PORT/ FOLIO VOL.2 CIRCA 2015
nam e
Alex a n d r e M b a l l a - E k ob e n a [ S as h a]
em ai l si te
a lex a n d r e . m b a l l a @ g mail . com www. ame p r e s e n t s . com
[hear]
[speak]
[see]
DE S IGN I S O U R IN S TR U M ENT , DI A GR A M S O U R S O U ND A ND T H E WORLD O U R A U DIENCE . A S T H E EN S E M BLE O F S T A KE H OLDER S IN O U R PRO F E S S ION GROW E V ER DI V ER S E , O U R A BILIT Y TO CO M M U NIC A TE V I S U A LL Y T A KE S CENTRE S T A GE . i t i s T H I S n o t i o n t ha t H A S IN F OR M ED T H E TONE O F T H I S PORT - F OLIO .
L e d e s i g n e s t n o t r e i n s t r um e n t , l e s d i a g r amm e s n o s s o n s e t l e m o n d e n o t r e au d i e n c e . A l o r s q u e l ’ ass e m b l e e d e s p a r t i e s p r e n a n t e s d e n o t r e ass e m b l e e s ’ a c c r o i t e n d i v e r s i t e , n o t r e c a p a c i t e a c o mm i n i q u e r v i su e l l e m e n t d e v i e n t c r u c i a l e . C ’ e s t c e t t e notion qui a donne le ton a ce porte-feuille.
PRO/ JECTs 2013 - 2015
o ri gi n
C AMEROON
D IPLOMA
B ALL S tat e u n iv e r s it y
+ ENG
Bsc in a r ch ict e ct u r e
CV
c u r r icu l um v ita e 2 009 - p r e s e n t
DET/ type s cale
YQG 2014
Ball State University
Bor de r station
Instructor: Gernot Reither
366 00 m2
cl i ent
ACSA/ AISC com peti ti o n
gen r e
Acade mia
Consultants: Andrew J. Wit + James Kerestes + Wes Janz + Timothy Gray This project was an entrance for the AISC steel competition in 2014, in collaboration with Jimmy Darling. BRIEF Design a border-crossing station sited on a boundary between two countries�. Our boundary was between Detroit, Michigan and Windsor, Canada. STRATEGY Observing past and current trends, speculations about the future trends are materialised in a narrative. Natural boundaries, such as rivers, have historically defined borders between two entities. Political borders have been established to geographically define where one governing body ends and where another begins. Advances in transportation computational and material technology provides a unique opportunity. Motion in the form of the flow of people/ traffic is an element of crossing boarders which should be capitalised on. In our solution we envisioned a 'bridge' between the two boundaries which was in itself a continuous check. Screening individuals on the move.
c o m m u t e r .
t r a v e l l e r
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s i g h t s e e r .
Flow
intensity
thresholds
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intensity
thresholds
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intensity
thresholds
detainment
vistas
exit
pre screen
screenin g
retina scan
1. ETFE 2.Skin panel sub structure 3.steel connectors 4.Skin structure 5.Reinforced precast concrete 6.tapered hss columns 7.Mechanical systems 8.Electrical systems
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TRM/ type s cale
YQG 2014
Ball State University
A.I. DRONE
Instructor: George Elvin
3 m2
cl i ent
br e aking Ne w G ro u nd
gen re
acade mia
Consultants: Gernot Reither Scott Truex Geralyn Strecker This project was our capstone 3rd year project it was done in collaboration with Jimmy Darling. BRIEF Design a border-crossing station sited on a boundary between two countries”. Our boundary was between Detroit, Michigan and Windsor, Canada. STRATEGY At the micro scale, architecture has limited influences on major social issues. Questioning the notion of an architect and the inherent social responsibilities leads to the realization of our limitations. An that is well highlighted by William McDonough and Michael Braungart in their Hannover principles. This is done demonstrated in their eight principle: “Understand the limitations of design. No human creation lasts forever and design does not solve all problems. Those who create and plan should practice humility in the face of nature. Treat nature as a model and mentor, not as an inconvenience to be evaded or controlled”[1] Architects cannot solve the issue at hand, however they do have the tools to make a difference. The tools we possess as design professionals begin to overlap with sociopolitical landscape in a significant manner at the macro scale more so than the micro. The macro scale provides us with the unique opportunity to discover the overlap between social issues and architectural design. > > >
STRATEGY [continued] The research begins by analysing cacotopia and utopian societies, both existing and theoretical. Understanding how these projects succeed and fail and comparing them to the current situation in the Coachella Valley helps derive a set of principles for facilitating a societal growth. A precedent in our research that greatly influenced these principles was Kowloon Walled City in Hong Kong. It included no formal architecture, but organically developed into a functioning society. Kowloon, like many other slums are considered cacotopias, yet they are efficient in nature, hyper rational and great proponents of popularized design concepts such as mixed-use buildings and recycling. Their shortcomings lie however in essential infrastructure capacities, such as sanitation, water, electricity, etc. A solution to this is often simply institutionally building one. This however creates a rigid infrastructure, which in turn dictates urban form. A notion which is in direct conflict to the organic growth and flux that is true of our societies. 2000 mm
