Architectural Graduate & Professional Portfolio

PORTFOLIO
GRADUATE & PROFESSIONAL WORK
TYLER J. GRAFF
MASTERS OF ARCHITECTURE FROM
MONTANA STATE UNIVERSITY

TABLE OF CONTENTS
GRADUATE & PROFESSIONAL WORK

RHIZOMATIC
COLLABORATION
THESIS PROJECT
An in depth look at architecture collaboration tactics through
the lens of a mixed use building (Vertical Farming & Low
Income Housing).
GALLATIN COLLEGE
EXPANSION
CUMULATIVE STUDIO
The centralization of the Gallatin Community College, which
currently rents from many establishments around Bozeman. The
project reanalyzes a transformed American Dream.
NEW YORK
MEMORIAL
EXPERIMENTAL STUDIO
A physical inquiry into the life of a child slave. The design
process within this experimental studio required heavy use of
the media/medium of collage.
FURNITURE FOR
CHEEVER HALL
GROUP ELECTIVE
After a lapse in design-build classes, a new resurgence happened
within the student body. Using teamwork, a set of booths was
designed and built by the students , for the students.
SMALL SHELTERS
FOR THE HOMELESS
GROUP ELECTIVE
A group of students and professors worked together to design a
new method to help transients of Bozeman. The project raised
$30,000 to support design-build classes for future semesters.
TALUS
ARCHITECTURE
PROFESSIONAL PRACTICE
“Stone, fire, wood, and glass are elements that create an emotion
of place.” This motto drives Talus Architecture and its residential
and small commercial design.
EXPERIMENTAL
GUITAR
MATERIALS ELECTIVE
A luthier has a difficult trade which is highly rewarding. The
first acoustic guitar offers extensive delicate design and wood
working which rewards patience and attention to detail.

RHIZOMATIC
COLLABORATION
THESIS PROJECT
Project
The design of this vertical farm and low income housing master
plan creates a functional expansion to the existing landscape.
With its lifted parks, marketplace corridor, and completely
accessible byways intertwining the building, the public is invited
to mingle within a constantly evolving communal space. As one
ascends the building, they move from public, to shared space,
to private space as they pass through the elevated lobbies and
guest access spaces of the vertical farm. Each apartment is
outfi tted to allow two sides of natural light to enter the room. This
trait offers views, saves energy, and benefi ts the life within those
spaces. A selection of these apartments will be saved for the
commercial fi sherman of Fishermen’s Terminal.

Winter Daylight
Analysis
Winter Daylight
Analysis
Fall Daylight
Analysis
Fall Daylight
Analysis
Summer
Daylight Analysis
Summer Daylight
Analysis
Winter Daylight
Analysis
Winter Daylight
Analysis
Fall Daylight
Analysis
Fall Daylight
Analysis
Summer
Daylight Analysis
Summer Daylight
Analysis
Fruits and Vegetables
Meat, Dairy, Flour
http://www.fda.gov
Process
The two year project began with a written thesis examining
two extremes of design team organization: rhizomatic (fl uid)
organization and linear (orthogonal) organization. This project
sought to test the differences and similarities by employing both
methods with a mixed team of consultants (ranging from civil
engineering students to the head of the Plant Growth Science
Building at Montana State University). These methods tested the
effi ciency and effectiveness at different points in the design time
line. During these meetings, information was recorded, analyzed,
and acted upon by the head designer.

RHIZOMATIC COLLABORATION
Process
As the project evolved, new consultants were introduced,
such as a structural engineer and an interior design professor.
This continued the examination of the hypotheses introduced
in the paper. The compression of this information into design
combined hand drawn tactics, computer analysis, research,
parametric design (grasshopper), and computer modeling/
rendering to obtain the fi nal result. Grasshopper
with Rhino was used to create multiple 3D iterations
of the interior spaces between the vertical farm
space to bring light all the way to the ground fl oor.

Conclusion
After testing the different organization methods throughout the project, it became apparent that each method has its benefi cial
uses. The more fl uid, rhizomatic process was excellent to progress design in inventive and new ways, creating opportunities for
innovation. The linear process was exceptional at tying down required measurements and further progressing semi-concrete
decisions that had at one point seemed stagnant. Intertwining both methods, where appropriate, yielded the fi nal result.

