Cezar Nicolescu : Architectural Portfolio

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Section of the Reconstructed Fondou ks Sbitriyine (lef t) and Chemmain

Equirectang u lar Projection Sur vey Photog raph of Sbitriyine Court yard

Demolition and Preser vation Plan of Chemmaine and Sbitriyine

P r o f e s s i o n a l . W o r k

Fè s Fo n d o u k s Rehabilitation Kilo Architectures . Paris / Casablanca

ne (R ig ht)

d A fondou k is the Ma g rheb 's equivelent of the more common ly understood Ca rava nsera i: a n inn in which travelers ca n rest a nd recover f rom a long journey. Fabrication rooms a nd adjacenet storef ronts a lso a l lowed ref inement a nd the sel l ing of goods .

Fondou k s , ca rava nsera i, a nd their reg iona l equivelents suppor ted the f low of commerce , information, a nd people across the trade routes bet ween A sia , Nor th A f rica a nd Europe .

Four Fondou k s whose in habitations spa nned the previous t welve centuries in the a ncient med ina of Fès required urgent rehabi l itation a nd restoration.

One of them wa s in habited a nd other three were in aba ndoned r uin.

Responsibi l ites included site sur vey ing , photog ra mmetric data capture , str uctura l a nd materia l eva luations , d ia log ue w ith eng ineers a nd a rchaeolog ists , the creation a nd publ ication of book s deta i l ing the minute cond itions of each room a nd str uctura l a nd orna menta l element of the fondou k s , a nd the generaton of a deta i led set of d raw ing s for the ex ista nt cond ition a nd reconstr uction of the fondou k s .

A l l three-d i mensiona l representation a nd photog raphy here is solely my ow n wo rk.

Existing (as of 2010) Condition of Fondou k el Barka

Detai led Renderings of Reconstruction of el Barka

Existing (2010) Condition of Fondou k Staouniyine

A nnotated Reconstruction Detai ls of Fondou k Sbitriyine

Detai led Perspective of Reconstruction of Staouniyine

Detai led Perspective of Reconstruction of el Barka

P r o f e s s i o n a l . W o r k

Fès Place Lalla Yeddouna Competition Kilo Architectures . Paris / Casablanca

Board 2 of the competion entr y

Place La l la Yeddouna is a sma l l pla za that l ies at the center of the med ina of Fès in Morocco. W hi le it currently f unctions a s a vibra nt foca l point of the neig hbrohood , it fa i ls to ta ke adva nta ge of its unique geog raphy a nd topog raphy. We proposed to visua l ly a nd prog ra mmatica l ly reconnect the pla za a nd the vicinit y into a contig uous explorable place by en ha ncing visua l connections a nd the interactivit y of adjacent str uctures.

A l l three-d i mensiona l representation shown for this project is d rawn a nd rendered solely by me .

Board 1 of the competion entr y

Quarry, Subway, Market. I combined these three programs which correlate with three realms of urban identity: Geology, Geography, and Gastronomy. I treat them as both literal themes and infrastructural and experiential correlations. The Quarry creates the space and the building material. The station brings in the city. The market is derived from their intersection. Subway cars are at first retooled to quarry, and then later to act as distributors of food for the marketplace.

D eg r e e . P r o j e c t

S u b way Q ua r r y M arket Advisor :PeterTagiuri

The abi lit y to quarr y stone is aug mented to the subway system. New

The quarried stone is used to replac

w subterranean spaces are created, as wel l as new bui lding materia l.

ce the temporar y market (whose structure a lso f unctions as formwork)

d w a y B r o a

E x i st i n g St at ion+Tu n nel

Q u a r r y Tu n nel Con nec t s to Cl i f f side

M a rket a nd Q u a r r y Merge i nto Urba n Fa br ic

Manhattan Schist Indwood Limestone Fordham Gneiss

Marketplace (Above-g rou nd por tion)

Q u a r r y Tu n n e l s

West 191st Street + Broadway Washington Heights / Inwood Manhattan, New York City

E x i s t i n g S u bw ay L i ne +S t a t ion

Babel Block John K een en

Ga l ler y space intert wines throug h a block of 7 interdependent towers

t he g a l ler y

st ud io s . ap a r t ment s

t he g a l ler y

re t a i l e tc .

s, winding throug h residentia l, retai l, studio, and industria l prog rams

st ud io s . ap a r t ment s

t he g a l ler y

c a f ĂŠ e tc .

