CASSANDRA HOWARD Carnegie Mellon University Bachelor of Architecture Class of 2021 cmhoward@andrew.cmu.edu +1 757-822-8838
SELECTED WORKS
CASSANDRA HOWARD DESIGNER - ACTIVIST - ADVOCATE I am passionate about bridging contemporary architecture practice and activism. This is a cause I have pursued through my architectural studies at Carnegie Mellon University over the past five years and through several community-engaged projects outside of the studio. I believe in the power of design as a tool for liberation and social and environmental justice for marginalized communities. As a designer, I work with and alongside communities, empowering individuals with the resources they need to improve their quality of life and build value in their communities.
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02 - 03 INTRODUCTION + TABLE OF CONTENTS 04 - 05 RESUME DESIGN FOR RESILIENCE 06 - 13 CENTER FOR LAND USE REPARATIONS 14 - 21 HETH’S VALLEY SCULPTURE PARK 22 - 25 SIX MILE ISLAND ECOMACHINE 26 - 27 EPIC MEDALS COMPETITION DESIGN FOR COMMUNITY 28 - 31 COMMONING THE CITY: URBAN DESIGN THESIS 32 - 37 ENVIRONMENTAL CHARTER SCHOOL 38 - 41 MATERIALS AND ASSEMBLY DESIGN FOR COMMUNICATION 42 - 43 WATS:ON? FESTIVAL CURATION 44 SCHOOL OF ARCHITECTURE EX-CHANGE PUBLICATION 45 CARNEGIE MUSEUM OF ART EXHIBITION PLANNING
Table of Contents
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CASSANDRA HOWARD cmhoward@andrew.cmu.edu +1 757-822-8838
EDUCATION Carnegie Mellon University Bachelor of Architecture Minor in Social and Political History Class of 2021
HONORS AND LEADERSHIP Andrew Carnegie Society Scholar Fourth-Year Design Awards Deller Prize in Sustainable Architecture and Real Estate Dean’s List College of Fine Arts Elected Class Representative School of Architecture Student Advisory Committee, Fall 2018 - Spring 2021 Teaching Assistant Survey of Architectural History Course, Spring 2020, 2021 WATS:ON Festival Course, Directing music video for hip-hop artists, Fall 2019 Pre-College, School of Architecture, Summer 2017 Outreach Programming Coordinator American Institute of Architecture Students, Fall 2016 - May 2018 Peer Mentor School of Architecture, Fall 2017 - Present
SKILLS Design Tools Adobe Creative Cloud (Ps, Ai, Id, Pr) Rhino 3D - Grasshopper - Sketchup AutoCAD - Revit Model Construction - Digital Fabrication
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Design Skills Conceptual Design - Design-Thinking Design Development - Visualization Design for Environmental Sustainability Analog - Video Editing and Animation
Communication and Collaboration Community Outreach - Educational Outreach Publication Design and Editing Exhibition Design Project and Event Management Interview and Written Communications
ACADEMIC AND PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE Design and Exhibitions Intern
MASS Design Group, Boston, MA, Summer 2020 - Winter 2021 Redesigning Healthcare with MASS Design Group at the Cooper Hewitt Smithsonian Design Museum will exhibit the relationship between design at all scales and its immediate and long lasting response to disease vectors. Working closely with the design and curatorial team, we have moved through conceptual design to design development, preparing regular drawing sets for submission.
Lecture Series Moderator + Assistant School of Architecture, Carnegie Mellon University, Fall 2018 - Present Moderate Q+A for virtual lecture events for Fall 2020 and Spring 2021 series. Assist lecture series guests and director throughout planning, promotional, and archival process. Manage promotional team for media deployment.
