Corbin KeechUniversity of Pennsylvania . Postprofessional Masters of Architecture

01 _ Hudson River House02 _ Courtyard Prototype03 _ Station Five04 _ UO Athletic Medicine Center 05 _ 14 Parcels 06 _ Project Chaboo 07 _ Extra-curricular

Corbin KeechUniversity of Pennsylvania . Postprofessional Masters of Architecture

Corbin Keech

How can architecture capture the vocabulary of the landscape?

Every time we build, there is potential to recreate the wonder and awe of the natural landscape. Characterized by their drama, vastness, and nuance, Kansas and Oregon - my home and source of inspiration for the past eight years - provide clues as to what architecture is capable of achieving. When anchored by these basic principles, architecture possesses tremendous potential to uplift, inspire, and humble.

My work is rooted in a commitment towards the creation of meaningful spaces and objects that are imbued with these qualities. Each project represents a new speculation, a new horizon, and chance for discovery. This catalogue is my documentation of these searches.

Kansas / Oregon

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Corbin Keech

Light studies

Physical model, looking southwest

01Hudson River House2006Academic

Different spatial conditions are both joined and divided by way of a bridge. The edge of each condition can be interpreted as the point where each space begins, not ends. Therefore, the experience of one space is a function of its location relative to the other, and this bridge is what dictates and controls the connection. This project is about exploring the interplay between the two existential extremes crucial to the unique aesthetic of the site; the earth and the sky.

02Hudson River House . Academic .

Corbin Keech

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Daylight study

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Hudson River House . Academic .

An underlying design objective was to more clearly understand the notion of dwelling. In order to do so, careful study was placed on the quality of light within the house. The more private spaces have deliberately limited views and access to light. Such measures evoke a sense of submersion, creating an atmosphere ideal for privacy, intimacy and repose. Conversely, public areas were conceived as wholly transparent, separated from the landscape by a minimal threshold.

Physical model, looking west

East / West section

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Corbin Keech

Plan

The roof plane serves to moderate the condition of sky relative to earth and earth relative to sky. Furthermore, both the form and function of the building rhyme with the landscape; the domestic spaces remain burrowed and heavily enclosed while the more social spaces’ enclosure dematerializes to reveal the landscape beyond. Essentially, the house maintains a necessary parallel relationship to the site’s gentle slope and extraordinary panorama.

East elevation

Hudson River House . Academic . 04

Corbin Keech

Physical Model, looking south

Hudson River House . Academic . 05Corbin Keech

Corbin Keech

Final collective model

Plan and sections

Courtyard PrototypeAcademic2006

Considered one of the most complete arts, film encompasses image, sound, music, light, movement, space, drama, narrative and time. Because of its breadth, film serves as an effective means of pre-visualizing the world architecture creates. Through the language of film, coupled with computer-generated and graphic visualization, I was able to discover the elements that can potentially enhance the architectural experience. Inspired by Mies van der Rohe’s courtyard houses, our studio created a neighborhood of fourteen courtyard units. After drafting the physical parameters and limitations, each student was assigned a unit that housed their business and the building that contained it.

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Courtyard Prototype . Academic . 06

Corbin Keech

Production spaces / intensity

Living spaces / Repose

Boundary / Transition

PROGRAM

My facility was a shop for a furniture designer and fabricator. The front half of the building is programmed for the delivery of raw materials, storage, production, and display of finished furniture. The rear space, containing living spaces and an exterior garden is separated from the production spaces by a 6’-thick wall of stacked-slate.

FILM

The objective was to create both a building and a script. Here, the story influenced the shape of the building, and the shape influenced the story. Several short films and design exercises culminated with the production of three components; the design of the courtyard building, a short film that took place within the building, and a physical model of the building. The class built one large-scale model, the framework that housed our individual models.

Software used _

3dStudioAdobe Premiere ProDiscreet Combustion

Film sequence

01:10 01:2001:0000:50

01:50 02:0001:4001:30

02:30 02:4002:2002:10

00:30 00:4000:10 00:20

Courtyard Prototype . Academic . 07Corbin Keech

Corbin KeechCorbin KeechCourtyard Prototype . Academic . 08Corbin Keech

Physical model, rear courtyard

Corbin Keech

Station FiveAcademic 2004

Concurrent with the Third Street Development Plan, the City of Manhattan, Kansas planned to build a downtown fire station. In an effort to more clearly understand the role of the architect in a conventional design process, the project was separated into the three phases typically encountered in the realization of an actual building; schematic design, design development and construction documentation.

