe Creative Suite

4-Most Group Architects // intern Spring 2009Butler, Pennsylvania

Worked at the firm doing schematic design, site planning, construction documents, and presentations for clients using Microstation software.

KohnPedersenFox Architects (KPF) // intern Fall 2009New York, New York

Worked with numerous teams on a variety of projects throughout the design development and construction document phases mostly using AutoCAD and the Adobe Creative Suite.

Design Evolution Workshop [ DEW ] // intern Summer 2010Detroit, Michigan

Volunteered to begin preliminary measures of homes slated for deconstruction.

street ::

tel ::email ::

b r a n d i n g a n a t i o n

The exhibition theme “feeding the planet, energy for life,” requires the designer to take a solid position on food, finding a balance between criticism and nation branding. How does a designer criticize a broken system while portraying a sense of positivity?

The UN Millennium Goals, agreed upon by nearly two hundred nations in the year 2000, aimed to half the number of chronically hungry by the year 2015. In the past ten years the number of hungry people has actually risen. Rather than dwelling on the failure of the developed world, my design for the US Pavilion embraces the industrial processes which made the US a wealthy nation by proposing a vertically integrated supplement factory.

Pavilion Studio

:: Edson Cabalfin :: Milan Italy, 2015 :: United States Pavilion :: Micronutrient Factory

InstructorLocation Program Proposal

fall 2010

c a n i n d u s -t r i a l i z a t i o n b e u s e d t o h e l p s o l v e a f o o d c r i s i s ?

p a v i l i o n a s f a c t o r y

F(ood)actory - With the UN Millennium Goals quickly approaching, new solutions to the global food crisis are needed. Lessons from industrialization can be used by developing nations to quickly and effec-tively tackle this epidemic. The U.S. Pavilion at Milan is designed as an all inclusive food factory, raw material entering at one end and supplements or mineral rich food produced at the other. This method, unlike the model used by Henry Ford, can be easily adapted to the changing needs of a community. When food sourc-es are secure and chronic hunger can be managed with local crops, the factory can be appropriated for regular food production or moved to another location where vitamin and mineral rich foods are still in short supply.

milan, italy

c a n i n d u s -t r i a l i z a t i o n b e u s e d t o h e l p s o l v e a f o o d c r i s i s ? deficiencies ::

sources ::

importance ::

v i t a m i n ai r o nEssential for material & fetal health, learning, and productivity.

i o d i n eFundamental for intelligence and brain development.

Vital for sight and theimmune system.

Worldwide deficiencies with over 2 billion people affected by anaemia.

North Africa, Eastern Eu-rope, Central Asia, Southeast Asia,

Central Africa, South America, Southast Asia, Middle East

Seeds, spinach, white beans, meats

Iodized salt, sea vegetables, yogurt, milk, strawberries

Tomatoes, spinach, turnips, starches, eggs, meat

source :: World Health Organization

Shortly after the turn of the century, Henry Ford introduced vertical integration to the industrial process. Raw materials, delivered at one end of the factory are fully refined, processed, and then transformed into componants for the final product; an automobile. Ford imagined the producer, the factory worker, to be the consumer, a closed loop, a self propagating process of endless production and consumption.

v e r t i c a li n t e g r a t i o n

MATERIAL PROCESSINg

PRODUCT ASSEMBLy

DISTRIBUTION

RAW MATERIAL INPUT

p o s t - f o r d i s ma s f o r m a la r r a n g m e n t

view toward production plant on farm level

A. ENTRy // qUEUE AREA

B. PARK SPACE

C. SALT fIELD OBSERVATION DECK

D. PROCESSINg fACILITy

E. PRODUCT STORAgE RACKS

f. REfLECTINg POOL

p r o g r a m

PRODUCT

PROCESSINg

RAW MATERIAL

:: PILLS/SUPPLEMENTS/SHIPPINg PODS

:: MANUfACTORIINg/fACTORy

:: SALT/CROPS/WATER

CANOPy ROOf // SALT WATER IS PUMPED ATOP THE PAVILION WHERE IT EVAPORATES LEAVINg ONLy SALT.

fARM + PARK // PLANTS RICH IN VITAMIN A AND IRON ARE gROWN IN PLANTERS ORgANIzED AS A PARK fOR VISITORS

02REfLECTINg RESERVOIR // WATER IS STORED IN A RESERVOIR BELOW THE fARM 0301

A.

B.

C.

D. E.

f.

