State ment I have always been partial to my left brain, it’s always there for me. In times of trouble, I can count on myself to find the answer through logic and analysis. Upon entering architecture school, I was sure that my logic would carry me through to the end, since architecture is filled with physics, engineering, structure, and codes. I never would have expected my thinking process to be flipped upside down and even become, at times, void, moving toward a more free and chaotic sense. It was a shock to me when my analytical thinking and above average math skills weren’t getting me through my first semester of studio with flying colors. I knew I had to either adapt or get left behind. And while I didn’t quite understand the conceptual mindset of some of my classmates, my interest was piqued and I knew I was at just the beginning of a very long, possibly frustrating, but always gratifying journey of discovery and growth.
I didn’t get a very good taste of the rewards of creativity until I reached my spring 2012 semester. In that studio I started to realize that although it may be frightening to trust my instincts, they can sometimes manifest into ideas that my left brain would never have conjured up. As soon as I experienced this fleeting feeling of clarity when my two personalities collided I jumped on its tail and knew I had to catch up with it. Even the smallest glimpse got my blood pumping and I realized why so many people chase the high of creativity. As I worked harder in studio I realized that in order to reach that high, it was necessary for me to let go of control and let myself experience pure uninhibited creativity. The courage that this requires is immensely more than I ever thought. I suddenly realized why so many people say they are not creative people; it was terrifying to embrace that part of myself. While my right brain would spill out crazy ideas I forced myself to draw them, or write them and to get them out of my head, regardless of how impossible and illogical they seemed. I slowly started to embrace the scribbles that my possessed hand would create and my sketchbook became the platform of communication between both sides of my brain.
I have since learned to sort out the crazy thoughts, the useful thoughts, the good ideas, and the bad. My left brain has learned not to fear my right brain, and they can come together to add logic to creativity and all of a sudden my architecture has stopped being arbitrary and unknown, and has started to manifest into creative and, dare I say, logical solutions to real world problems. I am excited to continue on my journey and keep chasing the high that comes hand in hand with design and architecture. I look forward to the day, when my right and left brain can fully understand each other and my thoughts can flow freely between the two. Until then I am a student of architecture and I will continue to learn and grow and surround myself with inspiration and motivation to push me through those times when I am scared to let my creativity flow.
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Con tents
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Second Year
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individual
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studio
First Year
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Third Year
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Cardboard Clone
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Natural Intervention
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Building Analysis
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House Rebuild
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Arch 101
Arch 132
Seasons
Writing Sample
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Arch 201
Arch 201
Cape Cod
Photography
Intersections Arch 341
MVT
Arch 341
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Tropical Home
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Kaka’ako
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Arch 342
Arch 342
Hanging Hale
Design Charrette
Statement
Written Work
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Clone
Arch101 Kris Palagi Fall 11 | 8 weeks
Create a life sized clone of your own body using cardboard. Convey an emotion through bosy position and precise cardboard sections
Continue exploring through three dimensional models and develop an idea of natural and formal ordering.
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SPC A.2 / A.8
SPC A.2 / A.8
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Building Analysis Arch132 Jeanine Clifford Spring 11 | 4 weeks
Top: Midterm graphite drawings from photograph Left: Analyze a building on campus. Represent a concept or theme using hand drawings.
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SPC A.1 / A.3
SPC A.1 / A.3
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Natural Intervention
Arch201 Luis Longhi Spring 12 | 8 weeks
SPC A.2 / A.6 / A.7 / A.9 / A.10 / A.11
House Rebuild
Spring 12 | 8 weeks
Combine something artificial with something from nature. Explore the language between the two and develop a relationship that can be translated architecturally. Take the findings and apply them more specifically to where architecture meets site. Develop your ideas and manifest them into inhabitable spaces.
Explore the architecture of a well known architect. Identify the concepts behind their design and apply those to your own design. Create a house to complement that which the architect has designed.
SPC A.2 / A.6 / A.7 / A.9 / A.10 / A.11
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Elevations
Intersections Arch341 Kazi Ashraf Fall 12 | 8 weeks
Observe a major intersection at the corner of campus. Explore the idea of a gateway situation. Incorporate those ideas and develop a new program, structure, and/or circulation for your intersection that helps define it as a gateway to the university.
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SPC A.1 / A.2 / A.3 / A.6
SPC A.1 / A.2 / A.3 / A.6
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MVT
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Site Plan 1’=16”
Arch341 Kazi Ashraf Fall 12 | 8 weeks
Top Level +25ft
Ground Level
The loop is a connection of two tails that intertwine and collide; much like the different journeys of the audience and the producers. This theater follows those journeys and separates them in program and circulation. Leading the audience to the spaces they need to be without giving them a glimpse of the magic that goes on backstage. With the black box theater at it’s core, the building is enveloped in a concrete loop to bring all of the spaces together into a coherent building
Entry evel -15ft
Back Elevation
Front Elevation
Explore the concept of a black box theater. Combine those ideas with the needs of the client and develop a new facility to replace Manoa Valley Theater. Work with a specific room schedule and a limited footprint.
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SPC A.1 / A.2 / A.3 / A.6
Section A-A
SPC A.1 / A.2 / A.3 / A.6
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Tropical House Arch342 Jason Selley Spring 13 | 10 Weeks
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Explore the meaning of house and home. Extract the core values and connect your ideas to a tropical setting. Develop your own concept of what a tropical home should be.