Curatorial Assistant, WATS:ON Festival College of Fine Arts, Carnegie Mellon University, Fall 2018 - Summer 2020 The 2019 WATS:ON Festival: NOW. brought four African-American visual and performing artists, taking on the spirit of Activism, to Carnegie Mellon. I worked directly with artists to amplify the impact of their messages through their visual and performance art. Assisted the festival Director in planning, curating, and managing the festival from initial artwork curation to graphics and promotions to archival web management.
Editorial Fellow, EX-CHANGE Publication School of Architecture, Carnegie Mellon University, Summer 2019 Designed, curated, and edited the Carnegie Mellon School of Architecture Year-In-Review catalogue, EX-CHANGE, of student work, as well as essays and interviews with professors in the school.
Curatorial + Research Assistant Heinz Architectural Center, Carnegie Museum of Art, Summer 2019, Spring 2020 Primary exhibition layout and design with digital model under guide of Exhibition Curator and CMOA Exhibition Designer. Research featured architects for exhibition guide-book.
Exhibitions and Education Intern Virginia Museum of Contemporary Art, Summer 2018 Designed, fabricated, and installed interactive response wall for community gallery. Design Fall 2018 ARTlab, interactive art making and response space, with education team. Work side by side with Preparator in preparing galleries throughout changeover, hanging work, and constructing interactives. Assist with Art Camp, Community Outreach Programs, and Teen Takeover events.
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CENTER FOR LAND USE REPARATIONS Spring 2020 + professors Nathalie Frankowski and Cruz Garcia As of 2018, Puerto Rico imported 85% of its goods, only producing 15% on the island. After Hurricane Maria, Puerto Rico suffered from a lack of access to fresh produce. The Department of Agriculture in Puerto Rico has been working to support local production to reduce the number of imported foods to 65% As we have learned from Indigenous populations, localizing production is one of the most sustainable and resilient ways of life. The Center for Land Use Reparations situates itself in Puerto Rico, on a campus of Laboratories for Loudreaders, to teach the future land-use activists and agriculturalists how to relocalize their production and build upon Indigenous practices that are a part of the rich culture of Puerto Rico. The curriculum is divided into three parts. The first year teaches the history of land use and economic systems. The second year focuses on research for sustainable food production practices. The third year is focused on community through active participation of the local community and the students in learning and practicing local food production. Inspired by siloesque forms of agrarian icons, the Hypersilo rises up out of ground to bring the community together in the fight for local production and equity. The loudreader tradition is inspired by the tobacco workers that hired one of their own, who could read, to read to them during the entire workday while they rolled cigars. The books that the lectores read for the workers were mostly books of philosophy or literature that shared an anti-capitalist imagination. For video content, please visit: https://loudreaders.org /CENTER-FOR-LAND-USE-REPARATIONS
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Center for Land Use Reparations
CENTER FOR LAND USE REPARATIONS MARKET PLAZA
CAMPUS OF LABORATORIES, MID-SEMESTER REVIEW Design for Resilience
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COMMUNITY KITCHEN FEATURING PIÑA COLADA TUTORIAL
LOUD-SPEAKING IN THE BANANA AND PLANTAIN PLOT WHILE HARVESTING HONEY
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Center for Land Use Reparations
SECTION OBLIQUE
Design for Resilience
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AUDITORIUM LOUD-READING PRESENTATION OF TYPES OF GRAIN SEED FROM SEED BANK SPECIALIST
EXPERIMENTAL PRODUCTION FIELDS
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Center for Land Use Reparations
INVERTED AXONOMETRIC
Design for Resilience
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HERB, FLOWER, AND MEDITATION GARDEN
HARVESTING FROM THE AQUAPONICS LAB
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Center for Land Use Reparations
SITE AXONOMETRIC
Design for Resilience
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HETH’S VALLEY SCULPTURE PARK Fall 2019 with partner Carmen Yu + professor Christine Mondor From parking lot to sculpture park, this project aims to revitalize the Pittsburgh Zoo’s parking lot through two careful maneuvers. The first is using the current parking lot’s structure combined with a series of cut-and-fill strategies to create three zones for storm-water management. The three zones include a zone for fast-moving runoff, a zone that aims to deconstruct and then regrow the parking lot through a series of striations in the asphalt, and a third zone of three high-volume pools for collection and storage. The final zone is held by a natural dam that can overflow to the Allegheny River in cases of heavy flooding. The second maneuver is the introduction of a sculpture park at the upper valley with two bridges to connect the Highland Park and Morningside communities. We chose to lift the sculpture park out of the valley to alleviate the burden of the sculpture park on the valley, and allow it to change over time becoming a landscape of its own, as a low-energy attempt to revitalize this urban parking lot. The sculpture park consists of 4 major sites: the main visitor’s center, the indoor gallery, the community and arts education center, and the larger urban sculpture park. These four sites are connected by two pedestrian bridges that also begin to bridge, socially and economically, the two neighborhoods on either side of the valley.
