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Few Favorite Projects




EMERGE
multi-family; affordability; biophilism


It is important to remember that we, as humans, depend on the world’s natural environment. Instead of the urban realm being a part of the natural environment, cities have inundated the environment, which hinders a person’s psyschological health.

This project strives for an affordable alternative to multi-family housing today. Biophilic design aims at solving the energy crisis that plagues many cities and residents, such as the high electrical bill and the scarcity of locally-grown fresh food. Biophilic design does not just reduce the impact of living on lower income families; it also decreases stress levels and increases the health of individuals.




H23 Condo
multi-family; residential; construction



I was assigned H23 Condos with three other people. The entire project was designed in Revit. We were tasked with developing the structure and the facade of the building. With the construction documents at our disposal, we developed the site around the building, especially the HighLine, with the adjacent buildings. From there, the structure was designed with the four of us collaborating in one Revit document, taking each corner of the building. It was important to show the major elements, such as the parapet detail (as shown above) with any other connection between two materials. 


RECONSTRUCTING THE PAST
research; parametric; shapes



Tracery is not just a beautiful decorative element on the exterior of Gothic windows. It is the structure behind the stained glass windows within the cathedral. Though tracery structurally supports the glass, the design allows viewers to conceive the extraordinary design and detail. The exterior detail of the rose window is as complex as the stained glass that it supports. This project was an attempt to recreate the tracery of Gothic rose windows within parametric modelling software. Shape Machine, the software, turns shape-based rules within Rhino into complex structures. The rules designed within the plug-in, Shape Machine in Rhino, create the two opposing, primary designs - round and pointed - establish a system in which Gothic rose windows can vary.

The starting point for this project was the history of Gothic windows and the complexity of each period in the Gothic history of architecture. The Early Gothic has simple tracery for rose windows. The geometry just divided the oculus, or circular window. As the centuries progressed and knowledge was gained on the stone material of the tracery, the rose windows’ tracery became less rooted in geometry. The freeform designs allowed for the tracery to appear lighter, which opposed the stone. The rose window on the south side of Notre Dame in Paris is the pinnacle of the High Gothic period. As a highly complex and intricate rose window, it seemed that creating rules that could create this window would encompass many parts of every rose window within the Gothic period. Thus, the rules defined could design a variety of windows in Gothic churches from the Early to Late periods.




REFORMING PRISONS
recidivism; prisons; parametric 



From the Van Alen Institute and NADAA’s research, justice hubs focus on the rehabilitation of prisoners. The two entities want to re-establish the norm for prisoners in the United States. This building is split into three sections: civil, community, and education. These three sections embody the needs of a prison as well as a prisoner. Thus, it is important that services are available for detainees within the hub to gain experience and become better people as well as a way to return to city life after their sentence.



Louisiana Site Plan 





Art Gallery

Prisoner’s Bedroom



Courtroom

Visitor’s Area


Level 2
Level 3

Level 4

Level 5

Within/Without/Throughout
commercial; waiting room; multi-functional



Within/Without/Throughout explores the settings that materials can create. A glass ceiling can feel as if one is outside without the factor of weather. An interior courtyard can be enclosed, yet still feel spacious and exterior to the surrounding spaces. Can you create interior exterior spaces or exterior interior spaces that feel enclosed or open to the elements? This multi-functional building allows people to experience this while waiting for a train. 

Iterations of Within/Without/Throughout as well as a siteplan 

EMERGE
multi-family; affordability; biophilism



Biophilia (noun) = 1. Love of Nature 2.
The idea that humans possess an innate tendency to seek connections with nature and other forms of life

It is important to remember that we, as humans, depend on the world’s natural environment. Instead of the urban realm being a part of the natural environment, cities have inundated the environment, which hinders a person’s psyschological health.

This project strives for an affordable alternative to multi-family housing today. Biophilic design aims at solving the energy crisis that plagues many cities and residents, such as the high electrical bill and the scarcity of locally-grown fresh food. Biophilic design does not just reduce the impact of living on lower income families; it also decreases stress levels and increases the health of individuals.






RECONSTRUCTING THE PASTresearch; shape machine; rose windows



Tracery is not just a beautiful decorative element on the exterior of Gothic windows. It is the structure behind the stained-glass windows within the cathedral. Though tracery structurally supports the glass, the design allows viewers to conceive the extraordinary design and detail. The exterior detail of the rose window is as complex as the stained glass that it supports. The purpose of this software is to turn shape-based rules into complex structures.







DURAND PRISONS
neoclassicism; columns; research



In large cities, there ought to be special prisons for every class of inmate. Humanity, justice, and above all morality forbid that criminals should be held within the same walls as men imprisoned for debt or for some youthful indiscretion. Far from reforming the latter - which is the purpose for which they are detained - this would expose them to the near-certain danger of turning as wicked as the villains they would meet and of becoming more of a nuisance to society than before. In lesser cities, where there can often be only one prison, that prison must at least be so designed that different classes of prisoner do not communicate. In all cases, the women must be kept entirely separate from the men.

  In any prison, all possible care must be taken to render the place salubrious. The loss of liberty, however brief, is affliction enough, without adding diseases and the death that they all too often bring in their train - especially since some who lose their liberty have done nothing to deserve it.

 

 




In the design for a prison, which we give on plate 19, and which is supposed to be for a large city, the endeavor has been to unite a maximum of salubrity with a maximum of security. Thanks to the enclosure wall that separates the prison from the neighboring houses, it would be surrounded by trees, refreshed by abundant springs; since no cell would be at ground level, which is entirely taken up with porticoes, all would be free of humidity. The infirmaries, located in pavilion taller than the rest of the building and open on every side, would cause no harm to the other parts. The prisoners, who would never congregate except in the yards or workshops at certain times of day, and who would be shut away for the rest of the time, each in a cell with its window facing onto the yard, could never conspire to escape; if any plot were nevertheless laid, it would inevitably fail, in view of the position of the four guardhouses placed at ground level, from which anything could be seen as it were at a glance, either outside or inside, either in the grounds or beneath the porticoes.

Precis of the Lectures on Architecture,168, Part III