reweaving - AIA Wisconsin

Transcription

REWEAVING
REWEAVING
T H E N E I G H B O R H O O D FA B R I C
How Modular Housing Can
Build Affordable and Dignified
Communities
REWEAVING
T H E N E I G H B O R H O O D FA B R I C
How Modular Housing Can
Build Affordable and Dignified
Communities
i
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT &
INVITATION
REWEAVING
I have always considered our initiative,
to weave modular housing into urban
neighborhoods, as an open ended
proposition. There is no end date in
mind. I have envisioned a sustained
process that evolves with the communities it serves, thoughtfully filling as
many gaps on as many city blocks as
possible. To realize such an ambitious
goal, our team must now engage willing partners, stakeholders, and policymakers. We seek an audience with
these community leaders, to share our
proposal for dignified affordable housing. This publication is a collection of research, lessons and ideas which we have gathered since beginning our work in August 2005. Support has come from sponsors and
volunteers, in the form of financial and material contributions, and
commitments of time, talent, and even patience.
2
Motivating us out of the gate has been the national component of the
American Institute of Architects. Creators of the Blueprint for America, our own professional organization has challenged us and equipped
us the greatest. Thank you.
In addition to training, resources, and encouragement, the AIA has
awarded us a Blueprint Supplemental Grant, providing us with the
necessary funding to advance our initiative. A big thank you also
goes to our dedicated collaborator, The University of WisconsinMilwaukee, School of Architecture and Urban Planning, especially
Dean Robert Greenstreet, former Chair of Architecture Brian Wishne, and Professor Chris Cornelius.
With your leadership, we matched a talented group of students to
our community design process. Thank you Jasenko Badic, Erin
Lawrence, Bryan Finnegan, Ryan O’Connor, and Melanie Taylor of
Team FOM, Alex Getson, Mike Mireau, Kevin Porter, Sara Rogers,
and Erik Walsh of Team SKEAM, and Jon Brown, Erik Hancock,
Isaac Wallace, Abby White, and John Wroblewski of Team RHSC.
These students excelled and endured in every way possible, and their
award-winning studio work brings life to the pages of this book.
Next, I wish to thank our neighborhood partners, with whom our
initiative has become an enriching shared vision. To Milwaukee’s
Bob Greene of the Merrill Park Neighborhood Association, who
embraced our concept with enthusiasm and optimism, I express my
gratitude. You are a true advocate.
INVITATION
“An enriching shared vision...”
To Dominick Martinelli and Rachel Westergren of Neighborhood
Housing Services of Southeast Wisconsin, thank you for your warm
welcome, support, and commitment to our initiative in Racine. Your
tireless dedication to affordable housing is unequaled. In conjunction
with these partners in Milwaukee and Racine, we have forged a relationship with the cities as well. I am thankful to all at the City of
Milwaukee and the City of Racine who have given us their time and
expertise, providing us assistance, and residential sites on which to reweave the neighborhood fabric.
Another key collaborator on our initiative has been our modular housing partner, Terrace Homes. I cannot express enough thanks to this
team of expert modular home builders, especially firm leader Sarah
Manternach-Wiedmeyer, and Jim Stommel. Whether sharing knowledge and timely information with our student designers, attending reviews and town hall meetings, developing cost estimates and working
drawings, Sarah and Jim have given us undivided attention and consideration. This dedication is not taken for granted. Based 150 miles
away in Friendship, Wisconsin, they have logged much time and many
miles to meet with us.
Finally, through the ups and downs of this lengthy process, the greatest
gift from them may be their patience. Jim has since moved on to other
endeavors, offering his assistance whenever we need it, while Sarah and
Terrace Homes remain steadfast in their commitment. Thank you so
much.
Next, I extend my gratitude to the Wisconsin Preservation Fund, a
non-profit organization which has donated generously and served as
our secure fundraising repository, ensuring that other sponsors of our
initiative receive tax deductible benefits, and peace of mind. I thank
our growing list of sponsors whose generous support has strengthened our cause. Special thanks to AIA Wisconsin for encouragement,
knowledge and financial resources. To Bill Babcock, Brenda Taylor,
Mary Orello, and Tracy Drinkwater, you have led by example in embracing the Blueprint for America, and your partnership is very much
appreciated. I am truly grateful for the camaraderie and collaboration
with my AIA150 colleagues Marty Sell of AIA Wisconsin and Kelly
Thompson-Frater of AIA Southwest Wisconsin. You have both inspired me to give my absolute best.
3
“An open-ended proposition...”
Thanks also to the folks at Kahler Slater Architects, Berghammer Construction, Riley Construction, Mortenson Construction, Delta Electric,
and the Plunkett Foundation. Special thanks to the Kohler Company,
which has donated box loads of water-conserving plumbing fixtures
and faucets for our completed modular housing. Your generosity confirms that quality will be built into every aspect of these homes.
REWEAVING
Another key sponsor of this initiative has been Plunkett Raysich Architects, where I have enjoyed the opportunity to grow my career as an architect and community advocate since arriving in 2001. Without the
enduring trust and support of this firm, I would not have been able to
lead this effort. For their understanding and flexibility with my work
schedule, their hospitality to host meetings, and for their considerable
financial contribution and endorsement of my work with AIA150, I
extend my deepest gratitude.
4
Finally, I thank the people that have made up our AIA150 Executive
Team and those that offered assistance over the past three and a half
years. You have done the collective thinking, writing, and lifting for
this initiative. Thank you, Chris Kronser, Joe Lawton, Karen Plunkett-Muenster, Mike Bahr, Michael Wallace, and Amy Allendorf, for a
commitment that truly shines. Thank you, Ben Kossow, Matt Prince,
Henry Kosarzycki, Paul Griger, Darrin Richert, Paul Greszczak, Paul
Klein, Mark Rapant, Scott Davis, Devin Kack, Chad O’Donnel, Nic
Pryor and Pauline Kleinke for a contribution of time and talent that is
greatly appreciated.
Thank you, Jeremy Belot, Brent Oglesby, Paul Handle, Sally Peltz,
Tom Hirsch, Pam Anderson, John Cleary, Leo Ries, Beth Dufek, Chris
Rute, Maria Prioletta, Dan Casanova, Brian O’Connell, Mayor Tom
Barrett and Alderman Robert Bauman, for giving us time and direction. You have helped us in a multitude of ways. Lastly, I give special
thanks to Erik Hancock, with whom I entrusted the documentation of
our initiative in this book. His extraordinary talents as an architectural
designer and writer have come together on these one-hundred pages.
This long list of individuals speaks to the depth of our affordable housing initiative, as each contribution adds to the collective and indelible
vision we are sharing with our community. Together, with our neighborhood partners, sponsors and team members, we have assembled a
thoughtful body of work, to share with new partners and advance the
dialogue with existing partners. Consider this book as an invitation
to sustain our initiative, and build thoughtfully-designed affordable
housing, one by one, block by block. Together we can reweave the
neighborhood fabric.
John Holz, AIA
AIA150 Director
AIA Milwaukee
i
Acknowledgement & Invitation
2
1
Identifying a Need
6
2
Guiding Principles
8
3
Synthesis: Collaboration + Research + Design
12
4
The AIA 150 Studio: A Collaboration of Practice and Education
24
5
Analysis: Site Strategies + Master Planning
28
6
Studio Work: Individual Prototypes
34
7
Modular: Understanding the Manufacturer
50
8
Fitting In: Defining Contextual Modernism
54
9
Final Designs: Group Prototypes
60
10
Advocacy: Getting the Word Out
78
11
Lessons Learned: Challenges, Compromises & Benefits
88
12
Moving Forward: A Full Spectrum Effort
94
CONTENTS
CONTENTS
5
1
IDENTIFYING
A NEED
John Holz, AIA
REWEAVING
As part of the AIA’s 150th anniversary celebration, architects and communities in Wisconsin are working together to find ways of designing a better future. This initiative seeks
to bring exquisitely designed, affordable, sustainable, and accessible modular infill housing to three neighborhoods in the largest population centers of southeastern Wisconsin,
where such dignified housing has become extremely scarce. With 2,000 vacant residential
lots in Milwaukee alone, a sense of community in many neighborhoods struggles to take
root. Gaps in the fabric become lifeless no man’s land, perpetuating further disinvestment
and blight. We aim to reweave these neighborhoods, planting the gaps with real vitality.
6
Milwaukee’s Merrill Park Neighborhood and Racine’s Towerview Neighborhood will
each receive housing units intended as catalysts for future infill units in the same neighborhoods, knitting them together one by one. The new housing in Milwaukee will also
include a Community Center. This neighborhood hub will be the place for design and
construction meetings for future housing opportunities, other pro-bono architectural services, as well as workshops and functions to benefit and inspire the community. Everything from CPR training to first-time homebuyer consultations and job skills seminars
will take place. All age groups will be represented. Coordinating the programs will be the
Merrill Park Neighborhood Association whose office will be located here. Additionally,
the Community Center will serves as the ‘storefront’ office for AIA Milwaukee. Our regional chapter remains one of the largest un-staffed components in the United States. By
creating an integrated ‘storefront’ and meeting space, we endeavor to raise the profile of
AIA architects as advocates for the community.
“The City of Milwaukee owns 2,000 vacant lots.”
- Alderman Robert Bauman
7
INTRODUCTION
2
GUIDING
PRINCIPLES
PROCESS
Collaboration
Create an environment of cooperation where all players have a seat at the decision-making table.
Design decisions are made with the full participation and knowledge of all team members. This
starts with the early and ongoing involvement of the entire 40+ member team of architects,
engineers, construction managers, UW-Milwaukee School of Architecture and Urban Planning
instructors and students. This collaborative environment serves to uncover and resolve areas of
disagreement and provides a forum in which all parties can contribute to the discussion.
REWEAVING
Interface
8
Establish early relationships with dozens of policy-makers, neighborhood organizations and
stake-holders. An effort such as this never succeeds without help. Enlist non-profit organizations, charitable foundations, suppliers, housing manufacturers, builders, and media outlets. By
communicating news and information about the progress- trials and tribulations- of the effort,
all of these various groups become a larger community with a vested interest in the successful
completion of the project.
