Maple Park
Ann Arbor
Ann Arbor
Although the city of Ann Arbor is a small college suburb of Detroit, the city experiences an extreme housing crisis exacerbated by the old-fassioned exclusionary zoning code. Working for A2 Collaborative we organized four single-family parcels to be rezoned as a planned unit development (PUD). This allowed for a nearly 20x increase in density with 79 new apartment units. Since the site was located along an existing transit route with frequent bus service, we minimized the parking and focused on bike/pedestrian transit.
Following the city’s sustainability initiatives the building has a significant solar array and utilizes geothermal heating and cooling. This project was an effort to increase density, provide 12 new affordable housing units to the market, and meet ambitious sustainability initiatives.
Location:
Ann Arbor. MI
Size: 76,800 SF
Type: Multi-Family Housing
Collaboration:
A2 Collaborative + Architects Design Group + Midwestern Consulting, + Strategic Energy Solutions + Robert Darvas Associates
Status: Approved
Following the city’s sustainability initiatives the building has a significant solar array and utilizes geothermal heating and cooling. This project was an effort to increase density, provide 12 new affordable housing units to the market, and meet ambitious sustainability initiatives.
Location:
Ann Arbor. MI
Size: 76,800 SF
Type: Multi-Family Housing
Collaboration:
A2 Collaborative + Architects Design Group + Midwestern Consulting, + Strategic Energy Solutions + Robert Darvas Associates
Status: Approved
Dartmoor Square
Ann Arbor
Ann Arbor
West Stadium Blvd. is a car-centric stroad on the west side of Ann Arbor. The ‘boulevard’ was recently the subject of a new zoning district called TC-1 (Transit Corridor), and a once commercial parcel was now zoned for mixed-use.
Dartmoor Square was a mixed-use design to become an example of this new zoning district. A2 Collaborative saw a walkable, mass-transit oriented West Stadium Blvd, and with this seven story apartment and commercial project a new standard was to be set.
Location: Ann Arbor. MI
Size: 194,000 SF
Type: Mixed Use
Status: Schematic
Dartmoor Square was a mixed-use design to become an example of this new zoning district. A2 Collaborative saw a walkable, mass-transit oriented West Stadium Blvd, and with this seven story apartment and commercial project a new standard was to be set.
Location: Ann Arbor. MI
Size: 194,000 SF
Type: Mixed Use
Status: Schematic
Murie Glen
Hamburg Township
Hamburg Township
Hamburg Township is a rural / suburban town North of Ann Arbor located along a series of glacial lakes. The city has historically held tightly to its’ identity as a ‘small town’, but recently a city driven push for more elderly affordable housing was added to their zoning code. This project focused on an increase in density and consulting on their zoning code language.
The site is a 42 acre property surrounding a large wetland. The project was originally zoned for 27 homes on one acre lots, but by understanding the zoning code 51 homes became the maximum density with 20 being elderly cottage housing opportunity (ECHO) units. This design intended on creating a classic, dense, Michigan neighborhood while enabling the construction of 20 small ECHO homes.
Location: Hamburg Township, MI
Size: 51 Homes
Type: Single-Family Housing
Collaboration: A2 Collaborative + Midwestern Consulting + Big Sky Development
Status: Under Construction
The site is a 42 acre property surrounding a large wetland. The project was originally zoned for 27 homes on one acre lots, but by understanding the zoning code 51 homes became the maximum density with 20 being elderly cottage housing opportunity (ECHO) units. This design intended on creating a classic, dense, Michigan neighborhood while enabling the construction of 20 small ECHO homes.
Location: Hamburg Township, MI
Size: 51 Homes
Type: Single-Family Housing
Collaboration: A2 Collaborative + Midwestern Consulting + Big Sky Development
Status: Under Construction
Home
Michigan
Michigan
The single-family home has been a catastrophic adaptation of city planning and has consistently increased in size. This does not mean that every single-family home is unsustainable. These homes should be responsibly placed in an adequate density and proximate to essential services. I am proposing smaller, denser living with walkable streets and a mixture of use types in every neighborhood.
These are proposals to densify exisitng single-family lots with ADU’s and smaller homes like the almost non-existant one bedroom home. The ideal density should be 8,000 people per square mile (2x the national urban average).
These are proposals to densify exisitng single-family lots with ADU’s and smaller homes like the almost non-existant one bedroom home. The ideal density should be 8,000 people per square mile (2x the national urban average).
