Design Portfolio
Alexander Peter Thomas
“When an architect is asked what his best building is, he usually answers, ‘the next one.’” - Emilio Ambasz
Selected Work 2012 - 2015
Alexander Peter Thomas M. Arch Student Graduate School of Architecture University of Florida
Alexander Peter Thomas 617 NW 19th Street Gainesville, FL 32603 (239) 789-8810 alexanderpeterthomas@gmail.com 2
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18 Modified Confluence
10 Nexus Proposal
Urban Contours
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Activated Core
Contents
ReCharting LBK
Soli + Loop
reCOIL
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Crane
32 intr(e)scapes
Shivers Pavilion
Wunderkammer
Social Conglomeration
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Urban Contours
Programmatic Gradients for Modern Habitation Alexander Thomas, William Francisco Pujals Fall 2013 Urban Block Redevelopment + West Chelsea, NYC The West Chelsea Athenaeum will help the borough of Manhattan reach their goals for the PlaNYC 2030; it will provide the West Chelsea neighborhood with residential space that will renew and sustain the culture of the area. Along with residential towers and horizontal townhouse blocks, the athenaeum will introduce a large public library to the West Side of New York. It will also bring much needed commercial and retail spaces within the area that will help gear residents to move into the neighborhood. Approximately one million square feet of residences will be introduced, while another 400,000 will meet the demands of the area; the introduction of cultural spaces, as well as added office space will create a new sense of urbanism as people increasingly look to live where they work (also integral to PlaNYC 2030 to reduce the needs for car and auto transportation). In an effort to form a new urban typology, proposed urban “contours” were introduced. The idea of an urban contour stems from the need to desegregate programmatic elements of the typical urban block; the typical block and Hudson Yards proposal act as nodes within a field, without the opportunity for a socially collaborative development to emerge. The proposal of programmatic gradients allows for the serendipitous bleeding of residential spaces into more public, open spaces. The urban contours serve as the bridging of programmatic components: both the spatial moment of programmatic exercise and utilization, as well as the spatial overlap and joints between cultured spaces and residential space, creating a unique and collaborative atmosphere; a goal for the future and the idea of a new urbanism within a dense urban environment. These contours will be a gradient for different programmatic activities — both with conditioned and unconditioned spaces — and a journey throughout the urban city block. It creates a juxtaposition of person to natural element — such as green roofs and open green courtyards — and programmed activities such as library and recreational space.
Typical Block
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Hudson Yards Prototype
Proposed New Typology
Major Cultural Institutions of Lower Manhattan
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Typical Block Condition
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Stacked Program
Programmatic Overlaps
Creating Contours
Consolidating Volumes
Facade study of cultural program areas
Facade study of residential program areas
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The typical urban block of New York City is node-centric, focusing on movement from the periphery into the specific functional programmatic aspects of the site. By carving out spaces — these new urban contours — we create a series of serendipitous encounters focusing on bringing a new communal identity to the West Chelsea district. The ability to move from one node to the next via the elevated pathways — from recreation to living to working to shopping — all in a fluid and continuous manner provides a new and unique urban condition unlike any seen or proposed in the City of New York. By shifting the way people think — from being self-centric to a new ideal of being community-centric — we hope that we may solve many of the problems that currently face the city’s overdeveloped areas. Furthermore, the establishment of a new cultural center inlcuding a library, retail, and recreation in this borough will inject a source of communal pride into the neighborhood. This development aims to have people say “I live in the West Chelsea Atheaneum and I’m proud that it is my home.” The public performance and library spaces serve to connect the contours to the Highline, establishing a bridge between the current and proposed communal centers of the city’s West Side.