PROCESS
Community Benefit
The primary goal of this initiative is to leave the community in a better
state than before. This is accomplished here by filling in blighted gaps in
the neighborhood fabric with dignified affordable housing. The proposal
is further enhanced by the design for a community meeting space for skills
training and AIA-led pro-bono design services.
Visioning and Consensus Building
Become acquainted with neighborhood leaders. Present to city officials- this is most
effective if the presentations are attended by elected officials, planners, directors, and
staff. Conduct Town Hall meetings; introduce the initiative to neighborhood groups
without preconceived designs. By encouraging dialogue, architects build a foundation
of trust among the community that the design will be appropriate and thoughtful.
Design presentations should be conducted at all key phases, including concept, design
development, and construction documentation.
Establish an Environment of Community Advocacy
Maintain relationships with key parties involved in the collaboration, interface, and
visioning process. Continued and active engagement will raise the profile of architects
as uniquely qualified to lead their communities toward realizing a shared vision.
9
PRODUCT
Infill Sites
Design to fill gaps in the street wall between existing houses. Architects should
work with the community to identify appropriate sites throughout the neighborhood. An infill site carries several important benefits; first of all, in most
cases the infrastructure (water, sewer, electrical) is already present, saving significant expense. As these empty sites are often eyesores on the block, there is
usually great incentive in the community to fill them, smoothing what can be a
contentious path to construction with city officials and neighborhood groups.
Modular
Modular construction techniques are not only cost saving but also result in
a home that is built to last longer. Because the framing is done indoors, no
internal material is ever exposed to rain, snow, or temperature fluctuations
as is often the case in stick-built construction. Furthermore, modules must
withstand the vibrations of transport on a flatbed truck and are therefore given
sturdier framing.
REWEAVING
Affordable
10
It is important to engage the need for homes that are in line with the surrounding property values. This prevents the possibility of gentrification, where new
construction changes the economic climate of the area, driving out existing
homeowners. In this case, affordability translates to a final cost less than $100
per square foot.
PRODUCT
Sustainable
Sustainability is defined not only in terms of energy efficiency and
responsible use of materials, but also in terms of enhancing the life of
the community and supporting regional businesses. By proposing the
improvement of local infrastructure, the master planning component
of the Reweaving initiative sows the seeds for future growth.
Accessible
As more people choose to live out their days in their own homes rather
than in an institution, architects need to consider issues of accessibility
in residential design. Simple details like door widths and appropriate
clear space in bathrooms are provided in the initial design. Provisions
for future adaptation include first floor bedrooms and closets vertically stacked between floors to allow for installation of a residential
elevator.
Contextually Modern
By analyzing and transforming familiar housing typologies, designers
can produce homes that are visually consistent with their neighborhoods while taking advantage of modern features.
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REWEAVING
3
12
SYNTHESIS
COLLABORATION + RESEARCH + DESIGN
Right
Diagramming typical urban
housing patterns.
SYNTHESIS
IMPLEMENTING THE PROCESS
Develop the Team
Create a collaboration between practice and education. The partnership between innovative thought in academic institutions and the hands-on knowledge and experience of architects, manufacturers, and contractors combines the best elements of both
worlds. The resulting project becomes a balance between idealism and practicality.
Develop the Budget
Work with real numbers from the beginning. Community organizations and governmental officials are more likely to take you seriously if you understand the costs of
completing construction and preparing a site. The lengthy process of finding donors
and financing can also begin once these numbers are established. The initial budget
for this project included three 1,400+ square foot homes at $132,000 and one 900
square foot community room at $90,000. While the numbers shifted several times
during development, being able to answer quantitative questions concretely from the
beginning gave the team credibility.
Pictured, from left to right
Virge Temme, AIA Northeast Wisconsin; Kelly Thompson-Frater, AIA
Southwest Wisconsin; Marty Sell, AIA Wisconsin; John Holz, AIA Southeast
Wisconsin (now AIA Milwaukee); Rod Cox, AIA Northwest Wisconsin
Develop the Timeline
As with the budget, it is important to establish hard figures for each phase of the
development process. When target dates slip it is most often due to delays in official
approvals or financing as opposed to design issues. By setting concrete deadlines, the
design team has some means of putting pressure on partners to move more quickly.
Without such a gauge, there is no incentive for local government or community development organizations to consider your project a priority.
The initial plans for this project were to complete design in December 2006 with
construction to be finished in spring 2007. The latest timeline seeks construction in
2009.
13
Research and Tour Modular Housing Manufacturers
The decision to engage a modular housing manufacturer was made very early in the
development process The numerous advantages of modular construction and the presence of several successful manufacturers in the region made this method particularly attractive. Initially, three modular manufacturers were considered and the final selection
was based not only on cost but on the willingness to work with the goals of the community and the student designers. Eventually, this decision would influence the visual
expression and organization of the homes themselves as students sought to celebrate
the nature of modular construction.
Engage Media
Don’t think that the news will come to you just because you are doing something
nice for the community. Advocating for the project means staying in constant contact with local media organizations. The news cycle is unpredictable and many good
stories go unreported; reporters, editors, and columnists are always being assaulted
with suggestions. It takes repetition and persistence to break through the sea of potential stories on anyone’s desk. Get used to long delays and be ready for last-minute
opportunities. Media outlets are accustomed to ignoring a story for a while and suddenly swooping in with reporters and camera crews.
Establish Fundraising Goal and Plan
REWEAVING
We developed a budget of $150,000 to fund construction of the community center,
offset site contingencies for all properties, and support marketing and publication
efforts, including the production and printing of this book. To date, $21,500 in cash
donations has been raised, and over $10,000 in water-conserving plumbing fixtures
have been donated by the Kohler Company.
14
Right
Example budget from
Milwaukee student
design team.
SYNTHESIS
Above
Racine’s Tower View
Neighborhood.
“We are searching for some kind of harmony between two intangibles: a form which we have not yet
designed and a context which we cannot properly describe.”
Ch ris t o p h e r A l e x ander
15
-43 to Green Bay 118 m es
ac
uL
dd
on
oF
5t
y4
Hw
67
les
mi
12 mi.
Milwaukee, Wisconsin
9 mi.
43°03’00’’N, 87°57’00’’W
County : Milwaukee
Mayor : Tom Barrett
Area
- City 96.9 mi2
- Land 95.7 mi2
- Water 0.8 mi2
Population
- City (2008) 628,000
- Density 6216/mi2
- Metro 1,753,355
Time zone CST (UTC-6)
6 mi.
3 mi.
I-94 to Madison 80 miles
1 mi
Wisconsin
Milwaukee County
City of Milwaukee
airport
Milwaukee Metro
REWEAVING
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va
ne
e
eG
North
I-4
o
3t
k
La
-94 to Ch cago 94 m es
s
ile
m
54
Racine Metro
Milwaukee
S
SITE
SITE SELECTION
Lake Michigan
The Merrill Park neighborhood is located west of Milwaukee’s downtown and just north of the industrial Menomonee River valley area. It
was named for the original landowner, Sherburn S. Merrill, an official
with the Chicago, Milwaukee, and St. Paul Railroad. Originally settled
by German and Irish immigrants working for the nearby breweries,
Merrill Park has become one of the most ethnically diverse neighborhoods in the city.
Characterized by traditional late 19th- and early 20th-century singlefamily and duplex housing, the neighborhood is stylistically rooted in
the Georgian Revival and Queen Anne periods. Unfortunately, this area
has become challenged by substandard rental units, empty lots, and a
general lack of community gathering space.
Above
Diagram depicting Merrill Park as a network of circulation and nodes.
17
et
tre
th s
28
Above
Diagram showing mid-block site in Merrill Park on 28th Street.
REWEAVING
rn
Clybou
18
reet
t
s
h
t
29
Above
Diagram showing corner site in Merrill Park on Clybourn and 29th.
19
MILWAUKEE
Milwaukee
Racine
The city of Racine is in the process of reinventing itself. Historically a
manufacturing center, it continues to be the headquarters for companies
like S.C. Johnson & Son, maker of products like Windex and Pledge.
During the 1980s and 1990s, however, many manufacturing jobs left the
community. The unemployment rate according to the Bureau of Labor
Statistics (Dec. 2008) hovers around 7.0%, above the state average.
Racine
Most residents of Racine’s Towerview neighborhood, site of the proposed
prototype home, continue to draw their incomes from manufacturing jobs
and therefore are especially affected by the economic downturn. Consequently, there is very little home ownership and the neighborhood suffers
from deteriorating, un-insulated rental housing.
Kenosha
This affordable housing initiative is one part of a larger plan of economic
recovery, workforce training, and selective redevelopment that seeks to
improve the built environment and quality of life for area residents.
Waukegan
REWEAVING
Chicago
20
21
RACINE
WORKING WITH(IN) THE COMMUNITY
Initial Meetings
Before the start of the design studio, AIA150 team members held a series of preliminary meetings with key members of the community, presenting the initiative and
establishing alliances. By laying this groundwork of cooperation and active listening
from the outset, the future work of the studio and other team members is made more
productive.
Neighborhood Organizations
We are forging positive relationships with the leadership of community organizations and neighborhood associations to understand their needs, goals, and concerns.
We are also forming partnerships with non-profit organizations and foundations.
Charitable giving in the form of monetary and in-kind donations forms a major
component of this initiative’s success.
Community Leaders
REWEAVING
This effort relies on a productive dialogue with and commitment from an array of
policy makers, community organizations, non-profits, and stakeholders. Making a
compelling presentation to each city’s mayor, director of planning, housing authority, or all three, was a key step that is proving beneficial. Typically, we are asking
these cities to donate or help us obtain land, rezone parcels, qualify residents, relax
restrictions on creative housing, or all of the above. Without their consideration and
partnership, our efforts cannot move forward.
22
Above
St. Catherine’s Church
Racine,WI.
COMMUNITY
Above
Images of neighborhood details.
Erin Lawrence
23
4
THE AIA150 STUDIO
A COLLABORATION OF PRACTICE AND EDUCATION
The AIA150 studio took place in the fall of 2006.
