PATRICK C. KITZMILLER A Compilation of Architectural Works, Poems, and Photography 2008-2014

Contents:

The following is a mix of work done in graduate and undergraduate schools as well as some of my personal photography, poems and professional work.

Philosophy:

In this world of environmental tension, economic uncertainty, and ever growing popula on, it is crucial that we create structures that are as responsible as they are beau ful.

I believe that good design stems from the understanding of place and the experience of the occupant. I also believe that we can weave func on and aesthe cs from systems, social interac ons and prac cality.

I want to work in a studio that is fun, fosters crea vity and works through design, to be er the world around us. I want to feel that my me on this planet is spent in the be erment of the environment and society.

Through design and the crea on of architecture I hope to support a verdant future, and an inspired, informed, and compassionate populous.

Masters of ArchitectureUniversity of Massachuse s, Amherst2011-2014

Graduate Work:

Graduate school opened my eyes to a greater depth of architecture and what it can be, its poten al.

With each professor I worked with and learned from, I saw their approach and methodology. For some it is a process of premeditated art, for others it is a systema c approach, a material explora on, a study of structure, or a solu on to constraints and program.

I have come to learn that my own style is modern and clean with a tendency toward natural materials and simple angular shapes. It is born from a process that is always unique and the result of every person I have learned from.

Thesis: Can architecture bridge two distant gathering loca ons? This is the ques on this thesis explores. The challenge is linking two community gathering loca ons, the urban sidewalks and Memorial Park, which are separated by a distance of 1.44 miles.

By linking a series of bicycle-friendly streets and town-owned land, a path is laid out along a brook that winds through town to the urban center. Along the path, travelers encounter a string of open-air architectural installa ons including a swimming hole, event space, amphitheater, movie theater, and several bridges.

These installa ons encourage further mixing of community through the programs they house. Also, by using a unifi ed architectural language, the installa ons promote a feeling of con nuity through the structural details and material pale e employed to construct them.

COMMUNITY COHESION TRAIL OF BRATTLEBORO, VTARCHITECTURE AS COMMUNITY BRIDGE

Truss Connec on

Event Center Swimming Hole

Pathway Map

COMMUNITY COHESION TRAIL OF BRATTLEBORO, VTARCHITECTURE AS COMMUNITY BRIDGE

Theater Bridge South Side

Swimming Hole Plan

Theater Bridge ISO

Glade Ticket Booth Swimming Hole

Bridge Material Connec ons

Iron Bridge

SPRING

Up into the mountainsinto the cloudsI feel it cool upon my skinalive in my chestthe serene touching of watersuspended in the airin the quiet I can almost hear her pulseher strength is obvious as she explodes mysteriously around meso slow I do not even see itun l I have looked awayand returned to her silent alterI am nothing in the face of thislonging only to be a leafa breath of air upon her skinan existence made valid but I too am suspendedlost in the obscurity of her grandeurwandering among my people

Spring Wood

Tidewater Boathouse: A Dynamic Structure

The Boathouse has always been about our rela onship with the dynamic nature of the evolving world, the sea, and our a empts to master it, understand it, harness it, and explore it.

This design came out of a study of structure and the way a building can relate to the sea. The resul ng structure is dynamic and moves with the de in order to maintain its rela onship with the water. It creates a rela onship with the its surroundings that is ever-changing and always new.

The surrounding structures are divided by program and structurally relate to the sea in the way the program relates to the boathouse. The program includes an event space, kitchen, outdoor observa on deck, concessions, and administra on. The sta c nature of the administrator meant that the structure would also be sta c and relate to the boathouse as a super structure that covers and overlaps, as the boathouse moves in and out of its embrace.

Timber In The City:

An ACSA Compe on done in partnership with another student, Kyle Young.Site: Red Hook, Brooklyn, NYProgram: 190,000SF Mixed Use Residen al with Day Care, Bike shop and Wood Manufacturing Facility and Digital Lab

The goal was to e together a green space along the water on the West, and a community garden on the East. To do this, we created a green space over the parking which raises the vista and creates a safe community gathering place for both residents and workers.

Southern Side

Bike Shop Corner

Interior Light Well

Community Courtyard

Birdhouses:

The design and Crea on of two birdhousesfor a showing and fund-raiser in a small urbanart gallery in Philadelphia, Pa

The Study:A comparison between two materials (Natural and Man-made). The wooden birdhouse is a weaving of Cedar shavings, found twigs, all encased between two planes of Cedar decking. The steel birdhouse is created from scrap materials from construc on. Steel rods piercing a 1x1 18 gauge tube, woven with galvanized wire, copper ribbon, strips of aluminum fl ashing, and copper wire. Capped with a 1/4” steel plate.

