DESIGN IX & X: THE THESIS STUDIOS
Fall 2017 - Spring 2018: These studios combine seminar and workshop elements in a non-linear manner to allow students to develop an architectural agenda of their choosing, from a selection of faculty expertise. Students engage in a rigorous process uniting research, analysis, and design.
"Sharswood Crossing:" Invited Participant, 2018 Race to Zero Student Design Competition (U.S. Department of Energy)
Presented to DOE and industry executives at National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) Campus in Boulder, CO
"Sharswood Crossing:" Invited Participant, 2018 Race to Zero Student Design Competition (U.S. Department of Energy)
Presented to DOE and industry executives at National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) Campus in Boulder, CO
<Coming Soon>
DESIGN VIII: THE COMPREHENSIVE STUDIO
Spring 2017: This comprehensive course demands that students work in teams integrating structural and environmental systems in the design and documentation of a large and complex building. Explorations include the research of building type and systems precedents and their resulting impact on built form, analysis of material properties, specificity of component building systems and application of codes and standards to fulfill technical, programmatic and aesthetic needs.
Through the Looking Glass... And Into South Africa: A Study of Bioanalagous Systems and their Impact on Architectural Design
Fresh Air Building Systems Headquarters: Schematic & Design Development Proposal
DESIGN VII: STUDY ABROAD
Fall 2016: Danish Institute for Study Abroad, Copenhagen, Denmark: The studios at DIS emphasize awareness and knowledge of designing in a context of site, society, and situation and use Copenhagen as an ‘urban laboratory’ for exploration and precedent study. The notion and discussion of a "common good," put forth by Alejandro Aravena, the curator for the 2016 Venice Biennale. The exploration of architecture and design for the ‘common good” is a focus of the semester's explorations.
Modetshus ("The Meeting House"): A Center for Health, Movement, and Culture
Bispebjerg is a neighborhood in the Northwest of Copenhagen, which has been historically home to tenement housing, industrial sites, and lower-income populations. However, it is now an up-and-coming neighborhood hosting an abundance of new cafes, restaurants, and transportation options. The task was to design a cultural center for the neighborhood with a focus on health and physical activity. This cultural center focuses on two themes:
First, movement: the form of the building was influenced by the concept of moving up, down, and throughout it. This informed the placement of staircases at every level, both interior and exterior, enabling users to literally climb on the building to reach their desired destination. The circulation takes the form of a near-figure eight, bringing users from grade up and through the building to reach the northern corner of the building, housing the exercise facilities.
Second, transparency and openness: being that the site is adjacent to a busy intersection, the decision to wrap the northern corner of the building in floor-to-ceiling glazing allows pedestrians and others on the street to physically see into the building, hopefully encouraging more neighborhood residents to use the facilities within it. In addition, the extents of the first floor are pulled back to line the southeastern and southwestern edges of the site, allowing the remainder of the site to be open and accessible to the public as a meeting place, cafe, and artists gallery, supporting the development of a younger, creative-professional population moving into Bispebjerg.
Bispebjerg is a neighborhood in the Northwest of Copenhagen, which has been historically home to tenement housing, industrial sites, and lower-income populations. However, it is now an up-and-coming neighborhood hosting an abundance of new cafes, restaurants, and transportation options. The task was to design a cultural center for the neighborhood with a focus on health and physical activity. This cultural center focuses on two themes:
First, movement: the form of the building was influenced by the concept of moving up, down, and throughout it. This informed the placement of staircases at every level, both interior and exterior, enabling users to literally climb on the building to reach their desired destination. The circulation takes the form of a near-figure eight, bringing users from grade up and through the building to reach the northern corner of the building, housing the exercise facilities.
Second, transparency and openness: being that the site is adjacent to a busy intersection, the decision to wrap the northern corner of the building in floor-to-ceiling glazing allows pedestrians and others on the street to physically see into the building, hopefully encouraging more neighborhood residents to use the facilities within it. In addition, the extents of the first floor are pulled back to line the southeastern and southwestern edges of the site, allowing the remainder of the site to be open and accessible to the public as a meeting place, cafe, and artists gallery, supporting the development of a younger, creative-professional population moving into Bispebjerg.
Bridging the Gap: A New Harbor Bath and Transit Link for Copenhagen
After introduction to Copenhagen as a living laboratory, we dove in (sometimes literally) to the study of the city's harbor bath culture. City planners began to view the harbor as a viable resource for recreation after a thorough clean-up and the relocation of deep-drafting ships to a new port north of the city. Currently, three harbor baths exist at three different points along the harbor; our task was to design a fourth at a site called Nokken ("Allotments"), a unique area of the city which is straddling the divide between old and new.
The neighborhood north of Nokken has been subject to a master plan known as Islands Brygge Sud ("Island Bridge South"), which has brought high-rise and high-density development down to Nokken's northern border. However, the one- and two-story "allotment garden" or rental houses of Nokken will be maintained indefinitely as per an agreement with the city. Therefore, the bath had a double purpose, which was to provide physical access connecting Nokken with the rest of the city while also providing cultural access to both Nokken and the Islands Brygge Sud development.
Developing this access took two forms: the harbor bath, which provides a recreation facility for Nokken, Islands Brygge Sud, and the surrounding area; and the bicycle bridge and harbor bus stop, which physically connects to a pre-existing network of bicycle and pedestrian paths known as Havneringen ("The Harbor Ring") and to the widely-used city's harbor bus system, which already runs a route past the site. The bath's and transport hub's position and status as a node for development and recreation around the city is manifested in its radial design.
After introduction to Copenhagen as a living laboratory, we dove in (sometimes literally) to the study of the city's harbor bath culture. City planners began to view the harbor as a viable resource for recreation after a thorough clean-up and the relocation of deep-drafting ships to a new port north of the city. Currently, three harbor baths exist at three different points along the harbor; our task was to design a fourth at a site called Nokken ("Allotments"), a unique area of the city which is straddling the divide between old and new.
The neighborhood north of Nokken has been subject to a master plan known as Islands Brygge Sud ("Island Bridge South"), which has brought high-rise and high-density development down to Nokken's northern border. However, the one- and two-story "allotment garden" or rental houses of Nokken will be maintained indefinitely as per an agreement with the city. Therefore, the bath had a double purpose, which was to provide physical access connecting Nokken with the rest of the city while also providing cultural access to both Nokken and the Islands Brygge Sud development.
Developing this access took two forms: the harbor bath, which provides a recreation facility for Nokken, Islands Brygge Sud, and the surrounding area; and the bicycle bridge and harbor bus stop, which physically connects to a pre-existing network of bicycle and pedestrian paths known as Havneringen ("The Harbor Ring") and to the widely-used city's harbor bus system, which already runs a route past the site. The bath's and transport hub's position and status as a node for development and recreation around the city is manifested in its radial design.
DESIGN VI: THE COMPETITION STUDIO
Spring 2016: This tectonics studio focuses on the theories surrounding the materials and processes of making architecture, specifically through investigations of the inherent properties of building materials to understand their roles in informing and directing the design process. Structure, enclosure, and assembly are especially considered in relation to their effects on the built form.
DESIGN V: THE URBAN RESEARCH STUDIO
Fall 2015: This topical studio explores the integration between individual buildings and urban design and focuses on creating community within the city through investigations of sociocultural and environmental aspects of the city.
"Come to the Table:" Third Prize, Urban Equinox Competition (Philadelphia University College of Architecture & the Built Environment + Finnish Mobile Academy of Light and Space)
"Come to the Table:" Third Prize, Urban Equinox Competition (Philadelphia University College of Architecture & the Built Environment + Finnish Mobile Academy of Light and Space)