Comprised of fifteen undergraduate and graduate architecture students, the studio was led by
Professor Chris Cornelius. Students were divided into three teams representing the three home
sites. Working with local politicians, suppliers,
and manufacturers, the students developed design
drawings for each neighborhood.
REWEAVING
The studio timeline was split into three segments,an analysis project that culminated in a master
planning proposal, an individual prototype proposal presented by each student, and a final group
prototype representing a synthesis of the individual work. The end result of this studio was not only
a buildable set of working drawings, but a model
process for future affordable housing projects.
24
Right
Examples of housing in
Milwukee’s Merrill Park
Neighborhood.
“Architecture has to be greater than just architecture.
It has to address social values, as well as technical
and aesthetic values. On top of that, the one true gift
that an architect has is his or her imagination. We
take something ordinary and elevate it to something
extraordinary.”
Samuel Mockbee
STUDIO
Right
University of WisconsinMilwaukee
School of Architecture and
Urban Planning.
25
The students worked with clients and local politicians and neighborhood associations. They made several presentations during the semester to gather community input as well as to meet the design goals
of the neighborhoods that these homes will be placed within. The
community responded positively to the students’ designs and were
extremely pleased with the level of thought and considerations that
was given to their individual neighborhoods.
The students were also exposed to the process of preparing construction documents for modular homes. They worked with a local modular manufacturer in order to meet the building standards and quality
required for pre-fabricated housing.
Finally, students were required to prepare cost estimates for their
projects. This involved developing detailed construction sections and
constantly keeping track of square footage from foundation to walls
and windows. Where possible, real numbers were obtained from the
manufacturer. In other cases, cost estimating guides were used to generate numbers for on-site labor and materials. This attention to detail
allowed students to even keep track of the cost impacts of changing
roof pitches.
REWEAVING
The hands-on experience of working with real clients, real projects,
and real budgets prepared students for future practice in ways that few
traditional architectural programs could. As a result, students gained
a true appreciation for the creative problem solving skills required to
construct a real building.
26
Above
Students present to community, faculty members and
modular housing manufacturers, October 2006.
STUDIO
Above
Merrill Park master plan presentation boards.
27
5
ANALYSIS
Housing Values
(2000 Census Data)
$700,000 +
SITE STRATEGIES + MASTER PLANNING
$600,000 $700,000
$500,000 $600,000
$400,000 $500,000
In order to best understand the communities in which they
were working, student teams undertook an extensive analytical and master planning exercise. This involved the mining of
data like census numbers, climate studies, and research of local
history. As a complement to this analysis, students developed
a series of proposals into a master plan for each neighborhood.
These master plans included ideas for lighting, signage, and
community building projects. There were also policy-based
proposals regarding sustainability, future development, and financing.
$300,000 $400,000
$200,000 $300,000
$150,000 $200,000
$90,000 $150,000
$60,000 $90,000
Overall View
$30,000 $60,000
$10,000 $30,000
$0 $10,000
REWEAVING
This research culminated in presentations to community leaders. While the planning proposals were primarily theoretical
in nature, this exercise in speculation proved valuable to both
the students and communities. Student designers gained a real
insight into the complexities of building affordable housing in
existing neighborhoods. Rather than simply being handed a series of requirements for a house, students learned what factors
determined the final construction cost, why their sites were selected, and who the neighbors would be.
28
Community members and leaders received an analysis and
proposals unfettered by hidden agendas or marketing language
intended to sell planning services. In the end, this exercise also
served to build a degree of trust between community and students. While some members of the community remained skeptical throughout the process, the extensive efforts of students to
understand the context paid dividends in later presentations.
Above
Spatial diagram indicating range of housing values in Racine, WI.
ANALYSIS
STREET SECTION
Above
Street section showing areas of the streetscape and typical dimensions.
Compelling Diagrams
One of the major goals for this part of the studio was to understand the power of the diagram
as a communication tool. Diagrams are often filled with redundant, misleading, or unnecessary information that actually hinders their legibility. Teams were encouraged to have more
than just the right research; to tell the story of the figures in a way that provided a clear and
lasting impression on the viewer.
29
Below
Simple, bold graphics and reduction of visual clutter help the viewer easily
make connections between the many different expressions of similar facades.
housing
REWEAVING
CONTEXT
30
408 410 North 31st Street
3013 West St. Paul Avenue
431 North 29th Street
HOUSING
Above and Right
Examples of unsuccessful integration into the existing neighborhood context.
One product of the housing analysis was the identification of recently
built houses that violated key principles of the built environment. Overly
suburban treatments of site, including street setback, immediately stick
out within the progression of homes. Newer homes often failed to acknowledge the fairly steep roof pitch of the area (8:12 or 10:12), opting
for a shallower 4:12 pitch. Another common error involved the placement
and proportioning of windows in the facade. While most homes in both
Milwaukee and Racine neighborhoods have a primarily skinny, vertical
appearance, the newer interlopers tend to have fatter, almost square windows. Many of the new homes have little or no porch to speak of, while
older homes have a porch that consumes at least half of the lower story
on the front elevation. Identifying and applying these and other conventions became an important part of developing a method that allowed
students to design modern homes in a historical context.
“Is it possible to communicate not by ‘making known,’ but by ‘making understood how little we know’?
If we can recognize that we know so little, a method for finding out how little we know will become clear
as well.”
Ke n y a Ha r a
31
REWEAVING
Above
32
Rendering of a proposal to reclaim green space next to an electrical substation in Milwaukee’s Merrill Park Neighborhood. Also visible is a series of
wind turbines envisioned for the generation of renewable energy.
MASTER PLAN
Top
Proposed farmers market
pavilion for empty site
in Racine’s Towerview
Neighborhood.
Bottom
Proposed community
center at corner of a
park in Racine’s Towerview Neighborhood.
33
6
STUDIO WORK
INDIVIDUAL PROTOTYPES
Once the analysis and master planning was completed,
each student designed a full prototype for their assigned
site. Students were asked to consider the basic program,
square footage and accessibility requirements. Each designer was also asked to take a stance on the idea of contextual modernism and its relationship to modular methods of construction.
The student responses were highly varied and well
thought-out, ranging from the relatively conservative to
the more radical. Nonetheless, every design sought to address elements of the surrounding context and provide
a gracious living space within a modest budget and size.
Some designs focused heavily upon issues of sustainability, making use of rainwater harvesting technologies and
green roofs while others made innovative use of space
with built-in storage. Still others created unexpected visual and spatial effects using partitions and screen walls.
REWEAVING
In the end, contributions from every student designer
were incorporated into their team’s final design. This
recognition of worthy ideas from every member of each
team resulted in a stronger end result. What follows is a
selection of work from the individual student prototypes
demonstrating the breadth of responses from the structural to the phenomenological.
34
“My house is my refuge, an emotional piece of
architecture, not a cold piece of convenience.”
Lui s Ba r r a g an
PROTOTYPES
JASENKO BADIC
Team FOM, Milwaukee Site
35
MODULAR PROTOTYPE
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SARA ROGERS
Team SKEAM, Milwaukee Site
PROTOTYPES
KEVIN PORTER
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E L E VAT I O N
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NORTH
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WEST
LO
CATED
IN THE MER
R LL PARK NE GH
BORHOOD OF MILWAU
KEE THE U FOLD PROTOTYPE
WAS INSPR ED BY THE SURRUOND
ING HOUSE VERNACULAR IN RESPONSE
TO THE NE GHBORING BUILDINGS AND LAND
SCAPE PARTICULAR ATTENTION WAS DIRECTED TO
THE FUTURE S TE OF THE MERRILL PARK COMMUNITY ROOM
LOCATED AT THE SOUTH EAST CORNER OF 28TH AND CLYBOURN
AS THE COMMUNITY ROOM W LL FUNCTION AS A PUBLIC SPACE THE
DRIV NG FORCE OF THE AFFORDABLE MODULAR HOME DESIGN WAS CREAT
ING A SENSE OF PRIVACY IN CONSIDERING THE ADJANCY OF THE COMMUNITY
ROOM AND THE STREET TRAFFIC OF CLYBOURN THE FOLDING OF THE GREEN BLANKET
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GREEN SPACE FOR THE COMMUNITY SITE THE VERT CAL GREEN WALL AND GREEN ROOF OF THE
MODULAR HOME THE VAR OUS OPT ONS FOR THE FOLD NG PLANE ON OTHER MODULAR HOMES CAN
VARY FROM HAV NG NO PLANE TO PANELITE PANELS TO SMARTWRAP A BU LD NG ENVELOPE CURRENTLY BEING
DEVELOPED T S MADE UP OF SEVERAL LAYERS NCLUD NG A SUBSTRATE PR NTED AND LAM NATED LAYERS ALL OF
WHICH ARE ROLL COATED INTO A SINGLE COMPOSITE FILM TOGETHER THEY HAVE THE CAPACITY OF PROV D NG SHELTER
CL MATE CONTROL L GHT NG AND NFORMAT ON DISPLAY AND POWER PEOPLE W LL BE ABLE CUSTOM ZE THE R OWN DES GN OF
A SMARTWRAP WALL PROM NENT FEATURES OF MOST ALL MERR LL PARK HOMES ARE THE PORCH THE UFOLD S MPLE IN FORM HAS 3
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Team RHSC, Racine Site
45
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46
PUZZLE BOX HOUSE
ERIK HANCOCK
PROTOTYPES
ISAAC WALLACE
47
REWEAVING
48
ABBY WHITE
PROTOTYPES
JOHN WROBLEWSKI
49
7
MODULAR
UNDERSTANDING THE MANUFACTURER
It is worth noting that the design research of modular manufacturing would not
have been possible without the people of Terrace Homes in Friendship, Wisconsin. In particular, Sarah Manternach-Wiedmeyer and Jim Stommel provided invaluable information and support to the students and instructors involved with
the AIA150 Studio.
Prefabrication and modularity has a long and interesting history in architecture.
