DANNY ORTEGA MASTERS OF ARCHITECTURE UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA
IN BETWEEN REALMS Building Worlds and Realities.
One of the aspects that fascinates me the most in architecture is the fact that it cannot be defined through a singular form of media or drawing. Sure, one can say that a building and the built environment is the clearest form of architectural expression in our physical world. But what happens when we look beyond it? What type of realities can we build through other forms of mediated imagery? As Young & Ayata state in their piece “Drawing/Objects/ Buildings/Texts: The Post Medium Pararfictional Scenarios of Young & Ayata:” “Architecture is multi-medium, it uses aesthetics towards conceptual/ political effects, it is constantly engaged in the questions of context, and it is specifically object or scenario that inserts itself into the constantly changing conditions of reality. What architecture can learn from this art (Parafiction) is how each medium must be mastered not to rarify it towards self -critical abstraction, but in order to proactively position it in relation to the complex of mediated relations. This does not require an overarching narrative predetermining interpretation, but instead a cohesive and convincing scene that rubs against the multiple notions of reality.” It is this term of ‘reality’ that stems this book into a trajectory. When we conceive architecture through the hybridization of these different forms of media – we begin to construct a form of reality that speculates on a future. This, in turn, creates a form of realism that aspires the author of these realities into ideas and suggestions of what architecture should be if they were put into their responsibility. Through the gesture of drawing, text, and image – an architect can capture new definitions of Public Commons that respond to the social injustices to our society. Through media, a reality can be constructed where the exhibitor of objects becomes the exhibited. Finally, it is through architecture where we can construct embassies that act as safehouses for individuals of all faiths and backgrounds. This book is curated through the process of thinking of these proposals as works of parafiction. They aspire to be a construction of reality through a hybridization of diverse media. They build worlds upon worlds in which the author devises the exhibitor to place themselves and consider architecture between the context of different realities.
CONTENTS 06 NO NATION EMBASSY A safehouse offering representation and refuge for people of all backgrounds, cultures, and faiths. 20 TRANS-MUTATIONAL MATTER Museum Archive that twists the role between the curator and what’s curated. 30 THROUGH THE ROOF A market that investigates the conflicted nature of an erased neighborhood. 40 THE MATRYOSHKA KIT Kit of parts COVID-19 care units aimed at creating more equitable testing. 46 INSOURCED EQUITY Housing that integrates resources with the community and the media industry. 56 MACHINIC INSITES A research oriented makerspace addition for an arts school in Philadelphia.
IN BETWEEN REALMS |
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NO NATION EMBASSY
A safehouse offering representation and refuge for people of all backgrounds, cultures, and faiths.
ARCH 602 Semester Spring 2021 Professor Simon Kim Collaborators Anna Lim
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Seneca Village was once a Manhattan town along what is now the western edge of Central Park. It was a community owned largely by African Americans and had become a refuge for many, until it was destroyed for the creation of Central Park in 1857. Years later, and almost left forgotten, The New York Herald in 1871 reported the discovery of a body of an African American at a recent construction at a park entrance and denied the existance of Seneca Village with public authorities.Understanding this reality, It is our hope that the No Nation Embassy will act as a tribute towards the broken history of Seneca Village. With the ideology of anti-empiricism, this remake of Seneca Village accepts all as citizens with equal rights through a micro-urbanism of architectural characters united by a common roof. One major group of individuals who do not have access to all public amenities are immigrants, undocumented immigrants, and refugees. Today, undocumented immigrants and refugees receive several benefits given to them by the United States. However, there are other resources that are not as accessible such as healthcare, housing, jobs with upward mobility, and of course, US citizenship. In many cases, gaining access to these resources is a matter of having good legal representation and being informed of the process in a language that you can understand. Therefore, No Nation Embassy will be a safehouse offering representation and refuge for people of all backgrounds, cultures, and faiths. | Central Park, New York
IN BETWEEN REALMS | No Nation Embassy
ETFE Roof Membrane
Office / Admin.
Transport to Roof Gallery / Reception
Reservoir Observation / Maintenance Facilities
CHARACTERS AS ARCHITECTURE Aerial (above) Characters in architecture inhabit a strange terrain. They are both an object and a narrative operation. They contain traits and features that work in communicating a story. Much like characters in films, plays, and novels, architectural characters must also represent something more than the mere performance of their qualities. Characters are location specific, but not necessarily location exclusive. A character might be deployed in multiple settings, and the change of scenery surrounding a character elicits new meanings accordingly. In John Hejduk’s Victims (1985), an unbuilt proposal for a pavilion park in Berlin, these characters go so far to have names, in a Faulkner-esque world-building. Such characters became inspiration for the various spaces of the No Nation Embassy.
