Design Portfolio 2021 by Alexander Brown

DESIGN PORTFOLIO ALEXANDER N. BROWN

ALEXANDER N. BROWN

328 South 45th Street, Philadelphia, PA 19104 Cellphone: 609-610-8011 Email: brown.alex1230@gmail.com

EDUCATION

Master of architecture

Expected May 2021

Bachelor of Arts, Architecture

May 2018

• Major: Architecture • Related course work: Architecture Theory and Art History Associates of Science, Architecture

May 2014

University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia PA University of Pennsylvania,Philadelphia PA

Mercer County Community College, West Windsor NJ

EXPERIENCE

Academic Applicant Advisor

September 2016- Present

• Provided tours to prospective architecture students. • Answered questions about the undergraduate architecture program. • Attended college recruiting events. Teaching Assistant

July 2017, 2018, 2019

University of Pennsylvania

• Partnered with professors when assisting students with design problems. • Provided basic drafting guidance • Provided AutoCAD software tutorials. • Operated laser-cutting machinery. Relevant Work Apprentice

Global Kaman

• Assisted lead contractor with various tasks, such as applied exterior water-proofing, Painted and applied exterior panels, applied dry wall to interior spaces, and painted Interior spaces. Project Management Intern

Princeton University’s Office of Capital Projects

• • • • •

November 2020December 2020

August 2015- 2016

Drafted proposed floor plans for residential homes. Created appliance schedules for residential homes. Attended weekly meetings with co-workers involved with the projects. Attended meetings with homeowners. Surveyed future project sites.

SKILLS/ SPECIALIZATIONS

Computer Software • AutoCAD, Rhino, Revit, Sketchup • Adobe Suite, V-Ray, Keyshot • Unity • Microsoft Office

EXTRA-CURRICULAR ACTIVITIES Global Water Brigades

University of Pennsylvania • • • •

Created and attended fundraising events during the academic year to raise funds for piping materials. Traveled to Honduras to work alongside communities in need of clean water. Generated trenches and Installed piping to allow for traveling water to reach homes of the community. Participated in an education day, where the children of the community learned about the importance of water.

September 2015- May 2016

AWARDS/ PUBLICATIONS Architecture Scholarship

Mercer County Community College

2012

University of Pennsylvania

2018

University of Pennsylvania

2018-2019

• The scholarship was presented by Architecture Chair, Garry Perryman. The Michael Yaron Award For Excellence in Architecture • The scholarship was presented by Architecture Chair, Richard Wesley. Pressing Matters Publication

References Katherine Linton, University of Pennsylvania c: 215-738-5527 e: katlint@design.upenn.edu

Annette Fierro, University of Pennsylvania c: 267-738-0524 e: fierroal@design.upenn.edu

CONTENTS Nostalgic Figure

Museum Metamorphosis

Destabilized Control

Scaffold

Aging In Place

The Acquanted Edge

Miscellaneous Work

NOSTALGIC FIGURE

UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA SPRING 2020 INSTRUCTOR_DANIEL MARKIEWICZ COLLABORATION WITH_HENRY ZENG Roosevelt Island, NY was once the host of everything no one wanted to be associated with, including places like asylums and prisons. However, over time the island full of misfits transformed into a desired destination, where people decided to settle down and/ or attend school. The slow transformation began to erase what originally put the Island on the map. Thus, Nostalgic Figure aims to celebrate Roosevelt Island’s unique identity by generating a dialogue between the historic and newly constructed icons that reside there.

The Collage: Two Dimensionally Representing the dialogue between the historic and newly constructed icons that exist on the island. Collage one uses profiles and hatching to highlight the dependency each icon has to develop an entire topography. Collage two locates specific moments with the use of color and geometry to indicate areas where the old and new icons blend.

Three Dimensional Collage: Uses icons to generate a sense of orientation on the site through the means of profiles, color, and type of perspective (human, boat, bird).

Roof Detail

Steel Corner Mesh Support

Glass Panel Top Mounted Steel Bracket

Wall Detail

Steel Flex Mounted Bracket

2” Wood Panel Structural Mullion

Bottom Mounted Steel Bracket Glass Relief

Foundation Detail

Concrete Retaining Wall 1/4” Metal Mesh

Bottom Mounted Steel Bracket

Structural Composition: The institution is constructed of two main layers: an inner wooden shell held together by steel trusses and an outer mesh screen with organic shaped wooden panels attached.

