DESIGN PORTFOLIO

JAMES JOSLIN

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DWELLINGSThesis Studio - Spring ‘15Faculty: Kathy Velikov

We may design architecture, but it dwells how it pleases. Physically, a dwelling provides shelter, community, occupation, isolation and life. Symbolically, a dwelling provokes thought, facilitates pilgrimage, eases passage, campaigns denial and houses futility. The intent is to interrogate an historically-charged, largely restricted territory by speculating on the inhabitability of its extremes. The fairweather relationship between intent and result is subjugated into a working method. The objective is to design speculative dwellings which inhabit the distinct ecologies identified on the site, while possessing idiosyncrasy and autonomy.

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DWELLINGSBelow: White Sands: the Architecture of 5 Ecologies.Right: Ecographic Map of The Undwellable.

The successful detonation of the first atomic weapon occurred at the Trinity Site of White Sands Missile Range on July 16, 1945. Its success exponentially increased the rate at which we can remove dwelling from the world. Since then, the White Sands Territory gained the two largest military installations in the country, derelict outposts from a couple of space programs, and a U.S. National Monument containing the largest gypsum dune field on earth. Five ecologies are proposed by revealing the allure of their relics, their thresholds, their gardens, their targets, their sheds, their bridges, their shelters, their harbors, their monuments.

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DWELLINGS5 Dwellings.

The geography of the White Sands Territory is unforgiving, remote, unserved, and mostly restricted. For instance, the pilgrimage to the Trinity Site can only be made on the first Saturdays of April and October. More than half of the White Sands National Monument is restricted by the White Sands Missile Range. There are strong forces at bay which regulate how this territory is perceived by a blinded public. Understanding a territory first by delineating its ecologies then creating edifice is the existential logic of the Dwellings, like misfitted puzzle pieces.

1. Bridge House. The dwelling allows for passage from the public sector of White Sands National Monument to the sector controlled by U.S. Army, specifically the White Sands Missile Range. The single door of the West Facde is exit only.

2. Blind House. Three hunting blinds are oriented on a common platform at an elevation of twenty feet. The blinds are united by the platform as well as a common shed roof. It is heralded as a myth among the hunters, as most have never seen it.

3. Home w/ Garden. A dwelling that accomodates the dignitaries and guests of the White Sand Missile Range. The grounds include a hortus enclusus w/ two saguaro cacti and desert flora. There is a triangular lap pool with a diving board. The pool is severely deep, keeping it cool in the unforgiving Tularosa Basin. The pool was made subterraneously observable at the request of a guest.

4. Out House. A dwelling to train and test astronauts on their predisposition to isolation, or rather their ability to deal with alien climates in isolation. The program is self-sustaining, it is outfitted to sustain human life. As support in deep space is impossible, trainees are only retrieved if the navaid beacon is activated, terminating the training sequence.

5. Pivot House. A dwelling attached to a pivot irrigator which rotates about point zero of the Trinity Obelisk. It irrigates the memorial gardens, rendering visible the success of the first Atomic Weapon, collapsing time between its success and the terrible weight it left on our collective psyche.

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PHILADELPHIA ATHENAEUMProposition Studio - Fall ‘14 Faculty: Andrew HolderBelow: 6 a.m.Right, Above: 2 p.m.Right, Below: 10 p.m.

The work is in reaction to the Koolhaas curated Venice Biennale ‘14, which proposed architecture as being reducible to a list of elements: the stair, the door, the window, etc. The studio reversed the position, designing a group of elements, whose various capacities compliment and influence each other, creating a greater whole or set of relationships, resulting in an architectural proposition. The ‘Athenaeum of Philadelphia: Looking Forward’ competition served as site condition.

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PHILADELPHIA ATHENAEUMSection Model, ABS Print, 1/8”.An Architecture of Elements, 1-4.Element Combinations, Examples 1-4.

An opportunity to generate new architectural form was found somewhere between the analysis of surrealist paintings by Yves Tanguy and experimentation with the Rhinocerus T-Spline plug-in. The manner in which objects congregate, behave and postulate their capacities was of the utmost concern. A comprehensive grouping of elements. When composed, they form an idosyncratic and closed architecture. Idiosyncratic, because the capacties of each element have a direct effect on each other element. Closed, because no additional elements are necessary.

1. The Limb, a load bearing element derived from 18th century english textile mills and Jim Stirling’s Red Trilogy.

2. The Eye, a fenestration element derived from bulbous apertures of the 60s, prone to outbursts and mood swings.

4. The Fastener, a grappling element dervived from 18th century masonry ties, capable of high tension structural feats.

3. The Parcel, a wrapping element derived from millenial enclosure studies, plays with interior to exterior porosity.

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NORTH RESORT CAMPUS HOUSINGSystem Studio - Spring ‘14Faculty: Julia McMorrough & Christina Hansenw/ Clarke Lewis & Andres MarinLeft: Loft Building Type. Right: Apartment Building Type.

