Matthew Kruntorad traveled to Belgium, the Czech Republic, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Italy, Spain, Switzerland, the United Kingdom, and the United States.
Matthew Kruntorad
University of Nebraska
College of Architecture
Educatorium, Rotterdam. © Matthew Kruntorad.
Jury
Ray Gastil
Mark Strauss
Marilyn Taylor (Chair)
Marion Weiss
My travels taught me about the transitional state of being. I focused on learning the relevance of being partially outside the surrounding culture and struggling to understand the organizational patterns. The position that the transitional state of being occupied is one of extreme awareness. This state of being is introduced by a lack of understanding the local organizing techniques, which take the form of urban patterns and spatial layouts, as well as cultural and social positioning customs. It is only through personal experience that it was possible to obtain an understanding of the cultural boundaries. Such cultural boundaries can be described historically in print but have no spatial dimension until experienced firsthand. This state of continual experience was produced by not taking for granted the cultural boundaries of particular places at particular times and led me to wonder if it is possible to use architecture to create an experience that calls into question one’s position with regards to their cultural boundaries.
In studying position, along the way I realized that once a position is taken a multitude of others open up. It is also relevant that architectural position is much more than just height, length, width, and time, it is also about how culture interacts with the forms.
My travels taught me that if experience is site specific and cannot be achieved through an abstracted conceptualization of history then architecture must also be site specific. The most memorable aspects of my travels were the details, which were specific to a place and time. The site is much more than the physical boundaries, it is the boundaries created by perceptions of the site, not simply an abstracted view of geometries within a two-dimensional plane.
The following images are a sample image of what I experienced, images that lack in the smells, sounds, feelings, tastes, and people of the actual experiences. I now look forward to translating the experiences I encountered into an architecture that others may experience and interact with.
I have ended my travels with more questions and very few answers, which is a good thing, I think?
Casa Mila, Barcelona. © Matthew Kruntorad.
The Brion Cemetery, San Vito d'Altivole, Italy. © Matthew Kruntorad.
The Brion Cemetery, San Vito d'Altivole, Italy. © Matthew Kruntorad.
The Brion Cemetery, San Vito d'Altivole, Italy. © Matthew Kruntorad.
Venice University. © Matthew Kruntorad.
Notre-Dame du Haut, Ronchamp, France. © Matthew Kruntorad.
Bibliothèque Nationale de France, Paris. © Matthew Kruntorad.
Kiasma Museum of Contemporary Art, Helsinki. © Matthew Kruntorad.
Prague. © Matthew Kruntorad.
Matthew Kruntorad
University of Nebraska
College of Architecture
is a principal architect and partner at MSR Design. Kruntorad passionately believes that architecture can provide a transformative relationship between students and faculty, in practice and results. His focus on making deliberate, fundamental decisions concerning sustainability has resulted in places that enrich client experiences and provide engaging spaces for gathering and working. Philosophical by nature, Kruntorad most enjoys testing ideas through an academic approach to design. He believes designers should always revisit the essentials to keep an open mind and remove blinders that can come from assumptions embedded in expertise. Kruntorad has been with MSR Design since 2003 and has worked on a wide variety of project types, including higher education facilities, municipal buildings, private residences, cultural facilities, park buildings, office space, and libraries. His work has won several awards, including an AIA Architecture Award, two AIA/ALA Library Building Awards, three AIA Kentucky Honor Awards, an AIA Minnesota Honor Award, an AIA Nebraska Design Award, and an AIA New York Design Award.