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Heth’s Valley Sculpture Park
HETH’S VALLEY PROPOSED SITE PLAN
Design for Resilience
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SITE TOPOGRAPHY ANALYSIS highlight upper valley site plateaus for circulation
WATER FLOW ANALYSIS USING COMPUTATIONAL TOOLS to analyze water flow and direction + to show water volume and storage capacity on site
SOLAR CONCENTRATION AND RADIATION ANALYSIS
RESOURCE AVAILABILITY AND TOTAL SITE ANALYSIS DIAGRAM
Heth’s Valley Sculpture Park
MAIN VISITORS AND EVENT CENTER
COMMUNITY ARTS AND EDUCATION CENTER
ZONE A HIGH VOLUME STORAGE
ZONE B PARKING LOT REGROWTH
ZONE C FAST MOVING RUNOFF
INDOOR GALLERY URBAN SCULPTURE PARK
Design for Resilience
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VISITOR’S CENTER
COMMUNITY AND ARTS EDUCATION CENTER
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Heth’s Valley Sculpture Park
URBAN SCULPTURE PARK
INDOOR GALLERY
Design for Resilience
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PROPOSED STORMWATER MANAGEMENT ZONE 1 high volume pools for heavy flooding
PROPOSED STORMWATER MANAGEMENT ZONE 2 create striations in the already dilapidated parking lot to allow decomposition and regrowth overtime
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Heth’s Valley Sculpture Park
CURRENT CONDITIONS VS. PROPOSED using low energy strategies to transform parking lot sections into stormwater management zones
CLIMAX COMMUNITY (YEAR 25- 100) MATURE TREES (OAK, ASH, AND PINE TREES)
INTERMEDIATE SPECIES (YEAR 3-25) GRASSES, SHRUBS, BUSHES, YOUNG TREES
PIONEER SPECIES (YEAR 1-3) GRASSES, ANNUAL PLANTS, MOSS, LICHEN
PROPOSED STORMWATER MANAGEMENT ZONE 2 landscape change over time within striated lot
Design for Resilience
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ECO-MACHINE Fall 2018 with professor Matthew Plecity + coordinator Dana Cupkova Six Mile Island, a river island in the Allegheny, situates itself amongst weather conditions and patterns of existence that challenge its habitation. The island itself has moved miles downriver and changes form from year to year through the heavy sedimentation and weathering from the river. The island is also subject to extreme flooding from the combined sewage system of the City of Pittsburgh and worsening weather patterns over time. This proposal analyzes the patterns of water flow on site, including direction, volume, and relationship to sewage outfalls along the coast to propose a system of housing that can withstand the patterns on site.