Graphic
A2 Collaborative
A2 Collaborative
Today communication is everything. Using graphics on websites, social media, with clients, and through email can mean the difference between trust and scam. How we as designers demonstrate our capabilities can connect people with a vision and build support for an idea.
Website Creation:
a2collab.com
tristansnyder.com - currently viewing
Social Media Creation:
a2collaborative - Instagram
a2collaborative - Facebook
Website Creation:
a2collab.com
tristansnyder.com - currently viewing
Social Media Creation:
a2collaborative - Instagram
a2collaborative - Facebook
Asphalt to Architecture
University of Michigan
Professor: Bryan Boyer
University of Michigan
Professor: Bryan Boyer
The act of driving was one of the defining features of the American experience through the 20th and early 21st centuries. An automobile, guided by the lone individual was, at its best, a liberating thrill of possibility as one exercised pure freedom going 90 miles an hour down the interstate, and, at its worst, a loud, “f*** you”, screamed at the moron causing a traffic jam. The year 2050 is defined by a much different experience… Instead of worrying about the traffic on the way to work, you enjoy an espresso while reading the morning news about the last glacier melting. The vehicle that was once a metaphor for your life, in which you spent a disturbing portion of your time yelling at complete strangers (sometimes the accidental family friend), is now your publicly owned chauffeur. Today the six seater City Car glides through the streets picking up your commuting neighbors for their daily office job. Stops are fewer, the ride is smoother, and it’s a whole lot easier on the pocketbook.
Spirit of the Stepwell
University of Michigan
Professor: Maria Arquero
Collab.: Jess Yelk and Gwen Gel
University of Michigan
Professor: Maria Arquero
Collab.: Jess Yelk and Gwen Gel
The heat is already unbearable as the sun rises slowly over Ahmedabad. The air is dense, heavy with humidity. In the late summer, tensions are high as all the residents of the City - young and old, biped and quadruped, flora and fauna - anticipate the break in the weather. The monsoon will arrive any time now.
Ahmedabad first appeared in recorded history in 1411. At that time, the Sultan Ahmed Shah*, built the city along the Eastern Banks of the Sabarmati River in the traditional Islamic-Indian tradition. In 1487, the grandson of Sultan Ahmed Shah, Mahmud Shah built a wall around the city which contained twelve gates. Times of peace and times of conflict shaped the city. The conquering and warring empires of the Mughals, the Marathas, and the British, contributed to the city in its current iteration.
The climate and seasonality make sustaining human civilization a challenge. The semi-arid region has three seasons, winter, summer, and monsoon. The eight months of summer and winter are very dry, while the four months of monsoon are saturated. The eight months of summer dry the ground and the rivers. The monsoon months recharge groundwater every season, fills streams, and hydrates the earth.*
The ancient method of wells are used to address months without precipitation and the months with an abundance of water. Compared to a traditional well, Stepwells have steps leading down to the water’s edge, rather than a rope to lift water from the well. Often, Stepwells are multiple stories deep with landings for resting. Overtime, this became a place where people, especially women of all castes, gathered in Ahmedabad. The Spirit of the Stepwell, providing a space for utilitarian water usage and a space for social gathering, can be found all around Ahmedabad in new and old manifestations. My name is Tanvi. I am the Caretaker of the Stepwell, together we will explore the city through the eyes of different people each discovering places, new and old, which embody the Spirit of the Stepwell.
Ahmedabad first appeared in recorded history in 1411. At that time, the Sultan Ahmed Shah*, built the city along the Eastern Banks of the Sabarmati River in the traditional Islamic-Indian tradition. In 1487, the grandson of Sultan Ahmed Shah, Mahmud Shah built a wall around the city which contained twelve gates. Times of peace and times of conflict shaped the city. The conquering and warring empires of the Mughals, the Marathas, and the British, contributed to the city in its current iteration.
The climate and seasonality make sustaining human civilization a challenge. The semi-arid region has three seasons, winter, summer, and monsoon. The eight months of summer and winter are very dry, while the four months of monsoon are saturated. The eight months of summer dry the ground and the rivers. The monsoon months recharge groundwater every season, fills streams, and hydrates the earth.*
The ancient method of wells are used to address months without precipitation and the months with an abundance of water. Compared to a traditional well, Stepwells have steps leading down to the water’s edge, rather than a rope to lift water from the well. Often, Stepwells are multiple stories deep with landings for resting. Overtime, this became a place where people, especially women of all castes, gathered in Ahmedabad. The Spirit of the Stepwell, providing a space for utilitarian water usage and a space for social gathering, can be found all around Ahmedabad in new and old manifestations. My name is Tanvi. I am the Caretaker of the Stepwell, together we will explore the city through the eyes of different people each discovering places, new and old, which embody the Spirit of the Stepwell.
