Interlacing Thorncliffe

ACADEMIC | ARC2013

Design Studio Iii

Instructor: Laurence Holland

Studio Partners: Reem Abdelaal, Angela Gou, Yvonne Tran

April 2021

In this Integrated Urbanism studio we were organized into small groups to investigate sites along the Eglinton LRT and responding to translate the goals of the Green New Deal. My group chose Thorncliffe as our “Design Action Zone” to respond to the affects of climate change of the site and creating blue-green strategies throughout Thorncliffe. We proposed a heat relief loop to mitigate the affects of urban heat caused by the large amounts of impermeable surfaces in the area by increasing street trees, cooling stations, and increasing public transportation within the site. In the winter, these stations turn into heating stations. Lastly, we were interested in the concept of multigenerational housing and co-living in response to recent articles about ways to solve the housing crisis. Each member of the group focused on a smaller site of intervention within Thorncliffe, with my site located in an under-used portion of land in the north.

I was particularly interested in the concept of cultural exchange brought by multigenerational housing. Hair braiding, an mundane tradition of the largely South Asian community of Thorncliffe was used as the main concept of my proposal. The three strands weaving around each other are: multigenerational housing, mobility, and stormwater management.

The massing of the buildings are long and skinny in response to the site itself. They are divided into three different clusters that decline in density, height, and distance as they approach the ravine, surrendering to nature. Furthermore, the groundfloor amenities gradually extend to the outdoors. The two mobility paths of pedestrian and bike/ skateboard wind around each other and then run parallel eastward. Their intersections become bioswales for stormwater management that overflow into each other and move to the facility in the northeastern side of the site.

Hidden Histories

ACADEMIC | ARC2014

DESIGN STUDIO IV

Instructor: Maria Denegri

Studio Partner: Haadiah Khan

April 2021

This new Climatorium aims to reveal the hidden histories of some of the people who built New York City, often unwillingly. These people have continued to be marginalized and their stories hidden beneath the “concrete jungle” that the City has turned into. Not surprising is that these same people have been leaders and advocates in the fight against climate change, while simultaneously being the most affected by it.

The histories we focused on are: the Lenape, the indigenous people of Lenapehoking, the traditional name of the land that Manhattan is a part of; New York’s African-American slave history, which continued even after abolition; and the Mohawk, who made long journeys from their homes to help build New York City’s modern skyline. With all eyes on the Climatorium as an anchor point location in the fight for climate change, we aim to reveal these hidden histories to decolonize environmental activism.

We aim to incorporate their histories and environmental practices through site, program, and form, focusing on public and shared spaces as generators for story telling, learning, and collaboration. This is manifested by a man-made river that collects and filters stormwater onsite with flexible programming at ground level depending on the season referencing the way the Lenape moved along the Delaware River as the seasons changed.

The materiality also responds to the histories of the Lenape, Black New Yorkers, and the Mohawk through the use of wood, brick, and steel respectively. We intend to use reused brick to create a circular economy between construction and demolition sites in the city. However, beyond just the reuse of material, these bricks help layer the story of all other sites in New York City, except this time, it is used to acknowledge the invisible hands that built it.

^ Concept Model Render

Reused brick was used as the primary focus in our material story. Since New York was not full of plantations as it was in the south, slavery was manifested through intense labour in constructing buildings and infrastructure in New York City. For example, slaves built the first hospital and state prison in New York. Furthermore, New York’s first slave market was a few blocks away from the building in Wall Street. We use curtain wall glazing to reveal moments of circulation as a response to how their presence was only limited to mainly interstitial spaces and aim to celebrate circulation space.

Interior Render >

We believe that there should be a relationship between the different types of programming throughout the Climatorium and that circulation spaces are not static, but rather double as a learning space to allow visitors to stop, sit, reflect, and share ideas. Throughout our building there are stairs, mezzanines, and elevated walkways to allow for more storytelling spaces as well as views into other spaces below. The circulation in our building begins as a defined space on the ground and begins to merge with the other programmed spaces to create a more open floor plan on the upper floors.

Mabuhay: Resilience in Metro Manila’s Informal Settlements

ACADEMIC | ARC3020/3021

ARCHITECTURAL DESIGN STUDIO: RESEARCH I & II

Thesis Advisor: Jeannie Kim

September 2022 - April 2023

Mabuhay is a greeting in Tagalog meaning “long live” or “welcome.” The root word, buhay has several definitions including: life, to be alive, existence, and a source of living. It is these definitions of buhay that this thesis and research aims to respond to.

Population estimations by the Philippine Statistics Authority predict that the population of Metro Manila will continue to rapidly increase and densify. By July 2025, the population would increase to 14.5 million people and reach a density of about 23,500 persons per square kilometre. Most of the population growth is concentrated in areas where the urban poor live and at least 35 per cent of Metro Manila’s population are living in parts of the region that are inaccessible to basic needs. Furthermore, many of these informal settlements are vulnerable to flooding and slum clearance for gentrification, especially those living along waterways.

How can urban poor communities navigate the anticipated globalization of Metro Manila as they get pushed out of the city in tandem with being particularly vulnerable to climate change?

Mabuhay explores the relationship and interdependency of informal and formal economies in Metro Manila. The informal economies investigated are: the garlic peeling informal economy; street vending; waste picking; jeepney-driving; and charcoal production. This thesis speculates how the actions of today and the recent past affecting these informal economies may change the landscape of Metro Manila in 2100. Maps and drawings at various scales are accompanied by speculations taking the form of different publication typologies to demonstrate that giving back the right to the city to informal settlers starts by giving them the right to stay. More drawings, diagrams, and research can be found on mabuhay.cargo.site

^ Thesis Exhibition

Each informal economy had accompanying regional- and urban-scale maps, drawings depicting a day-in-the-life of an informal worker, publication typologies associated with the corresponding speculative futures, and the daily earnings of the informal worker in Canadian Dollars.

< Map of Flood Projections

Aside from pollution, Metro Manila is at risk of severe flooding with the region being swallowed by water from the Manila Bay and Laguna de Bay. Manila proper, the centre of politics and economy and where most of the urban poor live, will be entirely flooded in 2100, displacing millions.

^ 2100 Future Speculation: Garlic Peeling I imagined that the Philippines returns to favour domestic garlic and no longer imports from China. The revival of domestic garlic sparks interest in the total use of the plant. Here, a set of recipe cards demonstrates how different parts of the garlic can be used in food and in supporting the home, to be passed on from generation to generation.