The components of the pavilion are designed to be manufactured off site and to fit into standard shipping containers. Planting beds and structural columns can be folded and stacked atop one another in a 6060 mm x 2440 mm container. At the end of the expo these same components can be repacked and sent to another site.

ap a v i l i o n w i t hm o v e s

columns arrive assembled inside 6 meter shipping containers

ROO

f RESERVO

IR SUPPLy LIN

E

MOTOR fOR EXTENDINg COLUMN ARMS

PUM

P fOR RESERVOIR SUPPLy

LOC

KA

BLE P

IN CO

NN

EC

TIO

N

d r a w i n g f r o m t h e l a n d s c a p e

Absent of civilization’s markers and void of obvious forms of life, the Bonneville Salt Flats occupy a space outside of the normal human experience. This experience is highlighted by the site, which is at once both a seemingly infinite field and in a state of perceived stasis.

This skewed perception is distorted by the usual clutter of everyday life.

Discovered through mapping the dynamic flows inherent to the place, the Rest Stop emerges at a knuckle of natural occurrence and human intervention. The formal and con-structed strategies directly correlate to the dynamic nature of the place capturing and augmenting that which is already there.

lyceum competition

:: Lucie Fontein :: Bonneville Salt Flats, Utah :: Rest Stop :: Occupy The Line

InstructorLocation Program Proposal

winter 2011

i s t h e r e n o t h i n g h e r e ?

b)

The Lyceum Competition prompt is for a zero energy rest stop at the intersection of the Bonneville Salt Flats and Interstate 80. The competition calls for the rest stop to engage with a proposed land art installation called “Earth Curvature”, a series of 341 logarithmically spaced poles stretching the full length of the flats while also providing spaces for overnight visitors and weary travelers.

My proposal for the competition engages directly with the art installation, the building stretching the distance between the two center-most poles. Visitors enter from between the two lanes of traffic through a portico below the west bound lanes. Ramps stretch from this underground space between six evaporative fields and disappear into the flats.

a) parking

b) portico

c) installation

d) open air atrium

e) restrooms & showers

f) evaporative fields

g) salt flats

a)

b)

d)

g)

e)

f)

building form providing the rest

// parallel thresholdThe building stretches more

than 300’ along Interstate 80

connecting the center 3’ pole

of the competition’s proposed

installation piece with the next

pole. A ramp carries visitors

from just below the 3’ pole along

this parallel threshold to grade

at the next pole.

| perpendicular thresholdA portico connects the parking

in the middle of the two

highways with the rest stop on

the north end of the road. The

portico bisects the road and art

installation by slipping below the

road, guest rooms, and evaporative

salt fields and emerging from the

ground onto the flats.

the quadrantSailing north or south,

sailers use the quadrant

to identify their latitude

relative to the sun and

stars. They then steer the

ship to the east or west

based upon this reading. In

the same way, the guest rooms

frame the site and the sky,

giving visitors a frame of

reference in an infinite

field.

a knucklePurified water drips down

into the storage pipe

which provides clean water

for drinking and bathing.

Heating elements are embedded

in the concrete cylinder

keeping the water from

freezing and heating the

rooms through radient heat

transfer. In the summer

months, the pipe will work

as a thermal mass, insulating

the occupants with thermal

mass.

heating elements

glass canopy

evaporation basin

the pipe

winter // canopy left open,

allowing water from the rising

water table to fill the

reservoir

summer // glass canopy remains

closed, trapping water and

encouraging evaporation

Winter:The glass canopy is left

open and water from the

seasonally high aquifer is

collected in large concrete

cisterns near the surface.

evaporative water basins

Early Spring/Summer:The glass canopy is closed

and the rays from the sun

warm the chamber causing

the water to evaporate,

leaving only salt deposits

within the basin. As

the water evaporates, it

collects on the underside

of the glass canopy and is

funneled towards the pipe

where it will be tempered

and stored for bathing and

drinking.

Autumn:When Autumn rolls around

much of the water that was

once in the basin has been

completely evaporated and

stored within the pipe.

The pipe is sealed and

the canopy again opened in

anticipation for the rising

winter aquifer.

board formed concrete //

cedar boards reused for

ramp and overnight rooms

flapping in the windAttached to generators,

louvers along the edge of

I80 flap from air displaced

by passing vehicles. The

kinetic energy is captured

and stored in the form of

electricty.

a) highway I80b) roomsc) open air atriumd) cafee) plazaf) evaporative fields

a) b)

c)

d) e)

f)

hidden sheltersSprouting from below the pipe, ramps reach up into

the landscape out to personal shelters. During

the winter months these paths are hidden below the

rising water table.

cafe plazaThe plaza cantilevers off the pipe above the water

line. During the dry summer months the horizon is

obscured by the platform. In the winter months the

plaza acts like a deck where visitors can hang their

toes down toward the refreshing water.

the rising tidestop year round.