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Artificial Landscape
Performance
Boardwalk Auditorium
Restaurant / Galleries
Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis Reservoir
Artificial Reef
| Central Park, New York
IN BETWEEN REALMS | No Nation Embassy
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TACTICS OF BUOYANCY Section (above) The characters are paired in section by how they balance one another in various tactics of buoyancy. One that seems to balance like a ballerina on top of a narrow pillar with a partner in the background, another that acts as a receiving receptacle with a transport, and lastly a pair that seems to push against one another between a slab of earth and water. We also started to establish a basic understanding of a path of experiences through the No Nation Embassy, from an entry lobby with portal, through a heavy bearing wall, an option to go up to the roof through a transportation method, and a courthouse that seems about ready to topple over towards you.
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LEGEND: 01 - RECEPTION 02 - WAVEMAKER 03 - TRANSPORT 04 - COURTROOM
05 - PRAYER HALL 06 - OBSERVATION 07 - OFFICES 08 - PERFORMANCE
09 - ARTIFICIAL GROUND 10 - NON DENOMINATIONAL CHAPEL
| Central Park, New York
IN BETWEEN REALMS | No Nation Embassy
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UNDER ONE ROOF Plan (right) After having studied the relationships between characters in section, we examined in plan how paired characters would interact with one another, the layout of the complete embassy, and specific relationships with the water’s edge. We also began to introduce smaller structures operating as playgrounds, dog parks, and gathering spaces.
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| Central Park, New York
IN BETWEEN REALMS | No Nation Embassy
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ROOF AS ARTIFICIAL GROUND Choisy (above) / Typical Housing Plans (right) Our roof is developed as an artificial ground flipped above, integrated with characters and an artificial forest of thin columns (inspired by the Kanagawa Library by Junya Ishigami). The surface is articulated into several types: openings to below, flexible zones that become mobile, fixed zones that provide stability to the overall,
and input zones that allow for reactions to the characters below. Flexible zones of the roof are fashioned into “transformer” studies. They are slid in and out of a pocket provided by fixed portions of the roof. When open, they allow for more sunlight to reach through to the ground floor.
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| Central Park, New York
IN BETWEEN REALMS | No Nation Embassy
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DEFAMILIARIZING EMBASSIES Structural Model (left) / Facade Applications (above) The project started to take on qualities that are reminiscent of the typical government-owned building, such as heavy marble facade of an imposing courthouse. However, it was important to us that the materials chosen and overall elevation could challenge what a courthouse looks like by defamiliarizing typical materials. For example, instead of using heavy marble columns we chose to incorporate light and sculptural columns of steel. In other instances, instead of elevating the building onto a regal plinth, the
building is brought to the ground level or below. Overall, we’ve developed three façade systems with the goal of creating an unfamiliar representation of stone panels. These are designed with a lightweight composite material that resembles stone. Each system is applied to different characters by what nature and program we thought appropriate. Perhaps in an alternate universe, these composite stone panel systems could also take on the colored look due to its composite nature. | Central Park, New York
IN BETWEEN REALMS | No Nation Embassy
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| Central Park, New York
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TRANS-MUTATIONAL MATTER
Museum Archive that twists the role between the curator and what’s curated.
ARCH 501 Semester Fall 2019 Professor Maya Alam Publication Pressing Matters 9
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More than ever, objects and artifacts are continually scanned to translate parts of the physical world into digital data. This manifested data creates a new image of these objects, normally in the form of point clouds, which then can be shared, multiplied, and projected through any means of contemporary media. Subsequently, this process of digitizing artifacts create questions on how museums and archives should be designed to accommodate the new age of digitalization, causing us to wonder how we can begin to create formal spaces that start to publicly exhibit and share access of knowledge to these new forms of data. Interpolated Residue is an investigational project that seeks to find answers to these new understandings by creating a methodological approach through form-finding, layering programmatic spaces, creating spatial relationships with solids and voids, and by applying new manifestations of materials through digital translations. | Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
IN BETWEEN REALMS | Trans-Mutational Matter
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POINT OF DEPARTURE Design Process (above) / Museum Installation (right) As a class, we were tasked to scan and create multiple point clouds of the Penn Museum in order to start designing. The process and understanding of how to use the point clouds eventually became an inspiration into creating a methodology for the form of the installation and the building. This process involved using a repetitive process of layering, offsetting, and seaming. Layering, which implied the aggregation of the point clouds to get a clearer image, was used to create a formal part to whole relationship between itself as a sum of parts.
