Welcome to the online portfolio of John Snavely.
About
I am a recent graduate of the Masters of Architecture program at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. My portfolio covers of wide range of projects including architecture, product design, videogames, print publications, interface design and interactive art. I design things that are beautiful, useful, surprising and thoughtful.
I am currently employed at Microsoft as a UX Designer in the Envisioning Group of Office Labs. I blog at choicelessness.wordpress.com. Please feel free to download a copy of my CV (pdf) or contact me for further work samples, questions or comments. Thank you.
Contact
john@kaschaandjohn.com
(646) 283 - 7386
405 N. Bowdoin Pl.
Seattle, WA 98103
Master's Thesis
My Master's Thesis in Architecture at MIT investigates the potential of opportunistic borrowing and blatant reference—a postmodern approach used by architects in the 70's and 80's—through a renovation that reinstates a movie palace into a 99 cent store in Williamsburg Brooklyn.
PS1 Finalist
LOOP, MyStudio's (now HY Architecture) PS1 competition entry, was one of the three finalists exhibited at MOMA in New York. I developed mathematical models that computationally generated the concept of "bubbles".
Images courtesy of HY Architecture.
MIT Miniskyscraper
We won $7000 to design and build a 40 ft. interactive, actuated, robotic miniskyscraper. The tower was parametrically designed using advanced fabrication & construction techniques and went on to win 1st Place in the 2006 Tensinet Competition.
Team: P. Block, A. Kilian, P. Schmitt and J. Snavely
Volume Magazine
With Ole Bouman and Archis, I guest edited the Unsolicited Issue of Volume Magazine in Amsterdam. Featuring the work of the Office of Unsolicited Architecture, a design firm and studio at MIT in which I was a partner, the issue centered on reclaiming territory for architects & architecture.
Team: A. Brennen, R. Murphy, S. Shen
UNSOLICITED INTERACTIVES
OUA WEBSITE
Hewlett-Packard TouchSmart
As a freelancer for Invivia, I developed a functional prototype (written in Adobe Flash) for the new HP Touchsmart computer. The touch interface is a virtual whiteboard that allows users to jot down messages, exchange photos, and make voice recordings on "post-it" notes. Written, voice or image notes can be tagged, grouped, placed inside a calendar or shared.
SAMPLE INTERACTION VIDEO
Spacefighters
With Winy Maas, we developed a multiplayer videogame that "the complexity of time based competitive urban developments." First exhibited in 2007 at the Architecture Biennale Rotterdam, the game features up to four players, each using a Wii-mote, simultaneously competing for resources to build urban structures.
Team: K. Biswas, T. Plewe, S. Kim, S. Avecilla, J. Snavely
GAMEPLAY VIDEO
Roxbury Cafe & Lounge
We were approached by the Vice President of Roxbury Community College to design a student lounge & cafe. In addition to furniture and finishes, we also designed an innovative system for "information exchange." Wrapping continuously around the space, one surface becomes as a bulletin board, shelving for school newspapers and magazines and a projection surface for digital media.
Team: S. Perdue, J. Snavely, M. Webster
Cellphone Touch Kiosk
For Invivia, I developed an interface that would allow users to try different types of cellphones without a real phone. Users can search for a phone through a menu of criteria, then use the touch interface to interact with a 3d version of the phone. A user could demo hundreds of models without retail assistance. This prototype is still in progress.
INTERACTIVE DEMO
WWWA at Art Interactive
One of three Turbulence Grant Award Winners in 2006 shown at Art Interactive, WWWA is an interactive, pneumatic sculpture that users can communicate with via a web-based interface. Coordinated efforts between online users can produce unexpected choreographies. In physical space, interaction is proximate, learned, and social.
WWWA is a commission of New Radio and Performing Arts.
Dustbunny v1.0
Dustbunny is an interactive tool, written in Adobe Flash, for space creation and manipulation. The software is currently being used to design a chair based upon a user's bodily motion.
Still in progress, Dustbunny v2.0, featuring a Wii based interface, will debut at the presentation of the paper "Inside Out: Non-Cartesian Architectural Representational Tools," at the AAG Conference 2008.
INTERACTIVE DEMO
Mobius Research
For the "Elegance" issue of the Architectural Design (AD) Series, I was commissioned by Meejin Yoon of MyStudio to research additional mathematical possibilities of her Mobius Dress. From the research into Mobius strips and their variations, I designed a series of diagrams, showing how cuts and twists could produce various unusual effects, including knotting. (Unpublished)
Images courtesy of HY Architecture.
Invivia Website
As a freelancer, I was brought into Invivia to help redesign the company's website. Invivia's new web presence reflects their innovative approach to elegant design, while showcasing the incredible quality and range of their various projects. Developed using Adobe Flash, it features dynamic video, images and text backed by a editable xml content management system.
VISIT THE WEBSITE
© Copyright 2008, John Snavely, unless specified otherwise. Site built using Blueprint and Lightbox. This site looks better in Firefox. Archive: kaschaandjohn.com v2.0