GRADUATE DESIGN PORTFOLIO ARCHITECTURE, DESIGN & URBAN DESIGN
Two years of research in graduate studio, comprehensive studio and thesis at
ROGER WILLIAMS UNIVERSITY SCHOOL OF ARCHITECTURE, ART & HISTORIC PRESERVATION
BRYAN APITO Associate AIA 860 | 978 | 9723 BryanApito.com Bryan.Apito @ gmail.com
02 GRADUATE DESIGN PORTFOLIO
ADAPTING ARCHITECTURE
04 - 15
LOCATION \\ LOWER NINTH WARD, NEW ORLEANS, LOUISIANA, USA PROGRAM \\ URBAN ECOLOGY RESEARCH AND EDUCATION CENTER SCALE \\ ~200,000 FT2 SEMESTER \\ FALL 2012 CLASS \\ GRADUATE THESIS STUDIO INSTRUCTORS \\ MS. LISA GRAY + MR. ALAN ORGANSCHI, GRAY ORGANSCHI ARCHITECTURE
CLOSER TO NATURE
16 - 27
LOCATION \\ LINCOLN, MASSACHUSETTS, USA PROGRAM \\ DECORDOVA MUSEUM ARTIST RESIDENCE SCALE \\ ~2,000 FT2 SEMESTER \\ SPRING 2012 CLASS \\ GRADUATE STUDIO II INSTRUCTORS \\ MS. TATIANA BERGER
BUILDING ON THE MOUNTAIN OF GODS
28 - 35
LOCATION \\ MALABAR HILL, MUMBAI, INDIA PROGRAM \\ BANGANGA TANK HERITAGE MUSEUM & COMMUNITY CENTER SCALE \\ ~30,000 FT2 SEMESTER \\ FALL 2011 CLASS \\ COMPREHENSIVE STUDIO INSTRUCTORS \\ MR. ROBERTO VIOLA OCHOA, SASAKI ASSOCIATES
THE KAISERSWERTH CONNECTION
36 - 43
LOCATION \\ DÜSSELDORF + KAISERSWERTH, GERMANY PROGRAM \\ SUSTAINABLE AGRICULTURE AND ECOLOGICAL STUDIES COLLEGE SCALE \\ ~300,000 FT2 SEMESTER \\ SPRING 2011 CLASS \\ GRADUATE STUDIO I INSTRUCTORS \\ MR. PAUL LUKEZ, FAIA., PAUL LUKEZ ARCHITECTURE
BRYAN APITO 2011-2012
ROGER WILLIAMS UNIVERSITY
SCHOOL OF ARCHITECTURE, ART & HISTORIC PRESERVATION
BRYAN APITO 03
04 GRADUATE DESIGN PORTFOLIO
ADAPTING ARCHITECTURE URBAN ECOLOGY RESEARCH & EDUCATION CENTER LOWER NINTH WARD. NEW ORLEANS, LOUISIANA USA | SPRING 2013
SCALE \\ ~200,000 FT2 SEMESTER \\ FALL 2012 CLASS \\ GRADUATE THESIS STUDIO INSTRUCTORS \\ MS. LISA GRAY + MR. ALAN ORGANSCHI, GRAY ORGANSCHI ARCHITECTURE
BRYAN APITO 05
Through urban and architectural design, the Lower Ninth Ward can be transformed from a drowned neighborhood into a community which functions symbiotically with its environment. This new urban plan for the Lower Ninth Ward enhances the ecosystem to prevent flooding by reconstructing a local wetland which will function as a sink for runoff water. Through a process of building relocation, levee construction, a-forestation and wetland remediation, the below sea-level region of the Lower Ninth will be transformed into a new livable community as well as a productive environmental laboratory. In 2005, Hurricane Katrina devastated the Gulf Coast and decimated the Lower Ninth Ward of New Orleans. After Katrina, the Lower Ninth became the poster child for typical urban development’s criminal neglect of its environmental context. Lower Ninth Ward Before 2005 Central Park, New York NY Apple HQ, Cupertino CA Pentagon, VA Colosseum, Rome Italy Vanke Center, Shenzen China Empire State Building, NY Lower Ninth Ward, NOLA Urban Ecology Research Center
Planned
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Lower Ninth Ward After Hurricane Katrina
Make It Right Houses : Existing
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Make It Right : To Be Built
Lower Ninth Ward Relocation Plan
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Relocated
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New : To Be Built
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No Change
NO RESIDENTIAL LINE
This plan engages the flood-ravaged neighborhood by quartering off the low-lying, deadly regions and transforming the area into a educational urban wetland. Micro topography patterns were identified in the project area to determine a no-build line for homes. Intact homes found below the no-build line were relocated to higher ground within the community and dilapidated homes were demolished. The no-build area is designed as public spaces, including a wetland, neighborhood park, community agriculture garden and permeable parking lot; all intended to support the long-term growth of the area and educate locals and visitors about the regional ecology. BRYAN APITO 07
