Portfolio
Alex Cohen
Highlighted Works
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Tulane Depot Concept NTS Alex Cohen
Jefferson Island Education Center Fall 2022
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Heritage Hub: A Cultural Learning Center of Los Angeles Fall 2023
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Bridging The Gap Fall 2023
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The Big Shift: A Collective Housing Project Spring 2023
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ASSIGNMENT 3
Concept Diagram NTS
Table of Contents
Contact: Alex Cohen Tulane University acohen24@tulane.edu 774-270-0406 Portfolio | Alex Cohen
Jefferson Island Education Center
Placed on the site of a 1980 mining disaster in New Iberia, LA, this project seeks to inform visitors on the uniqueness of Jefferson Island and the mining disaster through the museum experience and its design. The entry sequence of the museum is situated on the above-ground footprint of the former mining operations. Arriving on to an expansive plaza memorializing the former mine building, visitors to get a sense of the scale of the mining operations, before descending into experience, walking along a retaing wall marking the datum between built and natural environment. Visitors will circulate between a system of retaining walls that slowly disintegrate towards the water line, opening up at the end of the experience. These retaining walls dictate every aspect of the experience, from
circulation to light permeation, and even interior vs. exterior space. As visitors descend, they are greeted by the first of three interior spaces - the lobby - all of which are slotted between the retaining walls, and enclosed with glass planes on the ends. This allows the interior and exterior to blend, eliminating the presence of a threshold As they exit the lobby, they once again go outside to ramp down to the main gallery and video room. After going through the gallery, visitors descend through the walls one final time, bringing them to the social terrace, cafe and reading room. As the visitors near the end of their experience, the terrace opens up, allowing for views to the lake through the disintegrating walls.
Approaching the entrance Portfolio | Alex Cohen
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Axonometric 1/16"=1'0"
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Roof Plan 1/8"=1'0"
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Above: Axonometric Middle: Roof Plan Below: Top level plan Portfolio | Alex Cohen
Top Level Plan 1/8"=1'0"
Ramping down into the experience 7
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Blending the Inside and Outside - 1/16" = 1'-0" Alex Cohen
Above: Inside the lobby Below: Section A-A Portfolio | Alex Cohen
Middle Level Plan 1/8"=1'0"
Above: Experiencing the main gallery Below: Main Gallery Plan 9
The reading room and exit sequence, as seen from the social terrace Portfolio | Alex Cohen
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The Heritage Hub
A cultural learning center of Los Angeles An uban catalyst strategically placed within a designed masterplan in downtown LA, this library aims to give a safe cultural learning and experience space for the people of Boyle Heights and downtown Los Angeles.
programming, and experience. Finally, they connect programs and experiences along themselves. Visitors will walk through these walls before breaking through them into large open spaces for reading, exhibition, or performance.
Reflecting on the important history and culture of the often overlooked Boyle Heights neighborhood, the initial concept of this library was to create a funnel; to bring people in directing them through the experience of a library and exhibition space via fingers of circulation.
These massive walls also use light to create and differentiate different experiences within the catalyst. By diffusing light in tapered “archer” style windows, filtering direct Southern light through a brick lattice double-facade, and flooding soft Eastern light through large curtain walls, different lighting conditions are created depending on the program inside.
These fingers become the main driver in lighting conditions, experience and programming within the catalyst as they become massive rammed-earth walls. These walls operate in three different ways: they frame the site and light, they create occupiable space, circulation bands,
Lastly, to encourage community engagement and interaction, the programming inside allows visitors to directly interact with the library as much as possible. The constantly visible elevated stacks make perusing information more inviting, along with large, easily accessible reading rooms that connect with community centered exhibition spaces.
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Concept Diagram: Funnel into Fingers - Directing a community into paths of circulation and experience Portfolio | Alex Cohen
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The various functions of occupiable walls: Create, Connect, Frame (top). Diffuse, filter, flood (bottom) 36'
72'
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Portfolio | Alex Cohen
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Ground Floor (bottom) and Second Floor (top) house the majority of the library and cultural functions, including an auditorium, studio and exhibition space, and classrooms
Inside the wall, approaching the elevated stacks 15
The reading room, community exhibition space, and elevated stacks in section perspective Portfolio | Alex Cohen
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Top: The entry plaza from above Bottom: The main reading room Portfolio | Alex Cohen
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Top: Section through the lobby and performance spaces 4’ 12’ 28’ section, showcasing 52’ Bottom:Tranverse basement makerspaces and 3rd floor ofices 19
Approacing the building Portfolio | Alex Cohen
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Bridging the Gap
Urban Masterplan in Downtown LA Located in the warehouse district of downtown Los Angeles, this masterplan connects two very different sides of the LA river: the downtown financial district, and the residential Boyle Heights neighborhood. Through research of demographics, income, and access to public facilities such as schools and parks, a clear difference in life on the West and East sides of the LA River arose. The proposed solution is to treat the redesigned area as a space of transition. In doing so, a pattern of fingers moving across the site is created. The fingers created are the main drivers of circulation on the site, creating axes of both pedestrian walking paths, and mixed streets. These axes also act as an axis for a gradient to arise. From the West, the public infrastructure can start to bleed towards and eventually across the river. From the East, the frequently overlooked culture of Boyle Heights can resurface into the mainstream urban fabric.
Concept Diagram: Bridging the Gap - Merging two separated communities through an interchange of puclic space Portfolio | Alex Cohen
Top: Roof Plan Bottom: The masterplan seen from the riverside park 23
A look down the main pedestrian paseo Portfolio | Alex Cohen
Looking out from a public plaza 25
The Big Shift
A collective housing project The bank of the Mississippi in New Orleans is, put simply, a controversial area. What was at one point the main connector of industry and goods has fallen into disrepair. However, with climate change threatening the entire New Orleans area, city officials have started planning a major shift in the city. Moving the port to a less central location, allowing the river bank to be revitalized as a park, simultaneously protecting the city environmentally and financially. This housing block is a space that fosters community growth, through an open, permeable ground floor with community rooms, a local restaurant, and a covered market facing the new commercial corridor of Tchoupitoulas St. The patio culture of the South is extended to these apartments, with patios punching holes into the facades of the buildings, even in the stairs. This openness allows residents to interact with eachother, and with the community on the ground, creating a sustainably minded community geared towards contributing to the changing scop of New Orleans.
Portfolio | Alex Cohen
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The permeable ground floor, which focuses on the community, houses the vibrant market, a local restaurant, and spaces for the neighborhood to gather and learn. Portfolio | Alex Cohen
On the housing levels, each apartment is divided into a series of rooms starting at 9’x12’, slotting between the bearing walls. The homes start to break the divisions in bigger units, acting like tetris blocks sliding into place. 29
Approaching the market from Tchoupitoulas St. Portfolio | Alex Cohen
The market and housing seen from the park 31
Typical Unit plans, from largest (top left) to smallest (bottom right) Portfolio | Alex Cohen
From the inside looking out 33
Portfolio | Alex Cohen
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Alex Cohen