The United States government recognizes a large population of the area as illegal immigrants. This population contributes to the agrarian economy, but does not gain proportional benefits due to their illegal status. Exploring this disparity is necessary for developing a mutually beneficial population that is not merely determined by resident status. Permuting from our research, a series of parameters were derived to guide the growth of a successful society. They include: permanence, governance, connectivity, and hierarchy. These were then taken applied to the question at hand. Permanence Governance Connectivity Hierarchy
STAGE 1 Drone is deployed. It explores and documents its assigned region. It records environmental factors such as weather, topography, natural resources, etc. It then analyses population densities and maps out current land uses and building strategies.
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STAGE2 It plants itself in a location that becomes most convenient for the people of the area and broadcasts to population.
lo ca tion
STAGE 3 Drone gains data from the population to add to its warehouse of information. Texting becomes the medium of communication between the community members and the creature. Cell phones are popular devices that already encourage connectivity between people, Queries are routed through the creature’s broadcasting system. These queries are ultimately answered by fellow community members, regionally information the create acquired in STAGES 1 + 2 and preprogrammed open source data. CYCLE Through this feedback loop between users and drones, and the drones self exploration and self learning a.i. a hyper regional data bank of information is formed. The community can grown in an organic and efficient manner. Maintenance The maintenance of the creature is facilitated due to the analog nature of all of its components along with the information about its functioning opensourced by other creatures. This reduces the need for a third party that would otherwise be required to correct a problem.
volume systems
habitated volume
IND/ type s cale
BSU+FCO 2015\
Ball State University
inflatable stru c tu re
Instructor: Andrew J. Wit Team: Zachariah Herbst + David A.Smith
N/A
cl i ent
IND. r e se ar ch
gen re
acade mia
In it's origin the project was part of an elective course in rapid prototyping it evolved into and exploration in inflatable and tensile structures. As a team we have continued to explore this independently. PRINCIPLE Design strategies and solutions often fail when there's the absence of cohesion between two components simplicity+complexity and system+whole. A complex system and complex whole leads to functional failure, a simple system and whole leads to failure in innovation however the conjunction of a simple system for a complex whole or a complex system to produce a simple whole facilitates success. Our environment is in constant state of flux yet our built environment have failed to reflect this yet technologies we interact with are increasingly reflecting this reality. Strategy For our first studies we decided to explore the negative spaces in inflation in the form of tensile structures. Our first study model explored how the incorporation of a grid system may affect tensile forms as a single cell and an entire system. The second study explored the dialogue between two negative forms communicating adjacent to one another. We opted to keep our models simple but flexible. We then chose to explore a single or at maximum two variables at a given time to keep our observation focused and relevant. From these functional explorations we then moved from tensility to inflatables. In doing we also started to prototype formal explorations. > > >
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FORM The form was explored in conjunction yet independently of the function and vice versa. To derive the form we chose to abstract and 'extract' the soul. By taking a section of the human body a series of functions were parametrically derived to obtain an form which was then overlaid on a grid. An inflatable prototype of one cell of this grid was then made. Function In the current stage of our research we built a fourth prototype. The aim of this prototype was to investigate how the assembly would work as a unit. It was also an opportunity to test out how inflating the structure could be done using a central 'lung' and a series of valves to achieve inflation. Building a primitive valve system using PVC piping to manually actuate and inflate balloons to observe how they react to one another as they are inflated at different rates and different configurations of 0's and 1's. The result of these were recorded and will be used to determine the parameters of our next prototype which will predominantly explore assembly materials.