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SPC A.1 / A.2 / A.3 / A.6
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SPC A.1 / A.2 / A.3 / A.6
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Kaka’ako
Arch342 Jason Selley Spring 13 | 6 weeks
UP
Continue with the concept of the reimagined tropical home. Adapt those ideas to work in an urban setting. Incorporate the needs of the client and the site and develop an urban village that sits in Kaka’ako. MILK
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SPC A.1 / A.2 / A.3 / A.6
Circulation Gathering Spaces
SPC A.1 / A.2 / A.3 / A.6
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Above: Tropical House model Right: Kaka’ako Urban Village Model
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SPC A.1 / A.3
SPC A.1 / A.3
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Design Charrette Spring 13 | 1 week
Hanging Hale
Plan View
Design an architectural solution to the homelessness problem in Honolulu. Must be easily constructed, versatile and adaptable.
Front Elevation
Side Elevation
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Hanging tents big enough for one occupant and a shopping cart. They can only be set up at designated areas, or hung from a low tree. Made with local affordable materials.
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“You live here all the time?!” Six words I’m very familiar with. It’s hard for most summer people to comprehend yearround life on Cape Cod. The summer’s are so full of adventure and sunshine, no one even takes the time to think about the possibility of winter. Summers on Cape Cod are paradise, they’re all about sun, friendship, and freedom. My lazy, rainy afternoons were spent at Holy Cow Ice Cream, where I got paid to turn my music up too loud and clean out the freezers. I made up for it though on crazy chaotic evenings when I found myself throwing jimmies and gummy bears onto glorious ice cream sundaes while eager, hungry, little mouths tried not to die of anticipation on the other side of the counter. The days I lived for were, of course, the beach days. The ones where I would wake up at 9 a.m., throw on just a bikini, and stroll down to the beach on my bike to meet my friends. We would sit outside while the sun kissed our skin and bleached our hair with absolutely no cares in the world. I would love looking out into the ocean and admiring the beautiful colors of the familiar sailboats that dotted the horizon on days when the wind was playfully covering the surface of the water with tiny ripples. Even on the stormy days we would throw on our bikinis, run outside, lift our faces to the sky and soak up the tiny gifts of water falling from the clouds. My summers were always about sneaking out late and going to sit at the beach in my neighborhood with my closest friends. We would stare at the stars contemplating our place in the universe, while the rhythm of our hearts synced up with the rhythm of the waves, and the ocean became a beautiful mix of young, pondering souls. We cherished our summers more than anything we could ever dream of. 22
Sea sons Six months later I find myself sitting on the same bench at the beach in my neighborhood, watching the stars in the sky, and listening to the same waves that previously lapped onto the shore with ease, struggle as they attempt to fight the freezing temperatures and remain free of winter’s icy prison. This time though, I am alone. My friends have gone back to their winter homes; the cooling temperatures have scared them off. They took with them the sunshine, excitement, and freedom, and left me with cloudy days full of boredom and homework. My plans for the remainder of my cold, dreary months include spending hours on Facebook reminiscing about last summer and creating new hopes and plans for the next one. On occasion, I’ll get the energy to fight the cold and put on my boots, coat, and scarf, and venture outside of my safe, warm house just to hurry up and get inside another one where we will play cards or talk about how cold it is. No one takes strolls to admire the beauty of Cape Cod. No one has backyard barbecues. There’s not a single other soul on Route 151 when It’s late and I need to go to the 24 hour gas station because any remotely close to me closed their doors at 5 pm. We only leave our houses to go to work, school and dentist appointments; three things that never cross anyone’s mind during the summer months. Most of the time we sit by our windows, wrapped in warm blankets watching the snow drift gracefully down from the sky and turn into messy slush the second it hits the ground. We are just counting the seconds until warmth and praying for the earth to spin faster and give us back our paradise
Sometime around early April, after months of trudging through slush while covering my head with the meager hopes of a good hair day, the clouds part, just for a second, and there it is; the sun. Nobody fails to see it. We all emerge from our cocoons of blankets and coats and we peek our heads out the windows or open the door a crack and let the glorious rays fill our souls and warm us from head to toe. We close our eyes and lift our chins and imagine ourselves laying on the beach in paradise; just a few months away. Then, all of a sudden, it’s gone. The clouds have swallowed up our hopes. We snap back to reality, slam the door, close the curtains, grab our blankets and hot cocoa, and cuddle up again for the next month. It’s not warm yet, Spring really is such a tease. Everyone on Cape knows not to get too comfortable with the early spring sunshine. It’s not until June that the real sunshine comes out. The rest of the season passes by far too slowly and we all go about our business never letting the feeling of the first sunshine fade.
It happens slowly, the return of the summer people. They trickle in from very late may all the way until late June. The townies slowly morph from grumpy hermits wrapped in blankets, holed up in cavelike houses, to cheerful citizens living outside, taking walks, and enjoying the scenery of our beautiful home. We shift back to our summer jobs, serving the tourists and keeping them happy. We pull the sheets off of our fancy cars and drive them down main street to show them off. We dust off our flipflops, put on our sunglasses, and roam the streets. The Cape Cod hedge is trimmed and the bridge is newly painted; all the construction that went on during the winter months is surely over by now. Cape Cod is prepped pampered, and ready to welcome the herds and crowds of people who consider my home their vacation in paradise. It’s summer once again on Cape Cod.
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Cape Cod Individual Photography Winter ‘11
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