The Hill
University of Michigan
Professors: Lars and Christina Grabner
Collab.: Lovejeet Geholt and Shahryar Beyzavi
University of Michigan
Professors: Lars and Christina Grabner
Collab.: Lovejeet Geholt and Shahryar Beyzavi
In response to a demand for alternative housing solutions in the City of Detroit, “The Hill” reacts to emerging lifestyles. It presents a unique concept of urban agglomeration that tunes with the needs of residents, while strengthening the values of community gathering and social inclusiveness. “The Hill” amidst the Eastern Market aims to provide spaces of congregation on various levels. Shared kitchens for single residents, communal spaces for the neighborhood and a bazaar expanding to the existing Eastern Market with a hilly roof garden accessible to the city. The project is conceived primarily in cross-laminated timber construction.
House San Antonio
HUD Competition
Collab: Will Deutch
HUD Competition
Collab: Will Deutch
Providing affordable housing to residents at various income and need levels is one of the site’s most important goals. The team is keenly aware, however, of the limitations that often accompany affordable housing developments and seeks to address these limitations through a unique modular design structure. Units will be manufactured off-site at a Cavco Homes factory in Seguin, TX and slotted into the structural frame constructed onsite. The studio, one, two, and three-bedroom units are designed to be transported by standard-sized trucks, allowing for easy, cost-efficient shipment and minimizing disruption caused by onsite construction. Each unit has certain customizable features, such as patio design, allowing residents the opportunity to choose aspects that will work best for their households.
Recognizing that our residents will be at several different income levels and stages of life— factors which change frequently and quickly— Station Five-50 is designed to provide not just affordability, but also opportunity for mobility. The flexible modular design plan allows each unit to be removed and replaced, providing a path to homeownership with a leg up from public assistance. Our units are designed such that they need few additional features aside from utility hookups to become standalone homes, and thus each household will have the opportunity to purchase the unit at a reduced cost and move it offsite with ease. This unique renter-to-homeowner program is intended to prevent yearly resident turnover by providing an incentive to invest in future homeownership. At the same time, the mobility of units will address the common issue of inadequate maintenance of affordable housing developments; cycling new units in and old units out will allow the site to remain well-maintained. Just as our modular unit structure gives our residents room to grow, Station Five-50 has room to grow itself. The structural frame is designed such that, in addition to housing modules, units providing green community space can be slotted in to our upper floors. As more funding for the site becomes available, and as housing demand grows, these green spaces can be replaced with housing units. The structure is designed to grow and adapt vertically, providing unmatched opportunities for residents, a high standard of maintenance, and an ability to meet growing demand.
Recognizing that our residents will be at several different income levels and stages of life— factors which change frequently and quickly— Station Five-50 is designed to provide not just affordability, but also opportunity for mobility. The flexible modular design plan allows each unit to be removed and replaced, providing a path to homeownership with a leg up from public assistance. Our units are designed such that they need few additional features aside from utility hookups to become standalone homes, and thus each household will have the opportunity to purchase the unit at a reduced cost and move it offsite with ease. This unique renter-to-homeowner program is intended to prevent yearly resident turnover by providing an incentive to invest in future homeownership. At the same time, the mobility of units will address the common issue of inadequate maintenance of affordable housing developments; cycling new units in and old units out will allow the site to remain well-maintained. Just as our modular unit structure gives our residents room to grow, Station Five-50 has room to grow itself. The structural frame is designed such that, in addition to housing modules, units providing green community space can be slotted in to our upper floors. As more funding for the site becomes available, and as housing demand grows, these green spaces can be replaced with housing units. The structure is designed to grow and adapt vertically, providing unmatched opportunities for residents, a high standard of maintenance, and an ability to meet growing demand.
City Hall
University of Michigan
Professor: Julia McMorrough
University of Michigan
Professor: Julia McMorrough
Lasting government can only be accomplished through trust. Today the government's city hall has failed in its architectural representation. Today the city hall is a glorified office building that does not have meaningful interaction with the public. This design is discussing the office-like city hall program in relation to other civic amenities the architecture can provide. The building is wrapped in a homogeneous punctured band that contains a myriad of engaging programs contouring a central public court. The city hall program adjacent to a recreation center, a public archive, a food pantry, and a separate council hall, all within a monolithic exterior.