MORE / PLUS
wave
3rinity
grafikolectiv
the pavillion
chriss scot cabin
project tia
DOC/ MENTs ADDITIONAL
o ri gi n
C AMEROON
D IPLOMA
B ALL S tat e u n iv e r s it y
+ ENG
Bsc in a r ch ict e ct u r e
CV
c u r r icu l um v ita e 2 009 - p r e s e n t
CV
cur r iculum vi ta e 20 0 9 - p res ent
EDUCATIONAL HISTORY
WORK/ VOLUNTEERING EXPERIENCE
JAN 2011 – PRESENT BSc in Architecture, Ball State University College of Architecture and Planning [CAP] Muncie, Indiana, USA
DEC 2014 – present, Designer / Architect Intern at fabHAUS As a result of a series of conversation with Larry Barrow on the future of architecture, our responsibilities as designers of a social sensibility and consciousness, he introduced me to a project he had been working on, fabHAUS. The housing problem that will emerge in the coming years as a result of both a global population boom and the increasing rural to urban migration especially in ELDC (Economically Less Developed Countries), even though portrayed negatively, grants a great opportunity.
JAN 2007 – DEC 2008 Waterford Kamhlaba United World College of Southern Africa [UWCSA] Mbabane, Swaziland AUG 2004 – MAY 2006 Machabeng College, International School of Lesotho Maseru, Lesotho AUG 2002 – MAY 2004 Lusaka International Community School [LICS] Lusaka, Zambia SEP 2000 – MAY 2002 Braeburn School Nairobi, Kenya LANGUAGE PROFICIENCY (Common European Framework of Reference for Languages) English: Spoken and Written- Native/ Bilingual Proficiency (Level C2) French: Spoken and Written- Fluent (Level B2) QUALIFICATIONS + AWARDS 5th December 2014, In partnership with Jimmy Darling Finalist 4th Year CAPSTONE project. 25th may 2014, In partnership with Eric Lawler, Santiago Lorenzo, Nahu Soto Porporatto Winning project proposal: Workshop Internaccional Arquitectura 4A. en la FAUD, UNC. Cuidad de Córdoba, Argentina 14th may 2014, In partnership with Jimmy Darling MKM Scholarship and 2nd place winning project for BSU 3rd Year CAPSTONE project. 6th January 2009, International Baccalaureate (IB) Diploma, Waterford Kamhlaba UWCSA. April 2006, International General Certificate of Secondary Education (IGCSE)
As a majority of humanity currently can not afford adequate housing, examining how we rethink a successful social and financial viable design to accommodate this, struck me as a fascinating challenge. I am looking forward to contribute to this project, as well as eager to discover how to implement both the knowledge I have acquired as a student of architecture, and challenging the values and principles that have guided the work I’ve produced in the past. SEP 2014 – present, Wood shop Assistant My duties as a wood shop assistant include supervising and assisting students in their use of the wood shop in a responsible safe and efficient manner. This position also incorporates the maintenance of hardware and the general safety of their users. Whilst doing this it presents me with the unique opportunity to better understand the mechanics and operation of the machines themselves. JUL 2013 – JUL 2014, Volunteer at ROC ROC (Rebuilding our community) is an atelier that salvages material from structures no longer in use to provide sustainable material – predominantly but not limited to old growth lumber. As part of my volunteer work we not only salvaged materials but we also deconstructed damaged structures. This experience started to inform my perspective on the post life of the built environment. JUL 2013 – JUL 2014, Volunteer at PROJECTiONE As a Design and Fabrication studio, PROJECTiONE began as an architectural thesis and has quickly developed into one of the most fascinating and innovative studios in the digital fabrication realm. As I saw the opportunity for a bridge between design, computation and manufacturing, I volunteered to help out on two of their latest projects. The first Temporal Synapse for Eskenazi Health and the second EVV immersive theatre for the Evansville Museum of Arts History and Science. The experience both enriched my appreciation for the different facets of architecture and introduced me to digital fabrication methods, manufacturing tools, parametric software and the managerial aspect of design.