Once a Shaker farm, this site is structured with rich dualisms, ripe for exploration. In addition to the built organization, this site offers subtle complexities within the natural landscape. Using Semper’s definition of Tectonics these subtle and more overt relationships are exploited in order to generate forms which amplify and reproduce the desirable qualities of the place.

The crop rows across the site were one of the organizing strategies which during certain times of the year bring both the built tectonic forms and landscape into harmony.

o r d e r & t e c t o n i c s

Tectonic Studio

:: Karl Wallick :: Miami, Ohio :: University Field Station :: Expressed Forces

InstructorLocation Program Proposal

fall 2008

1.

MASS

fRAME

PLANE

HEARTH

The studio was structured around the continuous production of iterative models and drawings abstracting the qualities of the site into Gottfried Semper’s tectonic elements. Through these iterations, a building form was generated marrying the abstracted site qualities, building form, and construction joinery.

1. gREENHOUSE

2. COURTyARD

3. RESIDENCE

4. ADMINISTRATION

5. LIBRARy

6. BRIDgE

s e m p e r ’ s t e c t o n i cs t r a t e g i e s

2.

3.2.4.

5.

6.

green house

residence

Using Form Z renderings, hand drawings, and Photoshop collage this hybrid drawing explores the relationship of site, building, and the flow between space. The model, constructed of MDF, recycled black board, and basswood expresses the form of the building, but also the site forces integral in the process.

o f f s e t p a t h s

SEC Studio

:: Terry Boling :: Cranbrook Acadamy, Michigan :: Wellness Center :: Contextual Continuity

InstructorLocation Program Proposal

winter / spring 2010

Designed by Eliel Saarinen, the Cranbrook campus is made of a series of courtyards connected by paths and tunnels. By offsetting these paths and adding subtle visual cues, Saarinen pulls visitors from one courtyard to another. Re-specting these relationships. This project proposes a Well-ness Center positioned along the far edge of the Grand Allee, capping a soft edge and creating new courtyards.

The building program is organized along a line parallel to the Grand Allee. Perpendicular cuts as well as vertical slices create physical and implied separations for privacy. The lay-ered building envelope and other exterior elements further this hierarchy of privacy by creating distinct space for visi-tors, students of the academy, and Wellness Center patrons.

Respecting the linear nature of the site and importance of the Grand Allee as an open space, the building pro-gram was pushed to the far end of the field, capping the road and creating opportunities for new court-yards which extend the existing relationships.

The dry programs and wet programs are split for comfort and environmental reasons by a shared mechanical plinth

g r a n d a l l e e

existing and newly formed courtyards.

A.

A. RECEPTION // 900 Sf ADMINISTRATION + LOBBy

B. LIBRARy // 500 Sf STACKS + READINg ROOM

C. CHANgINg ROOMS // 1200 Sf MEN + WOMEN D. THERAPy POOLS // 2000 Sf HyDROTHERAPy POOLS + SAUNA + STEAM

E. ALCOVES // 600 Sf MEDITATION + MASSAgE

f. gROUP THERAPy // 1500 Sf yOgA + OUTDOOR STUDIO

g. RESIDENCES // 2000 Sf COMMUNAL KITCHEN + OUTDOOR DINNINg + gUEST ROOMS (X5)

p r o g r a m

B.

C. D.

E.

f.

g.

site model // 1/16ÓCNC milled, laser cut, hand constructed

g u e s tr o o m

A. MURPHy BED

B. BATHROOM

C. SITTNg AREA

D. EXTERIOR VERANDA

1. STEAM ROOM

2. SAUNA

3. PLUNgE POOL

4. AROMA THERAPy

5. HOT POOL

6. OUTDOOR HOT POOL

7. gUEST ROOM

8. COMMUNAL KITCHEN

9. RESIDENTIAL COURTyARD

10. STUDIO COURTyARD

11. yOgA STUDIO

12. ELEVATOR CORE

13. MASSAgE ALCOVE

14. MEDITATION ALCOVE

15. CHANgINg ROOM

16. COURTyARD

17. LIBRARy

18. RECEPTION

7.

A. B.

C.

D.

Lightwells connect the upper and lower floors bringing sun-shine to the pools buried below as well as creating meditation and massage alcoves.

7. 7. 7. 7. 8. 9. 10. 11.

l o w e rl e v e l

u p p e rl e v e l

1. 2.

3.

4.