GALLATIN COLLEGE
EXPANSION
CUMULATIVE STUDIO
Project
The Gallatin Community College (GCC)
campus is currently spread throughout
Bozeman, Montana. Some of the
distances between classrooms can be
up to a 30 minute drive. A mostly vacant
lot across the street from Bozeman High
School has been selected to host a
centralized location to bring more classes
into a singular space. The location will
house not only regular classrooms, but
also custom shop classes focused on the
trades.
The new GCC Expansion offers centralized
spaces for meeting between classes,
multiple classrooms located based on a
plethora of constraints outlined by the
dean, and a location for the public to
enter and rediscover the opportunities of
college. Not only created for the current
student, but also for prospective students,
this new campus redefi nes
the American Dream as
plausible for people from all
walks of life.
Private
Mixed
Public
Main
Connections

GALLATIN COLLEGE EXPANSION
Process
Using the information gathered
(both initially as a class and later
independently), as well as personal
research on the evolution of the
American Dream, a concept emerged.
The concept of demonstrating the United
States class system struggle using the
rediscovery of the site’s beauty (after
being labeled trash by most) began by
establishing anomaly points on the site.
After completing extensive research,
initial discoveries were made using
photography. The design was then
progressed forward using sketch methods
blended with the adjacency diagram.
Following this, light analysis & reliefs were
tested using Dynamo (parametric design
tool) & Revit. Systems & wall sections
were introduced towards
the middle of the design
& fi nalized using computer
modeling technology.

Conclusion
The discoveries made during this project offered a new
understanding of analysis techniques that were enhanced
by group work. Another insight that was discovered was
how community design with real people from a community
works. A strong amount of program & code analysis also
gave clarity to the future work required in offi ces.

Project
NEW YORK
MEMORIAL
EXPERIMENTAL STUDIO
The New York Memorial to Child Slaves carries a heavy presence upon entry. As
the visitor walks through the halls and spaces, they are introduced to the causes of
child slavery, are then confronted with the destruction it causes, and fi nally are
given a space to refl ect upon this new knowledge. Once returned
back onto the Highline, they can refl ect as they re-explore New York
with a new understanding.

Conclusion
The goal of this experimental study was to discover, design,
and demonstrate architecture through the media/medium of
collage. Each new step was depicted with the use of collage in
some aspect.
The Highline in New York was selected as a site due to its close
proximity to the railroad lines and old production facilities,
which at one point housed workers who were forced to work in
less than ideal situations. The design itself is an interpretation of
child slavery, and its effects upon children. Allowing people to
become lost within the main central space of this infi ll touches
on the feeling of the child slave being lost to their
environment in every way. The goal of the space is to
give the visitor new appreciation for the environment
in which they live, and to expose the visitor to the
corruption required to create a slave’s lifestyle.

FURNITURE FOR
CHEEVER HALL
GROUP ELECTIVE
Project
A new experimental class
mixing code analysis,
design, and construction
was introduced to create
furniture within the School of
Architecture at Montana State
University. The space had to
fulfi ll allowances for fi re safety,
as well as be detachable.
The project began with two
groups taking on different roles,
some meeting with facilities to
discover the potential options,
the other meeting with student
groups to offer design ideas
and needs. After rigorous
analysis, the two groups came
together to complete the
booth seating in the upper
hallway of Cheever Hall. The
glass tables allow for erasable
marker work, and the wood
and steel cables meet all code
requirements, while adding light
to an otherwise dark space.

SMALL SHELTERS
FOR THE HOMELESS
GROUP ELECTIVE
Project
The Small Shelters for the Homeless class was the initial phase in a series of classes to offer housing to
the homeless of Bozeman. The team of students began design in four groups, then combined ideas
and created two full scale models out of cardboard to raise funding through the community. The
version depicted above is the ADA accessible unit. The units were designed to be assembled off
site, then moved on site and are intended to be the minimal size acceptable by current Bozeman
City Standards. Our initial class was able to raise $30,000 dollars through different sources, and the
physical construction of one of these models has been established for the summer of 2017.

TALUS
ARCHITECTURE
PROFESSIONAL PRACTICE
Residential Work
Copywrite Agreement: These project designs, plans, and imagery (on the two present pages) belong to Talus Architects. If anything is
used, replicated, or stolen from these designs/images the responsible party will be prosecuted to the full extent of the law.

Commercial Work
Info
The experience gained from Talus Architecture has been in both
residential & commercial design. One task I was given (besides
design and drafting work) was to create a Revit Template for an
initially CAD only offi ce and integrate it in a way that offered an
easy transition option for Talus’s owner, Nathan Peckinpaugh. Using
my deep knowledge of Revit, I was able to create in depth self
building schedules, predrawn details, and an initial process which
fi t with Nathan’s current design process. Throughout my time with
Nathan, I have been exposed to numerous construction methods
through physical site visits, as well as in person meetings.
All images visible have been worked on by both Nathan and I.

EXPERIMENTAL
GUITAR
MATERIALS ELECTIVE
Project
The acoustic guitar project
began as a series of acoustic
tests within a materials class
at MSU. After testing multiple
body shapes and discovering/
proving several tonal aspects
of each, an overall design was
created for an experimental
guitar shape.
The shape is meant to offer the
left handed user more comfort
for long periods of play. It is also
intended to offer appropriate
spaces for sound waves to
escape the body.
The larger holes toward the
top are for the lower notes,
which tend to resonate longer,
and have longer, larger sound
‘waves’. The smaller holes
were designed to allow higher
notes (which resonate more
quickly) to escape the guitar
earlier. The design began as a
Dreadnought and evolved from
there.