CV
cur r iculum vi ta e 20 0 9 - p res ent
APR 2014, Workshop Volunteer Congressional Leadership
MAY 2010 – AUG 2010, Intern Nikolic Architects (South Africa)
Academy
This internship was very much an observational, learning
As one of six volunteers we were able to engage and introduce
experience. During the course of it I was fortunate to see different
the state’s congressional fellows to advanced digital fabrication.
stages of the construction of a building from the brainstorming
It was a unique opportunity to present potential avenues in
to the materialization. The human and communication element of
architecture to high school students. The experience required
the profession I learned was far more important than I thought.
great time management and ability to communicate complex
Although my limited knowledge of architecture was more out of
ideas in a manner that would be both captivating and informative
passion than education, being surrounded by working architects
to a younger generation.
who where willing and able to teach me about the profession in practice was very beneficial and influenced my decision to later
FEB 2012 – present, GrafiKolectiv Founding Principal Design
study in the field.
Partner In early spring of 2012, I was approached by Dave Smith and
FEB 2009 – APRIL 2009, Ogilvy and Mather (Kenya)
other Architecture students, from Ball State University’s College
During my time spent working at Ogilvy and Mather, I learned
of Architecture and Planning to be part of this organization.
more about different strategies used in advertising varying form
The organizations goal has been to act as a consulting resource,
one of a campaign aimed at educating the public to that of the
offering tutorials, help, and rules of thumb while simultaneously
conceptualization of a Brand. As Kenya is a far less conservative
strengthening the presence of the graphic arts in architectural
region in advertising as well as rapidly developing nation
environments. I was able to take part in one of the Kolectiv’s
in Africa, the restrictions on advertising content was far less,
first design commissions for a local business owner Andrew Goth,
campaign were more challenging and versatile. My work was
Creating a wall installation for his soon to be launched D-Luxe
focused on desktop publishing as well as conceptualization. As
Bar and lounge.
the internship progressed, I was put on more challenging projects such as a campaign for IOM an NGO who aimed this campaign at
As part of the Collective, I also organised and presented
educating primarily IDP’s but also the general population on the
workshops to aid peers on portfolio design as well as general
reality of forced labour. This campaign had for objective, showing
graphic presentation. This was done with the support of several
how one can get tricked into it a fictitious job and find oneself
faculty members at Ball State University College of Architecture,
slaves in a (often but not always) foreign country. Due to the scale
who enabled time slots out of studio classes to be dedicated to
of the campaign, I was able to appreciate and learn about the
these on-going workshops.
variety of tools one could use to effectively communicate in a clear concise manner to an audience.
AUG 2012 – MAY 2013, IFC Delegate & Historian of the Epsilon Omega Chapter of Sigma Chi
JAN 2009, Intern: Ogilvy Novocomm (Madagascar)
In this Position I have had an opportunity to not only be a member
This internship was my introduction in to advertising in a formal
of the Greek community but I have also been able to see it not
and well-structured frame. During this internship I mainly
only from an individual fraternity but as a bigger organization
worked on campaigns for TELMA a phone network provider in
which integrates other Greeks, the Office of student life and
Madagascar. Although the work wasn’t particularly challenging I
the greater student body as a whole in an effort to better the
learned a lot about the limitations and social difficulties one may
community.
face in a conservative environment.