Designers and builders have always struggled with the issues of protecting building
materials from water and temperature during the construction process. Site built
homes are especially vulnerable to damage as they are primarily light frame wood
structures. Plywood and dimensional lumber exposed to rain, snow, and extremes
of heat and cold for even limited amounts of time can experience warping and
splitting. Furthermore, if a wall is sealed before it has fully dried, mold can form
and spread throughout the insulation rendering a home unlivable.
REWEAVING
One solution to this problem is prefabrication- if components or even whole sections of a home can be built off site and indoors, none of these weather related
concerns will be an issue. Prefabrication also allows a home to be constructed just
as easily during the middle of winter as in June- not so with site-built homes.
Many variations of modular construction have been proposed over the years, from
Buckminster Fuller’s geodesic domes to Albert Frey’s Aluminaire House.
50
None of these prototypes has ever been as successful as the mobile or trailer homemuch to the dismay of architects. Despite its shortcomings, it is cheap, easy to
build and is designed precisely to be transported over roadways. Unfortunately, the
mobile home has become associated with poverty, a last resort for those who cannot afford a “normal” home. Some manufacturers have sought to shed this stigma
by using the efficiencies of modular construction to produce homes that look just
like any other house in a neighborhood at reduced cost.
Above
Modular homes under construction.
courtesy US Department of Housing and Urban Development
maximum width
16’-0”
MODULAR
Instead of retaining their wheels once they arrive to a site, they are
craned into their final position and seamed together with other modules to create multistory buildings. Plumbing connections are made
using an ingenious system of flexible pipes that can even be connected
and inspected before the home is delivered to the site. Interiors arrive
completely finished and only minimal exterior work is required, allowing homes to be occupied within a day or two of delivery. Since
the modules must be able to withstand the vibrations of transport,
they are given extra structural reinforcement resulting in a home that
is not only more durable but literally road tested.
The modular manufacturing process, however, has some special requirements that must be taken into account by the designer. First
of all, each module must be transported to the site by a flatbed semi
truck. Due to the length of the bed, the width of highway lanes, and
height of overhead obstructions, certain dimensional limitations apply. There are also different regulations from state to state and even
from one community to another. Manufacturers have become skilled
at figuring out how to cut up a plan with these restrictions, but it is
much easier to start with the requirements as a given condition.
maximum length
40’-0”
maximum height
13’-6”
“Nothing is as dangerous in architecture as dealing with separated problems. If we split
life into separated problems we split the possibilities to make good building art at the
same time.”
A lva r A a l t o
51
A Happy Marriage
Another interesting artifact of modular construction is the “mate”
or “marriage” wall. Because modules must be transported separately,
they must be structurally independent and be able to stand on their
own. Even large open spaces that occur across modules must have
temporary framing across the opening while in transit. Inevitably,
this results in a double-thick wall and a double thick floor plate
wherever modules meet. Planning for and even exploiting these
conditions became a key issue for the architecture students.
Above
Plan showing highlighted mate wall.
Process Innovation
REWEAVING
Rather than simply taking traditional on-site, stick-built construction methods into a indoors, modular manufacturers have sought to
improve the process. On-site construction typically progresses from
the outside in, focusing on getting the building weather-tight first.
This requires multiple stages of electrical work, plumbing, and finish
carpentry because all of the trades need to work from the same side
of the wall.
52
Modular builders, having no weather concerns, can work from the
inside out, saving the sheathing of the frame for last. This allows
multiple trades to work simultaneously from both sides of the wall.
Walking through a modular manufacturing facility, one sees the
unusual sight of framed houses with drywall and electrical but no
exterior.
Below
Images of modular construction and transport.
MODULAR
Convenience and Security
Without having to secure or strike a work site at the end of each
day, workers can maximize their productivity. A carpenter arrives at the beginning of the day, rain or shine, works for eight
hours without ever having to wait for materials to arrive. They
never need to wait for other trades to finish and the process is so
well coordinated that workers simply move from one module to
the next with very little interruption. Finally, at the end of the
day, they all set their tool belts down wherever they are, picking
up again the following morning.
A Machine for Building In
This whole operation takes place in a carefully choreographed
sequence. This sequence begins with rough framing at one end
of the warehouse and continues with the modules being delivered to each stage of construction rather than having workers
constantly travelling between workstations. The modules are
built on large tables elevated to about waist height, alleviating
back strain from bending down. The steel frames of these tables
are transported all over the warehouse by a series of overhead
cranes. The build process is laid out so that all of the finished
modules end up at the loading doors where they are placed on
flatbed trucks for delivery. As a result of all these efficiencies, the
entire process of completing a home is accomplished, on average, in a staggering two weeks!
Top, Middle and Left
Sequence showing the
setting of a module for a
house in Milwaukee.
53
8
FITTING IN
DEFINING CONTEXTUAL MODERNISM
“Buildings should be good neighbors.”
REWEAVING
Pa u l T hi r y
54
Bluff Homes by Vetter Denk
Erik Hancock, MArch ‘08
CONTEXT
Urban Infill 02 by Johnsen Schmaling Architects
Is there such a thing as “Contextual Modernism”? Proponents and detractors alike would argue that such a
term is at best misleading. For those who reject its basic tenets, modernism implies a fundamental disregard
for context. In fairness, the original idea of an “International Style” requires a certain lack of site-specificity
in order to be universally applicable. Apologists claim that modernism is simply the logical elevation of
function and structural clarity and not necessarily a visual style. In this line of reasoning, modern buildings
are no more or less contextual than buildings in any other style- it depends on the skill and intention of the
designer. Still others hold to the principle of zeitgeist, a belief that design should always be of its time, expressing the style of the present moment. In other words, an architect should never take into account pre-existing
conditions and only respond to the current trends. In practice, however, we know that reality lies somewhere
between these extremes.
Frank Lloyd Wright’s Johnson Wax Building,
located several blocks from the Racine home site
We know there are certainly many modern buildings that stand violently opposed to their context; pure,
minimalist boxes of glass and steel can be difficult to reconcile with blocks of nineteenth-century brick buildings. Nonetheless, there are also exemplary buildings that retain their modern identity while carefully integrating themselves into the surrounding fabric. Issues of integration become magnified when one considers
the residential sector, where architects infrequently tread. The majority of homes (exceeding 75% according
to the AIA [footnote]) are designed with little or no input from architects. Developers tend to drive design;
profit and reproducible formulas are their most important criteria. As a result, the residential market remains
stylistically conservative, favoring designs that offend the least number of potential buyers and, of equal or
greater importance, their neighbors.
As designers this leaves us with a significant challenge; create a home that is neither a historical pastiche
nor an insensitive thorn. We must identify some basic rules for playing nicely with Colonial, Victorian and
Bungalow style homes without abandoning our modern principles. Bear in mind that almost no one (except
architects) will be sold on modernism in his neighborhood for the sake of progress. Instead, architects should
advocate for modern design based on the very real benefits it provides. This also means mercilessly examining modern design and separating that which is functionally progressive from that which is merely visual
pretense. With that in mind, what follows is a list of modern principles, pretenses, and contextual rules. This
list is not intended to be comprehensive but rather to serve as a good starting point for contextually modern
designs that offer tangible improvements over traditionally styled houses.
55
Contextual Rule: Old and New
Temper the expression of modern detailing and finishes with the
visual evidence of existing context. In short, if you are going to
use a panelized rainscreen cladding, balance it with some use of
clapboard siding. The visual variety of the design will benefit and
non-architects will be more likely to accept the end result.
Modern Pretense: Flat Roofs
Architect need to let go of the idea that a modern home
has a flat roof. Pitched roofs are exceedingly functional,
especially in colder climates. They’re great not just for
shedding snow, but also shedding community complaints.
Our experience in meeting with neighbors and city officials alike reveals roof pitch as one of the biggest factors
in contextual sensitivity. We found that people will accept
a surprisingly modern design as long as it is pointy at the
top.
Modern Principle: Materials - Palette
REWEAVING
Traditional homes are limited in the palette of available
finish and construction materials. As a result, many advancements in waterproofing, insulation, and energy efficiency are off limits until manufacturers figure out how
to imitate the size, proportion and textures of traditional
building materials.
56
Modern design has no such limitations. This allows for the
incorporation of metals, advanced polymers, and cementitious materials without having to resort to expensive finishes that imitate the appearance of wood or stone.
Identify the predominant proportioning of surrounding buildings. If the homes in the area
display a tripartite base-middle-top scheme, a designer would do well to adhere to a similar
rule. There is great flexibility within this rule as long as some nod to the basic elevation of other
homes is made.
RULES
Contextual Rule: Proportioning
Modern Principle: Layout - Served vs. Service
The number of service functions of even the simplest contemporary home is staggering. The size
and complexity of bathrooms and laundry facilities, heating and cooling, electrical, plumbing,
cable, and telephone services continues to increase. As a result, the modern principle of separating service areas from living areas is useful, especially when dealing with limited space.
“Always design a thing by considering it in its next larger
context - a chair in a room, a room in a house, a house
in an environment, an environment in a city plan.”
Ee ro Saarinen
Contextual Rule: Reinterpretation
Find ways of taking traditional elements and reinterpreting them in a modern vein.
This does not mean resorting to post-modern parody. It means accepting the necessity of certain conventions of traditional home design and creatively transforming
them. For example, an attic vent is not only a functional element but it also visually
breaks up the large triangular area of the gable end. This functional element can
potentially become a modern detail integrated with a panel cladding while providing a visual link to surrounding homes by its size and positioning.
57
Modern Principle: Materials - Panelized Cladding
Modern materials are available in larger dimensions, covering more area than traditional clapboard siding. This
reduces the number of fasteners required, increases the
speed of construction, and minimizes the number of
joints for moisture repellency.
Modern Pretense: Horizontal Glass
As heartbreaking as this may be to many modernists, a ribbon window is no
more functional or rational than a vertical one, especially in an urban neighborhood where expansive views of the horizon are nonexistent. Vertically oriented
windows work just as well as horizontal ones and they look like windows in the
rest of the neighborhood.
Contextual Rule: Heights and Pitches
REWEAVING
Study the rooflines and building heights of everything in the surrounding area.
If you can be sensitive to these two elements, neighbors will be receptive to
many other consciously modern design elements.