Offsetting, which adds complexity, was used to cut into the massing and start to contextualize to itself and to the site. Seaming, which references the relationship between the layers of information between the point cloud, is used to not only break the mass into new parts to create new visual misreading, but compositionally starts to read the form as a whole once again. And finally, the solid to void relationship to the site was also important to consider since it helps distribute the form and program around the courtyard.
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| Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
IN BETWEEN REALMS | Trans-Mutational Matter
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ROOF SEVENTH
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PERFORATION Elevation (right) With consideration of materiality, the building is encased within a layer of a seamed fenestration system that diffuses light in the building. By using point clouds as reference, it creates a haptic quality to the surface that maybe starts to hint at certain physical materials and additionally perforates the building, thus diffusing light into the spaces.
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| Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
IN BETWEEN REALMS | Trans-Mutational Matter
NEW FORMALITIES Choisy (right) The building then continues to carry these ideas (the layering, seaming, solid/void relationship) into the creation of the spaces inside. It starts with the circulation, which is an implied programmatic seam or threshold that allows users to circulate through the building. Exhibition and gallery spaces are further broken up by having the exhibition spaces hug along the formal seams and then having the galleries fill up around it. This then creates a new formal relationship between the spaces themselves and additionally challenges how these spaces are experienced. The Archive is then located at the basement level, not only for direct access to the building but to allow some visual transparency with the visitors. It is revealed at certain locations within the inside and out of the building, playing with visual transparency and obscurity. Finally, the solid and void relationship is also carried into the program by having the formal voids that were created with the massing cut into the building, thus blurring public and private program of the building and creating a heterogeneous relationship between the two.
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| Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
IN BETWEEN REALMS | Trans-Mutational Matter
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| Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
IN BETWEEN REALMS |
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THROUGH THE ROOF
A market that investigates the conflicted nature of an erased neighborhood.
ARCH 502 Semester Spring 2020 Professor Anette Fierro Publication Pressing Matters 9
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Philadelphia’s Callowhill/Chinatown neighborhood has grown into an area that encompasses a complex dichotomy of relationships. Research and analytical mapping into the neighborhood’s murals and graffiti further articulated this idea: having revealed issues of class, accessibility, relationships between public and private spaces, and the erasure of an urban morphology. These questions then posed the question of how to address these behaviors on the site and how to resolve the numerous implications. This is where architecture can point to a solution. This is through a project that creates a collective identity by expanding on the spatial qualities and networks of the existing murals and graffiti. Additionally, by suturing a new morphology through the assembly of morphological components, the project will re-habilitate a system that was once lost through erasure, allowing for a revitalization that won’t damage its existing users. And finally, a project that will provide accessible areas that will promote the agenda created by the murals (urban renewal), while also provide areas that coexist to promote the existing neighborhood. | Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
IN BETWEEN REALMS | Through the Roof
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A SYSTEM OF COMPONENTS Aerial (left) / Components (above) It was increasingly important to create and restore a system of morphologies on the site due to the erasure given from its history. It was through the new research, diagramming, and breaking down of different moments of exchange that happen within the site that allowed for the creation of these new morphologies, and since these morphologies are derivative on what’s there, they offer a form of familiarity and integration. Once these
morphologies were established, they were each applied through the thought of a series of components that are part of whole. Considering the approach and methods in which murals and graffiti were mapped and understood on the site allowed for a methodology to place, scale, distort, and create a hierarchical system that lead to the final output.
LEGEND: 01 - RAILPARK 04 - SKYLIGHT 02 - RAILPARK EXTENSION 03 - CONTINUOUS RAMP
| Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
IN BETWEEN REALMS | Through the Roof
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CREATIVE AGENCY Section Cut-Away (right) The complexities and contradictions given by murals and graffiti offer an opportunity to instill a new program that can bridge new relationships to the audiences portrayed behind these images on the wall. This brings to the conclusion of not only bringing creative workspaces and galleries for the artist community, but donation centers as well. The idea behind this is to allow for unwanted goods (which are given for no value) to come in and circulate and allow for artists and companies to make use of them in their product, thus creating value to these goods once again. In the end, how these goods, products, and works of art are presented are the same as any other goods, no matter what they are consisted of.