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Nexus Proposal
Collaboration Through Interdisciplinary Discovery Alexander Thomas, Matthew Kaminsky Fall 2014 Nuclear Science Building Extension + Gainesville, FL The intent of the NEXUS Engineering Proposal is to create a focused, central hub where all of the engineering disciplines can collaborate and interact. The main problem with the environment of the current engineering complex, as identified both by first-hand observation and through interaction with those invested in this new project, is the degree of segregation of all of the current engineering buildings. In addition, the engineering department lacks a cohesive identity and image — despite their prominence as one of the premier departments of its type in the country. A lack of natural daylight, long winding corridors, and gloomy interiors have also contributed to the lack of inspiration and creative energy within the confines of the current engineering labs. Our proposal seeks to remedy these issues, and to relate to the campus on a larger scale. Through early programmatic diagrams, connections were drawn between the proposed collaborative gathering spaces and the horizontally arranged programmatic bars. Although the term “atrium” was abandoned early in favor of a less typological gathering space, the main ideas inherent with an atrium pervaded the gathering spaces of our design: lightness, large-scale spaces with high ceilings, and nonspecific program to encourage informal gathering and collaboration. This horizontal organization grew out from early diagrams and understanding of the longitudinal nature of the energy from the adjacent Reitz Lawn. Further development of site and program lead to a series of proposals, wherein the relationship between requisite program spaces and less rigid, collaborative space became an exercise in varying the degrees of fluidity; mining from the dichotomy of stable versus unstable within the given proposals. Horizontally oriented, static program pieces became anchored by necessary spaces such as computer labs, offices, and a prototyping lab. These program pieces look into the collaborative zones that were established, and the circulation wraps these collaborative zones to encourage discovery and interconnectivity amongst the occupants (in a similar manner to the MIT Media Lab). This organization makes the entire building in essence an exercise in studying fluid vs static programmatic relationships, where the occupant is first introduced to the idea of the building as a whole, then the building as a series of public spaces, and then finally the building’s composite parts — those elements that both anchor and diverge from collaborative events.
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The structural framing of the project was developed in concert with early programmatic and spatial decisions to better frame and reinforce the main formal moves.
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Longitudinal Section, N Facing
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Collaborative/public areas are highlighted in blue, and the more static programmed zones are highlighted in green. Through early programmatic diagrams, opposite left, connections were drawn between the proposed collaborative gathering spaces and the horizontally arranged programmatic bars. Although the term “atrium� was abandoned early in favor of a less typological set of gathering spaces, the main ideas inherent with an atrium pervaded the overlapping collaborative spaces of our design: lightness, large-scale space with high ceilings, and non-specific program to encourage informal gathering and collaboration.
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Preliminary process models exploring massing and programmatic arrangements. Apparent in the most developed process model, at left, and the final design, below, are thoughts about visibility and the voyeuristic relationship between passersby and the activities occurring on the lower floors.
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S Elevation
E Elevation
N Elevation
W Elevation
5th Floor Plan
4th Floor
3rd Floor
2nd Floor
1st Floor
Ground Floor Plan
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Activated Core
Tribeca Film Institute and Residences Alexander Thomas, William Francisco Pujals Fall 2013 Mixed-Use Tower + Tribeca, NYC The district of Tribeca within lower Manhattan has a rich history; it was one of the earliest settlements on the island and after an evolutionary cycle between commercial and residential, the district suffered a major financial blow after the events of September 11, 2001. In order to rejuvenate the neighborhood, the Tribeca Film Festival was conceived as an avenue for bringing currency and prominence back to the community. The festival is estimated to generate over $600 million annually, making Tribeca one of the most desired and wealthiest neighborhoods currently in the city. This proposal revolves around the idea of an activated urban core, permanently injecting programmed spaces adjacent to the building core. This project will provide an iconic headquarters for the festival, and provide a long term film institution and education center that will give aspiring students the opportunity to learn and create within a previously unaffordable area. The idea of an activated core introduced opportunity in terms of structural ingenuity and dependence that allowed programmatically significant spaces to be crafted in a way that underscores the overall ideals of the project. In essence, this allowed the hovering mass at the tower’s entry to create a feeling of structural theatricality; people are forced to descend under this mass into an open-air screening space and welcome center. This also creates an opportunity for public space in which work from students can be displayed, and a moment where movies can screen and draw passersby into the space, creating a highly active environment at the street level. The shear that occurs in the tower has multiple purposes: it creates an outdoor garden platform that would allow for community events to take place for those who live there, creating a sense of fellowship, and secondly, it creates a distinct quality that will be a celebrated addition to the New York City skyline. The new structure will provide the opportunity to meet the demands of the future in respects to the need for a new film school and student housing, as well as providing the area with new residences further injecting life into the heart of the Tribeca neighborhood.