58
RULES
Modern Principle: Layout - Open Plan
By adopting an open plan layout, designers recognize the realities of our
modern lives. The traditional living rooms, dining rooms, and dens of
previous eras are largely irrelevant forms. On a day-to-day basis, there
is very little formal separation between the acts of food preparation,
consumption, entertainment, and relaxation. These activities tend to
flow together and as such a contemporary open plan arrangement is
the most suitable option. It offers the flexibility to change patterns of
use for reasons of family size, cultural or personal preference.
Modern Principle: Detailing - Simple and Clean
Intricate and extensive trim details incur additional costs. Traditional
colonial style homes, however, tend to look unfinished or cheap when
such details are omitted. A home in the modern style, by contrast, is
meant to be simply detailed. When treated as an aesthetic rather than a
purely cost saving measure, the appearance of a home does not suffer.
Modern Principle: Structural Expression
By celebrating the nature of construction methods, we can avoid costly
finishing details that are necessary to hide those methods and take advantage of their unique characteristics. In the case of modular construction, this might mean expressing the seams between modules, eliminating the need to delay cladding the exterior until the house is completely
assembled.
59
9
FINAL DESIGNS
GROUP PROTOTYPES
Collaborative Process
Having completed the analytical and individual design phases of the project, students reconvened
as teams of five. They were asked to draw upon their individual designs and come up with a series
of characteristics that represented their best ideas. In sketch and written form, these ideas became
the seeds of the three final group prototypes. In this collaborative process, no single student
project was chosen as the basis for a final design. Instead, all of the best ideas were combined and
developed as a work owned by the entire team.
One student from each team was selected by the studio professor as the job captain. While the
mark of that student’s individual work tended to be reflected more heavily in their team’s prototype, the job captains did not dominate the process. Students learned to trust each other’s judgment and as team members began to specialize in various areas of the project, the natural process
of delegation ensured that everyone had a voice.
REWEAVING
The following section presents each team’s work- three prototype houses and a community center/AIA Storefront.
60
Left
University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee
School of Architecture and Urban Planning.
FINAL DESIGNS
Above
Racine site model showing neighborhood context.
61
mod 2
TEAM SKEAM - Milwaukee, WI
Above
Sara Rogers Kevin Porter Erik Walsh Alex Getson Michael Mireau
Street view of
mod2 house.
Modern Module
REWEAVING
Located in the Merrill Park neighborhood of Milwaukee
the mod2 house combines traditional context and modern
modularity to create a dynamic composition. The driving
force of the affordable modular home design was creating a
sense of privacy.
62
The house (along with the Community Center) is meant to
fit into the surrounding urban fabric. The house is lifted 4’
off the ground to make up for the height difference between
its site and the adjacent ones. The addition of a front porch
also aligns the home with the neighborhood buildings.
Below
Elevation
drawings.
FINAL DESIGNS
First Floor Plan
Second Floor Plan
The plan layout is a served/service composition. The service bar is set to the north
and includes the bathrooms, circulation
and storage spaces. In turn, the served bar
is located to the south and includes the
kitchen, living and dining areas along with
all three bedrooms on the second floor.
The 1,536 sq. ft. home was designed for
maximum efficiency with an open plan for
flexible modern living.
Above
Cross section through living space.
63
Left
REWEAVING
View from second
floor corridor.
64
The interior features a large piece of millwork that serves
as a storage area for both the first and second floors. On
the first floor, this piece climbs vertically with the stair,
acting both as an interior finish and storage. The woodwork climbs up the stair and continues down the second
floor corridor, finally terminating at the office where it
serves as a desk. This whole system is typical of the many
modular systems that make up this house.
FINAL DESIGNS
Above
Interior perspective of living space.
65
COM
TEAM SKEAM - Milwaukee, WI
REWEAVING
Community Center
66
On a site adjacent to the mod2 residence, and directly on the corner of 29th
and Clybourn sits the Community Center. This building will compliment
the house in introducing the residents of Merrill Park to modern, affordable
design. The given program required us to develop an enclosed gathering
space that could be used for future community meetings. The building will
also house the Milwaukee chapter of the AIA within, so an office and a conference room is also provided. Ideally, this building would be maintained by
the residents of the mod2 house.
Above
Street view of community center with
mod2 house beyond.
FINAL DESIGNS
PASSAGE
COATS
CONFERENCE
COMMUN TY ROOM
UNISEX
KITCHENETTE
MECHANICAL
STORAGE
OFFICE
The plan consists of a solid, a void, and a spine. The solid is the service
area, housing the kitchenette, storage space, office, conference room, mechanical space and unisex bathroom. The void makes up the main gathering space. Within this area, the walls are coated with a material allowing
for the display of video and computer presentations. The walls are also
tackable surfaces. The spine serves as the connection between these two
areas and also as the main corridor for circulation. These three pieces make
up the 1,200 square foot building.
Like its housing counterpart, the Community Center strives to address the
street corner it sits on. The hope is that with the addition of this building,
Clybourn can begin to revitalize itself as a strong commercial center for
Merrill Park.
67
PHOTOVOLTAIC PANELS
GREEN ROOF
REWEAVING
SIPS PANELS
68
RAIN WATER HARVESTING SYSTEMS
Above
Street view of community center with
mod2 house beyond.
FINAL DESIGNS
With this building serving as an introduction to modern design for the
residents of Merrill Park, it was clear from the beginning that it needed
to be sustainable. Therefore many active systems are to be incorporated. With the south facing rooftop the addition of photovoltaic panels
was an obvious choice. The panels could be adjusted atop the sloped
roof so they would sit at the most efficient angle to the sun. Along with
PV panels, the roof would also be green. This system consists of pans of
seedum plants that are attached directly to the roof system.
The roof along with all of the exterior walls are to be Structurally Insulated Panels (SIPs). This kind of construction creates a more airtight
building, thus a more efficient building to heat and cool. While the
initial cost is slightly greater than that of a stick-built building, SIPs
make up the difference in savings from heating and cooling costs.
The last system to be implemented would be the rain barrels. This
system allows for rain water harvesting. Simply put, this stops excess
water from running into the storm sewer and allows for additional use
of the water for irrigation.
69
DOUBLE PORCH
FENESTRATION
VEIL HOUSE
TEAM FOM - Milwaukee, WI
Jasenko Badic Erin Lawrence Bryan Finnegan Ryan O’Connor Melanie Taylor
REWEAVING
Modularity and affordability are terms not usually associated with the modern aesthetic. This house design seeks to unite the efficiency of modularity,
the mass marketability gained by affordability, and the modern aesthetic.
A mating of these concepts with the local context and historical framework
produce a complex and dynamic whole. The Veil House takes its name
directly from an obvious physical attribute, the veil long the southern wall,
but also indirectly from a literal interpretation of ‘veil’- one that suggests a
fineness and beauty, a fabric to hide and reveal or a controllable, ephemeral
surface - qualities we feel that contribute to the eventual use, appearance
and neighborhood integration that this house offers.
70
MULTIPLE MATERIALS
Below
Elevation drawings.
second floor plan
0 2
6
FINAL DESIGNS
The house uses an efficient organization in plan and expands this reserved presence through the material usage and site orientation. The
width of the site is significantly larger than typical mid-block sites within Merrill Park which allows the house to push to the northern edge of
the site and take advantage of southern exposure. This southern exposure is expressed through an increase in the number of glazed surfaces
on this elevation and also in the placement of the staircase - the double
height nature of stairs allows light to bleed further into the first floor
living spaces.
Material usage reinforces these larger organizational moves and creates a
unique and expanded presence along the street. The southern wall collects all three types of exterior materials used in the project: HardiPlank
siding, HardiPanels, and a Trex rail system to make the veil, which overlap and layer to reveal interior organizations and help integrate the essential front porch. A standing seam metal roof completes the material
quartet reinforcing the issues of sustainability by extending the lifespan
of the roof over thirty years, shedding cleaner water for collection, and
using a recycled material.
14
first floor plan
Right
Interior
perspective.
The modern trend toward respecting the natural systems and flows,
called “sustainable” or “green” design, are integral to the design concepts
of the Veil House. Photovoltaic cells could potentially use the large surface area of the southern facing roof to generate electricity or heat for
the home The roof sheds water into gutters and then into rain barrels
for a slow release back into the ground. It can also be used outdoors
for watering plants and washing cars. Interior materials and systems
would be selected for sustainable attributes. Examples include bamboo
flooring, recycled wood doors, and a ‘smart’ HVAC system that could
monitor use of spaces and living patterns, adapting to users’ lifestyles
producing a maximum energy savings. These sustainable features along
with the organization of plan and material manipulation add up to a
complex whole, encompassing affordability, modular technology and a
modern aesthetic, situated in an historical context experiencing a 21st
century revival.
71
REWEAVING
72
Above
Main living area.
FINAL DESIGNS
Left Top
Cross section through
circulation space.
Left Bottom
Street-level view.
Above
Exploded assembly of design elements.
73
Left
Street level
perspective.
VILLA HOUSE
TEAM RHSC - Racine, WI
Jon Brown Erik Hancock Isaac Wallace Abby White John Wroblewski
served + service
sh fting the modules
two stor s ace
new + old materials
screen
REWEAVING
The location of this house on Villa Street prompted student designers
to make a playful reference to the tendency of architects to refer to
their homes as villas. The apparently redundant name of this project
belies its intent as a prototype. This design is centered around the idea
of openness. This sense of openness is reflected in plan as well as in section and interior detailing. The home is initially configured with two
bedrooms, allowing for the front bedroom to be partitioned at a later
time. A living/dining/kitchen area provides for flexible use of what
would otherwise be three small rooms in an already small house.
While this concept of openness makes for efficient use of space, it also
provides an element of passive sustainability. Since the stairwell is the only
two-story space in a house of this size, it has been positioned along a southfacing window wall to allow for light to flood the space year round. On the
first floor, the stair circulation area is separated from the living space by an
open workstation/storage unit that divides the space without closing it off
74
east elevation
scale 1/4”
1’ 0”
north elevat on
scale 1/4”
1’ 0”
west elevation
scale 1/4”
1’ 0”
s u
elevation
scale 1/4”
1’ 0”
FINAL DESIGNS
Above
Top and Bottom
First and second floor plans.