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ECO-MACHINE
PATTERNS OF WATER FLOW BASED ON SITE TOPOGRAPHY
Design for Resilience
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COMPUTATIONAL SITE ANALYSIS OF WATER FLOW VELOCITY AND RELATIONS TO SITE 24
ECO-MACHINE
PROPOSAL FOR HOUSING ON SITE, RESPONSIVE TO SITE CONDITIONS
Design for Resilience
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EPIC METALS DESIGN COMPETITION
Spring 2019 with partner Vincent Derienzo 3-Day Design Charrette. Proposal for a mobile outdoor science lab, kitchen, and garden to teach food production, preparation, and sustainability to students. ROOF Photovoltaic Panels 1” Polycarbonate
ROOF MEMBERS Toris® 4 Decking Gutter Toris® 4 Perforated Decking 2” x 8” Rafters
WALL Toris® 4A Decking Acoustic Element 2” x 4” Framing Double Pane Glass Accordion Door
FLOOR Wood Panel Waterproof Membrane Toris® 4 Decking 2” x 10” Frame Trailer Bed
PORCH Wood Panel Toris® 4 Decking Plywood
EXPLODED AXONOMETRIC 26
EPIC METALS Design Competition
WATER COLLECTION SYSTEM
OPERABLE FURNITURE DESIGN
PHYSICAL MODEL EPIC METALS Design Competition
OPEN + CLOSED AXONOMETRIC 27
COMMONING THE CITY: URBAN DESIGN THESIS Fall 2020 - Spring 2021 (in progress) with professors Stefan Gruber + Jonathan Kline This two semester research-based-design studio is focused on the bottom-up transformation of cities and explores how designers and planners can tap into the self-organizing behavior of cities in order to empower citizens to claim their right to the city. The studio provides an opportunity to pursue a yearlong thesis within a structured research context exploring urban commoning. My thesis project is situated in Wilkinsburg, PA, where almost a quarter of all families with children are single mothers living in poverty. Their lack of social support is reinforced by inadequate affordable housing and childcare, as well as restricted mobility. Exploring a cooperative housing structure designed around spaces of care, this thesis aims to support the single mothers of Wilkinsburg through a system of shared responsibility for domestic tasks that will increase their ability to achieve greater economic, social, and political agency. By alleviating the time and financial pressures of childcare, cooking, and cleaning, the women and children could have more opportunities to advance their education, build new skills, seek mental and physical health support, and create foundations for better futures. This project seeks to articulate strategies which make new futures reality.
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Urban Design Thesis
SHARED HOUSING MODULE
Design for Community
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COMMONING CASE STUDY RESEARCH 30
Urban Design Thesis
Design for Community
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ENVIRONMENTAL CHARTER SCHOOL Spring 2019 with professor Matthew Huber + coordinator Stephen Lee The Environmental Charter School focuses on teaching active and engaged students. The design primarily focuses on three main ideas- adjacency, porosity, and definition, to engage the architecture with the school’s pedagogy. Adjacency: The Environmental Charter School’s primary teaching strategy is through project-based learning. This strategy focuses on problem solving within a wider context and multiple disciplines. Therefore, project-based learning necessitates spaces for multiple scales of collaboration. Contrary to the traditional school model of classrooms designed for lecture, these spaces must be active and designed for flexibility. In addition to the studio classroom, the program includes breakout spaces, outdoor classrooms, edible gardens, and recreational play spaces within close reach of each other to further enhance the learning experience. Porosity: The shifting, in plan and section, of the programmatic spaces allows for a greater sense of flexibility and movement through the building, but also outside of the building. Located along the Allegheny River, this building is crafted to highlight views to the environment and landscape beyond the classroom. Definition: The design approaches enclosure with a desire for a low-definition reading. The use of channel glass and high transparency glazing blurs the edges between the building and the landscape, a direct response to the pedagogical focus on fostering a connection to the environment.