Ecology Laboratory Audubon Center Aviary Green House Public Bathrooms Administration Cafe
08  GRADUATE DESIGN PORTFOLIO
Public - Indoors Public - Outdoors Private - Indoors Private - Outdoors
Path Program
Neighborhood Park
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Parking Lot
| Community Garden |
Urban Ecology Research Center
Within the wetland zone of the new Lower Ninth plan, an ecologically adaptable prototype building was designed. The building functions as an organic network of interconnected pavilions used for observation of ecosystems and the analysis of experimental building performance. This Urban Ecology Research and Education Center is designed to be completely adaptable and expandable and could be installed in other locations to be used as a field facility for urban wetlands’ restoration and research. The interior spaces are lifted above the fluctuating landscape allowing the users to observe the terrain without interfering. The building straddles the edge of the new levee, functioning as a calming filter for visitors as they travel from the community into the intimate wetlands. The building is designed as a direct functional response to solar, shading, cooling-winds, storm winds, tidal flows and the rain of the region. These environmental constraints shape each module or “bay” of the amorphous building network. Bays are connected together in efficient lines of program, breaking to create shared or private outdoor spaces. The building’s spaces become perforated to reveal a thriving wetland beneath and between the building. Spaces are carved out from the public spine to expose the slab-on-grade foundations of shot-gun houses below: a vestige of a people that once stood in this landscape.
Typical Research Bay
The building system is completely modular, allowing it to grow or shrink with the needs of the occupants. The building network can be broken down into bays. Each bay is oriented north-south, and to responds to natural lighting / heating / cooling and ventilation parameters. 10 GRADUATE DESIGN PORTFOLIO
Building Entry & Audubon Center, Section
Building Plan, As A Prototype
UP
UP
e Ruins
Hous Shotgun
UP UP
A LA CRP
ADMIN
UP
UP
SWS
N LUMCO LAV
CAFE DU 2 MONDE
LAV
GREEN
UP
HOUSE
UP
UP
E
LSU, SC
UP
S
TU EEN
AVIARY
UP UP
e Ruins
Hous Shotgun
M
USEU ORY M L HIST
NATURA
PPR
EPA CW NTER
R’S CE
VISITO
5’
Levee +1
UP
UP
NTER
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DISCOV
on Audub
UP
UP
BRYAN APITO 11
Audubon Center, Entrance Hall
12  GRADUATE DESIGN PORTFOLIO
Research Facility, Viewed From Public Outdoor Corridor
Wetlands Restoration Laboratory
Educational Laboratory
BRYAN APITO  13
Portion Of A Lookout Tower
Building Model Revealing Interior Spaces
A Stepped Public Entry Into The Audubon Center
Lookout Tower Conceptual Design
Bottomland Hardwoods
Bay Model Of A Research Bay
The building’s program includes: a Visitor’s Center with classrooms and information; a New Orleans Audubon Center with a Natural History and Ecology Museum and Discovery Center Classroom; an Aviary, a Greenhouse, an Administration Pavilion, Public Bathrooms, a Cafe and Public Gathering Spaces. The central program of the building are the Ecology Laboratories, Classrooms and Offices for a consortium of like-minded scientists, students and environmental educators who express a commitment to collaboration and competition within the environmental research and restoration fields. 14 GRADUATE DESIGN PORTFOLIO
Building spaces can be dismantled and relocated, leaving a relic of the former structure behind to be used as a network for locomotion through the future landscape. Over time the region surrounding the building will evolve into a productive landscape.