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Location of proposal within Lower Manhattan
tri-be-ca
Illustration of varying densities within Lower Manhattan
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Lecture Hall/Screening Room
Study Pod
Activated ‘Core’
Lecture Hall/Screening Room
Film Archives/Library
Segmental ‘Core’
Grand Theater/Entry
Typical Building ‘Core’
Diagram illustrating relationship between propsal and existing Tribeca Festival locations
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Modified Confluence Recreation and Civic Attraction Alexander Thomas Spring, Summer 2015 Bayfront Park Redevelopment + Longboat Key, FL This project was one component of a masterplan for Longboat Key, FL, that examines the island and its culture as an economy of diverse ecologies — not only natural ecologies — but also recreational, civil and social ecologies. Viewing the island as a series of imbalanced ecologies allowed this peaceful site to become a modified confluence of recreation, nature, and social interaction, in order to ‘balance’ the previously unbalanced system. Bayfront Park is unique with its potential to serve as the ligament — to become the connective tissue — joining the bayside to the gulf, giving rise to an architectural folly to carry individuals over Gulf of Mexico Drive to the beach. At the park, the island is at its most narrow, allowing the park views and access to both the bay and the gulf. In addition to amended beach access and pedestrian activity, a new recreation center provides views directed outward over Sarasota Bay, fronted with a lawn that creates a moment surrounded by nature for hosting formal or informal events. The new park design also includes a nature center and a kayak outfitter to provide guided nature tours and small craft rental, and a pavilion and sculpted grass seating area is created for open air concerts and events. The proposal is developed in two stages, with the first one working around two existing commercial venues and the second phase proposing commercial relocation to some of the other commercial hubs on island, and allowing for park expansion and greater visibility from Gulf of Mexico Drive.
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Final Design Proposal
Existing Site Conditions
Preliminary Ideas and Massing
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Widened sidewalks to accomodate golf carts and bikes, as well as informal parking will ease congestion on the island
Wide pedestrian ‘broadwalks’ and a restructured watefront become a social event
Pedestrian Beach Crossover
Mixed-Use Pavilion Nature Center
Recreation Center
Site Boundary
Activate Underutilized Area
Connect to Gulf
Capitalize on Bayfront Views
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Recreation Center and formal lawn, opposite left. View from Nature Center observation platform, left center. View along recreational docks and piers toward Nature Center, at dusk, below.
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Social Conglomeration
Pavilion for Interaction and Idealogical Exchange Alexander Thomas, William Francisco Pujals, Collin Cobia Spring 2013 Campus Pavilion + Gainesville, FL The parasitic installation was created with the intent to develop the atrium into a social campus landmark. The installation is literally parasitic; attaching as a wood frame onto the architecture building’s concrete structure. The canopy provides an outdoor gathering space with the opportunity to hold informal lectures, critiques, presentations, and space for tables and benches and display boards. The wooden ribs can be CNC milled, laminated, and assembled on site, then notched for easy installation — ensuring all fabrication is done in-house. The bridge connects the first floor stair landing to the third floor; this transition previously required a circuitous and winding route up and around the main atrium. The formal notions grew from the unique combination of forces within the atrium — shaded for the majority of the day, yet directly open vertically and susceptible to rain. These elements informed the curvature — wherein rainwater will drain into pods inset within the frame to allow for the continued growth of the palm trees currently existing in the atrium, as well as to provide a new opportunity for foliage and greenery in an otherwise barren void.
N Facing Section
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Axonometric Assembly Diagram
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Wunderkammer
Cabinet of Mechanical Curiosities; Critical Toy Alexander Thomas Fall 2015 The idea of Wunderkammer — a German word roughly approximating a ‘room’ or ‘cabinet of curiosities’ — was historically regarded as a microcosm or theater of the world, or a memory theater. It conveyed symbolically the patron’s control of the world through its indoor, microscopic reproduction. In this context, the Wunderkammer was explored as a ‘cabinet of curiosities’ that could aid in explaining the origins of the current thesis research. The cabinet evolved from early diagrams to reflect an ironic contradiction of what the thesis research attempts to achieve. The thesis attempts to create something completely and totally automated and integrated — an interactive kinetic facade — so the Wunderkammer mines from that three targets of the research: (1) transforming the shape of the space, (2) transforming the quality of the space, and (3) creating a hierarchy of responses on global and local levels. The Wunderkammer then attempts to architecturalize these three points by becoming a ‘critical toy,’ portraying transformative space through a modulating wall, different qualities through rotating louvers, and directly activated responses through a series of vertical accordion blinds. The model allows individuals to activate and participate with the model on a real, physical level, creating an intriguing duality of almost cartoon scales and further enforcing the notion of the model being a ‘critical toy.’
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The elegance and gravity of the model and accompanying catalogue of photos is parodied by IKEA-type assembly diagrams, opposite.
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The original layered drawing on this page served as the generator for the Wunderkammer study.
