ERIC SHRIPKA

FALL 2014 | ADVANCED GRADUATE OPTION STUDIO

The Italian artist and industrial designer, Bruno Munari, was labeled as the next Michelangelo by artist Pablo Picasso. Munari painted, authored numerous books, created sculptures, chairs, mobiles, and much more.

Like Munari, we explored the book by modifying existing books into objects that can be read by more than just looking at the words. 

Three separate pavilions are sited in three different locations in Munari's hometown of Milan, Italy -- the Rotonda della Bessana, Galleria Vittorio Emanuele, and the Trienniale di Milano. Each pavilion features Munari's paintings, books, or objects  while also using only three geometries- the circle, square, and triangle. These pavilions contradict and question the traditional methods of exhibition works of art.

SPRING 2014 | ADVANCED GRADUATE OPTION STUDIO

St. Louis is comprised of a series of infrastructural networks including the Mississippi River, industrial railroads, highways, and light rail. All of these infrastructural networks require inputs and outputs transporting goods, people, and money. They also create boundaries that in turn create space. Intermodal Convergence is a brewery that plugs-into these existing networks for the critical inputs and outputs of making beer--water, agriculture, and people. The onsite hop farm provides an input for the brewery that has to travel very little distance and can also provide inputs to other local breweries. Grain, other agricultural, and dry goods arrive via the industrial railroad or trucks while people can move to and from the brewery via the MetroLink. The brewery also creates outputs in addition to beer. Spent grain is used to feed the cattle, goats, and other livestock of the onsite petting zoo and furthermore the output of those animals is used as an input to the hop farm. The brewery is a convergence of infrastructure, agriculture, architecture, and the urban environment that further enhances St. Louis’ importance as an epicenter of economic growth, research, technology, and most importantly...beer.

AIAS/KAWNEER DESIGN COMPETITION | COLLABORATION WITH CHAD FISK

An Impromptu is a free-form musical composition with the character of an ex tempore improvisation as if prompted by the spirit of the moment. Like an impromptu, the cultural arts center arrives in the city, free from formal order and immediately expresses the culture and music that is the city. Located between the french quarter and the business district in new orleans, louisiana, “an impromptu” is not just a concert hall, it is a center for the music and arts, celebrating ecology, music, and the city’s culture with a contemporary design that has a dialog with the river and its ecosystem.

FALL 2013 | CORE III GRADUATE STUDIO

A gradient is an increase or decrease in the magnitude of a property (e.g., temperature, pressure, or concentration) observed in passing from one point or moment to another. The active gradient project is situated at the confluence of Interstate Highway 44, the Shrewsbury Metrolink terminal, the River Des Peres Greenway and the diverse residential fabric on the border separating St. Louis City and St. Louis County. The project seeks to capture and stitch together the activity of these assets through a gradient -from Metrolink, to public space, to living space, to relaxing space. The active gradient begins with the highly active spaces of the Metrolink and bus terminals and public spaces, moving to the active spaces of the dwelling such as kitchen and eating spaces, fading to the relaxing and sleeping spaces within the dwelling, and dissolving with the River Des Peres.

Furnish it with Pieces was a design/build seminar course in which we each developed proposals for a public, urban, concrete bench. The initial proposals were analyzed, vetted, and combined resulting in a final proposal that was ultimately developed for production.  My role was refining connection details, fabrication of concrete modules, and construction/assembly of the bench.

The base of the bench is comprised of 3" thick cast concrete modules that are attached in groups of three. The seats and back are made of recycled, plastic lumber. The bench is located at the intersection of Blair and St. Louis Avenues in the Old North neighborhood of St. Louis near a bus stop that sees high pedestrian traffic. 

"FURNISH IT WITH PIECES" | FALL 2013 | Pablo Moyano Fernandez (instructor), Dhay Aldawyan, Qian Huang, Lee Lamoreaux, Reagan Lauder, Rolando Lopez, Zheng Qian, Joseph Vizurraga, Annette Sung, Jing Wang, Hao Zhang, Adam Strobel, Daniel Tynes, Brian Cho, Maria Teresa Maldonado, Eric Shripka, Josey Shaw

SPRING 2013 | CORE II GRADUATE STUDIO

The second of three graduate core design studios, system sections  explored the ideas of geometry, program, and climate into the design of renewable energy research facility in st. louis.

The entrance to the building is slightly contracted, but once beyond the door, both the ceiling and the walls expand outward and upward to reveal an expansive space in which light enters through the roof and the windows to the east that overlooks the cafe and library. From the entrance one is able to see through to the lab areas that are on the north side of the building. Likewise, one can see through from the labs to the entrance as well. expanding beyond the labs is extensive outdoor space that can be used for experiments, planting, or leisure. the building expands and eventually dissolves into the landscape.

Using the slope of the roof and topography, water is directed and captured to help mitigate the buildings disruption of water flow down the hillside. expanding beyond the core of the building, retaining walls help direct and capture water as well. During the summer, a thick tree canopy filters much of the solar exposure coming into the building.

FALL 2012 | CORE I GRADUATE STUDIO

The first of three graduate design core studios, core one studio establishes the foundation of design principles through exploration and understanding of scale, materials, program, landscape, and natural phenomena.

One way of capturing my curiosity is behind the lens. These are just a few of the thousands of photographs I've taken with careful attention to something that piqued my curiosity.