Student housing on the North Campus of the University of Michigan is historically undesirable. Uncomfortably far from the central hub, the proposal was to design an environment the north campus majors would be eager to live and thrive in. The very large site was treated as a contemporary threshold to the University of Michigan’s ‘backyard’, home to undergradute and graduate students alike, professors and their families. Its culture is entirely unique to the central campus, as it is the location of the Architecture, Art, Engineering, Music and Theatre departments.

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NORTH RESORT CAMPUS HOUSINGSections, Elevations, 4 Unit Types & Details.Program:+ 4 unit types.+ Student managed Incubator and Gallery.+ Disc Golf Course and Cross Country Trail.

We developed a comprehensive approach to acommodate the full spectrum of those who call north campus home. Flexibilty and layering are themes from the facade systems to material detail.

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THE PATH OF KAHNTravel Research - Summer ‘14Below: FIAT Lingotto vs. FORD Hghland Park.Right: The Itinerary.Faculty: Claire Zimmerman

A travel course organized by the architectural historian Claire Zimmerman. She has an ongoing line of research concerned with prolific architect Albert Kahn and the influence his industrial buildings for Henry Ford had on seminal modern buildings in Europe, part of the larger concept of Americanism. Our group visited 17 cities in England, the Netherlands, Germany and Italy in one month, including London, Rotterdam, Berlin and Venice for the 2014 Biennale. Afterwords, Claire employed me to develop a set of drawings which analyze the scale of key buildings we visited, as well as a graphic comparison of the FIAT Lingotto plant and the FORD Highland Park plant, the first set of diagrams to be used in a future exhibtion of her research on these topics.

Turin, Italy Detroit, Michigan

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INDUSTRY MUSEUM OF ARTSituation Studio - Fall ‘13Faculty: Thom Moran

A contemporary art museum in the Strip District of Pittsburgh, PA.An architecture to catalyze agrowing art scene. It physically combines regional forms with post steel industry edifice, while recognizing an emerging network of art institutions in Pittsburgh.

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3 rd Floor: Black Box Performance Space, A contemporary black box theatre to host a wide range of performace types, including dance, drama and art.2 nd Floor: Main Galleries, A series of stepped galleries, divided by 3/4 height partitions which respond to the plateau topology of Pittsburgh.1 st Floor: Ground Floor Lobby, An entry condition allowing space for public market vendors of the bustling Strip District.Basement: Book Store & Rehearsal Spaces, A museum shop, restrooms, and performance rehearsal facilities.

JAMES JOSLIN (b. Toledo, Ohio, 1988) is an architectural designer. He holds a M.Arch 1 from the University of Michigan, Taubman College of Architecture and Urban Planning. He is interested in cultural, civic, corporate, commercial, landscape, urban, residential and academic projects at all scales. His undergraduate studies focused on Social & Cognitive Psychology, as well as studio drawing and architectural history. As a designer, his interests conflate autonomous design, historical consciousness, regional form and novel spatial conditions.

5739 Colton Blvd.Oakland, CA 94611james.brewster.joslin@gmail.comjbjoslin@umich.edu419.340.7296

MORE WORK @ www.jbjoslin.com

APPROVED REFERENCES:

Kathy Velikov is my former thesis advisor. She is an Associate Professor at the University of Michigan, and a director of RVTR, a design research practice with studios based in Toronto, ON and Ann Arbor, MI.

305 W Liberty St.Ann Arbor, MI 48103kvelikov@umich.edu734 834 9386

Andrew Holder is my former studio professor and employer. He is currently an Assistant Professor at Harvard University’s GSD. He is a director of The Los Angeles Design Group, LLC (The LADG).

1545 N. Wilcox Ave.Los Angeles, CA 90028aholder@gsd.harvard.edu310.490.6883

Claire Zimmerman is my former teacher, employer and travel companion. She is an Associate Professor of History of Art and the Coordinator of Doctoral Studies in Architecture at the Taubman College of the University of Michigan.

70 E Tappan HallAnn Arbor, MI 48103zimclair@umich.edu734.936.0280

Scott & Katherine MacPherson are architects who practice and teach out of Toledo and Bowling Green, Ohio. They have been close advisers, mentors and employers.

617 Adams St.Toledo, Ohio 436042ma@2marchitects.com419.243.8145