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Shivers Pavilion Outdoor Gathering Space Martin Gold Architects Schematic Design Development, CDs: Alexander Thomas 2015 Mr Andy Shivers + Gainesville, FL Developed as an outdoor gathering and meditative space, the project began by working with modules of 16 feet, with intersecting volumes in both plan and section. The main challenges in the development of the design included a consideration for the existing flora of the site, as well as creating a light, delicate visual language while also allowing the main space to be carefully sealed to prevent insect and debris infiltration. Primary duties during the course of the project included producing schematic design documents (plans, sections, digital models, and renderings), producing detail drawings as requested by the contractor, and meeting with the client and contractors to participate in material selection.
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intr(e)scapes
Interactive Lighting Installation SHO Architects with ULR Studio Fabrication Assistance: Alexander Thomas Fall 2015 ACADIA 2015 - Reed Gallery + Cincinnati, OH Georgetown GLOW Festival + Washington, D.C. Inspired by swaying prairie grasses, intr(e)scapes is an interactive light installation that invites visitors to explore and immerse themselves within its dynamic lightscape. A total of 480 eerie, glowing acrylic stalks are lit by RGB LEDs embedded within a CNC-fabricated synthetic landscape. Each RGB pixel is connected to a 3 foot long, 0.125” diameter extruded acrylic rod that transmits and projects the light upwards. Every RGB pixel is mapped spatially within a custom-written environmental simulation interface that controls the lighting behavior of each individually addressable pixel. Tracked via an infrared imaging system comprised of custom hardware and software, visitors’ movements are reflected in waves of colored light animations that shift and churn with every step. The acrylic stalks and their inherent flexibility reacts naturally to self-weight, air movement, and human touch, embodying and tracing the kinetic energies and latent forces present within the environment. - from SHO Architects Primary duties during the course of the project included overseeing digital fabrication of various components; the preparation, assembly, and treatment of large-scale ‘islands’ composed of CNC-milled 4” foam blocks and plywood sheets.
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reCOIL
Interactive Kinetic Installation Alexander Thomas, Evan Vander Ploeg Spring 2015 Field Constructs Design Competition + Austin, TX The exact moment when recreation and discovery come together is a rare occasion. Given the history of the project site — the layered nature of the park through use and re-use — there exists little remaining evidence of past programs. This installation aims to remind people of the notion that the ground we stand on is a fickle condition with the capacity for change both radical and minimal. The installation — featuring silicone appendages moderated via air current — will create a visual barometer for how the ground underfoot changes through actions even as simple as a single step. Ethylene ‘pillows’ are attached to the appendages via tubing, and act like a glorified bellows; when stepped on, they translate air from the pillow volume into the attached appendages, creating an elegant and visually distinct reaction. Given the current site conditions that have now developed as a new ecological follie within the city of Austin, the installation is minimally invasive: all fabrication is done offsite and the only disturbance to the actual place is a small handmade depression in the ground for the appendage base to sit in. The installation becomes a very informal and playful game of hopscotch — to encourage movement, play, and education through discovery. Each step activates different appendages at different moments and in slightly different ways, resulting in a playful follie in a previously overlooked natural place.
Inactive State Section
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Activated State Section
Inactive State
Activated State
The installation aims to visually connect the implications of even a simple step to the park’s ecology. As such, the entire installation will be minimally invasive and damaging to the site — installed via a simple depression in the soil and anchored with edging pins. Glow powder will be added to the silicone mixture while the appendages are cast, ensuring a playful installation at all hours the park is open.
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Soli (Chairs, Couch) Loop (Media Table) Furniture Design and Fabrication
Alexander Thomas, Evan Vander Ploeg Summer, Fall 2015 Solar Living House + Gainesville, FL The University of Florida was invited to take place in the Department of Energy’s 2015 Solar Decathlon. The competition challenges 20 collegiate teams to design, build, and operate the most attractive, effective, and energy-efficient solar-powered house. The theme of the University of Florida’s 2015 entry was “The Solar Living House” — designed with the intent of reflecting the livability and comfort that a carbon-neutral home could achieve. The interior architecture of the home sought to achieve an airiness and lightness that was inspired by Florida modern architecture, and yet reflect the same degree of comfort found in Scandinavian homes with a similar set of ideals. The house must be fully furnished for competition; as a result, any furniture not covered by in-kind donations must be provided by the student team. This exploration was an effort to produce a family of living room pieces and dining chairs reflecting the same clean, light, modern lines that were apparent in the rest of the house’s design. Choosing baltic birch due to its easily millable nature and mild tones, a set of furniture was developed in close collaboration with one of the supervising professors of the decathlon project. The main ideals of the furniture are reflected in the motifs of the home: simple, elegant, comfortable, and practical.
