Allan Mezhibovsky
Selected Works
(2017 - 2022)
Structure model of the Shokan House by Jay Bargmann completed in collaboration with Benjamin Goldsmith and Baiyang Kong for ARCH 2613: Structural Systems.
Contents
Auto-Merkato . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4 House in a Burnt Forest . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14 Performance House . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22 Mobile Observatory . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32 Field of Play . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42 Transformations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 48 Seipp Prize: Housing Competition . . . . 52
Auto-Merkato Completed in collaboration with Jaein Lee. Urban-Ruralism: A Training Center for Rural Migrants (Option Studio) Site: Addis Merkato, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia Instructor: Marta Wisniewska
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Top Left: Context evolution diagrams Bottom Left: Uganda Street perspective Bottom Right: Cross section Below: Sectional detail model
According to the CGRE (Climate Green Resilient Economy), more than 85% of automotive usage in Ethiopia is for cargo transportation. The Merkato is one of the busiest centers within Addis Ababa where this cargo congregates with the vehicles and people it is transported by. Consequently, this densely populated area suffers from severe traffic congestion and lack of storage space. Auto-Merkato interprets the simultaneously transitory and permanent nature of the site as an opportunity to implement a center focused around vehicles where parking, loading, and learning are embedded within a framework of constant movement and interaction.
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markets are. With most of this area being planned for demoli-
The center will primarily train young adults who did not have
the chance to graduate secondary school, and who are there- tion within the next 20 years, Auto-Merkato builds on this profore unqualified to apply to universities or TVET (Technical
jection of the 2040 Merkato and proposes a parking complex
and Vocational Education and Training) institutions, by work-
that embraces the existing market.
ing with existing educational institutions near the site. Auto-Merkato aims to provide a platform for mobility where The building is located at the intersection between Minalesh
migrant trainees can learn technical skills and cultivate valu-
Terra and Uganda Street, where the existing used auto-part
able connections. 6
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Abraham - 19 years old
Assist loading / unloading 3
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Automotive Technology Training 7
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Automotive Technology Training
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Negasi - 22 years old
Work as tow truck driver
Amharic School
Car wash
Work as tow truck driver
breakfast 7
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lunch 9
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Zenebe - 13 years old
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Car wash 1
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Above: View from interior courtyard Left: Upper floor plan Left Sidebar: Circulation diagrams
The slope of the site becomes the entrance to the complex
inserted, which allows for interchangeability between the two
and orients a continuos circulation ramp which provides
programs on the open floor plates. In contrast to the flexibility
access to the upper levels. While drivers circulate to park
on the lower floors, the top floor is reserved for trainee resi-
their vehicle and to load and unload cargo, the trainees of the
dences and meeting spaces. The organization of the rooms
training center can assist with minor repairs and washing.
around shared and private courtyards draws on the spatial
Parking space modules become the footprints for shops to be and social networks of the kebele typology. 9
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Looking at housing typologies in Addis Ababa as part of the preliminary context research for the studio, the development of the city since Italian occupation, through the Derg regime, and into contemporary mega-development, was better understood. With new developments posing a challenge to the Kebele settlements and displacing entire communities, looking at housing typologies allowed for critical insight into the rich spatial and social networks of these existing settlements. As Addis Ababa has continued to develop both vertically and horizontally, space within the city has become incredibly valuable, further elevating the public housing issues that exist simultaneously.
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House in a Burnt Forest Completed in collaboration with Fernan Bilik. Naïve Intention: Inside Out (Option Studio) Site: Yellowstone National Park Instructors: Mauricio Pezo, Sofia von Ellrichshausen, Andrea Simitch
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Situated on the bank of a natural reservoir in the wilderness of Yellowstone National Park, the house engages with the sublime environment of wildlife, natural forces, and seclusion. Con-
Top Left: Early program concept diagram Bottom Left: Drawn isometric Bottom Right: Site plan
ceived as a shared living and working space for two temporary inhabitants, the house articulates the relationship between itself and its surroundings, allowing its courtyards to capture the landscape while maintaining an ephemerality as the forest burns and water rises and falls.
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Left: Final model Top Right: North-south section Bottom Right: View from shared courtyard
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The exterior of the house is clad in shingles made from burnt
While the natural wildfires at Yellowstone are very destructive,
lodgepole pine harvested from the surrounding landscape,
the landscape is inevitably revided. The site constantly exists
forming horizontal bands wrapping around the house. Inside,
in a dramatic position between the harsh and the calm. The
plywood walls which sit on the concrete footing are punc-
house inevitably captures the landscape and its dichotomies,
tured by windows which reveal the courtyard gardens. Sky-
all while producing a domesticity within its conditions.
lights inside the house further amplify the different spaces, providing diffuse and direct light calibrated with the sun angle at different times throughout the day. 20
Left: East-west section Right: View from private courtyard at night
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Performance House Densities (Third-year Design Studio) Site: Rochester, New York Instructor: Sam Ghantous
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Left: South Ave. perpsective Bottom Right: Program + structure massing diagrams Below: Animated drawings (QR codes)
Looking at the post-industrial urban condition of Rochester, the Performance House responds to the rich history of the site through the lens of infrastructure. By utilizing a uniform structural system that can support the various programs of the building, and locating all infrastructures on the exterior of the programmatic spaces, the interior of the building can exist as open and dynamic. The entire building becomes wrapped in a cellophane plastic skin that encloses the infrastructural space, and serves to expose and enact the movement of services, people, and walls. The Performance House ultimately exists as a highly flexible framework for the support of a wide range of uses and events, while actively serving as the connection between the past, present, and future.
