PORTFOLIO
Alyse Dees Architecture
Selected Works 2019 - 2024
Acommunitymuseumthatcelebratesthelegacyof Jazzin
BRIDGING
Transformingasuburbanzoneintoavibrantneighborhood.
BACK ON BLACK BROADWAY
APPLICATION: Revit, Adobe Illustrator, InDesign
LOCATION: Washington D.C.
YEAR: Semester V Fall 2021
PROJECT BRIEF
The first part of this project was to work in teams to investigate the site. Thorough site analysis of the Shaw and U Street Corridor neighborhoods of Washington D.C. was conducted in order to investigate the site patterns as well as historical and cultural context to the site. The second part of the project was to individually design a Shaw Community Museum.
APPROACH
The approach to the site is to carry on the legacy of “Black Broadway”. The goal is not to place a museum in the center of a living neighborhood, as museums can be a signifier for a dead culture, people, or history. Shaw and U street are living, continuously changing neighborhoods, and should be treated as such. The goal is to create a space that fosters the original ingenuity and spirit of Black Broadway from 100 years ago. A space as lively as it continues to be, something to highlight what once was there, who is still there, and who will always be there.
TEAM: Bri Alexander, Nia Baptiste, Christiana Bennett, Shania Burrus, Miles Davies (Site Analysis)
In April of 2019, a resident of Shay Apartments had made a noise complaint about go-go music being played at the 7th Street Metro PCS, sparking a large uproar as people felt that DC culture was being eroded due to gentrification, sparking the #DontMuteDC movement. Kaliq Crosby’s mural “depicts a joyous Black boy drumming on an empty 5-gallon plastic jug, a throwback to go-go’s roots and signature percussive sound” and paying homage to the junkyard bands that are the foundation of go-go music.
#DontMuteDC Mural by: Kaliq Crosby
Photo by: Evy Mages
COMMUNITY MUSEUM
The aim was to create a community museum that is reminiscent of the jazz clubs that populated the Shaw and Greater U Street Historic District. The auditorium is featured as the highlight of the museum, as it will serve as an indoor/outdoor space with live music playing. I wanted to create an outdoor plaza that features the #DontMuteDC mural and can act as a place for the community to come together for various events. The museum will offer a new place of formal gathering.
COMMUNITY MUSEUM
At the corner of Georgia Avenue and U Street is an outdoor plaza. This is to accommodate the high amounts of foot traffic and allow for people to engage with the surrounding area. The plaza also creates a viewing space for the #DontMuteDC mural. Colored glass is featured at each major change in program as a tool to bring in the colors of the neighborhood into the building. The vertical circulation goes from public to semi-private to private, with the auditorium and cafe on the base level and the artists residences on the top level.
West Elevation
North Elevation
North Section
West Section
BRIDGING THE CONNECTION FOR FREDERICK, MARYLAND
APPLICATION: Revit, Adobe Illustrator, InDesign
LOCATION: Frederick, Maryland
YEAR: Semester VII Fall 2022
PROJECT BRIEF
The goal of this project was to create a master plan for a “Livable Frederick” that will be implemented by 2030. Extensive site analysis was done in order to identify key issues to improve upon with the master plan.
APPROACH
We wanted to Bridge the connection between Old Frederick and new Frederick. The South Frederick Corridor (considered new Frederick) should will reflect the values of Frederick’s history while also creating something new for the residents to experience. The mission is to re-imagine the suburban life in Frederick in order to improve the quality of life by creating lasting social sustainability, improving the roads for walkers and bikers, and improving access to public transportation.
MASTER PLAN
PEDESTRIAN STREET
FRAMING THE RUST BELT: AN EXAMINATION OF AMERICAN RUST BELT CITIES IN A POST-INDUSTRIAL WORLD
APPLICATION: Revit, Adobe Illustrator, InDesign, Photoshop, ArcGIS, Canva, Sketchup
LOCATION: Gary, Indiana
YEAR: Masters Thesis Fall 2023 - Spring 2024
ABSTRACT
In this thesis, a selection of 5 cities (Gary, Indiana, Detroit, Michigan, Youngstown, Ohio, Buffalo, New York, and St. Louis, Missouri) were examined in order to identify common patterns in their social, urban, and political histories and current state. After examination, a set of strategies defined as a kit of parts of urban design interventions will be created as a framework plan that can be applied to cities with a similar fate. These solutions will generate urban revitalization addressing important issues such as transportation, public infrastructure, environmental preservation, and creating new opportunities for residents while ensuring anti-gentrification practices are instilled throughout. This framework was then be applied to Gary, Indiana as a case study.
GUIDING QUESTION
How can we strengthen Rust Belt Cities in a way that lays the groundwork for a prosperous future?
“Urban decline was planned, but it is also surely just as true that it can be unplanned through conscious, careful, and sustained organization.”
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ManufacturingDecline:HowRacismandtheConservativeMovementCrushthe
RustBelt by: Jack Hackworth
GARY URBAN ANALYSIS
primary services are for commercial delivery, industrial, and supporting military aircraft such as the US Thunderbird.