Kitchen and main stairwell.
75
REWEAVING
76
Above
Cross section through
circulation space.
FINAL DESIGNS
Right
The stairwell doubles as
a light well, gathering
southern light.
Left Top
Rendering of backyard
showing rear deck and
overhanging bedroom.
Left Middle
Looking into the open
living area from main
entry.
Left Bottom
Open plan living area
consisting of living,
dining, and kitchen.
77
10
ADVOCACY
GETTING THE WORD OUT
National Architecture Week
April 2007
Cities of Milwaukee and Racine
In celebration of the 150th anniversary of The American Institute of Architects, the
cities of Milwaukee and Racine declared the week of April 9th-14th to be National
Architecture Week. These proclamations were a recognition of contributions of the
architectural profession to the improvement of the built environment. Furthermore,
the proclamations call attention to the efforts of the joint University of WisconsinMilwaukee - AIA initiative to bring affordable housing to the area.
REWEAVING
As part of this declaration, special banners were created for display in the neighborhoods where the student-designed homes are to be built.
78
Much of the success of this initiative could not have
been possible without the constant efforts of AIA 150
team leaders to promote the work both inside and outside the studio. Persistence and elbow grease kept this
project fresh in the minds of community leaders and
neighbors. These are just a few of the headlines featuring
the Reweaving the Neighborhood Fabric initiative.
AIA to provide affordable housing
A grant to Southeast Wisconsin chapter is being
used to build three modular houses.
Joe Grundle
[excerpt from original article]
Next year is the 150th anniversary of the American Institute of Architects, and AIA
Southeast Wisconsin is getting in on the party.
ADVOCACY
The Daily Reporter July 7, 2006
AIA - which is celebrating the event by providing $2 million to fund up to 200 grants
to its regional components for specific community programs called Blueprint for
America - awarded its first 60 grants on May 19.
AIA Southeast Wisconsin received $7,500 for its initiative that strives to knit together
inner-city neighborhoods by infusing creatively designed affordable housing in the
blighted gaps between existing housing.
“Rather than make a big cake and eat it, we wanted to do something for our community and show people that not just lawyers and developers get involved in helping
neighborhood, but architects as well,” said John Holz, vice president of AIA Southeast
Wisconsin and senior project designer for Plunkett-Raysich Architects, Milwaukee.
WUWM Milwaukee Public Radio
March 14, 2007
Affordable Good Design
Jane Hampden, Lake Effect
“John Holz is an Associate with Plunkett Raysich Architects and President of the Milwaukee chapter of The American Institute of Architects. Erik Hancock is a grad student at UW-Milwaukee’s School of Architecture and Urban Planning and an intern at
Plunkett-Raysich Architects. Sara Rogers is also a graduate student at UWM’s School
of Architecture and a project assistant at Eppstein Uhen Architects. The American Institute of Architects is celebrating its 150th anniversary with the Blueprint for America
design initiative, which addresses many design and community issues.”
[listen to the full interview at:
http://wuwm.com/programs/lake_effect/view_le.php?articleid=148]
79
Northshore Magazine
April 2007
Good Neighbor
My Cause: John Holz
Judith Steininger
During the late ‘90s, young John Holz thought sitting in Brett
Favre’s locker at Lambeau Field was a big deal. As an architect working for the national firm Ellerbe Beckett in Kansas City, he had designed the facade for Lambeau Field, hence his access to the locker
room. In 2000, he was working on another cathedral, a real one, St.
Mary’s Catholic Church in Hales Corners, and he had an epiphany
talking with parish volunteers. “I thought, ‘Here I am, a well-paid
architect listening to volunteers dedicated to their church. What am
I doing?’” That introspection has led him to an ongoing project in
Milwaukee, the end result of which will be architecturally designed
houses in blighted central city neighborhoods.
Urban Land Magazine
July 2007
Building Blocks of Housing Affordability
Patricia L. Kirk
REWEAVING
80
The project title is “Reweaving the Neighborhood Fabric: How Modular Housing
can Build Affordable and Dignified Communities.” Holz’s day job is as a senior
project designer at Plunkett Raysich Architects in Milwaukee, but this effort is
an all-volunteer one, with Holz in the lead. He’s working with a committee of 40
volunteers, including city planners, developers, students and contractors. Plunking
down houses into a neighborhood has many ramifications, hence the breadth of
the effort.
“As architects, we should not do ‘to’ a neighborhood, but ‘for’ or ‘with’ it,” Holz
says. The architects in this case are UW-Milwaukee seniors and graduate students.
UWM is Holz’s alma mater, both in graduate and undergraduate degrees. He says
this volunteer work will be beneficial to students because their project is not an
abstraction. “My thesis project was a design for a new terminal at Milwaukee’s
Mitchell Airport. It is beautiful, but it will never be built. These houses will be. Our
long-range goal is to have four or five designs to choose from.”
Meanwhile, the Southeast Wisconsin AIA is underway on a community service
program aimed at demonstrating how modular housing can be used to reweave
the fabric of deteriorating neighborhoods and create dignified inner-city housing, explains Milwaukee-based architect John Holz, AIA Southeast Wisconsin vice
president, who heads the program. Part of the national AIA Blueprint for America
150th anniversary observance, the regional program encompasses three projects—
in Milwaukee, Racine, and Waukesha, Wisconsin—which are south and west of
Milwaukee respectively.
The University of Wisconsin–Milwaukee School of Architecture agreed to design home prototypes, and a $7,500 grant
from AIA150 and $21,500 in donations launched the effort. The initiative will provide each community one dwelling
intended to serve as a catalyst for building a neighborhood of secure and sustainable housing in existing communities suffering from financial disinvestment. Homes are designed to fit on 30- to 35-foot- (9.1- to 11-m-) wide, odd-shaped lots,
says Holz, noting that the two-story structures are about 22 feet (6.7 m) wide and are thoughtfully designed to “live bigger”
than their actual size of 1,500 square feet (139 sq m) and encourage social interaction and revival of community, with large
front porches and welcoming facades.
ADVOCACY
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
July 17, 2006
Architects show modest budgets don’t
require modest design
Whitney Gould
When a weed-choked vacant lot in one of the city’s poorer neighborhoods finally
sprouts a house, it seems frivolous to quibble about the design. Who cares if the
roof pitch isn’t quite right, or if the windows are too small and the detailing is
clumsy, so long as a deserving family finally has a decent home?
OK. Now let me put it a different way: Why do people of modest means have to
settle for second- or third-rate design?
The short answer is that it is cheaper to build the same old-same old over and
over again than something distinctive.
Now, however, the design community is finally beginning to push for innovation
in infill housing (dwellings on vacant urban lots). Progress is in tiny increments.
But if this mini-movement spreads, it could add value to tattered neighborhoods
and raise the bar for housing design elsewhere.
One hopeful sign is a partnership between the southeast chapter of AIA Wisconsin (a Society of The American Institute of Architects) and architecture students
at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee. The students will design three affordable modernist homes for empty lots in central city neighborhoods: one in
Milwaukee’s Merrill Park, to be built next spring, the others later that year, in
Racine and Waukesha. Each will be around 1,400 square feet and sell for about
$150,000.
Above
Award-winning infill housing by Johnsen Schmaling Architects.
Photograph by Gary Porter
81
AIA National Convention
May 3, 2007
AIA150 In Wisconsin
A Blueprint for Urban Revitalization
John Holz, Kelly Thompson-Frater, Marty Sell
San Antonio, TX
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In May of 2007, Reweaving the Neighborhood Fabric took the national stage during a presentation to the annual AIA Convention in
San Antonio, Texas. In their presentation to the assembled architects, students, educators, and industry professionals, AIA Milwaukee President John Holz and his colleagues described the initiatives
and how they could become models for urban revitalization across
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From Left to Right
George Miller, FAIA; Anthony Costello, FAIA; Kelly Thompson-Frater,
AIA - President, AIA Southwest Wisconsin; Marty Sell, AIA - President, AIA
Wisconsin (2007); John Holz, AIA - President, AIA Milwaukee (2007).
ADVOCACY
AIAS FORUM
December 29, 2007
AIA150 Studio
A Collaboration of Practice and Education
John Holz and Ryan O’Connor
Milwaukee, WI
Milwaukee was the 2007 host for The American Institute of Architecture
Students (AIAS) FORUM, a global gathering of architecture students.
Despite a massive snowstorm, the city was flooded with future architects
from all over the world. On the first day of the conference, John Holz and
UW-Milwaukee student Ryan O’Connor presented the NCARB-prize
winning AIA150 Studio project.
Above
AIA Milwaukee President, John Holz, AIA.
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April 2007
AIA150 Exhibition
Gallery of Architecture and Urbanism
University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee
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ADVOCACY
sears catolog home +
milwaukee duplex
polish flat >>> vernacular architectu e
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frank l oyd wright
m lwaukee | wisconsin
To offer a thoughtful view of what we can design together, AIA Milwaukee
presented this gallery of the three affordable modular housing prototypes,
within the context of the past 150 years of residential architecture in Milwaukee and Southeast Wisconsin. Attendees enjoyed a glimpse of fifteen
other contributions to our residential fabric. One to two different homes
or housing types were chosen to represent each decade since the beginning
of the AIA in 1857 - no small task. Some decades were better blessed than
others, and many miles were logged searching for inspired architecture to fit
those decades.
The projects presented did not begin to cover the extensive amount of residential architecture in Milwaukee and Southeast Wisconsin. Instead, the
homes presented were offered as an exemplary representation of what was
being designed in each decade. We chose examples from all seven counties in the AIA Milwaukee region, including Kenosha, Milwaukee, Ozaukee, Racine, Walworth, Washington, and Waukesha Counties. Worthy of
a firsthand view, most have maps and addresses. While a sampling of them
exhibits historically significant work by the area’s notable architects, equal
attention was placed on affordable, urban and innovative housing. These
smaller but dignified dwellings were attainable by folks of modest means. In
celebrating these past contributions, we must renew our commitment to designing a future where affordable and dignified housing is attainable by all.