OPEN MULT
LTI-USE SPACE
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GALLERY
CREATIVE WORKSPACE
| Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
IN BETWEEN REALMS | Through the Roof
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TRACES AND MEANDERING Perspectives (left) / Sections (above) The circulation investigated through mapping promoted two types of behaviors that are then recreated in the project. Known as meandering and tracing, they each help bring opportunities for different experiences for visitors and artists. The meandering is created through the congregation and position of the pods. Their lack of direction creates boundless alternatives for one to travel around the site. On the other hand, the trace is referring to the singular continuous ramp that creates a direct path for users to follow. This ramp, unlike the meandering created by the pods, creates a prolonged specific and curated experiences that travel in and around enclosures for the users who wish to travel within it. Ultimately, the
ramp reaches areas that were once inaccessible like the Rail Park. By looking beyond the empty lots and images displayed beside them, one can uncover the complexity and dichotic relationships within the site. It’s by virtue of these understandings of these relationships and underlying practices that lead to the creation of this project, and for the allowance to honor these as institutions of creative making by interpreting them as architectural form. In the end, this project tries to answer the question of how we can rehabilitate an erased urban morphology by observing its existing alternate cultural practices.
| Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
IN BETWEEN REALMS | Through the Roof
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| Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
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THE MATRYOSHKA KIT
Kit of parts COVID-19 care units aimed at creating more equitable testing.
Surface Summer School Semester Summer 2020 Publication: Surface Magazine Awards: The Ark Humankind after Covid Finalist Collaborators Nicholas Houser, Anna Lim, and Hadi Kibbi
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COMPLETED ASSEMBLY
A line of thought has emerged that assumes population density is the greatest driver of where a virus is most likely to spread. However, studies by the Association for Neighborhood & Housing Development in New York City have found that density alone has little to do with the rate of infection. Correlation with high rates of COVID is more apparent in neighborhoods that are overcrowded, measured at number of persons per bedroom. Furthermore, studies within New York City have proven that overcrowded neighborhoods are also communities of color – a metric that directly reflects the history of segregation and inequity in urban planning. In short, it is not population density that is responsible for the impact of a virus – it is a segregated and inequitable city that bears the blame. As a step towards resolving these intertwined issues, our proposal is a COVID care site that can be repurposed into an affordable housing unit, designed specifically for communities of lower-income. Based on the Russian stacking doll, “matryoshka”, the Matryoshka Kit requires users to reveal its layered characteristics throughout deployment, bringing the community together in a way that allows all parties to maintain a safe physical distance. | Queens, New York
IN BETWEEN REALMS | The Matryoshka Kit
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ACTIVATING UN-USED ALLEYS Supporting Acccessible COVID testing for neighboring homes and areas.
EASE OF DEPLOYMENT Testing centers are assembled in kits of three, design to fit on a back of a single truck
EMPTY LOTS USED FOR HOUSING Testing Units can be repurposed into housing and given to members of the community. AIDING OVERCROWDED HOMES Decreasing rates of overcrowding within a neighborhood.
SOCIAL IMPACT Isometric (top left) / Section (bottom left) / Site (above) The area was recently reported with 20% of households overcrowded and a positive COVID rate of 4%. Moreover, 72% of residents are of color and many are employed by La Guardia national airport. Such areas are already densely populated with little room for expansion. However, we saw an opportunity to address the condition of back alleyways where there are currently garages installed separately from apartments. By introducing Care Centers directly into a backyard setting, it is possible to provide more accessible testing and housing to overcrowded neighborhoods. Care Centers in alleyways allow for neighbors to be tested
more often, and alleviates social guilt when interacting with friends. Furthermore, with a center located close by, it is possible for doctors to provide better care for local members of the community who are unable to reach a hospital without a car or are restricted by hours of public transportation. When a Matryoshka Kit is no longer needed as a Care Center, it may be repurposed into an affordable housing unit and placed onto an open lot, therefore decreasing rates of overcrowding within households. The Matryoshka Kit mimics the form of a traditional gabled-roof in order to take on an identity as an extension of the neighborhood.
LEGEND: 01 - WAITING ROOM 04 - EXAMINATION 07 - HVAC 02 - RECEPTION 05 - CIRCULATION 08 - SKYLIGHT 03 - DECONTAMINATION 06 - LAB
| Queens, New York
IN BETWEEN REALMS | The Matryoshka Kit
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| Queens, New York
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INSOURCED EQUITY
Housing that integrates resources with the community and the media industry.
ARCH 601 Semester Fall 2020 Professor Jonas Coersmeier
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HOUSING
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COMMONS: CENTER FOR MEDIA TECH.