The Winter Wren: Prefer enclosed birdhouse, 8-9” in height, 4x4” base with hole roughly 4-5” above fl oor plane, 1 1/4” diameter. Habitat spans much of Eastern United States

Integrated Studio:

A prac cum of integrated technology applying our design skills and our construc on educa on. This studio focused on the crea on of a set of construc on documents to be er understand the process of document crea on.

The chosen project to document was an earlier studio. Then, the crea on of details, sec ons, layout and specifi ca ons. The class also touched on regula ons, contracts and the overall process a project goes through as it develops.

Rooster

Lighthouse Stair

Visual Arts Building:

A new proposed studio building for three departments at the University of Massachuse s at Amherst campus. It would house the Architecture, Landscape Architecture, and Building Sciences and Technology departments.

The Program included nearly 100,000SF of space (including circula on), on a predetermined 73,000SF plot of land on the South East end of campus to be incorporated into a future “Arts” district.

The design was done in a joint studio with the Landscape Architecture Department in a group of three students including myself, Maryam Shafi ee (Arch), and Rockey Liu (Land Arch).

Program Floor 1 Program Floor 2 Program Floor 3

Unit/Cluster Housing:

An incremental project that began with a constricted site along the Connec cut river in Hadley, Ma.

The project began with the design of a n individual cluster, then forming groups and working together to create a cohesive cluster and a landscape that complimented each of the four units and worked with the cluster and land.

Constraints were a ght site with limited space and a 7’ berm, and a building envelope that could not go beyond a cube 20’ in any direc on. (an addi onal 10’ space allowed for roof)

Mul -Modal Transit Center:

Located in Northampton, Ma on King St., just north of the town center. The proposed project would include a new train pla orm, bus terminal and connec on with local bike paths.

The Challenge was to merge the many forms of transit into one complex while integra ng 10,000SF of local government offi ce space and 20,000SF of commercial retail and offi ces.

The Results were an elevated plaza located opposite the main automobile entrance that links the local government building and the transit center. Fron ng King St. is the commercial building that maintains the street-front, and encloses the site.

Door and Knob

THE BUILDINGS I PASS

This morning I passed between two buildingsThe steady clop clop of my shoes against the concrete I wished I’d worn my wool and not these thin clothesThe not so heavy garments I chose to shield me from the sun that shone when I departedAmidst the mist dri the silent ones, forgo en ones, the ailing onesThey may have been dripping with dewThe residual night, hanging on to the ques on of sunThey call to me to fi nd their strength and beautyHopeful in their pa ence“I am not a cri c”, I want to shoutbut I amI always break them to pieces, their fi ner elements, the things I would changeI do not fault them for prejudging meThey know me be er than I know myselfI am the same as the othersfellow travelers and passers-byeThe ones that echo in the distance the ones ahead of mebut I am gone again back out into the lightand no where they can follow

Sky Over the Low Lands

The Research Ins tute:

The basic idea was to create a place where one could come to learn about farming and Permaculture, and as one gains more learning, they proceed down the ramps, through the complex.

The journey begins at the top in a public open space that might be a farmers market on the weekends, set up in the courtyard while baked goods and prepared food are sold inside the upper public space.

If a person is interested in learning more about the food being sold, they could journey down the ramp to the secondary space which houses a library and seminar room.

Finally, their journey might lead them to study at greater depth and stay at the research ins tute in one of the six, small studios at the base of the hill.

The Lookout:

This project began as an explora on of form-making through crossing planes and the use of a ribbon.

We were asked to limit the size to a cube, no larger than 16’ on any side. The form had to contain a place for rest, work and play.

The Lookout is a combina on of two ribbons that intersect. One is the larger superstructure that has a number of subtracted spaces, while the other is inserted into the larger of the two, and forms the play space and works space.It is named the Lookout due to its characteris c of looking toward something or having direc onality.

The Sphere:

This is the end result of a progression from two dimensional drawing, then three dimensional model, and fi nally, given scale and set into an environment.

The spaces created by the intersec on of both curved and straight members create an interplay between light and shadow.

By altering some of the rules of the earlier drawings and spheres and modifying them to be more applicable to a larger occupancy space, the results become interes ng and complex, while managing to maintain the interplay of light and shadow.