CV
cur r iculum vi ta e 20 0 9 - p res ent
NOV 2007- NOV 2008, Chief Editor: Ink on Fire (IOF) Magazine Ink on fire is an Independent school magazine at Waterford Kamhlaba United World College of Southern Africa [UWCSA]. It serves as a formal channel for members of the UWCSA comprising of but not exclusive to; staff, students and parents to voice themselves. In November 2007 I took over the Magazine as its new chief editor. This position required much leadership and innovation. Prior to its takeover the magazine was printed on paper and operating at a loss as it received substantial subsidies from private individuals. As chief Editor and Head of Design the magazine was then re-launched and rebranded in CD format. Digital media propagated three major changes: more design and artistic freedom, lower production costs and improved quality and quantity of its content. As production costs came down to 5 ZAR and the Magazine was sold at 10 ZAR we made 100% profit with every issue. Restructuring the format of the magazine itself also aided in an increase of 36% in its circulation. I then later aimed to increase productivity and team moral by first restructuring the team. The IOF team was partitioned into seven departments: Events, Finance, Marketing and Advertising, Editorial team, Physical resources, Articles collection and allocation, and the Design team. Each department was assigned a Head who was then given the freedom of choosing their team as was given full responsibility for it. By decentralizing power sector was far more productive as individuals were empowered. This drove the team to be far more effective than the previous system where the chief editor was in charge of all, a lack of transparency and allocation of task often left the editors overwhelmed, created much inefficiency as well as promoted poor team spirit as individuals didn’t feel like they had much of a role in the magazine.
DESIGNING COMMISSION SEP 2014 - Present Ana Debrea Remodeling guest room, custom furniture, custom door, window additions. AUG 2014 Bowtelli Logo Design, Marketing strategy, poster JUN 2013 Etch a thing Display tables MAY 2013 - present Nuvo Arts Festival Logo Design, Marketing strategy, poster
MAY 2012 D-Luxe Bar and Lounge Wall installation DEC 2011 – Present, House of Tayo Branding, Marketing, Graphic design and Packaging design.
COMPUTER LITERACY Coherent in Adobe Photoshop Creative Suite (CS5, CS6 and CC) Adobe Illustrator (CS5, CS6 and CC) Adobe InDesign (CS5, CS6 and CC) Adobe Photoshop (CS5, CS6 and CC) Adobe Premiere (CS5, CS6 and CC) Rhinoceros 3D (4 and 5) Grasshopper 3D 3DS Max Mastercam
Cambridge International Diploma in Computer Studies Communication Data Collection and Processing Basic Web Designing Integration and Data Output Business Charts Presentation Authoring These skills along with basic troubleshooting have been applied to both Microsoft and Open Office on Windows (XP,7 and 8), Linux systems and OSX respectively.
HOBBIES Graphic designing, screen-printing, woodworking, football, hockey, literature and profoundly mundane conversations with strangers.
CV
cur r iculum vi ta e 20 0 9 - p res ent
REFERENCES Mahesh Daas
Larry Barrow
Chairperson of the Department of Architecture
Founder / CEO
Ball State University
FabHAUS
Mahesh@bsu.edu
larry.barrow@fabhaus.com
Ana deBrea
Mathew Rugamba
Designer and Associate Professor
Founder of House of Tayo
Ball State University
house_of_tayo@live.com
adb.academia@gmail.com
+ 250783099907
Kevin Klinger
Joshua Vermillion
Director, Institute of Digital Fabrication + Associate Professor
Assistant Professor at UNLV School of Architecture
Ball State University
josh.vermillion@unlv.edu
krklinger@bsu.edu
+1 765 716 8890
Adam Buente
Gil Kemami
Founding Partner
Managing Director
PROJECTiONE
Ogilvy and Mather Advertising
+1 812 480 6006
gil.kemami@ogilvy.co.ke
adambuente@projectione.com Brano Nikolic Gernot Riether
Managing member
Assistant Professor
Nikolic Architects
SPSU
+27 114651027
griether@gmail.com
nikolic.a@telkomsa.net
W I T H / AV EC + / & THANK YOU / MERCI
david a. smith
Gernot riether
DR . G e o r g e E l v i n
ana de brea
founding partner :
visiting prof.
owner
designer/associate prof:
grafikolectiv
bsu
gone studio
BSU
zachariah herbst
Andrew J. Wit
james f. kerestes
timothy gray
colleague:
founder:
founder:
associate prof:
bsu
wito*
blok+werk studio
bsu
jimmy darling
Scott truex
G e r AL Y N S t r e c k e r
I / Je / YO
colleague:
co.founder+ co.director
Assistant prof./
alexandre.mballa
bsu:
Sustainable Comm. inst.
baseball historian
www.amepresents.com
in collaboration
under tutelage
as consultant