The Need for an Update

The site will be going through a transition to a new look over the course of the next week. A "Current Projects" page and some more surprises will be up soon.

-Brent

Name For Myself

So today Norwich University's online newspaper posted a story about my thesis project! Feel free to check it out at Let me know what you think about the article: http://www.norwich.edu/about/news/2012/060112-electricParking.html

I'm Back

Now that I'm done with thesis and have my Master of Architecture Degree in hand, this website can finally turn into something useful.  In the coming days I look to take my architectural and graphic designs and use this site as a "portfolio" blog of sorts.

Keep checking in as new projects start to appear on the website.  I'm currently unemployed but I am still searching in the fields of architectural and graphic design on my way towards earning my IDP hours and eventually becoming licensed as an Architect.

Any questions feel free to email me at bmarkgardner@gmail.com and check out the couple renderings of my thesis project below, which dealt with integrating electric vehicles into sustainable architecture.

-Thanks

 

                                   

THE SUMMER OF.....

It's hard to believe everything that has happened this Summer.
From being taking charge at project meetings at Watershed to *spoiler alert* becoming engaged to Hilary, my girlfriend for the past four years.
I've also been able to hangout more than expected despite the time the "Class" end of the internship has taken up.  I just finished the final paper last week and now I have freedom to finally get more involved with my research into my thesis idea: Taking the idea of affordable and efficient apartment housing and having it benefit from sustainable design to better the community and bring it together.

Watershed Studio has been an adventure in itself, being able to convince contractors I know what I'm actually doing and prove them wrong when they don't believe I did something right is such a great feeling, I just wish I could of had that kind of confidence when I was presenting projects back in the gallery at Norwich.  Here's my main project I have been working on, a studio apartment/green house building as a secondary house for this guy in Colchester VT, right on Lake Champlain.  The building has a structure in front that is both sculptural to the clients wants and functional as it provides protection and exposure to just the right amount of solar gain, both reflected and direct into the apartment and green house.  The green house is obviously downstairs and the apartment is on the second floor with its own entrance.

Actual Building Below with the Apartment / Green House Above, I had to use LIVE, I mean BING Maps because Google Maps are too slow to update the Lake Champlain Area apparently

With the Summer coming to a close in the next couple weeks, it will be very awkward to get back into a school studio atmosphere for a "grade" but I'm sure I'll be fine.  I hope before I'm done this Summer I can have this project in the Construction Documents phase because I want to see it as close to all the way thru as I can.
With the little bit of Summer left I'm hoping to balance "free-time" with friends returning to Norwich with the research I need to do, considering this will be my last College summer and I'll be off to doing a more semi-permanent architecture job in an office that does even more sustainable design than Watershed.  We'll see

My friend Joan and I photoshopped into a Colbert photo ... if you knew the joke it'd probably be even funnier

Summer 2011 - Beginnings

This Summer has definitely been the beginning and end of a lot of things.  A little over a month ago now I graduated from Norwich with my Bachelors in Architectural Studies and it's been an indifferent feeling since.  Even though I am going back for one more year of studies to get my Master in Architecture degree, I feel like things have started to move in a more "professional" direction. I have started work in Watershed Studio for my required Summer internship to get my Master degree.  It is definitely different than I expected in a good way.  The whole feeling of the work area is relaxed and informal but the work is still a serious setting.  Besides the principal, who is a professor at Norwich as well, the other 2 are recent students.  One graduated 6 years ago from Roger Williams with a bachelors degree in architecture and she lives over by Manchester NH, the other just graduated from Dartmouth with a degree in Art Studio with a focus on Architecture and she is originally from Anchorage Alaska.  

As much as I would like to do research on my Master (Thesis) project, besides being in studio and working at my second job, I am reading and writing for the "Norwich" end of my internship.  In this we have to read from this ridiculous book about Architecture practice that is all opinion I disagree with mostly and professor that -reads- the things we write is just a little over critical on the work... I am almost the 4th week into the 9 week program and I'll be glad to be done writing papers in my free time... it leaves NO time for research for your thesis... take note Norwich... but besides the hour drive I take to get to the internship I love working there and it makes the Summer even better.

Watershed Studio

As for other things going on, Hilary and I have gotten an apartment in Northfield right by the waterfall and behind Subway.  Its huge for just the two of us and the rent is alot less than most students pay per month in Northfield.  My sister just graduated from Littleton and is going to Keene for college in the Fall in Nursing... I'm pretty happy I now never have to set foot in Littleton High School simply because its definitely not the same as how I left it and Breadloaf architects are leaving their ugly mark on the school building the "new" addition completely out of concrete blocks with no design initiative what so ever... owell it makes me a bit happier knowing I didn't get into their firm because I probably wouldn't of like what they were doing.

What I've been upto

So I haven't updated in a really long time so I felt it would be good to show you what I've been upto.
In studio we have been working in New Mexico doing a house and separate small studio building for this couple where the husband is a Pueblo member and the wife is a bead maker.  They are also into cheap ways for environmentally friendly design:

New Mexico Studio:

The idea for this structure actually came from Snow Drift Fences that are prominent in farm areas out west.  I used a lot of cheap ideas for heating the house and reusing the environment around it, such as using reclaimed wood for all wood parts of the structure, a double roof to allow for a rainwater collection system and have a green house on the south side to heat up the rammed earth wall on the studio side of the green house so that it can super heat the wall to release the heat during the night when its cold.  I also added solar panel cells into the glass so that plenty of light still goes through the green house glass and it also powers the studio at the same time.

New Mexico House:

The Diagram pretty much explains it in less words than I could retype

I have also been taking a class where we have been at first making a photo in illustrator by just looking at a printed out one and the second project we did a self photo by tracing it on adobe illustrator, its harder than it sounds!

Done by just looking at a photo - its the Maxxi Art Gallery by Zaha Hadid in Rome

Photo traced in Adobe Illustrator

Hometown Victor

Well its been quite a while since I updated my blog.
Been busy finishing up Germany, Flying back and barely missing London Heathrow Airport closing down by a matter of days, Christmas, my 22nd Birthday and now I am back at Norwich University.
What can I say?  It feels weird being back in the run of things, a lot faster moving.
I've been focusing in on a few firms that I can travel to and meet with to hopefully get a job/internship for the summer.  Some of the firms I have been looking at are: http://www.kawiaka.com/ - really good green design firm, ALL about renewable energy and sustainable design, http://www.gbarchitecture.com/ - also good design firm that has amazing designs and uses local materials, not any 2 buildings look the same, their style changes to the platform that the program requires, and http://www.birdseyebuilding.com/ - which is also a firm that uses local materials and their buildings form to the program.  Some others I am also trying to apply to are http://www.blackriverdesign.com/ http://csmitharchitect.com/ and http://www.fffinc.com/
Let me know what you think of them....

I still feel in between somewhat, the transition from Berlin to Norwich still hasn't completed itself yet.  This leaves me feeling almost out of place, but I'm hoping as more weeks go by that will fade.

If my job that Ive had for almost three years (working for Norwich Architecture Department) doesn't pan out because the Architecture department doesn't have the money, then I'll have to spread my wings out to lower forms of job haha.   I wouldn't mind working at a store like Grand Union or some sort of hardware store as long as I was a cashier. I don't know and only time will tell.  I would love to be designing posters again and another professor has me working on inventorying the local architecture of the area - i.e. getting paid to travel around VT.

I'll try to keep you updated on projects I'm doing and even try to get some photos up here!

Group photo of Lexia Group

Top of Route 2 in Danville VT