Table of Contents Portfolio Celena Yancy
academic work................................................................... 2-18 west monument street study.................................................................. 2-14 100 year rainstorm project..................................................................... 15-18
professional work............................................................. 19 personal work.................................................................... 20
WEST MONUMENT STREET
WEST MONUMENT STREET EXPLORATION TRANSFORMATION OF LIGHT RESIDENCE VS INSTITUTION
Academic work
PRIVATE VS PUBLIC
TRANSIT STOPS
SITE ANALYSIS West Monument Street is located in Baltimore, Maryland. The location is urban and has private residential buildings intermixed with retail and institutions. The site is along the same street as several houses and across the street from the Maryland Historical Society. A few blocks over, there is a performing arts school.
ACCESS
VEGETATION
There are no green spaces in the immediate surrounding area. There are a few trees lining the sidewalks. There are several small parking lots on the block where the site is located and the surrounding blocks. Public transit stops are along major roads but there appears to be no stops on the block where the site is located.
IMPERVIOUS SURFACE
208 WEST MONUMENT STREET APARTMENTS Baltimore has many opportunities for the young professional. The area is the location for University of Maryland’s graduate campus, which means there are new graduates every single year. There are plenty of law, medical, and other professional practices that would attract new graduates. With that in mind, I focused on designing an apartment building that appealed to the young professional. I put a large emphasis on privacy in each unity while providing ample amount of public space for gathering and connecting with other people.
STREET VIEW Brick is a dominant material used in the neighborhood. Most of the buildings on the block have a Queen Anne style of architecture. I wanted to design the façade to match the rest of the neighborhood. The apartment building features a light stone on the first floor to separate it from the other buildings on the block. It also creates a visual separation between the public activity on the ground level and the private units above. The second floor and up are predominately red brick and feature repetitive windows that resemble the Queen Anne Style. The South façade is the primary view from West Monument Street. The West façade is on Tyson Street, which is not a main road and doesn’t have sidewalks for pedestrians.
SOUTH ELEVATION
WEST ELEVATION
THE LAYOUT I took inspiration from the Casa Rustici. The Casa Rustici is an apartment building built in Milan, Italy in 1933. It was designed by architects Pietro Lingeri and Giuseppe Terragni. The Casa Rustici is almost like two apartment buildings split in half with a courtyard running through the middle. The units face away from each other to create privacy. The Courtyard gives the residents sunlight and outdoor spaces. The West Monument Street site is facing south which provides good sunlight. I wanted to maximize the natural light from the south in my design. The apartment units are aggregated around the edge creating a “C” shape. The East side of the apartment building is located on a parti-wall, which can limit options to put additional apartment units. I cut out the center of the building on the East side, similarly to the Casa Rustici, to increase the amount of light entering the building. The space becomes a courtyard that can increase light and provide the residents with public space.
PRECEDENT STUDY - CASA RUSTICI
PHOTO BY GIUSEPPE DE FRANCESCO
CUT The courtyard is an open bright space where residents can go outside and relax with other people. The surrounding area doesn’t have green space so this area will give the residents scenery. The courtyard is located opposite of the units to allow for privacy and low sound pollution. The courtyard itself is a bright space and it also brightens up the hallways on each floor.
SOUTH SECTION
WEST SECTION
COURTYARD The courtyard provides the residents with an outdoor space. It’s private for the residents but open to all the people living in the building. It’s a space to lounge around in and bring in more light to the building. By having a open space in the building, the residents have connection to each other while still having separation from their individual apartments.
208 WEST MONUMENT STREET MUSIC SCHOOL Baltimore is known for the arts. The arts create community and that was an important consideration when I designed the music school. The music school will be a space for community on each level that connects throughout the building. The institute will consist of a music store, café, teaching classrooms, and an auditorium.
Precedent study sketch of McGill Music School
STREET VIEW I wanted the music school to have a major contrast from the neighborhood’s Queen Anne style. I went with a bold modern façade to draw attention to the building and encourage people to enter. The façade features black stone and large light stone columns. The windows on the second floor travel up to the third floor to create an illusion of one grand space. It also lets more light into the building on the south side.
Precedent study sketch of McGill Music School
SOUTH ELEVATION
WEST ELEVATION
THE LAYOUT The floors are designed to increase privacy upwards. The ground level features the music store and the Café up front. It allows more access to public foot traffic. The second level is for performances and a lounge space. The third level is for classes.
STREET LEVEL RELATIONSHIP
INDIVIDUAL FLOORS
VERTICAL CONNECTION
CUT There are large windows on the south side to maximize the light coming in to the space. Although each floor would be getting large amounts of light, the light is limited to each floor. Cutting out the center allows for light to flow from the top of the building down to the bottom. It also connects the public spaces on each floor together as one public space.
Precedent study sketch of McGill Music School
SOUTH SECTION
WEST SECTION
PARALLEL USE OF LIGHT The apartment building is a private space. It is intended primarily for those who live in the building. The music school is a mix of public and private. The first level is public, the second level is both public and private, and the third level is private. The apartment and music school are different types of spaces but they both utilize light similarly. Both buildings cut out a portion of space to draw in light and create a common area. Light is an important part of any type of space. Different types of spaces can use light in the same way to connect people and create community.
1000 Year Rainstorm Strikes Twice in Two Years Historic Ellicott City, located in Maryland, has been devastated by major flooding in 2016 and 2018. Historic Ellicott City has been home to many small businesses and unfortunately those small businesses have had to rebuild multiple times because of the severe flooding over the years.
go with the flow This civic center project seeks to change how the people of Ellicott City experience water. The building uses the movement of water to celebrate the arts. Local artists can showcase their work in the gallery spaces. Guests visiting the gallery get to support artists/ small business owners just like before the severe flooding.
cascade
Site
Flooding Pattern
Sponge
Water is present throughout the building allowing for visitors and artists to have an immersive experience in the spaces. The water feature not only acts as an experience but, also collects rainwater that can be reused with in the building. When it rains, the pools fill up and the waterfalls down into a large rainwater collection pool.
LEVEL 1 - GALLERY
GROUND LEVEL - GALLERY
PRECEDENT SKETCH @ GLENSTONE MUSEUM
GROUND LEVEL - GALLERY
PRECEDENT SKETCH @ GLENSTONE MUSEUM
LEVEL 1- GALLERY
Laboratory Renovation *I completed the following drawing set with supervision/ edits from the project architect.
professional work
Artificial colored pencil on 9 x 12 sketch paper floating through space acrylic paint on 24 x 36 canvas
natural beauty acrylic paint on18 x 24 canvas
personal work