PORTFOLIO / ARCHITECTURE /
CURATED BY ANGELA W CAURI
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ARCHITECTURE ARCHITECTURal DESIGN disSertation practice: EXPLORATIONS: working learning
“MA-D THOUGHT”
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ARCHITECTURE SCHOOL: “IN PLACE”
CONTENTS
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LIBRARY IN ROME: “ANY PLACE”
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STRANGELY MATERIAL WORLD: “TIMBER FAMILIAR: “A HOUSE WITH A TWIST”
TEA- HOUSE”
01 YEAR| 2019 PROJECT TITLE| Architecture Dissertation PROJECT TEAM| Individual
ARCHITECTURE disSertation Dissertation Topic
“ LOST IN TRANSLATION: DECIPHERING THE 21ST C. CRISIS OF THE AFRICAN BUILT ENVIRONMENT ” Supervisor Giorgio Ponzo [Teaching Fellow, Architectural Design and Pedagogy] Word Limit 10,000 words
The dissertation was my greatest opportuntiy to develop skills in critical scholarship and writing. My thesis subject was inspired by my growing interest in the probing of the role of architects in shaping society. It discusses the modern ironies observed in the built environment of developing African nations, highlighting the historical voids that were revealed through Western architectural influence in the constitution of the dominant architecture. The research process commenced in the pretext of reputable historical structures- including the Northern African Pyramids and Mali’s Great Mosque of Djane- and discusses the tangent of potential that was expressed in these localised structural identities.
/ My 4th year Architecture Dissertation table of contents page /
YEAR | 2019 ARCHITECTURE DISSERTATION
/ My 4th year Architecture Dissertation Abstract /
/ Scan barcode to read the entire dissertation as published on ISSUU/
/ My 4th Year Architecture Dissertation Chapters /
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The dissertation then ponders upon the current “Africa is rising� narrative of the developing continent, and probes the discussion of whether all influence and structural knowledge that has been adapted from Western culture is responsive to the African demographic and socio-economic dynamics. The dissertation concludes in the advocation for a new form of African architecture, that is of and appropriate to the context it serves, and offers case studies of individuals/ firms who can be considered the harbingers of this form of localised architecture.
YEAR | 2019 ARCHITECTURE DISSERTATION
02 YEAR | 2018 PROJECT TEAM | Orkidstudio Design-Build Firm, Nairobi, Kenya. (CURRENTLY BULD-X STUDIO) SUPERVISORS| James Mitchell, Carolina Larrazabal.
architectural practice : working learning “Women in construction� The final year of the MA (Hons.) Architecture course was preceded by a semester-out working placement unit, which encouraged students to gather practical experience within their fields of further interest. I applied for an internship at Orkidstudio design-build firm in Kenya, as part of their externship mentoring program. The environment fostered at this firm reflected one of an ethos that prioritises dignified design and the empowerment of local development and sustainability.
/ My dissertation research addressed the efforts of Orkidstudio from my first-hand experience of their mission as a firm. It proposed practical means of pursuing active social architecture from a local level. /
/ The images capture the working environment and ethos of the firm where I undertook my work experience. I was familiriased with a more professional setting of idea generation. /
YEAR | 2018 WORKING PRACTICE
SACHIBONDU HOSPITAL STAFF HOUSES Location: Sachibondu, Zambia
Being a modestly sized design-build firm, everyone’s role is extremely crucial to the successful delivery of design and construction. Fortunately, my role was therefore recognised in the development of two major ongoing projects in Sachibondu, Zambia and Kajiado, Kenya. It was rewarding to witness these two projects to their completion, even while away at school during the final construction stages. Through this work experience, I developed my digital skills in autocad through the curation of the design and detailed design phases of both projects. I also explored skills in organic 3D Rhinoceros modelling during the Kajiado project by aiding in the original design of a staggered wall that doubled as a louvre system, and a curved roof plus ceiling.
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YARUMAL SEMINARY HOUSES Location: Kajiado, Kenya
I was additionally exposed to the logistical scope of the different projects- from site visits and quantity surveying, to procurement and correspondence with engineers, contractors and clients. Team-building retreats, daily development meetings and out-of-office colleague gatherings instilled in me qualities of combined efforts and unified growth and experiences. The greater lesson of the work experience was that I became aware of the impact of architecture in marginalised and underdeveloped communities, and how research, sharing knowledge along with teaching of transferrable skills is critical to the social role of architecture across the these communities. Such experiences influenced my dissertation reaserch subject and set me on the career trajectory I am at now.
