Architectural Portfolio – Bilal Ismail Ahmed – M.Arch '21 Rhode Island School of Design

Architectural Portfolio Bilal Ismail Ahmed 4 10 14 18 24

Postcolonial Market Design Recreation Center Canopy Web K-12 School Organ Workspace Modeling Work

RHODE ISLAND SCHOOL OF DESIGN SPRING 2021

AHMED

Postcolonial Market Design MUMBAI, INDIA 2020—2021

THESIS

PROFESSOR RYAN MCCAFFREY

RHODE ISLAND SCHOOL OF DESIGN

R.C. Cathedral Charni Road Station Sir Jamsetree Jeejeebhoy School of Art Marine Lines Station Islamia School Elphinstone High School Victoria Terminus Police Court Central Post Office St. Xavier’s College

Tel. Office Church Gate Station High Court Library & Rajabai Hall University Hall Presidential Secretariat Y.M.C.A. Apollo Hotel

Chamber of Commerce Mint Castle & Arsenal

Sailor’s Dockyard Home Watson’s Annexe Hotel Yacht Club Taj Mahal Hotel

Average Regional Income

Rs. 5,000

MUMBAI, SOUTHERN REGION

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Rs. 120,000

SPRING 2021

My thesis project is exploring how colonial architecture is contested and dealt with in Mumbai, India, a city heavily shaped and formed by its colonial past. Colonial buildings — bureacratic, symmetrical, and regular – were in direct conflict with native buidling practices.

This project intervenes at Crawford Market, a colonially built fruit-selling market, to create a model for how colonial architecture might be overwritten.

The result is a market that rejects the colonial architectural notion of the rigid thermal enclosure in favor of openness. The market activity shapes the space around it, no longer constrained by the colonial enclosure.

Fragments of the enclosure are preserved to acknowledge the memory and history of the original market.

CRAWFORD MARKET SITE

Decentralize

Distort

Overwrite

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Street

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Wide sidewalk / vendors

Vendors

E v

Enclosed vendors

SPRING 2021

EXISTING

PROPOSED

Vendors

Vendors

Green space

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SPRING 2021

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Recreation Center PROVIDENCE, RI SPRING 2019 UPDATED 2021

ARCHITECTURAL DESIGN STUDIO

PROFESSOR AARON FORREST

Positioned on a site off Weybosset Street in Providence, the recreation center offers an open and inviting public space to the city. The center, as prescribed by the studio assignment, is mixed use with spaces for exercise, a gymnasium, art studios, classrooms, and a cafe.

The building is held up by cylindrical columns that are strategically angled to accomodate these various programs. At the bottom, they point to the sides to allow clear space for a gymnasium. Higher up, they hold sloped floors that are conducive to lecture hall setups.

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RHODE ISLAND SCHOOL OF DESIGN

SPRING 2021

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SPRING 2021

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Canopy Web K-12 School ATLANTA, GA FALL 2019

CITIES STUDIO

PROFESSOR HANSY BETTER BARRAZA

This project tasked my group members and I with designing a K-12 school that responds to research on systems of exclusion in Atlanta, Georgia.

We began by identifying a site: the location of the existing Carver High School and TH Slater Elementary School. The goal was to replace these existing buildings with a new campus, and to relocate the Luther J. Price Middle School to the site too.

An aim of this project was to bridge people across the freight train line to the northeast of the site. When the train is stopped at this location (this happens often and for extended periods), access to the other side is entirely restricted.

Therefore, the project called for a solution that would allow coexistence between the train and other program.

We settled on a school campus that is built as close to the train line (northeast corner) as possible, with a system of elevated walkways that bridge over the train and into a community center.

This enables pedestrian access into the schools from the other side of the tracks. The school is significantly closer to the street rather than buried deep in the site.

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RHODE ISLAND SCHOOL OF DESIGN

SPRING 2021

A section perspective paints a picture of how different programs coexist harmoniously in the system. The shaded walkway, for example, connects the schools on the left side to currently inaccessible territory on the right end. The freight train

runs when it pleases without affecting operations above. The train can be viewed and enjoyed by people in the public space next to it. Moreover, the community center provides support to the school's greater community.

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SPRING 2021

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PLANETARIUM AXON 0

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16

1” = 16’ 48

64ft

SPRING 2021

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Organ Workspace

EAST PROVIDENCE, RI FALL 2020

INTEGRATED BUILDING SYSTEMS

PROFESSOR LAURA BRIGGS

“Organ Workspace” is a studio space building off the East Bay Bike Path in East Providence.

The project’s title refers to its tectonic buildup: circulation cores – “organs” – are surrounded by “bones,” the structure, and further enveloped by the “skin” of the building. The facade of the

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RHODE ISLAND SCHOOL OF DESIGN

building is made of metal fins that regulate light.

The building is heated passively through its southwest-facing windows and cooled through a roof HVAC system. The angled roof allows PV panels to capitalize on the Southern sun in East Providence.

SPRING 2021

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A20 01 A50 01

A50 02

4’-0” A20 04

20’-0”

A20 02 20’-0”

A20 03

A50 03 20’-0” 4’-0”

4’-0”

20’-0”

20’-0”

20’-0”

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20’-0”

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20’-0”

4’-0”

A20 03

A20 03

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A20 01 A50 01

A50 02

4’-0” A20 04

20’-0”

A20 02 20’-0”

A20 03

A50 03 20’-0” 4’-0”

4’-0”

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20’-0”

20’-0”

20’-0”

4’-0”

A20 03

A20 03

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4’-0”

20’-0”

20’-0”

20’-0”

20’-0”

20’-0”

20’-0”

20’-0”

4’-0”

A41 01

Roof 84’-0”

Level 5 70’-0”

Level 4 56’-0”

Level 3 42’-0”

Level 2 28’-0”

Level 1 14’-0”

Parking +0’-0”

20’-0”

20’-0”

20’-0”

4’-0”

A60 01

Roof 84’-0”

Level 5 70’-0”

Level 4 56’-0”

Level 3 42’-0”

Level 2 28’-0”

Level 1 14’-0”

Parking +0’-0”

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SPRING 2021

6 14 " Metal Roof Solar Pane Brackets

PV Panel Airspace

Drip Angle

1 34 "

Rockwool Insulation

Rigid Insulation

Rubber Membrane

3"

3"

Corrugated metal roofing

1 14 "

Closure Flashing

3 4"

Water Barrier

Reinforced Concerete

Perforated Drain cap

Metal Decking

Gutter Slopped to drain Gutter Liner fully sealed Rigid Insulation W12X14 Steel

Pipe Insulation

Thermal Enclosure

1 3 34 " 3" 2 4 "

3'-0"

1'-0"

Double Glazing

Tempered Glass

Aluminium Channel

Steel (Fin)

Fixing Bracket Steel Spandrel

Aluminium Profile

Rienforced Concerete Column

2'-2 34 "

Steel Ledge

Insulation

EPDM Gasket Aluminium

Above, a roof detail shows how water is allowed to drain where the angled slopes meet. Below, a facade detail shows how metal fins attach to the concrete facade of the building.

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Modeling Work

PROPOSED DESIGN: MARKET / HOUSE IN MUMBAI RISD THESIS WORKSHOP, 2020

SITE CONDITIONS / CARVER SCHOOLS IN ATLANTA, GA RISD CITIES STUDIO, 2019 (GROUP PROJECT)

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SPRING 2021

AVASARA ACADEMY IN PUNE, INDIA / CASE DESIGN RISD THESIS WORKSHOP, 2021

BUMPER CROP IN SCOTTSDALE, AZ / MILLER HULL RISD THESIS WORKSHOP, 2021

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