From the exterior, the block appears a sing u lar composition. From the in center of prog rammatic interchange (a .k .a . urbanit y) within the path of

st ai rs co nn ec tr ts ee o tt pi az za

1 0 t h A v e n u e

nner court yard/piazza , the block divides into blocks, and becomes a civic the hig h line.

w. 19 t h S t r e e t

g ra nd e x h ibiti ion ha l l

Highline

w. 2 0 t h S t r e e t

Excessive Values

A n d y To w e r + Yu M o r i s h i ta

This studio served as a testing gound of several key interests of mine: . analysis of historically evolving values which architects builders and clients embody into their structures . coercion of structures to allow for new programs . intersection of historically disperate construction strategies in structures . monuments consumed by the vernacular, the vernacular ennobled to the status of monumenality. . the failure of architectural and urban codes in allowing urban diversity, both physically and programatically We began with a case study:

118 North Main Street, Providence.

118 N. Main St.

During the long life of the house (1772 present), the structure went through a rich accumulation of alterations, most notably a 1905 addition that resulted in the house being raised an entire story at the ground level in order to insert a storefront. Several years later, its original interior furnishings were spliced into the Brooklyn Museum. My study tracked the societal and economic values behind these modifications

1772

1905

20 08

The premise of planning an 18th Century dwelling in New England lies in the efficiencies of creating, distributing, and containing heat during the cold windy winters.

1772 20 08

Va lue : Structura l + Infrastructura l Ma l leabi lit y

Va lue : Heat Distribution from Fireplaces Va lue : Prog rammatic Flexibi lit y (Marketabi lit y)

The Evolution of Corpses In my mind, cities (societies) fail when they cut themselves from ground.

The American Metropolis (generally without city) is long gone as a fabric of densities/accumulations/resources/capillaries/opportunity, but exists mostly as a matrix of numbered tax lots designations, highway exits, spaceless “nodes”.

It

doesn’t matter from where your eggplant, chicken, or brick comes from as long as the supplier’s excel chart stays numerically stable.

So as the requirement to have ground and to belong to ground dissipate behind the f lat panel display and the tachometer, so does our sacred right to ground.

In this studio we were given a site, and empty lot, in the “historic center” of Providence. The previous occupier of the site was an old church that recently had burnt to the ground.

The accidental subtraction created an opportunity for the reclamation of a type of ground (the dirty type that escapes designation/ordination) that the city had long since forsaken: The space that could be a market (I’m not talking about the market itself yet). This is a site without a back or front, without dichotomy of interface and mechanism. It thus would not be conducive to the model of the consumer and the consumables. It’s only a trading ground for Providence.

Changing economies and infrastructures are out of the sphere of inf luence of the architecture student, but I could at least make an offering: Expand and share the ground by exploiting a f lotsam of urbanistic, structural, and historical opportunities. (a side-lot wall becomes a face to a basilica/ bazaar) (a grid of suspension cables supporting two removed f loor slabs become providers of utility) (previous historical interventions are exposed and their dialogue reanimated to generate buildings within buildings, and thus urban ground within interiors and interior walls through urban spaces) True urbanism (old urbanism) happens in the corpse, not anatomically but sculpturally. Old urbanism is the worship of ground.

Perspective .15 : Excavated Shel l of 159 Weybosset Street

Long itudiona l Section . 01 : Commercia l A nchor + Market Grounds

Long itudiona l Section . 02 : Access Core + Market Ha l l

Existing Site Condition ( 151 Weybosset Street . Providence . R I )

Plan .05 : Market Ha l l (Yel low) + Market Grounds

A lterations.01+.02 : Structura l (red) + Ser vicing /mechanica l (blue)

Structura l and spatia l possibi lities for the transformation of a vestig ia l

a l ley into a porous baazar

In t eg r at e d . B u i l d i n g. S y st e ms

D iss ec t i o n and Retrofit Lynnette Widder + Andy Tower

During my time at risd, I lived in an 18th Century bay window. I wanted to turn it into a stage that could face both outward and inward.

In this project, I replaced the double-hung windows with casement windows, and inserted collapsable benches into the floor which could unfold into a series of stages protruding outwards.

Detroit Studio

Thomas Gardner + Matthew Miller

This is an architectural fantasia in which the collapse of a national economy is transcribed into a regenerative urbanity: Compare Detroit and Rome after the collapse of their respective empires. Spoilt temples are junkyards. The visigoths probably look like Mad Max, and the Chrylser emblem is the new corinthian capital.

Detroit : as A rmature for Hyper-Urban g row th : Infrastructure and Grandeur included.

Oppurtunit y for urban fabric rec ycling (existing transport infrastructure + vast bui lding materia l stock (spolia)

Photog raph ta ken a nd processed by aut hor.

Unit to Unit g row th = new (old) urban sca le : usurption of the “getting there” culture in favor of the “being here” culture of urbanity

Of fering : Gif t of Densit y

Opportunit y : It’s three ha lves Fu l l

Perspectiva l

Section .0 4

Interpolations

P H O T O L O G U E S

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