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M A Mor enson Company
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hartford | wisconsin
de i | e l ed o r y r
1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007
nei r
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>>>
celebrating the past
des gning the future
85
11
LESSONS LEARNED
CHALLENGES, COMPROMISES & BENEFITS
REWEAVING
As part of the formal review of the AIA150 Reweaving the
Neighborhood Fabric initiative, leaders were asked to complete
a questionnaire detailing the lessons learned during the process.
What follows is an excerpt of that document.
86
How is your component’s initiative meeting the
How is your initiative focusing on issues that are
Blueprint For America (BFA) criteria?
community-driven or generated?
The implementation of our BFA initiative is meeting our criteria of
community engagement and collaboration through its comprehensive visioning and design process. Our most successful effort has been
the integration of a college design studio with the community-based
visioning process. This approach yielded prototype housing and
a community center, complete with construction documents and
budgets with the full engagement of community stakeholders. This
collaboration among many - neighborhood groups, city leaders and
policy-makers, non-profits, modular housing manufacturers, architecture students, faculty, and our AIA Milwaukee team - exceeded our
expectations by receiving local and national media attention in print,
audio, and video, as well as a 2007 NCARB Prize. While our visioning process has demonstrated a direct, community-wide benefit, the
implementation of our hard work is yet to be realized. A large part of
the direct community-wide benefit is the actual construction of our
prototypes and community center. There are two main reasons for
this phase not being accomplished. The first reason is the reluctance
of the City of Milwaukee to adopt our forward-thinking design solutions without major exterior modification. The second, and much
more impactful, is the collapse of the housing market, especially in
the areas of low-income housing.
Through the implementation of our BFA Initiative, we learned to adapt
to differing affordable housing issues between Racine and Milwaukee. Gaining importance in Racine was desire for affordable housing
that closely matched market rate housing in terms of amenities, while
still meeting the lower square footage and price-point for first time
home buyers in a subsidized program. We made these adjustments to
improve the attraction of the housing to potential candidates, with
only marginal budget increases. In Milwaukee, our prototypes were
challenged by the alderman of the district for being too small for the
neighborhood. We quickly learned that the type of housing desired
in our chosen Merrill Park Neighborhood was “work-force” housing,
priced above “extremely low income” housing. We subsequently enlarged each design by 200 square feet. We would still be designing for
first-time home buyers, well below the median income level, meeting the criteria for our initiative. Another issue that arose during the
process impacting its direction was reluctance to adopt the concepts.
Milwaukee is conservative, and the alderman of the district encouraged traditional exterior fenestration. We made extensive changes to
the facades and resubmitted to the City of Milwaukee Design Review
Team which applauded and approved them.
LESSONS
What strong public benefits have emerged or are
What have been the successes (or failures) associ-
emerging from your initiative?
ated with the initiatives component of community
partnerships?
The strongest public benefits that have thus far emerged from our
BFA Initiative is that neighborhood stakeholders can play an important role in the visioning and design process, and that good design is not just for paying clients, but for everyone who lives in
the community. Our neighborhood community groups are learning that architects care about the neighborhood fabric, enough to
put in great deals of time, expertise, and sweat equity without the
requirement of compensation. They were frankly astounded that
we had no ulterior motive to capitalize on the process. A strong relationship built on trust and collaboration has been established between the architectural community and each neighborhood group.
This emerging public benefit will be strengthened when the neighborhood stakeholders see construction taking place, fulfilling the
objectives and goals of their involvement in the visioning process.
A clear benefit that has emerged even without the construction of
the housing, has been the lasting impact that this process has had
on the architecture students who have participated in the AIA150
Studio. They are now practicing in the profession, incorporating
their experiences into new projects, for both paying customers and
in pro-bono efforts.
Our partnership with the City of Racine, the Neighborhood Housing Services (NHS) and the Towerview Neighborhood has been successful. Working with these groups to gain a site for our project,
reach a common understanding to design and implement quality affordable housing, and conduct a meaningful town hall meeting with
the neighborhood stakeholders have exceeded our expectations. We
have fallen short in that NHS has decided not to build our housing
prototype ‘on speculation’, but instead will wait for a candidate that
meets the criteria of their housing program. Funds are in short supply, as the affordable housing market struggles to rebound. In Milwaukee, our partnership with The Merrill Park Neighborhood Association has been successful. They are a willing and energetic partner.
We have struggled in our partnership with Milwaukee. Each party
has had differing expectations in the process and its implementation,
and we are learning to amend our approach to meet the explicit and
implicit criteria of Milwaukee’s review and approval process. Still, we
see that this partnership will be fruitful and long-term. The City’s
promise of residential sites, approval of the community center, and
approval of revised plans for our housing prototypes, is a strong indication of their commitment.
87
REWEAVING
88
How were schools of architecture engaged in the
Has a clear strategy for sustained implementation
process?
beyond 2007 been implemented?
The University of Wisconsin – Milwaukee, School of Architecture
and Urban Planning was integrally involved in our initiative. No
other schools or academic disciplines were involved. AIA150 Champion Holz engaged Dean Robert Greenstreet, and Professor Chris
Cornelius to develop an AIA150 Studio, comprised of mostly graduate students divided into three teams of five. The teams interacted
collaboratively with all aspects of the process. With Professor Cornelius, the students toured modular housing manufacturing facilities
in Wausau and Friendship, Wisconsin. Terrace Homes of Friendship
became the key collaborator, working with the students and AIA150
committee throughout the fall 2006 Semester and beyond. The students’ work included site analyses, demographic studies, computer
and wood models, renderings and construction drawings with budgets developed using Means Cost Data. They produced PowerPoint
Presentations and a dedicated website displaying individual housing
designs, the three group housing designs and community center design. After the students completed their semester in December 2007,
several remained active in the initiative. The UWM Chapter of AIAS
became involved in 2007 to participate in a gallery display of both
the students’ work and 150 years of housing examples throughout
the region of AIA Milwaukee. AIAS also collaborated on an AIA150
seminar at Forum 2007.
Since our initiative began, a thoughtful dialogue is taking place between community leaders, city leaders and developers. Developers
are engaging in higher quality dignified design, which is becoming
viewed as a fundamental of sustained home ownership and neighborhood pride. Before the housing crisis hit, we began to work with
the Legacy Redevelopment Corporation, which is rebuilding a depressed neighborhood in Milwaukee. While this development is yet
to begin, its approach to making a livable community is evident.
One of our prototypes will be built in the development. Similarly,
our engagement with The Merrill Park Neighborhood Association
has brought a change to how that neighborhood will accept new
housing proposals, to ensure that the proposals truly reweave the
neighborhood fabric and instill pride in the community. The neighborhood’s current residents will participate in the process. Working with the City of Milwaukee, our prototypes will be added to a
pre-approved compendium of suitable home plans for vacant lots.
In Racine, proposals by Habitat for Humanity and other organizations are being met with greater scrutiny by NHS and the City Development Office to ensure that plans are not just affordable, but
meet the standards of good design, accessibility and sustainability.
Our fundraising totals thus far have not matched what we have
aimed to accomplish in our initiative. It was our aim to raise
$150,000 in cash toward the construction of the community
center and to offset contingencies and improve sustainable design
features for each of the three prototype designs. We have exceeded
our goals for each of the three housing prototypes, but must raise
additional funds for the community center. We have begun creating marketing materials, complete with graphics and renderings
of the proposed community center, to enhance our fund-raising
efforts. When one considers in-kind contributions of products,
resources and time, we have done well. We have raised $19,000
in cash to date, not counting the $2,500 that remains on our AIA
Supplemental Grant. In-kind donations include a commitment
by the Kohler Company to provide all plumbing fixtures for all
three prototypes and the community center. We have received
the fixtures for one of the prototypes thus far, at a value of approximately $8,000. This contribution is truly an unplanned and
pleasant surprise. An in-kind donation from Riley Construction
during actual ground breaking has been committed, estimated
at approximately $10,000. None of the aforementioned dollars
and in-kind donations have been implemented, as we have yet
to begin construction. For our gallery display during National
Architecture Week in April of 2007, Mortenson Construction
donated all printing and mounting costs of our display boards,
valued at over $1,000. AIA Wisconsin provided all AIA150 banners, stands, and mounting hardware, at over $2,000, while Riley Construction and Delta Electric installed and removed them
from street poles in Racine.
LESSONS
Has your budget planning from fund-raising to expenditures proved to be credible and manageable?
AIA Milwaukee has contributed a budget of $800, $500, and
$300 each of the last three years to cover various food events,
permits, parking fees, mileage reimbursements, and the like. The
contribution of time, expertise and resources by UWM’s School
of Architecture and Urban Planning has been outstanding, and
immeasurable. Similarly, the contribution of time, expertise and
resources by Terrace Homes has been considerable and beyond
our expectations.
89
Has your original written proposal as set forth in your supplemental grant application been an effective
REWEAVING
road-map in guiding your initiative?
90
Our efforts have followed our proposed process to a great extent, yet
we have adapted the process to account for significant challenges.
First, because of miscalculations regarding the acceptable deliverables
for the City of Milwaukee, we have made considerable changes to the
prototype housing designs. This turn of events has pushed us to rethink the process. We did not meet with the alderman of the Merrill
Park Neighborhood early enough in the initiative. This was a critical
misstep that we are documenting. Second, poor economic conditions
have placed the construction component of our initiative in a holding
pattern. In these tough economic times, developers tend to gravitate
toward tested and proven models. Modular, affordable, sustainable,
modern housing is a leap of faith that many find difficult to make.
Because of these factors, the amount of time to implement our built
projects continues to increase. We have been slow to respond to these
significant challenges, in part because our team has shrunk drastically
since we began three years ago, most of the students have moved on,
and continued setbacks have sapped us of our energy. Still, there is
new resolve to fully complete this already successful initiative. AIA
Milwaukee remains committed with annual financial resources and
support.