Shrub Swamp
Fen / Wet Prairie
Cypress-Tupelo Swamp
Marshland
The building spine is a public space, allowing free-flowing connection between all pavilions and connections to the landscape. Visitors can walk or bicycle through the building network and continue into the landscape on a series of raised pathways.
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CLOSER TO NATURE SEASONAL ARTIST HOME + STUDIO LINCOLN MASSACHUSETTS, USA | SPRING 2012
SCALE \\ ~2,000 FT2 SEMESTER \\ SPRING 2012 CLASS \\ GRADUATE STUDIO II INSTRUCTORS \\ MS. TATIANA BERGER
BRYAN APITO 17
The goal of this project was to design a small residence and artist studio which reacts to the region’s climatic, cultural and contextual conditions. This design position was inspired by Kenneth Frampton’s theory of ‘Critical Regionalism’. ‘Closer to Nature’ documents the design of a remote artist residence for the DeCordova Museum in Lincoln, Massachusetts. The site is located near Lincoln’s reservoir, Flint Pond. It is just a short hike from the DeCordova Museum complex. Every six months the artist-in-residence will rotate. The house is situated along a hiking path which overlooks the pond. The house includes a flexible studio space for the artist. The the remote location of the home was chosen to increase privacy and foster serenity for the artist. The building is situated in a position to increase views of the pond. The building form responds to the curving landscape, changes in sunlight, wind, views and approach. The landscape pierces through the building envelope, creating natural buffers between spaces. The building envelope can be made permeable in the warm months or compartmentalized in the winter. The dynamic spatial arrangement allows the resident to observe changes in seasonal and atmospheric conditions from different perspectives.
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View Analysis Model
Site Model, Perspective
Site Model, Aerial
Views Across Program
A B C D E F G H I J K
Entry Studio Office 1/2 Bathroom Outdoor Patio Kitchen Mudroom Den Bathroom Bedroom Guest Bedroom
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Views To Landscape E
A
B
Circulation
Building Footprint
Building Massing
Private \ Public BRYAN APITO  19
Engaged Gutter & Header Detail
View Through Studio & Home
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The Artist’s home and studio is approached along a wooded path which follows the pond. The home is situated to welcome visitors between the tall public studio and the austere sprawling house. This crafted building orientation orchestrates a subtle suggestion of privacy, allowing the home to retain a feeling of intimacy.
Stone Reveal Detail Hides Mullion
“Study Nature, Love Nature, Stay Close To Nature. It Will Never Fail You.” — Frank Lloyd Wright —
Artist Studio
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The studio is the most important space of the building. The height reflects its importance and creates a flexible space for large art to be created. The studio can be used as a work space or public gallery, allowing the DeCordova museum flexibility in programming. The space opens to a large outdoor work patio where sculptures can be crafted or presented. A small office is attached to the studio with southern light filtering inside through glass block fenestration.