White Forest WAKING

I awoke this morning to a blue light fi ltering in from the world beyond, streaming into the window. I could see the great maple in the front yard, its monstrous limbs reaching, stretching. Was I awake or was this s ll a dream. Up out of bed from under the covers only to fall willingly into the deep tranquil blue.I have too much to do today to be taken under again by the endless dream, but…….. I am dri ing downward on my back, into the depths, surrounded by warmth, light and memory. Her voice ushering me on, into the deep. The pressure is great, like a blanket all around me as the strength and sinew fall away. I am nothing but consciousness.I feel nothing but the weight of the journey and her voice. It is soothing and sultry. She takes me without objec on into the living dreamworld. What will become of me. Will I rise anew, or wander in this meless space. She promises me clarity, enlightenment, wisdom. She promises me much.There is nothing now. Maybe I am fl ying or sinking s ll. I feel unburdened and light. Surly I will rise again with such a small load, but it does not ma er. I have lost all inten on and sense of direc on. She too was a thing I let go, un l she was next to me, calling me. I could feel her presence before I saw her. Up out of the blue and instantly alive.

Morning Maple

Bachelors of Science in Architecture Keene State College, NH2008-2010

Under Graduate Work:

My construc on experience worked to my advantage throughout my me at Keene State, as well as my life experience.

At Keene, I took four studios. I also took a landscaping class, history, construc on technology and several classes focused on structures, building science and mechanical systems.

Aff ordable Housing Study:

The Challenge, providing aff ordable housing ownership op ons for a family of four.

The study included three housing op ons: a pre-fabricated house, a rehabilita on of an older house, and a house built of shipping containers.

Through the study I discovered that there are advantages to each, as well as disadvantages. I did an in-depth, hypothe cal calcula on of each scenario to learn what the cost would be of each.

By narrowing down my op ons, I ended the semester by doing a design of the shipping containers. It was the most expensive of the three op ons but also the most exci ng.

Modular Home:

Base: $98,454 Local Builder Semi- Custom Design 3 Bdrm 1.5 Bath No Frills Not so Energy Effi cient

Rehab:

Base: $80,000 Sweat Equity Time Contracted Work Daun ng In Town Great Character

Shipping Container:

Base: $25,000 Transport of Containers Specialized Contractor Fun Modern Fast Set up Diff erent

Totals:

Modular = $171,343

Rehab = $186,820

Container = $229,680

Studio Arts Building:

This proposed building was intended to house thee departments at Keene State College. The project was done with fellow student Anthony Fiondella

The Architecture, Construc on Safety, and Product Design departments were in desperate need of expansion and the idea of a new or remodeled space became a very real possibility.

The Program included remodeling the two present structures (41,000Sf) and adding an addi onal 10,000 Sf in an alley way between the two buildings.

The design concept is based on two ideas. One, is that the facade on the North is a weave, tying the two buildings together. The second is that the core and third fl oor is based on the Golden Ra o spiral.

Addi on to Stre o House:

The Stre o House was designed by architect Steven Holl in 1991. The design was inspired by music which is said to be produced, in a very metaphorical way, by a series of four small dams on the premises where water moves across the property.

The goal of the class was to design an addi on or free-standing unit for the main house. Based on the infl uence of music in the design, I used it to site the free-standing addi on in the center of the site, between the water and the house, essen ally situa ng it surrounded by music.

The concept is a dancer, spinning in the confl uence of sound. It is dropped into the ground so that it looks up at the main house. It is also a split level where the rooms are situated around a central core and move up the core and around so that each room is situated both in eleva on and direc on to have a specifi c view and rela onship with the site.

Hoist Motor

Conduit on Corrugated Steel

Kiss & Ride:

The Challenge, a place of transi on from one place to another place of higher eleva on, with a gallery in between.

This structure is a Kiss and Ride, reminiscent of the many Metro Sta ons situated around the Washington DC area. The form is made of shi ed cubes that hang around a central stair. The cubes are smooth concrete for local graffi ar sts to use to display their talent. Each slab is illuminated by light slits in the walls and ceilings off ering a unique, dynamic light pa ern that is new each me a traveler passes through the gallery.

The Philosopher’s Room:

Based on Plato’s Allegory of a Cave. This space is an exercise in space planning. The 120SFt space incorporates a rest space, work space and contempla ve space for a philosopher.

The Allegory of a Cave is about the quest for knowledge and how it is analogous to moving from darkness into light. Like the quest, the occupant moves from a lower place of ignorance, to an elevated place of learning, to the raised contempla ve space of enlightenment, which off ers a solitary vista.

Patrick C. KitzmillerBra leboro, VT802.579.3576patrickkitz@gmail.comQurixa.com

Aspiring architect, poet, and photographer