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Left: Context diagram Top Right: Skeleton axon Bottom Right: Services, Modules, Circulation
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Left: Interior perspective Right: Ground floor plan
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Left: Infrastructure perspective Right: Second floor plan
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Left: Cross section Right: Final model with program labels
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Mobile Observatory Opportunistic Urban Strategies (Third-year Rome Studio) Site: Villa Aldobrandini Garden, Rome, Italy Instructors: Claudia Clemente, Francesco Isidori, Luben Dimcheff
01: Into the Past
02: Beyond the City
03: Through a Corridor
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04: Across Memories
Top Left: Concept sketch Bottom Left: Early collage study Bottom Right: Intervention perspectives
The Mobile Observatory is a series of prosthetic devices for viewing the city. Set in the Villa Aldobrandini Garden in Rome, it compiles moments from the city and reconfigures them. Each fragment of the observatory is isolated from one another, existing in a ruined yet stable condition. These fragments invite spectators to inhabit their rooms and look both outwards and inwards - mediating the synthetic and the real to control the perception of the city and its relationship to the garden and the person. Each view appears individually, yet is stitched together as part of the perceptual whole of the observatory.
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Analysis Path from Piazza Mattei to Piazza del Quirinale
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Top Left: Nolli plan with overlayed site and city analysis path Bottom Left: Perceptual city analysis collage Right: Site plan
Time is a key element of perception and observation. It can expand, contract, and distort. The urban fabric of Rome is a collage of time, and in itself expands, contracts, and distorts as it guides inhabitants through it. The city is in constant conflict with itself - the relationship between old and new always on the frontlines. With time as a unit of measure, Rome can be understood as a series of fragments stitched together by each inhabitant. While these fragments exist in a fixed state, they can be isolated from one another and reconstructed to develop a new perception of the city. These reconstructions can reveal mysteries and interrogate heirarchies within the urban fabric of Rome.
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01: Into the Past Where the garden merges with the city, its ruined condition provides a view into the past juxtaposed against the present.
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02: Beyond the City As the garden opens up, it provides views across and beyond the city.
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03: Through a Corridor Where an intimate street collides with a busy intersection, the garden remains calm.
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04: Across Memories In the heart of the garden, memories of the city are connected.
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Recording Device
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Field of Play
A shared community center and daycare designed for the town of Ithaca. The site is treated as a field of different environments for open interaction and play, resulting in a dynamic
Integrated Design Studio (Second-year) Site: Ithaca, New York Instructor: Umberto Ricci
design that serves to facilitate learning and growth. The separation between interior and exterior allows for the enviroments to expand and contract, responding to the local climate and programmatic variation for the daycare.
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Left: Birds-eye view Right: Exploded axonometric showing structural system
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Top Left: Interior perspective Bottom Left: Open facade perspective Top Right: Ground floor plan Bottom Right: Facade moment detail and climate analysis
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Daylight Availability
Winter Solstice
Annual Glare Analysis
Summer Solstice
By adapting the exterior facade geometry using data acquired through daylight availability and annual glare simulations, an optimal geometry was achieved that would provide adequate sunlight for both the classroom learning spaces and the intermediate hybrid learning/ play spaces. These simulations also informed the locating of the gallery, administrative, and classroom spaces within the exterior facade. The additional use of glare protecting curtains for the interior of the polycarbonate facade and retractable blinds for the classroom skylights allows for control over interior natural light as needed, with a range of about 300-2000lx being possible. 47
Transformations First-year Design Studio Site: Northern Scotland Instructors: Val Warke, Luben Dimcheff
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Beginning with the diagramming and analysis of two precendents, one historical (Yaodong Sunken Courthouse), and one contemporary (Chichu Art Museum), an understanding of how both deal with orientation and the relationship between internal and external space was developed. A final project design was developed that is based on planes that all shift and slide along each other and leave traces of those transformations with the hanging elements, openings, and depressions that create sightlines to guide inhabitants through the project.
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Left: Final project model Top Right: Light studies for temperate climate model Bottom Right: Early concept diagram and temperate climate model axonometric
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Left: Ghosted axon and plans Top Right: Final model Bottom Right: Interior perspectives
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Seipp Prize: Housing Competition The 50’x50’x50’ cube contains 3 distinct housing units interlocked with one another, with elements piercing the outer membrane, providing views outwards, while at the same time providing the outside with silhouettes of the inside. The liminal space also acts as a vegetation space for the cultivation of different plants.
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www.allanmez.com am2534@cornell.edu +1 201 970 6295