YEAR | 2018 WORKING PRACTICE
/ What made this project speial was its design-build approach that prioritiesed decent structure within a limited budget from a charitable orgnisation. I was responsible for designing the staggered wall captured in the images, along with the perforation and the unique roof construction made of steel, bitumen and plasterboard./
03 YEAR | 2018 PROJECT TEAM | Yanny Lang, Helena Tamago, Angela Cauri. HARDWARE | Lasercutting, Hand-Modelling SOFTWARE | Rhinoceros, Autodesk MAYA, Autodesk Revit, AutoCAD, Photoshop
architectural design explorations “MA- D THOUGHT� Location: Virtual | Xinhee, China.
This project set out to explore architectural potential within digital narrative form- particularly immersive environments, gaming and virtual + augmented reality. It addresses two paradigms: On one hand, there is the view of architecture and other forms of spatial design forming a backdrop to narrative. On another, there is a view of the narrative power of space; a situation where space opens itself up to varying forms of representation. MAD is deployed in reference to the practice of the architect Yansong Ma, his perspective on expressive form, and to madness itself as a Deleuzian category. Its aim is to encourage a multidimensional form (multiform) of thinking in architectural representation, which is already commonplace in narrative.
YEAR | 2018 DESIGN EXPLORATIONS
The narrative exercise commenced with reading and screening sessions while working in groups to rebuild and analyse a project from MAD. My group settled on the Xinhee Design Centre. The expectation was that the building will first be drawn and modelled, and then reinterpreted and remodelled by rebuilding, analysing, cutting-up, stitching and corrupting the project. This will then be re-presented in the form of an installation. This in effect become the prototypical scaffold for the design exploration. The work of Yansong Ma provided a platform for speculative design as he tackles expressive architectural form. Our literary examples were Architects Daniel Libeskind and C J Lim, and also MVRDV’s Pig City precedent with The Silence of the Lambs film. These served as our responses to social and ethical issues. The images that follow are versions of digital renders, expressive of virtual environments conceived from these literary examples in various stages of development.
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The technical strategy was guided by the architectural conditions of “scaffold + multifold”, and these aspects were expressed in the final installation as the physical and virtual realms respectively. Architectural drawing conventions (plans, sections and elevations) are useful in building construction, and perspectives are useful in communicating complex or abstract design concepts. However, the route to virtual environments does not require the same conventions, but relies on sketches, collages, recordings etc. and this is captured in the / Hand-drawn and digital render of a developmental section inspired by CJ Lim’s ‘The Nocturnal Tower’ / development.
YEAR | 2018 DESIGN EXPLORATIONS
/ Autodesk MAYA 3D deconstruction of Xinhee Design Centre Section in scaffolding. /
/ CJ Lim Studio, The Nocturnal Tower. /
/ Autodesk MAYA 3D manipulation of developed model in C J Lim inspired installation style. /
“There is a method to the madness...�
/ Rhinoceros 3D software model development of the final concept. It borrows features from an abattoir and translates them into architectural structural components. /
YEAR | 2018 DESIGN EXPLORATIONS
/ A virtual environment conceived from a combination of the following literary examples : Daniel Libeskind , C J Lim, MVRDV’s Pig City and The Silence of the Lambs film./
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I single-handedly was responsible for the development of the red digital skins in our structural model, but group roles were configured in a manner that enabled us to optimise the exploration of numerous softwares for organic design and settle on those that accommodated our design brief the most. The use of the Grasshopper coding software and virtual rendering Unreal Engine 4 was introduced through collaborative classes with 3D Media and design students, as they were necessary for the complete delivery of the brief. The rest of the work was divided equally amongst group members- from conception to assembly and presentation- resuting in combined efforts of equal measure.
YEAR | 2018 DESIGN EXPLORATIONS
/ A digital section- inspired by the theme of the abbatoir, hence, showing Skin and Structureconceived from a manipulation of the virtual structure into physical form. /
Our interest was in immersive environments and the expression of form in narrative. These include organic, expressive or parametric form in architecture, along with literary and cinematic form. It was expected that the projects in the unit would take precedence from Set Design, Installation Design, and Environment/Level Design in Video Games, but with its focus more on building the environment than on resolving the physics and animation algorithms. The storyboard alongside was put together using Adobe Illustrator and captures the environment and the scenes in the adjacent film which was part of the final installation.
STORYBOARD
Camera angles
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YEAR | 2018 DESIGN EXPLORATIONS
The abbatoir without any assets or objects.
The abbatoir with assets and objects.
/ Detailing in Unreal Engine was the most important part as it defines the elements that were not possible to define in the physical manifestation of the narrative. It consists of lighting, texture mapping, animation and sequencing./
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Over the past decade, speculation in architecture has developed beyond criticism, social engagement and ecological ethics towards a more critical immediacy, thanks in part to social media and mobile apps, computation and video games, and to advances in film and animation. It is also no longer remarkable that much of the tools deployed in architectural speculation have been software developed for entertainment creation. Immersion is the ‘being in’ of space-time, not the ‘looking at’ of the static image. Our engagement with narrative was therefore not exclusive to literature but included film, video games and animation; forms which express non-linear thinking to engage our own criticality.
