PORTFOLIO CASSIDY BROWN
University of Florida | B. Design - Arch ‘19 M. Arch Candidate - Fall 2021
PROJECTS 01
URBAN PLAYGROUND
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SANCTUM
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FLUID INTEGRATION
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FLOATING SUITE
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ENVELOPING VENEZIA
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ROTATING IDENTITIES
SPRING 2018 pages 1-6
FALL 2018 pages 7-10
SPRING 2020 pages 11-13
FALL 2017 pages 14-16
FALL 2020 pages 17-18
FALL 2018 pages 19-21
THE URBAN PLAYGROUND Design 6 | Spring 2018 Studio Critic | Stephen Belton Location | Charleston, SC Project Length | 12 weeks Verticality as a Signal Inherent to developing Charleston as a dynamic cultural beacon in the late 1700s is the construction of churches in the crux of city life. The most prominent urban blocks in Charleston are defined with the spires of the church steeple as the tallest element, signifying it as the single-most important aspect of life. In 1837, a huge fire succumbed the city and damaged over one-fourth of Charleston’s infrastructure. Most homes and churches began to be rebuilt in Greek revival style to give the city a romantic feel. Fire towers were also constructed as a cautionary architectural component, which challenged the spires as the tallest forms in the city. An important aspect to the developing schema of this project included the verticality of spatial elements in relation to the fire bell towers and the church spires.
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conceptual mapping of charleston, sc
mapping of historical fires 1740 1778 1796 1838 1861
Context
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Through analyzing the history of the development of Charleston’s urban landscape, there is a careful recognition of the tallest structures in the city to be the center of city life, and blocks in the city were developed to create cultural exchange and prove wealth and prosperity. They centered churches within the most important infrastructure blocks. The Charleston Institute for Contemporary Dance will be located off of Marion Square, a public park that parallels King and Meeting Street. They are known as the two most important historical streets in the city.
2ND FL
site
1ST FL
ground floor
public vs. private school occupation zones public private both
01. ticket office 02. storage 03. atrium stage 04. back of house 05. seating 06. common area 09. theatre 10. stair/ramp
historical churches in charleston map noted in red
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cross sections of the dance institution
Program The dance center will be developed as a one-ofa-kind initiative that allows the students to push the boundaries of dance within the context of Charleston’s architectural significance. Extreme height defying aerial silks, trapeze, and other modern circus types will be taught, practiced, and performed for public engagement within the context of the park- within the structure itself- and out. This institution necessitates a strong height to allow for the modern dance styles to be executed, which allows it to compete with the skyline developed in the city. The insititution’s height will signal to the community that Charleston values and promotes local unique art forms.
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key: 01. office 02. storage 03. atrium stage 04. back of house 05. seating 06. common area 07. restrooms 08. public promenade 09. theatre
10. stair 11. elevator 12. classrooms 13. dressing room 14. theatre stage 15. obeservation area 16. studio 17. cafe 18. practice room
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Materiality The objective of the facade is to honor the articulated iron tradition in the city by using metal as a core element. The exposed spaces would be framed with metal, while the private spaces would be concrete. The structural metal becomes defined space used by the dancers.
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FLUID INTEGRATION Design 7 | Fall 2018 Partner | Jaylin Darling Studio Critic | Donna Cohen Location | 1700 Park Avenue, New York City, NY Project Length | 6 weeks
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Honoring Culture East Harlem is a cultural beacon and is known for its ethnic diversity, and has influenced art and the exchanging of idealisms throughout the city. Despite this, East Harlem has been underserved and under-represented due to systematic racism and is now known to be tackling the food desert. Our program revolved around an experimental tower serving as a much-needed hub in East Harlem. Our focus revolves around creating a public farmer’s market, housing for incomes under the poverty level, and a “cube in the sky” which would provide a space for rotating local chefs, artists, and musicians to showcase their work.
Demographics of East Harlem
27.3% black
16.1% white
7.6% asian 3.2% other
46.5% hispanic / latino
Poverty Rate in East Harlem
31% below poverty
Sources: American Community Survey, NYU Furman Center , 2018
Concept - Manhattan for Harlem I know, you all hate cantilevers- but cantilevers represent strength and support of many components to work effectively. This tower represents the black, asian, and hispanic/ latino community in Harlem, and serves as a living + learning cultural exchange and resource center. Each floor of the cube would house local chefs, and the chefs would teach the community how to prepare certain dishes in relation to its culture. Conceptually, the food prepared in the cube would be purchased from the farmer’s market on the ground floor, all the while providing affordable housing. darling+brown08
The Pod Life East Harlem is a food desert. To combat this, we designed a constructed “pod” within the public base so the vendors had a clear home base, and these pods can be moved for flexibility and demand.
Public Base The tectonic base creates a dynamic portal, enticing the East Harlem community into the large, 40 ft. tall space becomes defined as a market to allow for collaboration, trade, and purchasing fresh food.
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Cube in the Sky Each floor will serve as a hub + resource for community. Each level will have two commercial size kitchens for cooking + collaborating, two smaller kitchens for expos, and flex base for various events and public usage.
Private Residency Units
Core + Circulation
The units will all be subsidized and restricted to individuals with a living wage under the poverty line and will vary in size based on that market need. The large curtain wall overlooks Marcus Garvey Park, and allows for residence to get full views of the city.
