julia taubert / portfolio

julia taubert / CV

contactaddressphonee-mail

eidelstedter weg 255c / 25469 halstenbek / germany+49 (0)151 15 25 56 75

mail (at) juliataubert.de

education09/2010 - 07/2012

10/2007 - 07/2009

10/2005 - 09/2007

08/1995 - 06/2004

master of science in architecturetu delft / the netherlands

department of architecture

bachelor of arts in architecturehafencity university hamburg / germany

department of architecture

intermediate diplomarwth aachen university / germany

department of architecture

gymnasium schenefeld / germanymajors: arts / english / politics / biology

relevant work experience12/2012 - now

08/2009 - 07/2010

06/2005 - 09/2005

08/2004 - 05/2005

lh architekten / hamburg / germanyfreelance work

sehw architekten / hamburg / germanyfreelance work

likoo | möbel in form gmbh / hamburg / germanyinternship (carpentry)

akyol gullotta kamps architekten / hamburg / germanyinternship

intereststravellingcooking

languagesgermanenglishdutchspanishfrench

nativefluentbasicbasicbasic

skillsofficecadgraphics3d

ms office / iworkvectorworks / autocad / nemetschek allplan / archicad

photoshop / indesign / illustratorsketchup / rhino / cinema 4d / v-ray

MASTER THESISuniversity library

amsterdam

The intention of the design for the new University Li-brary Amsterdam was to create a part of an urban fabric in the city, which serves both the students and the public, as the location addresses not only mem-bers of the university but also a broader audience. This circumstance gives the new library building an ever more important character and obligation to-wards the city. Hence the entrance situation, linking the inner and outer environment, plays a major role in my design. It is essentially a third space, which makes a gradual transition as the user goes through from the first space (outside) to the second (inside).To embed the new library building into the urban fabric of the site, it was crucial to take a close look at the immediate surroundings. The Roetersstraat leads the students from the campus to the site, where a public square, revealing the quality of the waterside, opens up. To emphasize the impor-tance of the building function, the square is elevat-ed on a higher level. This plinth features a green sloped part which refers to the park-like area at the water´s edge. Next to this grassed area one finds a pavilion which serves as a connector with the surrounding institutions. The existing building typol-ogy adjacent to the site show the local row house typology with dwellings. To open up the possibility of creating a new typology, this continuous line is ended by a building that houses bike parking for the library. The Roeterseiland campus with its massive building blocks from the late 1960s form another strong element within the existing urban fabric. The big cube, which houses the new library is a reac-tion on this typology, both in position and size.

“Nothing is experienced by itself, but always in relation to its surroundings,the sequences of events leading up to it,

the memory of past experience”

Kevin Lynch

In order to find an answer to both offering a welcoming and open gesture towards the public while still addressing a particular user group, the students, the library building itself closes itself off from its surroundings. Despite its very presence in size, this approach is re-flected in the facade expression of the build-ing. It is covered by a metal mesh, which serves as a curtain, hiding away what is happening behind. The only side where this curtain is opening up is to be found to-wards the Singel, where the students find an outside space for themselves, which is not accessible for the general public. There is only one niche, that provides a sheltered

space towards the plinth without giving insight into the building, nor serving as the entrance.

Once you are on top of the plinth a courtyard in front of the building volume caves into the plat-form. This patio generates the entrance to the li-brary building. A flight of stairs leads to the low-er level, which forms the basement of the library. The courtyard´s purpose is not only to enter the library but also to create an informal place for encounter as well as it forms a terrace for the adjacent café in the basement. This part of the library is accessible for everyone and integrates the public, which will use the plinth as part of the neighborhood, into the academic institution.

When entering the building the view is di-rected to the central information desk of the library, which helps the students to orientate themselves easily. A big sculptural staircase is disclosed to the visitor when standing at the help desk. It leads the student into the main part of the study centre. When arriving on the ground floor an atrium opens up and disclos-es the inner life of the library. Varying rela-tionships of openings and balustrades around the atrium already reveal a differentiation of spaces on every floor, some seem to be more open, others more closed and private. The vertical movement is visible although separat-ed from the atrium by a translucent wall. This simplifies the orientation inside the building while still keeping the atrium itself clean. Fur-thermore it does not take away the accentua-tion of the spiral staircase, being the entrance element to the cube, coming from the base-ment. I believe that this sequence of entering the building allows for different degrees of publicity and connects the library to the public square and keeping a certain mystery and ex-clusiveness for the students at the same time.The starting point for developing the interior of my library building was to offer a wide range of study spaces. Although there might be some aspects that apply to all students, I think that every person is different and hence prefers different study environments. Therefore one of my main goals was to of-fer a big variety of different study spaces to fulfill the needs of all types of students. Simplicity in materialization create a uni-fying moment of those various spaces.

The problem I was confronted with working on this project was, how to make use of a deteriorated chocolate factory in Bussum, the Netherlands. The municipality of Bussum counts about 30,000 inhabitants and is one of the wealthiest of the country. The center of the small town is located north of the plot and can be reached by foot easily. Nevertheless there are railroad tracks situ-ated along the site, which mark a strong barrier, as trains are running about every 15 minutes.