AIA150 Champion Holz is in the process of rebuilding the team, and
has added a marketing expert from a local construction management
firm, Berghammer Construction, to promote the prototypes and community center. To reach consensus on design updates, a meeting with
Alderman Bauman and Merrill Park Neighborhood Association Director, Bob Greene, has taken place. Plans have been finalized and
resubmitted to the Design Review Team, which enthusiastically approved them. As of this writing, Terrace Homes is re-pricing the final
designs. As we are now moving forward, we endeavor to complete the
full intent of our initiative, honor the contribution of our sponsors,
and realize our ultimate goal to reweave the neighborhood fabric with
modular, affordable and dignified housing.
LESSONS
Above
NCARB Prize Entry Boards.
National Recognition: AIA150 Studio Wins 2007 NCARB Prize
Jury Comments
“Strong points of the project are the work with modular manufacturers and firms, its willingness to take on a variety of issues including sustainability, integration into the neighborhoods and material selection, and the emphasis on the process of building particularly over a critical time
frame. This is a solid, well-done project that does not look like modular housing and that looked at practice in a new way. The boards clearly
presented the project process.”
91
12
MOVING FORWARD
A FULL SPECTRUM EFFORT
REWEAVING
Despite setbacks financial and political in nature, the AIA150 team
continues to push forward with its initiative to get these affordable,
accessible, modern homes built in their community long after final studio grades have been issued. Given the current economic climate, affordable housing becomes an even more important issue for the people
of the Milwaukee metro area. When funding for the effort came into
question, the team came up with a smaller floor plan for the Racine
house. A second revision modified the house to be constructed as a
Habitat for Humanity project, using volunteer labor to finish the raw
modules as delivered by the manufacturer.
92
FORWARD
Concerns over the housing market and the prototypes’ exterior
fenestration have slowed efforts in the Merrill Park Neighborhood.
Nonetheless, area residents and the neighborhood development organization remain enthusiastic about the student designs. Facade
alterations have been approved by the district’s alderman, and the
team is optimistic that the homes will be built as soon as the economy stabilizes and buyers are qualified.
At this time, the AIA-funded community center project appears to
be on the fast track for construction. The design has met with neighborhood and city approval- all that remains is additional funding,
and the Merrill Park Neighborhood Association will immediately
own and operate the center, avoiding the extra step of finding a
buyer, as with the housing.
These issues highlight perhaps one of the most important lessons to
be learned from this process. While sometimes disheartening, the
process of getting a real project built requires persistence, flexibility, and above all patience. The best intentions and most talented
designers in the world would mean nothing without the tireless
dedication of industry professionals, educators, students, and community leaders to see the project through.
This unintended dose of reality has taught students that doing probono work can be a difficult and messy process. After seeing the
breadth of need in our communities, however, we cannot simply
give up and ignore the problem. Our profession must continue to
engage these issues in order to be truly relevant for more than society’s elite. That is the best lesson of all.
93
STUDENT OPPORTUNITY
Developer expresses interest in modERNA 150
REWEAVING
After seeing a website of the AIA150 studio’s work, Paul Handle- a modernist residential
designer and founder of Go Modern homes- contacted the project team with interest in
one of the individual student prototypes. Bryan Finnegan’s modERNA 150 house represented a perfect fit for the modern aesthetic of Paul Handle is bringing to The Legacy,
a new development of 50 homes on Milwaukee’s north side. Working with modular
builder Terrace Homes, the original prototype was modified and enlarged to meet the
developer’s specifications. This level of interest speaks to the potential and broad appeal
of these modern sustainable student designs.
94
Above
Street view of modERNA 150.
Above
Below
Section through
living space.
Plan showing
development sites.
FORWARD
Above
Revised elevation and plan drawings for The Legacy development.
The modern expression of glass on the street facade brings forth greater visual access to neighborhood happenings outside and is viewed as
an illuminated lantern of activity from the exterior. Visual intrigue to
the roof level reveals rooftop access with usable social space and the
implementation of a green roof system, helping to mediate interior
temperatures. Multiple elements bring the idea of sustainability to the
neighborhood such as window placement to facilitate passive ventilation in the summer and solar heat gain in the winter, potential photovoltaic panels and rainwater for irrigation, and the use of a porous
driveway paving limiting surface run-off.
Along with a double story entry/living space, the interior concept
developed with two primary design elements. The first is an open stair
leading up and around a seemingly free standing wall plane offering a
palette for artistic expression allowed to be seen by the outside world.
The second is a floating translucent cube at the top of the main stair.
The volume elegantly sits above the living space and sits shy of touching the front facade. Silhouettes of objects and activities develop from
the spaces beyond when illuminated.
95
Above
MERRILL PARK UPDATE
REWEAVING
AIA submits revised elevations to city
96
After meeting initial resistance to the appearance of housing prototypes with regard to
the historical character of the Merrill Park neighborhood, the AIA150 team went back
to the drawing board to produce an alternative that would be more palatable to decision
makers at the city level. While some of the modern character and detailing has admittedly
been lost, the homes retain the intelligent layout, energy efficiency, and respect for the
nature of modular construction. More importantly, these revisions keep alive the promise
of filling empty urban lots with well-designed, affordable housing.
Revised designs for Veil
House prototype.
FORWARD
Above
Revised street elevations.
Two new variations of the Veil House elevations were produced with the intention of occupying adjacent lots. The railings
were altered to follow a conventional vertical orientation. Window proportioning was also changed to fit better with the
surrounding historical precedent, though the playfulness of the original prototype in terms of window positioning was maintained. A vibrant color palette resonates with the character of Victorian-era homes in the area- this is a marked departure from
the relatively bland color schemes of more recent homes. Subtle differences between the size and proportion of windows on
the adjacent homes demonstrates variation from one house to the next.
“Type and Transformation: One without the other is boring.”
Ro ber t A.M . Stern
97
PARTNERSHIPS
AIA Forges New Relationships
REWEAVING
In January 2009, architect John Holz met with a representative from
Layton Boulevard West Neighbors (LBWN), a community organization committed to the positive development of a once depressed neighborhood. Using the designs, pricing, and manufacturer commitments
from the AIA150 studio, this group hopes to bring one or more of the
prototypes to their community. Using funds from the federally-funded
Neighborhood Stabilization Program (NSP), LBWN hopes to build
one of the student designs on a vacant city lot.
98
In addition to the LBWN partnership, the AIA continues to work
closely with the Merrill Park neighborhood association, The Legacy
development corporation, Cooperating Congregations of Waukesha County, Neighborhood Housing Services of Southeast Wisconsin, and the City of Milwaukee Department of City Development
(MKEDCD).
Above
Town hall meeting in Racine, WI.
DIAMOND
PLATINUM
GOLD
SILVER
BRONZE
($10,000 +)
($5,000-$9,999)
($2,000-$4,999)
($1,000-$1,999)
($500-$999)
University of WisconsinMilwaukee
School of Architecture and Urban
Planning, Dean Robert Greenstreet,
Brian Wishne
The Kohler Company, Kohler, WI
Deborah Richter
American Institute of
Architects
Mortenson Construction
Director of Operations Timothy Maag
AIA Milwaukee
Chapter of the American Institute of
Architects
Berghammer Construction
President Leif A. Nesheim
The Plunkett Foundation
RECOGNITION
DONOR RECOGNITION
Kahler-Slater Architects
AIA Wisconsin
Chapter of the American Institute of
Architects
Plunkett-Raysich Architects
Managing Partner David Raysich
Riley Construction Company,
Inc.
President Dave Riley
Wisconsin Preservation Fund
Bruce T. Block, Chuck Engberg, AIA
Reweaving the Neighborhood Fabric and the AIA150 Studio at UW-Milwaukee were made possible through the generous donations, both monetary and
in-kind, of many partners. The project team leaders, educators, and students
would like to extend their thanks to all of our donors at every level. With your
support we can continue to improve the built environment for all.
99
A
APPENDIX
RESOURCES + REFERENCES
American Institute of Architects
www.aia.org
The City of Milwaukee. Built in Milwaukee: an architectural view of the city. Milwaukee: City of
Milwaukee, 1980, 1983.
American Institute of Architecture Students
www.aias.org
Dean, Andrea Oppenheimer. Samuel Mockbee and an architecture of decency. New York: Princeton
Architectural Press, 2002.
City of Milwaukee Department of City Development
www.mkedcd.org
The Freeman Staff. “Architects’ group plans ‘affordable housing’ project,” The Freeman, July 8, 2006.
Cooperating Congregations of Waukesha County
www.ccwc.org
Gould, Whitney. “Architects show modest budgets don’t require modest design,” The Milwaukee
Journal Sentinel, July 17, 2006.
Grundle, Joe. “AIA to provide affordable housing,” The Daily Reporter, July 7, 2006: 108-132.
James Hardie International
www.jameshardie.com
Layton Boulevard West Neighbors
www.lbwn.org
Neighborhood Housing Services
of Southeast Wisconsin
www.nhswi.org
Terrace Homes
www.terracehomes.com
U.S. Census Bureau
www.census.gov
Grundle, Joe. “Students work with pros to build house,” The Daily Reporter, December 19, 2006:
108-246.
Hampden, Jane. “Affordable good design,” Lake Effect, Milwaukee Public Radio. WUWM, Milwaukee.
March 14, 2007.
Hara, Kenya. Designing Design. Baden: Lars Muller Publishers, 2007.
Holz, John and O’Connor, Ryan. “AIA 150 studio: a collaboration of practice and education,” presented
at AIAS FORUM, Milwaukee, WI, December 29, 2007.
Holz, John. “AIA 150 in Wisconsin: a blueprint for urban revitalization,” presented at AIA National
Conference, San Antonio, TX, May 3, 2007.
Kirk, Patricia L. “Building blocks of housing affordability,” Urban Land Magazine, July 2007.
REWEAVING
The American Institute of Architects. Livability 101. Washington, D.C.: American Institute of
Architects, 2005.
100
The American Institute of Architects. Communities by Design. Washington, D.C.: American Institute
of Architects, 2001.
Architecture for Humanity, ed. Design Like You Give a Damn. New York: Metropolis Books, 2006.
The National Council of Architectural Registration Boards. NCARB Prize for creative integration
of practice and education in the academy. Washington, D.C.: National Council of Architectural
Registration Boards, 2007.

reweaving - AIA Wisconsin

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