YEAR | 2018 DESIGN EXPLORATIONS
/ The final digital project was built using Rhino (with T-Splines plugin), and Autodesk Maya 2018, while the physical rendition involved a steelframe construction, lasercutting assembly and large-format high-quality printing of carcass forms. The designs were organically manipulated on the 3D software, then trasferred to autocad for MDF lasercutting and waffle slab assembly as illustrated diagramatically. /
04 YEAR | 2017 PROJECT TEAM | Santong Li, Kelly Lai, Vanessa Chai, Angela Cauri SOFTWARE | AutoCAD, Photoshop, Rhinoceros. HARDWARE | Laser-cutting, Hand modelling.
ARCHITECTURE SCHOOL ‘IN PLACE’ Location: Princes Street Gradens, Edinburgh, Scotland
Architecture conceptually is an intriguing enquiry of the mind. How to produce a building from one’s own ability is a hard task, essentially a creative act and it brings with it huge rewards. This studio project began our search for “What is architecture?” and how we relate to that search. The main task of the brief was the design of an architecture school in Edinburgh. The sites chosen neither required complete submersion of the proposed building in its environment, nor, suggested complete autonomy of the singular building. Instead, they called for some level of negotiation, which enabled a certain freedom for the design yet required some level of accommodating the local.
/ The project was particularly interested in developing skills in: - the laying out of a building circulation - access systems - communal vs public spaces - considerations of function - spatial organisation The designs are expected to suggest spatial qualities and functional rigour, to consider inhabitation as a social act and to account for the building’s relation to its locus. /
YEAR | 2017 DESIGN IN - PLACE
/ Hand-drawn sketch of the building concept from the North Elevation. The floor plan consisted of continuous gradual contours that were negotiated and aligned with the sloping site, and doubled as a terraced functional space, and the front facade was entirely glazed../
04 Lower Ground Level The Lower Ground Level plan occupied a minimal surface area in comparisson to the levels above, by virtue of the sloping landscape which guided the design dynamics. It consists of two mirrored quadrant lecture halls, an open-plan gathering space that doubles as the foundation for the organically shaped columns supporting the elevated studio spaces, and staff offices (left - right).
General Floor Plan
‘IN PLACE’ developed my skills in design inquiry, and this occured after research and the development of an attitude to what architecture is, while addressing architectural and urban issues that impact on design decisions.
Contoured terraced steps that serve as circulation and fucntional gathering space. The contours were guided by existing contour lines within the site.
The project theme was founded upon Kant’s Architectonics as the primary motive behind architecture, then place and identity followed. These themes collectively inform an architectural design. The thematic scope of the module served as a context to introduce critical and self-reflexive dimensions of design, and the development of skills in design inquiry.
Roof Plan The roof plan offers top level access with contoured circulation steps that extend from within and connect all levels externally.
YEAR | 2017 DESIGN IN - PLACE
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This project encouraged me to build confidence in the Why, the How and the What of Architecture. It allowed for autonomous architectural expression in spatial form - the three-dimensional realisation of an idea by mass or by space construction. I also developed skills in critical scholarship and writing, while exploring different dimensions of the design process, including team working in the design of a modest building.
YEAR | 2017 DESIGN IN - PLACE
The laser-cut model presented captures the final stages of our design development. The fully-glazed north facing elevation allows for constant advantage of soft light and maximises on panoramic views into the greenspace of Princes Street Gardens park from the open-plan building.
/ The building design allows for regulated continual movement of people from road level (top floor) to park level (ground floor) and interactions of users with the building fabric. It thus becomes a fragment of its surroundings, imprinted into and opening up to its site. /
YEAR | 2017 PROJECT TEAM | Individual SOFTWARE | AutoCAD, ArchiCAD, Photoshop. HARDWARE | Hand modelling.
LIBRARY IN ROME ‘ANY PLACE’
EXTERIOR ATMOSPHERE
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Location: Piazza di San Cosimato, Rome, Italy
Location, context, and architectonics were key themes throughout this project, aiming to develop an understanding of what designing for a city, a place, a society is like rather than a site. Although site was important, idea was prime. The location given was Rome, and being a palimpset, this meant that researching what the city meant for the people was a crucial task. Engaging with the culture and geography of a historically significant city developed a broader sense of context and culture. I was probed to consider urban and cultural conditions that extend beyond the local, while taking measure of- and making designs that respond to- the human condition; sometimes with urbanity, sometimes without. This lead to the design of a place that connects the locals of Piazza di San Cosimato through activities such as learning, playing, shopping, and even meditating.
/ An academic site visit to Rome aided in considering urban and cultural conditions that extend beyond the local. The sketches alongside capture the atmosphere of the site with an outdoor market before my intervention, then the atmosphere anticipated for the interior of the public library.