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BRYAN APITO 23
The work and living quarters are physically separated but adjacent. This building organization creates the ability to leave work behind and relax within the home. The home encourages the user to spend time outdoors by offering a range of views of the landscape and ample outdoor spaces. Sight-lines were established between indoor spaces to grant the user a sense of spatial awareness. Nature weaves between the programmatic elements of the building, which visually ties the separated spaces together and to the landscape. View Through Kitchen Into Landscape
View From Kitchen Through House
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Section through Artist’s Studio and Outdoor Seating
View through Artist’s Studio and Outdoor Seating
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Section Through Den
Den Overlooks Landscape
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This home creates a unique identity for itself and the user because of the building’s relationship with the surrounding landscape. Private spaces are shielded from the public view by carefully crafted walls. In addition, vistas to the pond are carefully orchestrated, granting the user an experience which promotes a strong sense of place. The Interior spaces are designed to feel transparent. The master bathroom looks out to a private outdoor court where flowering trees will grow. The master bedroom is open to the wild with a sloping stone wall that seems to extend from the home, leading down to the water’s edge, creating a threshold to the landscape.
Section Through Bedroom
Bedroom Overlooks Private Patio
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28 GRADUATE DESIGN PORTFOLIO
BUILDING ON THE MOUNTAIN OF GODS HERITAGE MUSEUM / COMMUNITY CENTER / PILGRIM HOSTEL BANGANGA TANK COMPLEX. MALABAR HILL, MUMBAI INDIA | FALL 2011
SCALE \\ ~30,000 FT2 SEMESTER \\ FALL 2011 CLASS \\ COMPREHENSIVE STUDIO INSTRUCTORS \\ MR. ROBERTO VIOLA OCHOA, SASAKI ASSOCIATES
BRYAN APITO 29
This project documents the design of a Heritage Center, residing on the edge of the holy Banganga Water Tank (natural spring) and Walkeshwar temple complex in Malabar Hill, Mumbai, India. The Heritage Center design integrates contextual and cultural analysis, site and environmental systems, material and structural systems as well as mechanical and programmatic design. The goal of the building is to foster social interaction and education as a integrated stitch within the existing urban fabric. The Heritage Center at The Banganga Tank is uniquely situated between many strata of varying socioeconomic and religious sects. As visitors travel through the chaotic urban experience, they encounter the Heritage Center which acts as a filter to calm and clear the mind of the visitor before passing through to the holy tank below. The Heritage Center’s varied program includes vast public bathrooms for the neighboring slum-dwellers, a hostel for religious and secular pilgrims, a gymnasium and multifunction halls for hosting weddings and festivals. The focus of the Heritage Center is the museum which strives to educate visitors about regional heritage and Hinduism. Views of the neighboring temple complex determine the organization of the building’s interior spaces and circulation.
30 GRADUATE DESIGN PORTFOLIO
01
Image of Indian People
03
Skin and Hair Colors Removed
Original Islands Land Reclaimed By 1900 Land Added In The 20Th Century
Image Simplified To 30 Colors
02
Colors Simplified Into Grid Pattern
04
Glass Facade Color Pattern Creation
Concept Collages
Building Responds To Views Of Neighboring Temples
BRYAN APITO  31
Colorful Active Staircase.
Mumbai is a complex system of extremes. Desiccated and deluged, dilapidated and opulent— the city finds its balance by staying on the very extreme of every contextual spectrum. This amalgamation of polar extremes creates a diverse, chaotically organized, yet ever-changing dynamic urban context. The Heritage Center responds to the chaotic landscape by capturing its informality and juxtaposing it with serene indoor spaces for leisure, learning, entertainment and relaxation. The building captures water and uses it to form a lotus pond and waterfall. The lotus flower is considered sacred in Hindu culture and is valued as an important part of the heritage of the religion and the region. The museum’s sculptural light-well appears to emerge from beneath the pond, resembling an opening lotus flower.
32 GRADUATE DESIGN PORTFOLIO
Hostel Overlooks Public Space
Mumbai was formed by a series of infill land projects which grew to create a completely man-made environment. Malabar Hill is the western most peninsula of Mumbai. The steep slope of the hill is a layered palimpsest of staircases, high rises, informal slum settlements and street vendors.