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Environmental Charter School
PROGRAMMATIC SPLIT Community Accessible Space + School Member Space
CREATION OF CORRIDOR TO RIVER Lawrenceville Master-plan Agenda: Create physical connections to the riverfront in each ward
ORGANIZING INTERVENTIONS Use of concrete walls to act as spatial and programmatic tools
PROGRAMMATIC SHIFT Large green roof space for recreation and edible garden
OUTDOOR CLASSROOMS Creation of outdoor terraces adjacent to classrooms
CLASSROOM SHIFT Push classroom spaces out from each other creating indoor breakout spaces
Design for Community
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WALL SECTION THROUGH TROMBE-WALL AND GLAZED SPACE-FRAME ROOF SYSTEM 34
Environmental Charter School
WALL-SECTION, VARIED APPLICATIONS OF THE SPACE-FRAME SYSTEM AND DOUBLE GLAZED FACADE
Design for Community
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Environmental Charter School
OUTDOOR SPACE
THIRD FLOOR
BREAKOUT SPACE
STUDIO SPACE
FOURTH FLOOR
SITE PLAN
Design for Community
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MATERIALS AND ASSEMBLY
Spring 2017 with professor Gerard Damiani Learning how materials and techniques inform spatial and form making decisions, with a focus on the meaning, aesthetics, and techniques related to the use of materials and the process of construction.
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Materials and Assembly
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CONSTRUCTION MATERIAL KEY: 1 EPDM ROOFING 2 HIGH LOAD RIGID INSULATION 3 STEEL DECKING 4 TREATED WOOD BLOCKING 5 STAINLESS FLASHING 6 3/8” TK. STEEL PLATE (WELDED TO STEEL BEAM) 7 3/8” T. STEEL PLATE (WELDED TO STEEL BEAM) FASCIA 8 STEEL BAR JOIST 9 STEEL SECONDARY BEAM W8X21 @ 24’0” CENTERS 10 STEEL PRIMARY BEAM W 16X45 11 COLD ROLLED METAL FRAMING (BRISE SOLEIL SUB STRUCTURE) 12 1/2” TK. FIBER CEMENT PANEL 13 KAWNEER WINDOW 451T SPACED 4’0” (VERTICALLY) 14 COLD ROLLED METAL FRAMING (BRISE SOLEIL SUB STRUCTURE) 15 RIGID INSULATION 16 1/2” TK. FIBER CEMENT PANEL 17 1” RIGID INSULATION (THERMAL ISOLATION) 18 SLOPED SITE CAST SILL 19 #6 REINFORCING BAR 16” O.C. EACH WAY 20 3/8” STEEL PLATE WELDED TO FLANGE AND WEB 21 3/8” TK. STEEL PLATE (WELDED TO STEEL BEAM) FASCIA 22 POLISHED CONCRETE SLAB 23 WELDED WIRE MESH 24 STEEL DECKING 25 1/2” TK. FIBER CEMENT PANEL 26 VAPOR BARRIER 27 CORRUGATED METAL SIDING 28 RIGID INSULATION 29 COLD ROLLED METAL FRAMING @ 16” O.C. SPACING 30 STEEL COLUMN W8X24 @ 24’0” O.C. 31 5/8” TYPE X GYPSUM BOARD 32 CONCRETE SLAB W/ WELDED WIRE MESH 33 VAPOR BARRIER 34 SILL SEAL 35 1/2” DIA. ANCHOR BOLTS WITH NON SHRINK GROUT BED 36 GRAVEL BACKFILL 37 COMPACTED GRAVEL FILL 38 10” TK. CAST IN PLACE CONCRETE 39 18” WIDE CONCRETE PIER
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DETAIL: BEAM ASSEMBLY 1/2” = 1’0”
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DETAIL: BEAM ASSEMBLY 1/2” = 1’0”
ASSEMBLY SEQUENCE
ASSIGNMENT 1
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48-215 MATERIALS & ASSEMBLY SPRING 2017 INSTRUCTOR: DAMIANI
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CASSANDRA HOWARD
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Materials and Assembly
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AXONOMETRIC SCALE: 3/16” = 1’0”
LIGHTBOX, BOHLIN CYWINSKI JACKSON, POINT ROBERTS, WASHINGTON 40
Materials and Assembly
MATERIAL
1. RIMBOA 2. TOP PLA 3. INTERIO 4. 9 1/4 I-JO 5. INTERIO
MATERIAL KEY: 1. 9 1/4” TIMBER I-JOIST @ 16” O.C. 2. DOUBLE TOP PLATE, 2 X 6 3. RIMBOARD, 2 X 10 4. HEADER, 2 X 4 5. CRIPPLE STUD, 2 X 4 6. ROUGH SILL, 2 X 4 7. TOP PLATE 2 X 6 8. 2 X 4 MEMBER WITH 2 X 6 MEMBER @ 24” O.C. 9. 2 X 6 MEMBER @ 12” O.C. 10. 6 X 6 CORNER POST 11. SOLE PLATE, 2 X 6 12. CONCRETE FOUNDATION WALL 13. SUBFLOOR BEAM, 2 X 4 @ 16” O.C. 14. EXPOSED TIMBER RAFTERS, 2 X 8 @ 24” O.C. 15. FLOOR JOIST, 2 X 10 @ 16” O.C. 16. FLOOR BEAM SUPPORTING JOIST, 2 X 6 @ 16” O.C.