INTERIOR ATMOSPHERE
YEAR | 2017 DESIGN ANY - PLACE
Site Plan @ 1:500
The form of the building was guided by the nature of the triangular site, but this form followed the function of the public space and its interactions with the existing harmony of the site. This type of library was inspired by the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture, Washington DC by Adjaye Associates. It allows visitors to explore and experience the library through interactive
exhibitions and a combination of internal environments that engage the senses - but mostly, the mind. The design accommodated the existing activities of the outdoor space and the decision to expand the site downwards was made to avoid overwhelming the existing site, along with its crucial history.
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North Elevation
The building expanded downwards into basement level to allow the existing ground level space to maintain its open-air ambience and its social integrity- while offering the necessary weather elements and climate control qualities associated with the library materials within.
East Elevation
A network is created where these activities take place at the same time at different levels connected by voids. They lead one through time to a certain activity, while encouraging gestural connections with materials, nature, books and the Piazza itself- at ground (rooftop) level.
South Elevation
West Elevation
YEAR | 2017 DESIGN ANY - PLACE
Every new building responds to the established patterns of movement that define it, but also intervenes in those patterns, interrupting them and establishing new connections and dislocations. The creation of buildings or cities reflects the contemporary period as it is. Designing a building or creating a space directly demonstrates new values, our ways of living or thinking. / This library design explores the reception and sharing of knowledge beyond the realm of literature and technology, by offering spaces invested in environmental conditions that encourage learning and biological harmony. This atmosphere is captured in the sketches alongside. /
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YEAR | 2016 PROJECT TEAM | Individual SOFTWARE | Photoshop.
Ground Floor Plan
HARDWARE | Technical drawing, Hand modelling. “ Rooms form the basis of a house; they are the empty stage for human action. Different from these are the machines in a house, which have a specific purpose. Different from these are the dreams that the house embodies, and which make it a special place to be.” ‘The Place of Houses’ Charles Moore, Gerald Allen
First Floor Plan
STRANGELY FAMILIAR A house with a twist Location: Pilrig Street, Edinburgh, Scotland Second Floor Plan
We have all experienced a ‘house’ as a ‘home’, but may not have considered the everyday rituals that take place within the built fabric of that house or how the spaces support, hinder or influence the way in which people live. The brief called for the design of a house for a small family with one person who works from home. The house should be sufficiently flexible to accommodate the growing family, yet relatively modest in size. It also called for the incorporation of public spaces within the house, introducing thresholds between a realm- which is essentially private and spaces where visitors may come for a service or to buy an artefact. The house then becomes a hybrid of living and working.
Private Entrance West Elevation
YEAR | 2016 DESIGN ASSEMBLY
Aerial View Roof Plan (Closed)
Public and Private Entrance North Elevation
Aerial View Roof Plan (Open)
Park View East Elevation
Private Entrance West Elevation
/ The public realm was accomodated at street level and assembled with more light-weight materials- glass, timber and steel - so as to add a sense of non-permanence. The private realm, however, was contrastingly placed at the back, with more permanence in concrete and on multiple levels to accommodate views./ The emphasis of this project was on the ‘assembly’ of space; the boundaries/thresholds- real or implied- between spaces, the relationship of rooms in section, movement between sections, and the relationship of the inside to the outside.
07 YEAR | 2015 PROJECT TEAM | Individual SOFTWARE | AutoCAD, ArchiCAD, Photoshop. HARDWARE | Hand modelling.
MATERIAL WORLD TIMBER TEA-HOUSE
Location: Pilrig Street, Edinburgh, Scotland
First year architectural design examined ways in which architecture is indebted to its own means of construction. It introduced me to a tectonic vocabulary and a range of materials and building systems. This particular project was aimed at raising awareness of principles of assembly, materiality, specific constructional and environmental logics and how they inform the design of architecture. The brief probed the consideration of the pleasure of sharing food and drink, and the ritual of preparing tea/coffee in Asian cultures. Timber Tea-Houses are not just a cultural proposal but The tea-house is operated by a single host who prepares the tea and brings the order to the table. The preparation should be in full view of the customers.
/The project was a design for a small teahouse set in an extraordinarily beautiful location. The site is surrounded by trees, beside a river, and with distant views to a waterfall beyond. The views are best from over 3m above adjacent to ground level. /
YEAR | 2016 MATERIAL ASSEMBLY
It can seat 6 people at one time at the table, but informal places to sit and drink were created in addition to the table. Views from inside to outside were very important to the success of the place.
This project called for the capacity to manipulate architectural form in the consideration of interior and exterior space within simple programmes. I was able to improve my skills in the representation of simple architectural designs, including the design process, in the portfolio and presentation formats.
P O R T F O L I O CURATED BY // ANGELA W CAURI *Any work produced by or in conjunction with others will be labelled as such; otherwise, assume all work is my own.