Lotus Pond, Ecological Heritage
Heritage Center Gallery BRYAN APITO 33
Building Structure Model
Covered Roof Terrace
34  GRADUATE DESIGN PORTFOLIO
Gymnasium
Ceramic Tile Clad Sun-Shading Fins
Street-Side, Hostel
Temple View Overlook
Admin
Ticket
Meditation Gallery
Entry
Exit
Outdoor Circulation
Meditation Gallery Public Bathrooms
BRYAN APITO  35
36 GRADUATE DESIGN PORTFOLIO
THE KAISERSWERTH CONNECTION AGRICULTURE SCHOOL + LEVEE HOUSING KAISERSWERTH, DÜSSELDORF GERMANY | SPRING 2011
SCALE \\ ~300,000 FT2 SEMESTER \\ SPRING 2011 CLASS \\ GRADUATE STUDIO I INSTRUCTORS \\ MR. PAUL LUKEZ, FAIA. PAUL LUKEZ ARCHITECTURE
BRYAN APITO 37
This project investigated problematic urban conditions, marked by estrangement from the city center. These estranged spaces are defined by their restricted geographical attributes. This urban condition was first explored theoretically then later identified in a stretch of agricultural land which separated the historic town of Kaiserswerth from the downtown of Düsseldorf, Germany. The area between these two urban regions has been constrained by the Düsseldorf International Airport, highway 44, agricultural land and new commercial developments. Regional historic patterns of urban development were analyzed and re-imagined to reconnect the two regions. ‘The Kaiserswerth Connection’ works to tie the historic city along the river bank to the heart of Düsseldorf. Historically, communities in this region expanded linearly along waterways. This method of land division allows everyone to receive a similar share of the waterfront.
Isolated Estranged Regions
38 GRADUATE DESIGN PORTFOLIO
Population By Sex
Estranged Region In-Between Defined Spaces
Population By Age
Urban Plan. Red = New
Building Density v. Open Space Density Analysis
Situationist Plan Analysis
The new rural plan for the coast of the Rhine in Düsseldorf transforms the landscape into a place for education, community and agriculture. In addition to the main building: a ferry landing, a floating research platform, a lifted tractor garage and a system of boat docks were designed.
Transportation
1982 v. Present Urban Expanse
Land Use
Highway Density
Urban Density
Vegetation Density BRYAN APITO
39
Hovering above the landscape is the ‘Sustainable Agriculture College’, a portion of the Heinrich Heine University. This structure stands in stark contrast to the flowing organic landscape below. The main college building is centered around a bisection of highway 44, which acts as a billboard for the highway. The intersection of building and infrastructure creates a node of higher building density than the rest of the river front. The straight, tectonic building form contrasts the active earthen levee structure below. This allows the public to perceive the building from different positions.
A variety of housing typologies were developed for living on the flood plane. The houses rise with the water on pylons during times of flood, and sit on the landscape or stilts in the dry seasons. By placing the homes on the river side of the levee, every resident receives a desirable waterfront property which is safe during flooding. This new community follows the same logic of urban growth as historic in Rhine urban growth patterns.
A new levee was created to protect the community and farm lands. This is an active levee which has retail, commercial and restaurants and infrastructure embedded within it. The new levee creates a boulevard along the crop fields. The levee can control the water flow, allowing farmers or farming students to intentionally flood the crops as desired.
Kaiserswerth
Urban Density
Geology
Purchasing Power
Home Income
Schools
View from the Rhine-side of the new levee. This landscape is commonly flooded; all infrastructure and architecture respond to water rise.
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Theoretically the structure could continue down the side of the Rhine river, allowing the landscape to ungulate beneath its straight profile.
Building sections show the varied profile of the superstructure.
A community along the river is created. Infrastructure is carried within the new levee.
Greenhouses soar over the Germanic landscape.
BRYAN APITO  41
Bird’s Eye View
Farmer’s View
Along The Levee View
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Site Plan
Levee Facade Development
Levee Section Typologies
Existing Spatial Dynamic
Planned Spatial Dynamic BRYAN APITO  43
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