At the beginning of the design process I made a decision on which buildings of the complex were worth keeping and which were better to be tak-en down. Only three of the buildings seemed to have potential for reuse as the factory has been transformed and modified throughout many de-cades, latest additions dating from the 1990s. Furthermore much of the existing structure was in bad condition and even dangerous to enter. The idea on an urban level for the new addi-tions derived from the position of the plot. Al-though the chocolate factory was located in close vicinity to the center, the existing railroad tracks prevented the area to be recognized as a vivid part of the municipality of Bussum.

The stretched out new building, situated along the tracks, was shaped to create an entrance and wel-come people into an inner passage and court, which is situated between the building masses. It was im-portant to keep the longitudinal orientation of the plot to maintain its original layout, and refer to the former production processes. Moreover it creates a visual as well as an acoustical barrier to the railroad.

reuse of an oldchocolate factory

Another aspect was, that the industrial typol-ogy shows an exceptional disparity to its sur-roundings, which is composed of family houses. Therefore one of the major goals for the new urban design was to create a complex, that constitutes a strong unity, as it used to be a closed off arrangement of building parts, when the factory was still in use.

The hybrid program of the complex hosts pub-lic as well as private functions. A supermarket and bakery serve as an attractor at the entrance of the plot, while the inner pedestrian walkway feature services for the inhabitants. The pas-sage ends in a small public square surrounded by the old buildings. They host a community center, a café, a restaurant and an art gallery.

The exterior streets are reserved for entrances to private housing and offices, to create a clear distinction between public and private space.

I worked on this project as a part of a team, consisting of one of the office´s part-ners and two other freelancers. Mainly I de-veloped the ground plans to the design.

The idea of this competition entry was to comple-te the existing post-war architecture of the grindel area in hamburg and the surrounding housing units built during the period of promoterism with a new architectural typology. The sculptural sha-pe of the new building follows a conception that puts the existing basement in the center of atten-tion. The design represents a vanishing volume to create a unity with the surrounding landscape.

Thanks to the high flexibility of the building the offered space can be used in several ways. On every main floor you can find three par-tial levels with 80 square metres each. The-se levels can be connected to either 80, 160 or 240 square metres. This facilitates a com-bination of residential and office occupancy.The former laundry, which is listed as a monu-ment, can be used as an office or a restaurant as well as for shops. Other uses are possible, too.

The facade of the new building is conceived to be built as a curtain wall consisting of translucent glass to underline the light weight character of the building.

reuse of an old laundry building

competition entry with sehw architekten hamburg

The main goal of the project was to develop an international center for contemporary art and culture in an old storage building in Hamburg.The project was carried out in cooperation with two gallery owners, who were planning to realize a project like this to strengthen the art scene of Hamburg in general, and of the HafenCity (one of the major urban develop-ments in Europe at the moment) in particular. The so-called Artblock constitutes a home base for artists, art collectors and traders as well as it creates an attraction for art lovers and novic-es. It is thought to be a place not only for ex-hibitions, art-fairs and -events, but also a place for communication, reflection and experience. A mixed concept, combining art, consumerism and services ensure the economic sustainability. Ten international galleries form the heart of the Art-block. The design goal was to develop a spatial concept, that connects those galleries to a modern “Promenade Architecturale”. Furthermore it was necessary to establish urban interventions in form of satellites, located in the city center of Hamburg, to present the idea of the Artblock to the public. The neogothic storage building, dating from 1888, is part of the largest contiguous warehouse complex in the world and was used as storage and transit point for cargo, such as coffee, tea and spices. The building is composed of six detached houses, which are separated from each other by fire break walls.

BACHELOR THESISartblock hamburg

a new center for artin collaboration with

catharina gauda (hcu hamburg)

The design approach of the project deals with the principle of contradiction. Originally, the storage house was strictly oriented from north to south to bring freight from the canal in the North to the road in the South, with the possibility to store goods in between.To adjust the building for the new function this ori-entation was not suitable anymore. To facilitate strolling through the future exhibition it was nec-essary to turn the orientation 90°. The eastern and western front facades constitute the new main entrances. They create big new openings to drag the public into the Artblock. An essential design goal was to create a vast amount of circulation area, which allows for extensive sauntering from gallery to gallery. Interventions at the facade make the transformation visible from the outside. Due to poor substance of the existing building materials and a very narrow column grid, the inner struc-ture of the storage house is planned to be taken down nearly completely. Only the compartment walls which separate the six detached houses from each other and the attic will be preserved.

The shape and position of the gallery houses are based on the old column grid. The interior prom-enade is separated into two levels connected by escalators, which address the issue of consumer-ism. Five big wedge-shaped boxes, are piercing through these walls to blaze a new trail through the Artblock. They each host two galleries on two levels as well as a second function like a museum,

“Opposition brings concord. Out of discord comes the

fairest harmony.”