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Rendering looking west up Fort Riley Boulevard, the entrance in the foreground. Here, fire trucks pass beneath the building into the apparatus room beyond. The building is stretched along the east/west axis for maximum daylight exposure, and the hose-drying tower is split in two halves, the east end utilized for the collection and storage of rainwater water for the facility.

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Station Five . Academic . 09Corbin Keech

Corbin Keech

DESIGN / DOCUMENTATION PROCESS

We were exposed to the constraints of building code, egress, and the design and layout of mechanical systems. This process required the production of an initial set of design drawings and concept models, as well as a final set of construction documents and presentation model.

Second floor plan

South elevation

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Ground floor structure and administrative offices, reception, and cistern tower for rainwater harvesting.

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Ground floor structure and program plus apparatus room and hose drying tower.

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Second floor slab.

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Second floor program, including firefighter’s sleeping quarters, locker room, shower, storage, dining and indoor/outdoor lounge.

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Exterior framing and skin of interlocking aluminum panels and inset frameless windows.

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Ceiling and roof, with sloped channel towards cistern tower for rainwater capture.

Station Five . Academic . 10

Corbin Keech

Thousands of anodized aluminum rods were screwed into pre-drilled acrylic panels, a composition forming the Oregon “O.” Photo by Basil Childers

UO Athletic Medicine CenterZGF Architects2007

Occupying 15,000 square feet within the University of Oregon’s Casanova Center, the Athletic Medicine Center is a state-of-the-art sports therapy and training facility for more than 400 student-athletes. The facility is composed of two primary spaces; a natatorium and taping/therapy room. Adjacent to these primary spaces are offices, an X-ray room, and offices equipped for dentistry, ophthalmology and pharmacological examinations. Programmatically simple yet spatially complex, the facility was designed to heal the athletes both physically and emotionally.

Beginning at the schematic level I helped in 3d modeling, drafting, design of furniture, material surfaces and graphics. I also oversaw the completion of the project, assisting in the coordination of contractors, subcontractors, and the creation, design and writing of marketing materials.

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University of Oregon Athletic Medicine Center . ZGF Architects . 11

Corbin Keech

Super-graphics of athletes adorn walls of offices and locker rooms.

Stainless steel door pull, in the shape of the Oregon “O.” Customized supergraphics for way-finding and facility identity.

MDF ceiling panels, routed with thousands of holes, forming the statue-of-liberty and hook-and-ladder plays.

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Signatures of current coaches collected and laser-etched onto wall-hung stainless steel sheet.

Customized fluorescent sign in pharmaceutical office.

The Oregon “O” appears on the bottom of the hot and cold plunge pools, a composition of yellow tile against black.

Names of significant University coaches were branded into the conference room wall with a cattle prod.

Taping and therapy tables, with built-in mechanized equipment, adjusts to accommodate varying heights, weights and sizes of athletes.

The white corian bench weaves through the lounge area, bridging the main circulation spine and the taping/therapy room

Each column was shrouded in leather, sewn together in the same style as a football

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APPLICATION OF OREGON IDENTITY

Athletic records are fused into the fabric of customized benches. Glass screens help delineate different spaces within the facility. A wall composed of various widths of white oak echoes the movement of the bench, symbolizing one large sinuous muscle. Conceived as an unraveling roll of tape, an internally-lit, white corian bench weaves through the space and serves as the binding element between adjacent areas. Thousands of significant Oregon athletes and coaches’ names are sandblasted into the glass, reinforcing the notion of timelessness and permanence not just within Oregon’s athletic program, but in all of sport.

In essence, the architecture and materials were infused with a story to relay and extend the legacy of Oregon athletics.