5.

6.

1.2.3.4.

5.

6.

14. 14.

15.

15.

16. 18.

18.

n o r t he l e v a t i o n

16.

12.13. 13. 13.

Almost all mechanical systems are hidden between the wet and dry floors. Mechanical strips, wedged be-tween the c-shaped channel structure will be the only place where people inside the building will experience these systems. Operable vents and skylights will allow these strips to integrate active and passive strategies to effectively and efficiently condition the building.

LIgHTINg

STRATEgy

03

HUMIDITy

CAPTURE

02

NATURAL

VENTILATION

01

i n t e g r a t e d s y s t e m s

A. B. C.

C.

B.

A.

Lights, operable skylights, and ventilation ducts are all con-tained in mechanical strips be-tween the structural columns creating a clean expression of construction.

The changing rooms are wrapped in blue ceramic strips defining the duality of the two rectangular spaces as well as their relationship to the therapy pools below.

A wooden screen helps to de-fine space and provide privacy while also protecting the build-ing envelope from solar heat gain.

1/4” BAy MODEL

Contemporary planning and architecture is at odds with its environment. When catastrophe befalls a place the brittle relationship between the built form and nature is revealed, human interventions becoming remnants of the past. Centralia, Pennsylvania has become a scar of this tumultuous relationship. Once a bustling borough the town is now abandoned. Threatened by a coal fire burning just below the surface of the earth, the residents have been forced to leave their homes, street signs and light posts the only remnants of what was once there. Can a more dexterous architecture exist within such a ravaged place, one that both compliments and shifts within the restless landscape? The hope of this thesis is that through an exploration of the relationship between cartography and design a more adroit architecture will emerge, elegantly adapted and adapting to its environment.

Using a Deleuzian definition of mapping as a performative act, the line between what is map and what is design can be blurred together for both substantiate the imagined world into the tangible. By first cataloguing a variety of maps and understanding their bias and performative value through landscape architect Christophe Girot’s Four Trace Concept, this thesis will create a framework of possible operational systems for engaging with the site. Through this process an architectural intervention will emerge both wedded to the current conditions but also formally and programmatically

assimilating to the shifting disposition of the place.

m a p p i n g

thesis studio

:: aarati kanekar :: centralia, pennsylvania :: mortuary :: architecture augmenting landscape

chairLocation Program Proposal

fall 2011 - ongoing

a w o r ki np r o g r e s s

Throughout the thesis process I have produced a series of maps relating to both real and perceived qualities of Centralia. The choice of represen-tational method as well as what is selected for representation forms what Centralia is beyond it’s physical form. The hope is by acting in a way con-scious of this reality a well moored architecture will emerge in the place attune to its environment.

m a p p i n ga s a g e n e r a t o r o f p l a c e

t r a c i n gt h e l a n d s c a p e

t r a c i n gt h e l a n d s c a p e

The program for the site is broken into a series of architectural follies imitating and augmenting the conditions of the place. The first of these follies is a bridge spanning from the edge of a cemetery across a quickly developing sink hole. Pin connections tie hydraulic structural columns to footings deep in the earth. As the footings shift the columns can be adjusted to level the structure. Resting across the bridge will be a second bar. This bar will be set into the sinkhole so as the ground continues to shift the bar will fall acting as a measure in the landscape.

a m o v i n g b r i d g e

k o h n p e d e r s o n f o x { k p f }

I worked on a team using AutoCAD, Photoshop, Illustrator, and Rhino to create design development and construction documents for a variety of projects in the US, Canada, and Singapore. The projects ranged in scale from a small pavilion expansion to a fifty storey skyscraper. Most of my time was spent making renderings and drawing construction details.

internship

:: Greg Waugh & Li Lei :: New York, New York :: 9/2009 - 12/2009 :: Learn Quickly & Stay Late

SupervisorsLocation Duration

Role

winter 2009

100 ADELAIDE, TORONTO Floor plate schemes used for design proposal packets.

Overall building form by KPFRendering by renderer Mike Klausmeier

qUEUINg PAVILION

For this pavilion I worked on site measurements, client presentations, renderings, and a design development set.

i n q u i r y

As a graduate student I Worked for Assistant Professor Karl Wallick helping to produce a monograph of the work of Kieran Timberlake Associates. The work included creating page layouts, image selection, and text editing.

Released September 2011 // Rizzoli Publishers

graduate assistantship

:: Karl Wallick :: University of Cincinnati :: 9/2009 - 6/2010 :: Graphic layouts, iteration

Professor-Location Duration

Role

fall / winter / spring 2010