2nd Floor

3rd Floor

4th Floor

5th Floor

6th Floor

1. Ground Floor Entry/ Cafe 2. Typical Central Core

Program Distribution: Nostalgic Figure’s program decisions are derived from the sequence in which a student may develop their ideas. Thus, placing areas for learning and building towards the bottom and exposition spaces at the top. Visitors participate in the process by having the opportunity to peek into the classrooms as they walk along the central core to the exposition.

Section

MUSEUM METAMORPHOSIS UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA FALL 2018 INSTRUCTOR_EDUARDO REGA

Penn Museum’s current condition is static, physically, visually, and informationally, which results in a divide in the system. Physically, as of now, the spaces which shape the museum are clearly segregated between public and private, allowing for only specific access to those of certain authority. Visually, only ten percent of the artifacts that are held in storage are circulated into the public areas to be viewed. In other words, anyone who is considered a membered of the public, therefore not having access to the archives, will never see ninety percent of the content the museum obtains. In addition, the ten percent of the objects that are displayed are broadly categorized, similar to the archive’s storage condition. Informationally, as a result, visitors who wish to educate themselves about the treasures that reside inside the museum, will never experience the cultures, stories, and identities of those that are hidden. For those items that are on display, visitors will not be offered the true meaning from the objects. The proposed design challenges the existing fixed institutional system by encouraging transparency, flexibility, balance, and choice between the visitors, objects, and spaces.

Program Development: Generating a grid from Penn museums existing structural layout to determine extended connection points of new design proposal.

Ground

Second

Third

Wall Movement: The mobility of the interior wall system, both vertically and horizontally, allows for the removal of constraints that the existing museum has. Spaces are no longer permanent, but adapt in size and/ or their location depending on the curator’s needs.

Inhabiting the poche: Penn Museum’s existing wall system borders the space where displayed material is hosted, producing a segregated program. The design extension activates the wall system by participating in the exhibition process. the poche holds more than just the simple artifact, by including everyday used items. Thus, it challenges the traditional exhibition structure a museum embraces.

General opaque wall

Programmatic opaque wall

artifact storage

Misc. Storage

Wall integration: The collaboration of the movable wall mechanics and inhabiting the poche allow for unique relationships to form between the visitors, the workers, and the objects.

DESTABILIZED CONTROL

UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA FALL 2018 INSTRUCTOR_EDUARDO REGA COLLABORATION WITH_SAINA XIANG & KYUNGHYUN KIM Penn Museum, as other western Ethnography, Anthropology and archeology museums, has served as a tool of western colonial domination that has extended throughout the non- western world like a homogenizing and totalizing grid. This installation takes the idea of the grid to comment on Penn Museum’s connection to colonial structures and uses it against itself, as a detournement, by exploiting those it’s volumetric and internal possibilities.

Missing: How museum artifacts come to exist from theft. Also works as the introduction of whole installation.

Finding Myself: An artifact having similar qualities to others does not make it the same.

Last Supper: Family meal traditions broken when the vessel no longer resides in the rightful owners.

The Wedding: Westernizing a Native American wedding tradition.

Memory Lane: The purpose in regards to the tomb vessel.

Native American Portrait: A contrast between Penn Museum wants us to see versus the truth.

Penn Museum obfuscates information from the viewer of the objects, which leads to misinterpretations of cultures. Similar to the Penn Museum, our chamber uses Détournement to deliver a hidden layer of information.“Détournement is a technique which appropriates and alters an existing media artifact, one that the intended audience is already familiar with, in order to give it a new, subversive meaning.” Inside six cubes can be found dioramas pertaining to cultural portrayals

