Housing Websites (Precedents galore)

A pair of gems, University of Oregon Professors Michael Fifield & Mark Gillem, put together this gem of a competition just last year. The resulting website is jam-packed with information and presentations by a myriad of talented designers.

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I'm just two weeks from graduation and I just discovered a site that could been a big help over the past three years. HousingPrototypes.org is a fairly dry site but it is packed with precedents organized by architect, location, or housing type.

Solar heat pump serving 38 blocks... wow!

Bonnie (my wife) has been so supportive of me during my time in grad school that she even finds research materials for me. Studio has turned me into a production-automaton and I rarely have a chance to look up from my work for less than the bare-necessities and I'm WAY behind in the news cycle. Luckily, Bonnnie occasionally serves up nutritional little tid-bits like this from time to time.

Sunnyside school is focus of neighborhood energy plan City of Portland - Office of Sustainable Development

The developer behind the North Pearl District energy plan is hatching a new idea to heat and cool as many as 500 homes in Southeast Portland’s Sunnyside neighborhood with energy from the earth.

John Sorenson’s proposed community-owned Sunnyside Neighborhood Energy utility, SunNE, would be centered at Sunnyside Environmental School, where a central plant would replace the school’s 1917 oil-burning boiler with a solar-powered geothermal heat pump. The plant would then connect to a network of underground pipes circulating through the surrounding 38 blocks.

"This concept has never happened – a district energy plan centered on a public school..."

Midterm Review - Axon & Review Summary

AXON - FACING NORTHWESTClick image for a larger view
This is probably the most "telling" image expressing what I'd like to do with the site.

The ~40' x ~90' courtyard space extends North-South to bring in as much southern light as possible. The units on the south are ~15' x ~30' live-work townhouses. The eastern-most live-work townhouse is 2-stories to allow more light to enter the courtyard while the other three are three stories.

The near (east) row of buildings facing the street are ~15' x ~40' commercial at the ground with ~15' x ~30' studio apartments above. The upper two floors are two-story lofts (also with a ~15 x ~30' floorplate).

It was suggested, during my midterm review, that a "rentable" space be provided for visiting relatives. I feel that a studio unit or two could be reserved for this type of use.

It was also suggested that the idea of preserving Zoo Tavern be abandoned as employees and customers are not likely to return after a year of demoliton and construction. While I agree that this would likely be the case I do feel that a commercial space can be designed to accommodate a new Zoo Tavern or similar business. The other commercial spaces will be equipped to house, ideally, small retail stores, groceries, and/or eateries.

My Studio-Mates

Media Credit: Blake Hamilton, Oregon Daily Emerald
The trio pictured above are classmates of mine in studio this fall. We're studying "Fringe Urbanism" and are designing medium-to-high density housing developments for a blighted site in Phoenix AZ. But that's not what I'm writing about. They are featured on the cover of the Oregon Daily Emerald today above a story about a government study on depression. Evidently, among the major careers, "Architects, engineers and surveyors found to suffer the least from depression."

Who knew? Maybe there is something to all this hell we put ourselves through. Then again... if you never get to stop working, who has time to reflect on hour depressing your life really is? Living in oblivion is GREAT!

Government study rates depression in careers - Oregon Daily Emerald

Love it or hate it... Sketchup-it!