The core remains a constant vertical datum throughout the tower, providing a connective tissue between the units, the market, and the cube expositions.
Structure as Architectural Elements
Tower
overhead roof structure
floor plates
cantilever facade + components
Plinth Base
facade structure
overhead design
market interior entrance design
glass facade
interior market structural design
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ENVELOPING VENEZIA Design 8, at the Vicenza Institute of Architecture | Spring 2019 (semester abroad, Vicenza, Italy) Studio Critic | Lisa Huang + William Zajac Location | Venezia, Italia Project Length | 4 weeks
Elements as Kryptonite In Venice, Italy fire and water are integral elements to the foundation of the lagoon, yet both elements have the power to destroy the lagoon in their own right. The influence of fire and water catalyzed the development of Venice as a strong, powerful city that dominated trade throughout the world for over five hundred years. From the early 10th century to the 15th century, the development, the preservation of power, and the key elements in the production of the trade goods can be linked back these two elements. Yet, if these elements were ever uncontrolled, it could lead to the demise of the same trade, development, and production.
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vessel, sunrise
vessel, mid day
vessel, late evening
Glass Making Process as a Spatial Driver In developing the plan, the design was centered on creating a place for holding the furnace, the tools needed for glass blowing, and history of the furnace in the Venetian history, while creating two access points: one from the Rio Ca’ Foscari to address the water, and one from the calle (street) Sestiere Dorsoduro. To address the entry points, the design was created based upon the handbody steps to create glass-blown materials. In glass-blowing, pace is important to maintain when creating different shapes of glass to account for the heating effects on the glass versus the time frame in which the transformation happens.
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Pivoting The layout of the overhead condition contains light wells that were set at the pace of footsteps to create the feeling of a clear, fluid pattern of light qualities. These light wells run throughout the space from the water’s edge from the boat dock. From the calle (street edge) and the lagoon, the entry wall would be made of masonry, like the rest of the surrounding buildings to withstand salinization. The overhead condition poetically condenses from the street edge, then expands with the view of the bright, hot flames of the furnace. Above the entry would hang light wells that could open up to help with ventilation, but primarily serves to create ethereal qualities in the space surrounding the furnace.
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SANCTUM Design 5 | Fall 2017 Studio Critic | Mark Mcglothlin Location | Ocala National Forest Project Length | 9 weeks An Intervention for Extreme Flooding This project focused heavily on mapping the site and its relation to the Floridian landscape as a whole. The shelter was designed to accommodate and function during droughts, as well as during wet season, under high flooding. The unpretentious architecture designed for the site allowed for the use of the structure during high flood times as a natural way for water to be filtered and stored. The architecture reveres the broad and winding grassland that the prairie is known for.
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draught (fall + winter)
flood (spring + summer)
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FLOATING SUITE First Floor
Firm: Eagle Construction | Spring 2020 Role: Architecture Project Manager (schematic to close-out phase) Location | Richmond, VA, USA Anticipated Completion | Jan. 2021
EXISTING
ADDITION
FAMILY ROOM
Residency Upgrade
PATIO 26’-8”x15’-5”
Richmond, VA was re-built after the civil war in the early 1900’s in mostly colonial-revival style, and homes of this style continued to shape the vernacular for years to come. It was important to this family to keep the original architecture integrity of the home, while adding 1700 square feet. The main design constraint was to create an addition/renovation that did not disturb the existing structure/spaces, while adding a new primary suite and screened porch. To keep the architectural integrity, we needed to create usable space within the dormer windows, establish a dynamic entry portal into the primary bedroom from the existing home, and keep the bay window that intrudes into the area of the addition.
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Second Floor EXISTING
source: image taken by me on construction site, (addition shown behind wing walls) 2020
RENOVATION
ADDITION
PRIMARY BATH
BATH 3 WALK IN CLO
12’x10’
5’x10’ BEDROOM 3
CLO
rendering vs built, rendering and photo by me, 2020
front elevation: new addition w/ laser scan overlay
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floor plans, drawn + designed by me, property of Eagle Construction of VA
PRIMARY BEDROOM 14’x15’
Laserscanning for precision and accuracy To complete the renovation design, I utilized the laser scans of the existing home to capture and model the as-built. This enabled me to architecturally design and match the existing features. The additon included a new primary suite and screen porch. source: image taken by me on construction site, 2020
source: Image taken from the laser scan, Eagle Construction , 2020
source: Image taken from the laser scan, Eagle Construction , 2020
source: image taken by me on construction site, 2020
rear elevation: new addition w/ laser scan overlay
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THE ROTATING IDENTITIES Design 7 | Fall 2018 Partner | Jaylin Darling Studio Critic | Donna Cohen Location | Upper East Side, the Frick Musuem Project Length | 6 weeks
New York is known as the fashion capital of the world, however, the industry is constantly changing, and the infrastructure in the city needs to adjust to varying factors. This project experimented with movement - how can we adapt forms, while keeping spaces static?
New Yorker’s are constantly on the move, so why can’t our spaces adapt with them? This project is located at the Frick Museum in Upper East Side, which is alongside the most famous museums in the world. The Frick holds Old Master paintings and European sculptures, and is looking to gather more public interest. To juxtapose to the traditional art and architecture of the Frick Collection, the core of the new structure rotates, slides, and adjusts to keep up with the needs of the city.