SCAFFOLD

UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA SPRING 2019 INSTRUCTOR_ANNETTE FIERRO the flea market is to reflect, celebrate, and enhance the physical framework of the city of Manayunk, as well as, the diverse collection of memories, histories, exchanges, and challenges that specifically have contributed to its growth. When you arrive at the market, you are immediately greeted by its physicality. A politely inserted series of platforms that seem to emerge from the existing site conditions. The platforms are to look almost continuous as they flow between elevation heights of the site, generating floors, walls, and roof systems. The fluctuation between structural systems begin to describe a density that is found in the city of Manayunk itself, through its buildings, infrastructure, and topography changes. However, similar to the bones of Manayunk, the physical market is only a scaffold that without program, is just empty and bare. So, on every Thursday, you will find the locals of Manayunk adding an additional layer of density to the market, filling it with their memories, histories, and exchanges. You will find members who are there with a purpose to buy or sell (maybe their no longer used household items, their personal work, or needed items Manayunk residence need to promote a better lifestyle.). You will find members who are there to meet with others of the neighborhood, relaxing on the large patios discussing issues that want to be addressed in the city. You will find members who are there to educate, in the workshops located along the natural topography. Lastly, you will find members who are there solely to wander and/ or explore the interweaving platforms. It is the unpredicted diversity that makes the market successful. In other words, there is no single purpose to this market. It is completely controlled by the users and their needs.

The People of Manayunk

Norman Prince Age: 87 About: Since he was new to the neighborhood, he found entertainment in going to the local movie theatre (since you didn’t need friends to see a movie). He enjoyed the experience so much, he applied for a job there. He worked for 6 yrs before getting a promotion as manager. Eventually he took over ownership of the theatre until it was shut down and abandoned. Now he spends his days watching ‘The godfather’ repeatedly on vhs. Benji Forman Age: 8 About: You will rarely see Benji inside, since he is an explorer ready to conquer the world. However, his search for rare creatures runs slim, since he doesn’t have much space to roam on his concrete driveway. BUT every Saturday his mom takes him and Maxwell (his dog) out to Fairview Park where he gets to hunt dinosaurs. Leverington Park is closer, but it only has two benches…boring. Jamie Raven Age: 30 About: Jamie grew up in Paris, France with her loving mother, father and sister. She always had a passion for art, but never the legal type. However, her parents forced her to go to college and so she decided to travel to the US and study fine arts at Cooper Union. After a year she felt the institution life was too confined and so she decided to make her way back to street art. She traveled all along the East Coast until she stumbled upon Manayunk. The beautiful Murals along the textured walls caught her attention and her heart. Now she stays local, continuing to contribute to the beautiful artwork we see today on the structures around us as well as the art festival Manayunk hosts every year. RC Age: 42 About: Recently RC was fired from his bus driving position because one Wednesday afternoon, while trying to make a turn, he completely side swept and destroyed one of the very few corner stores left in Manayunk. “It’s not my fault, its these damn streets. I’m a big man and I drive a big bus. Therefore, these tiny streets aren’t gonna to cut it.” ...Good news, he recently was hired as a train conductor for the septa line… so his goal of early retirement is still on track. Monica Bing Age: 34 About: Monica just got the motivation to start running after recently moving into the Manayunk neighborhood and seeing how athletically active it is. She used to be a runner back in Alabama, but shes still getting use to these slopes. “It’s much easier running parallel to the canal, then perpendicular. One mis-step and I am rolling into the canal.” Unknown, most just say “PST PST” Age: 4-5 About: The friendly mystery cat I would say knows his way around Manayunk more than anyone who currently lives there. He has wandered through cracks, bushes, fences, etc., all places no human would want to roam. His favorite spots are the hidey holes between the buildings.

Typologies of Manayunk Capturing through photographic media, exchanges between the people of Manayunk and the typologies that surround them. The photographs are further interpreted three-dimensionally.

Border Blend

Natural Parasite

Art Attack

Grid Drift

Breaking Bond

City Outreach

Ground/ Main Circulation

Semi-Transparent Structure/ Points of Exchange

Canopy/ Product Circulation

Site as a Growth Module: Understanding the density patterns that form along Manayunk’s urban fabric to generate the markets module logic with the intention of future growth.

The Community: A collage interpretation of how members of the community would engage with the structure. There is an intended sense of freedom for locals to enjoy the unique spaces, as well as generating a bridge for all parts of the city to be seen under one light.

Program: Spatial qualities lending themselves to diverse moments of exhange.

Lounge

Buying/ Selling Stalls

Studio

AGING IN PLACE

UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA FALL 2019 INSTRUCTOR_BEN KRONE Located in Red Hook, New York existed not only an abandoned grain silo, but a symbol of what once was a major contribution to the city and its communities upbringing. Thus, students were asked to invent a new use to the existing structure, specifically afforable housing, that similarly would contribute to its community, while celebrating its past. The proposed design addressed the issue of aging. In other words, how a structure would allow for an individual to grow in their home without having to eventually leave beause they do not have the necessary support.