Broadway is the core of commercial, social, transportation, and governmental activity in the city. Broadway connects two major districts of Gary, Downtown and Midtown. Along Broadway, you will find many government buildings such as city hall, the convention center, historic theaters, shops, Indiana University Northwest, and on the North End, the entrance to US Steel. Over the years, Broadway has declined along with the rest of the city, where there are now historic buildings that have been abandoned and commercial places with no activity. Current efforts to revitalize Gary are centered around Broadway.
Owned by US Steel, the Gary Works plant opened in 1906. Gary Works has always been the city’s top employer, employing 70,000 people at its peak. Today, the number is 2,300, but is still the primary employer. Gary works is the largest primary steel mill in the country. Working at the mill was a source of pride for many and is still considered to be so. During the Great Steel Strike of 1919, a large portion of strikers came from the Gary Works plant. In its heyday, Gary Works was responsible for 25% of all steel coming out of the US.
Gary Works was found to be the largest emitter of greenhouse gases from a recent report by the Sierra Club. In 2020, Gary Works released 8.1 million metric tons of carbon dioxide. Gary Works is also one of the only mills to still use sinter (iron ore powder). Sintering is a very old method for producing steel that was largely abandoned 20 years because it emits massive amounts of lead. Air emissions from Gary Works in 2021 included 1,019 pounds of lead and lead compounds, according to the EPA’s Toxics Release Inventory.
GARY URBAN ANALYSIS
STRATEGIZING GARY
Although Gary has a number of issues to be tackled, 6 neighborhoods were considered for possible design intervention. Each of these neighborhoods are categorized as investment areas and divestment areas based on the analysis of available assets, amount of green space, vacancy, site contamination, and population density. The investment areas were determined as such because they had a higher concentration of population that is in less danger of being affected by continued site contamination. Some neighborhoods had other factors contributing
to its prioritization. Miller, for example, is where Indiana Dunes National Park is located. Indiana Dunes has dealt with a great deal of ecological dissemination, such as soil erosion and a decrease in wildlife. The divestment neighborhoods were labeled as such due to the decreasing population, high vacancy concentration, and proximity to brownfields and Superfund sites. Divestment does not mean a total abandonment, but rather a shift to finding cost methods to ameliorate the loss by creating new public assets, such as green infrastructure. This model takes lessons
from urban renewal, which is categorized by massive loss down racial lines. Divestment areas are aimed at stabilizing the loss and equitably meeting the neighborhood needs.
Two neighborhoods were selected for focus for design intervention, Black Oak and Miller. Black Oak is the selected divestment neighborhood and Miller as the investment neighborhood.
MICRO-MEDICAL HEALTH CENTER
BIKE LANE MODULAR PLACEMAKING
Expanding the bike lane network is currently in operation. This location also ensures there will be multiple forms of access to the new Micro-Medical center.
The modular design allows for an easy set up and transportability. The materials are prefabricated to allow for this easy set up.
The historic Miller neighborhood is rich with community activity. The Micro-Medical center is will be an additional asset that will benefit residents and reinvigorate investment.
VACANT TO VIBRANT PARKING
Utilizing the V2V techniques, the new plantings act as both stormwater management and natural greening that is an asset to the neighborhood.
The parking lot is accessible in the front and rear of the Micro-Medical center.
The parking lot is also wide enough for emergency vehicles to gain access.
ECONOMIC OPPORTUNITY
The Micro-Medical center offers an opportunity to attract medical professionals. Staff could come from Indiana University Northwest Medical School, as they are currently seeking places for their students to complete their medical residency in Gary.
APPLICATION: Hand Modeling, Autodesk Sketchbook, Adobe Illustrator, Photoshop
LOCATION: Washington D.C.
YEAR: Semester V Fall 2021
TEAM: Individual
MEMORY
PROJECT BRIEF
This project was to begin to examine issues of perception, memory and phenomenology by manipulating and testing the properties of various materials in the creation of Perceptual Spatial Constructs.
APPROACH
The approach for this project is was to build and document a model based on a memory. We were to think of a memory and examine the sensory qualities of it. Once a material was chosen, two operation phrases derived from the recited memory were to be chosen and applied to the material.
My recited memory is of when I was in 1st grade going on a walking field trip to Hidden Falls Park in St. Paul, Minnesota. At the time, I was about 6 years old. We left early in the morning and walked from school along the Mississippi River to Hidden Falls. I remember it was a calm, cloudy day. I recall the sound of the cars as we walked on the sidewalk, the trees having already changed colors and the leaves almost all off the branches, walking in buddies to avoid getting lost, the sound of the river, the fish in the water, a serene landscape. I remember walking around looking at the different ecology of the area. My teacher had pointed out some of the trilobite fossils that you can find in the cliffs, giving a historical perspective about the area and just how long this environment had existed. This field trip had spurred a sense of adventure in me, it was exciting to find my way around the area and learn about the environment firsthand. There is a child-like innocence to this memory. I felt nurtured in our little class bubble. I felt nurtured by nature and at peace.
TO WEAVE, TO HOLD, TO NURTURE
The thick yarn material is reminiscent of baby blankets, coupled with the pastel lilac color, gives a sense of nostalgia. In order to give it the material structure, copper wire was utilized within the structure for needed support. The looping nature manifests the spirit of adventure and exploration present in the memory.
PROFESSIONAL WORK
alyse.dees@yahoo.com
www.linkedin.com/in/alysedees