Heraclitus

a restaurant or a walkable platform. The exist-ing, now punctured walls serve as impediments to break the view through the 180 m long build-ing block. The reversed orientation of the gallery boxes creates new ways through the length of the building without noticing the whole space at once. Moreover the five-sided shape of the gallery houses reveal ever new visual axises and view-points, while walking through the Artblock. On top of two galleries one finds a slightly sloped roof-landscape. Those surfaces not only offer the pos-sibility to perceive the gallery-landscape from a dif-ferent perspective, but allows time and space for reflection. Three of the interior houses have a third level, where two small museums and a restaurant are located. The museums pierce through the attic to connect it to the rest of the building. The upper level is decoupled from the gallery complex. Here artists are offered cheap workshops and ateliers, where they can unfold their creativity. They also find small shops where they find material needed.

The blooming HafenCity already presents a wide range of entertainment options, architec-ture and culture. In order to establish art as an integral part of the new district, the Artblock ini-tiative campaigns for a contemporary art center.

To bind the Artblock not only to the HafenCity but also to the city of Hamburg in general, so-called satellites are positioned at prominent locations, which also refer to the concept of contradiction. They are located along the circular rampart, that Hamburg erected in the 17th century. They were converted into green areas and railroad tracks in the beginning 19th century. The central station still marks this now obsolete border. Around the sta-tion the city´s museums are situated. An abstrac-tion of the old circular rampart shows that the Art-block serves as a connector between the green areas and the museums. In earlier times, when the rampart still secured the city from intruders, several gates connected Hamburg to its surround-ings. This remnants was taken as a starting point for the idea of the satellites. The shaping is bor-rowed from the gallery houses. As before in the Artblock the sculptural pavilions create a spatial experience for the visitor, while walking through them. Again the orientation is rotated 90° to the original direction of the gates. Each satellite acts as a link in a chain and points the way to the next satellite until reaching the connector, the Artblock.

living at the waterside

dock in magdeburgin collaboration with

catharina gauda (hcu hamburg)

The urban design of this project envisages a strong separation between private and public areas. In the north of the plot there is a large open space. It is divided by a broad axis, which finds its begin-ning at a kiosk, holding information on boat trips etc, and its end in a café next to a newly erected promenade at the water´s edge. The axis symbo-lizes the line of sight to the Cathedral of Magde-burg, which is located at the other side of the river.

The elongated waterside at the southeast of the plot features perfect conditions for a life at and with the water. This lead to the decision to erect dwelling units here. Each house opens widely towards a big green area in the East and the waterside on the West. The design offers two different kinds of buildings, se-midetached houses and maisonettes. These houses are linked to a semiprivate spacious dock for the purpose of making the line of houses appear as a unit. Moreover it creates berths for private boats.

Thanks to the new shape of the riverside a con-vergency to the existing neck of land is made. This creates an entry to the private landing stages and separates from the public maritime traffic.

The starting point for this project was to create a luxurious urban villa based on the archetype of an ordinary house. The villa is located in one of Hamburgs exclusive quarters, that provides a suitable framework for a family house like this. The idea derived from the mentality of people from Hamburg, who are known to be very discreet regarding their wealthiness.

The program is distributed on four levels. From the outside however, the position of the windows evoke the sense of a three story building. This fa-cade idea addresses a certain simplicity and un-derstatement, and refers to the archetype concept.

The house features an ascending degree of priva-cy throughout the different levels. The ground floor serves for rather representative occasions. The second floor is dedicated to a more private living area, including a library. The third floor is reserved for the children of the family. The degree of privacy culminates in the uppermost floor, where the bed-rooms and bathrooms of the owners are located.

The staircase constitutes a central element in the layout of the house. It is designed in a modern and minimal way to combine with the modest ap-pearance of the villa itself. Nevertheless it is a ref-erence to a large entrance hall of a prestigious manner, which is usually found in villas of this size.

urban villa hamburg

in collaboration with catharina gauda (hcu hamburg)

The design for a boathouse at the Mülheimer Hafen in Cologne (Germany) envisions a stretched out structure, which opens up largely to the wa-terside. The front of the boat hall is equipped with big, translucent doors to underline this ap-proach. The back side on the other hand con-stitutes an enclosed character, which enhances the effect of the opening in the front even more.

Big sliding elements constitute a central component of the design. They are found all over the building and play a major role for the interior and exterior circulation. The front facade can be opened to the waterside completely. This allows for direct access of the boats into the shed in order to save circula-tion space inside the building. The back side of the building features the main entrance for employees, boat owners and visitors. It is carved into the fa-cade of the boathouse and is provided with sliding doors as well. In case of exhibitions or other public events, the glazed entrance doors can be opened extensively. The theme of the gliding elements continues inside the boathouse in a smaller scale for openings to workshops and storage spaces.

A circular gallery strengthens the orientation to the waterside and allows the visitor to take a tour through the hall in case of an exhibition of the boats.

boathousecologne

in collaboration with kathrin dietsche, michael schoener,

florian summa & katrin tacke (rwth aachen)

julia taubert

eidelstedter weg 255c / 25469 halstenbek / germany+49 (0) 151 15 25 56 75

mail (at) juliataubert.de