Interaction Supporter

Supported/ Dependent

Connector Interaction Interaction between supporters/ supported Multiple Receivers

The Analog Application The analog study provided foundational elements of the project that stemmed from the concept of aging. It consisted of a module with supporting/ supported elements that would be duplicated along a grid. The duplications allowed for different levels of interaction to occur, highlighting the idea that within a housing community, there would be different degrees of support for those who resided there. First Degree: Support between neighbors Second Degree: Support between neighbors and communal garden space Third Degree: Support between communal garden space and the city of Red Hook

Supported Unit Each unit is wrapped by the external city of Red Hook and internal communal garden space.

THE ACQUAINTED EDGE

UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA FALL 2020 INSTRUCTOR_JASON PAYNE COLLABORATION WITH_KERRY HOHENSTEIN Found at Owen’s Lake, polygon’s T1 and T1a-2b currently host shallow flooding BACMs as tested by the LADWP. Shallow flooding defends the site by providing various water depth and saline conditions to collect toxic windblown dust particles. Although the polygon is designed to contain these water flows in a strict manner, we have found evidence of the flooding BACM producing its own borders and having the capacity to carry its visual stamp across constructed berms. A network is formed of both hard and soft shoreline boundaries that fluctuate through time that have overtaken and/or ignored their original parameters. Thus, the proposed invention, An Acquainted Edge, aims to create a visceral experience connecting the visitor’s bodily motion to the water’s. It will embrace the whimsy of the perimeter and techniques of water transfer, drawing connection and deviation between the human designed elements, the naturally forming, and how boundary strength can be utilized in the intervention’s function. By analyzing flow strength and the living organisms that thrive in these different shorelines and saline conditions of the flooding, environmental health can be researched with ease.

The BACM’s visible and invisible boundary: Through photographic medium and minard mapping, we identified the various active edge conditions that contribute to Owen’s Lake’s function.

Shallow Flood BACM T1+ T1A- 2b: Using minard mapping techniques, we further investigated existing zones, infrastructure, flows, and saturation levels that contributed to boundary conditions.

Key Z#

BACM Type: 1-2. Sprinkler Flood 3. Brine Shallow Flood 4. Shallow Flood Brine Boundary Identification -00.06

Water Flow -00.12

Architectural Intervention

Sp ri nk le r

+General Park +Main Entry

rin

Intervention Location: The chosen location was determined by the high level of interaction between zone types, crucial infrastructure, and connecting flows.

Br in e Z3

+00.00

UNINTERRUPTED FLOW -00.06

-00.12 -00.13 -00.14

-00.12 -00.12

-00.13

+Visitor Centers +Site Management

-00.13

king

-00.15

+Administrative Offices +Classrooms/Training Rooms +Conference Rooms

+Laboratories +Scientist Offices +Training Rooms +Equipment Storage +Sample Collection +Waste Collection +Equipment Activation Areas

Hard Edge

Programs of Education

Medium Edge Programs of Development & Research

Soft Edge

Programs of Experimentation & Documentation

Brine Pool: An area for visitors to navigate and witness the existing brine flow patterns that occur while interacting with collection sites.

Testing Site: The Brine reaches collection pockets that allow for researchers to capture and process organisms. Anything that is unused is carried through the infrastructure in place to be released.

MISCELLANEOUS WORK UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA

Project involvement outside of architecture design studio courses: Where Waste is Welcome Little Joe as Deliverance Team Members: Alexander Brown, Amber Farrow, & Cindy Zheng

Where Waste is Welcome Market Hypothesis: If given the opportunity, an individual would choose to use their waste to nourish growth. The design proposal explores the idea of discarding liquid coffee waste into a filtration system that manages plant life.

Little Joe as Deliverance: Each design team was challenged to create a narrative that was visually supported in three key scenes. Collectively, the scenes would be constructed using film techniques discussed in various precedents shown throughout the course. Specifically, our team developed a narrative that was inspired by the film Little Joe (2019). The adapted plot depicts the human race turning to a genetically modified species in hopes to be rescued from the technology that currently swallows the city. Role in design: Contributed to overall design scheme, modeled scenes in Rhino, and created base renders in V-Ray for further editing.

EMAIL: brown.alex1230@gmail.com