DETAIL: 9 1/4 I-JOIST WITH HANGER
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DETAIL A: EXTERIOR CORNER
1. 3/16” CONCRETE PANELS BOLTED TO AIR BARRIER 2. 3/4” WOOD BATTENS AIR BARRIER 3. 1/2” PLYWOOD SHEATHING 4. 2X6 WOOD FRAMING 5. BATT INSULATION 6. 3/4” PLYWOOD PANELING 7. VAPOR BARRIER 8. 2X4 WOOD FRAMING 9. 6X6 WOOD FRAMING POST 10. HORIZONTAL WOOD BLOCKING (ABOVE)
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DETAIL B: EXTERIOR CORNER
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48-215 MATERIALS & ASSEMBLY SPRING 2018 INSTRUCTOR: DAMIANI DETAIL C: INTERIOR CORNER
CASSANDRA HOWARD
WOOD FRAMING
ASSIGNMENT 3 PAGE 4 OF 4 48-215 MATERIALS & ASSEMBLY SPRING 2018 INSTRUCTOR: DAMIANI DETAIL D: INTERIOR CORNER
CASSANDRA HOWARD
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48-215 SPRIN INSTR
SCALE: 3” = 1’-0”
Materials and Assembly
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2019: NOW. WATS:ON ARTS FESTIVAL Curatorial Assistant for the 2019 WATS:ON Festival: NOW. bringing four AfricanAmerican visual and performing artists to Carnegie Mellon. Worked directly with artists to amplify the impact of their messages through their work.
SOUND-INSTALLATION, MENDI + KEITH OBADIKE
SOUND-LIGHT PERFORMANCE, MENDI + KEITH OBADIKE
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2019 NOW. WATS:ON? Festival
LECTURE, HIP-HOP, AND SPOKEN WORD, JASIRI X
ONE-WOMXN PLAY, BLAK RAPP M.A.D.U.S.A
Design for Communication
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2018 - 2019 EX-CHANGE Publication Designed, curated, and edited the Carnegie Mellon School of Architecture YearIn-Review Catalogue of student work, as well as essays from and interviews with professors in the school.
FINAL COVER DESIGN
CURATED SAMPLE SPREAD WITH HAND-PICKED STUDENT IMAGES TO MATCH GRAPHIC STYLE; MADE IN COLLABORATION WITH FACULTY 44
EX-CHANGE Publication
CARNEGIE MUSEUM OF ART EXHIBITION PLANNING Work-in-progress digital model for a group show at the Heinz Architectural center, curated by Raymund Ryan.
HEINZ ARCHITECTURAL CENTER OVERVIEW
EXPERIENTIAL PERSPECTIVES USED TO DESIGN EXHIBITION LAYOUT
Curatorial and Research Assistant
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