University of Oregon Athletic Medicine Center . ZGF Architects . 12

Corbin Keech

Elevation, looking south

Elevation, looking west

A recessed mirror opposite the juice bar reflects the Oregon O and is framed by hidden closet storage above and below. White oak planks were left untreated and arranged in a pattern along the main hallway that resembled the striations of a muscle. *

Oregon team colors and regional materials are omnipresent. Sheets of acrylic hang from the ceiling, glowing with screen-printed green and yellow paint. Glass block windows behind wood slats allow warm western light to illuminate the space. A waterfall divides the hot and cold pools in the foreground from the therapy pools beyond. Televisions are recessed into the walls, allowing athletes to watch their movement on the underwater treadmills. *

*Photo by Basil Childers University of Oregon Athletic Medicine Center . ZGF Architects . 13

Corbin KeechUniversity of Oregon Athletic Medicine Center . ZGF Architects . 14

Juice bar, made of white corian, with swiveling barstools and bar-kick adorned with laser-etched leather. Athletic records are etched into the stools, while notes and inspirational language gathered from Oregon athletes and athletic staff were collected for the bar-kick etching.

Corbin Keech

14 Parcels Architecture W2009

Featuring a cadre of established international designers from Central America, Scandinavia, Brazil, Austria, China and six recent Harvard Design School graduates, this is a modestly-sized experiment in high density urban design. Tightly situated between 1st avenue and the western base of the Ross Island Bridge, the site is awkwardly sloped, somewhat isolated, and unquestionably challenging. The site was divided into 14 parcels, each to be developed into 14 separate housing units. Architecture W was assigned the 13th parcel. I helped design the house, and in the process constructed several digital and physical models. I also created a digital film that accompanied and supplemented the design.

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Parcel 14 . Architecture W . 15

Corbin KeechProgression of House’s form

BOX

OPEN!

SLICE!

OPEN MORE!

PUSH!

ENTRY!

INSERT!

SCULPT!

PROCESS

Difficult site conditions and insufficient views provided for a design process more focused on the house as an object. Essentially, the building became a sculpture with a singular expression, enlivened by the light from above.

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To the right is a diagram of the transformation of a 24’ x 36’ x 40’ cube into the final sculpted object.

Parcel 14 . Architecture W . 16Corbin Keech

Corbin Keech

Entry of light at ground floor entrance

CONSTRUCTION

Restricted views created an opportunity to capture light from above. Conceived as a monolithic sculpture, the dwelling would be sheathed in a luminescent polycarbonate skin, reinforcing the intent to create a simple, yet expressive object.

The south wall is torqued inwards, creating a sliver of open space is for a bamboo garden. Further, a singular triangular opening is a subtle invitation to explore within.

The dwelling is programmatically simple; the ground floor contains a kitchen, dining and storage. The first level holds a workspace and gallery, and the second level the bedroom and shower.

Ground floor entry, with stairs to second floor

Physical model, with south wall ghosted to show the interior space and structure.

Parcel 14 . Architecture W . 17Corbin Keech

Corbin Keech

Project ChabooIndependent2009

Project Chaboo was a collaborative exhibition that endeavored to create a network that would nourish personal expression and community-based collaboration. Different artists, graphic designers, architects and craftsmen were invited by Ken Tomita of Tomita Designs to customize a chaboo - a multi-use table/bench made of bamboo-ply - with their signature style. I also coordinated contracts, created and distributed promotional material, and assembled the exhibition itself.

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Assembly

Project Chaboo . Independent . 18

Corbin Keech

Watercolor study

Final ChabooPhotograph by Anna Campbell

PROCESS

As I vacillated between sketches and 3d studies, I simply decided to disassemble and reconfigure the original design.

Two foreign elements - one that echoes the original form and another that is divorced from the original - work to create a distinct but recognizable expression. Above all, the additions are intended to work in concert with the Chaboo and to supplement its proportion and materiality.

Watercolor study

Final exhibition, March 3, 2009Photograph by Harold Wood

Project Chaboo . Independent . 19Corbin Keech

Corbin Keech

Graphite on paper, 18” x 18”Santa Maria della Piere, Arezzo _ Italy, April 19, 2005

Graphic montage _ 2005In an effort to document and memorize my seven months of travel in Western Europe during 2005, I utilized watercolors, graphite and mixed-media techniques as I travelled.

Rotterdam Bologna Paris

Extra-curricularIndependent

Watercolor, mixed-media, sculpture and graphite serve as alternative means of creation beyond architecture, and signify different stages of my artistic development. Between documentation of travels, the reproduction of dynamic historical spaces, and simple compositional attempts, I have embraced different methods of studying the world to which I have been exposed.

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Plaster Study _ 2009Plaster was poured into pieces of panty hose and then assembled in a box, creating different interlocking forms.

Extra-curricular . Independent . 20

Corbin KeechUniversity of Pennsylvania . Postprofessional Masters of Architecture