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ReCharting Longboat Key Academic Research and Urban Planning
Project Authors: Martin Gold , Martha Kohen Editorial Designer, Project Lead: Alexander Thomas Spring, Summer 2015 Urban Design Initiative + Town of Longboat Key, FL The culmination of over seven months of academic research and study in collaboration with the Florida Resilient Communities Initiative, Graduate School of Architecture and Town of Longboat Key, this book aimed to help Longboat by addressing the serious planning, resiliency, community, and demographic issues that they have been struggling with for the last decade. Aggressive beach erosion coupled with sea-level rise threaten this narrow barrier island from both the bay and gulf sides, and demographic and planning issues have left the island with a serious problem in both density and in demographic diversity. The content of the book was produced under a grant provided by the town, in exchange for new ideas and proposals for planning, density, and architectural additions which would modernize and help to reestablish Longboat Key as a world class resort destination. Included in the 210 page book are sets of mappings and diagrams, analytical understandings of the island and integrated architectural proposals, all with the intent of addressing the major aforementioned issues currently affecting the key.
Preliminary drafts and spreads.
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Comprehensive zoning and land-use recommendations were provided to the Town of Longboat Key, in the form of a comprehensive plan, pictured here. Plan Co-Authors: Xuancheng Zhu, Martha Kohen, Martin Gold
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Crane
Product Design and Fabrication Alexander Thomas, Mateo Chandler Fall 2014 Crane Ramen Restaurant + Gainesville, FL In an effort to promote the opening of a new and authentic ramen restaurant in downtown Gainesville, the staff requested a set of 150 3D-printed origami cranes be designed and fabricated to hand out to restaurant benefactors and food critics during the opening. In collaboration with the Infinity Fabrication Lab, 3D printing was chosen over more traditional paper folding due to its durability and the fact that it would showcase Crane Ramen as an innovator. Numerous iterations were refined in an effort to achieve the same lightness and visual delicacy inherent in regular paper origami. Replicating the same degree of delicacy and faceting of more traditional origami proved to be a difficult task for our Makerbots; however, by printing the cranes in 3 separate pieces and adhering them with plastic cement, it allowed the relative imprecision of the printer to become a non-factor.
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Makerbot 3D printer with a crane body print in progress — bodies were printed in sets of 9.
A set of wings after printing, waiting for removal from printing plate, and assembly.
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Alexander Peter Thomas
Awards, Featured Works
M. Arch Student
Arthur Blenn Anderson Scholarship
Graduate School of Architecture
2014 - present
University of Florida (239) 789-8810
Rogers/RLF Inc Memorial Fellowship
alexanderpeterthomas@gmail.com
2014 - present Florida Medallion Scholar
Current Address:
2010 - 2014
617 NW 19th Street
intr(e)scapes
Gainesville, FL
Georgetown GLOW Lighting Festival
32603
Georgetown University, Washington, D.C. Winter 2015
Education: Master of Architecture
Florida 3.0: Reinventing Our Future Exhibition Miami Center for Architecture and Design, Miami, FL Fall 2015
University of Florida Fall 2014 – present
humANEMONE Interactive Installation NCBDS 31 Conference and Exhibition
Bachelor of Design
University of Houston, Houston, TX
University of Florida
Spring 2015
Cum Laude, May 2014 Campus Pavilion
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International Baccalaureate Program
Jacksonville by Design Exhibition
Fort Myers Senior High School
Museum of Science and History, Jacksonville, FL
Summa Cum Laude, June 2010
Summer 2013
Work Experience
Software, Skills
Architectural Intern
Autodesk AutoCAD, All Versions
Martin Gold Architects
Autodesk Revit, 2015 - present
Summer 2015 - present Rhinoceros 3D, All Versions Fabrication Technician, Research Supervisor
- V-Ray Rendering Software
Infinity Digital Fabrication Lab
- Other Rendering Software (Brazil, etc)
University of Florida
- Grasshopper Plug-In
Summer 2014 - present
- Firefly Plug-In
- Paneling Tools Plug-In
Project Team Lead, Research Assistant
- Other Plug-Ins (Ladybug, Kangaroo, etc)
Graduate School of Architecture
- WinCNC 3D Mill Control Plug-In
University of Florida 2015
Google Sketchup, All Versions
Graphics Editor, Editorial Designer
Adobe Creative Suite, All Versions
Graduate School of Architecture University of Florida
Makerbot Makerware, All Versions
2015 ZPrint, All Versions Objet Studio, All Versions Omax Intelli-Max, All Versions Hand Drawing/Drafting/Sketching Physical Model Building 53