LOWER LEVEL PARK
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Brooklyn has risen as one of the top micro-economies for the creative technology industry, adding thousands of jobs and a steady growth of small businesses and startups every year. On the other hand, local communities have suffered from this growth due to a lack of resources in comparison. This difference of financial, educational, and technological resources has created gentrification and displacement to rise in their neighborhoods. Insourced Equity investigates how these imbalances came to be, where we may repair the displaced communities, and describes what resources to provide for future growth. Within Insourced Equity, this started by create an urban strategy that repurposes underutilized open spaces around the site, especially in areas along the adjacent Brooklyn – Queens Expressway. Additionally, material alchemy was used as a tool to create an approach that starts to redefine programmatic qualities of the resources at hand, the housing, the inner tectonic workings of the building, and the façade expression. | Brooklyn, New York
IN BETWEEN REALMS | Insourced Equity
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ARTICULATION & MATERIAL ALCHEMY Physical Model (left) / Section (above) The building prioritizes the site by redefining and infilling underutilized areas. Instead of parking lots and empty spaces, the site becomes a fluid network of parks, gathering spaces, amphitheaters, terraces, and pedestrian pathways. The existing highway posed a challenge, since it blocked pedestrian and access to the area. Creating this connective network of gathering spaces maximizes the opportunities for residents and community members to gain more access to the site, and at multiple levels. In addition to these areas, the building also prioritizes in creating a stronger urban connection to the existing NYCHA housing. As it was prior, the building lacked any connection to its surroundings, as it rose high
and isolated in a vacant lot. By adding these aggregative towers along the site, it creates more dynamic urban condition fit for its growing need for resources and housing. Material casts were used as a way to produce inspiration to further articulate the project. Novel relationships were made between housing and the public commons by looking closely at the seams and cracks between the materials and by looking at its entire composition. The façade was also articulated in a similar manner, by using material change and the program to either articulate the housing or honor the form through the façade.
| Brooklyn, New York
IN BETWEEN REALMS | Insourced Equity
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CONNECTIVE MEDIA Physical Model (above) / Section Cut-Away (right) The project focuses around creating Brooklyn’s new public center for visual and media technologies. Within it, residents will be able to receive housing and training towards positions in the media and film industry. Resources and spaces like production studios, galleries, theaters, creative workspaces, offices, and small retail spaces will be available as well. This in turn creates more opportunities and incentive for residents and community members to create and sell their work. Ultimately, this generates a system from the bottom that gives
employment opportunities into a booming tech industry. There are two types of circulation that are featured within the project: A skip stop circulation for direct access to housing, and a meandering circulation that spreads and diffuses the public center throughout the massing. In doing this, the relationship between the housing and the media center is blurred and more parts of the building becomes accessible for the community. Roof terraces and workspaces also become more interactive and community driven.
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LEGEND: 01 - ATRIUM 02 - THEATER 03 - GALLERY
04 - WORKSPACE 05 - CIRCULATION 06 - TERRACE
07 - HOUSING 08 - CORE
| Brooklyn, New York
IN BETWEEN REALMS | Insourced Equity
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LO-LUX HOUSING Choisy (above) / Typical Housing Plans (right) With further research, it was understood that about one third of NYCHA residents are under the age of 24. Additionally, the largest influx of incoming residents in the area of Brooklyn consist of the ages of 25-34. With all this considered, the housing units within the project is aimed at this demographic. This meant creating smaller and more compact units like studios, one-bedroom units, two-bedroom units, and co-living options. With the introduction of the skip-stop circulation for access, the housing units became multi-level with double height spaces. Bringing these types of characteristics to the housing units eventually helped break the mold of
traditional public housing, ultimately making living within these spaces more habitable and enjoyable. At the same time, spaces for the public center are dispersed along skip-stop corridors. This then enhances the live-work scenario by producing more chance encounters for creative endeavors and gathering. Like other parts of the project, material casts were then looked again in order to gain more nuance within the dwelling units. The housing were then rearticulated in a form of a tectonic system that works to redefine the interior and creates spatial and tacit qualities by recalling the casts made at a the human scale.
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LEGEND: 01 - 1 BEDROOM 02 - 2 BEDROOM 03 - STUDIO
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07 - BALCONY 08 - SHARED WORKSPACE
| Brooklyn, New York
IN BETWEEN REALMS | Insourced Equity
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| Brooklyn, New York
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MACHINIC INSITES
A research oriented makerspace addition for an arts school in Philadelphia.
ARCH 701 Semester Fall 2021 Professor Robert Stuart-Smith Collaborators Anna Lim
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A research-oriented makerspace and gallery space addition between the Philadelphia Charter Arts School and future Phase II Expansion of the Rail Park, Machinic Insites is designed as a custom-tailored solution to the existing artistic community nearby. The project is designed in chunks and layers, to be manufactured on-site with metal, fabric, a fiber-optic composite, and a dual-extruder system of 3D printers. The design was derived from Generative Artificial Network (GAN) studies focused on recyclable goods, artwork, textiles, and simple geometric forms fitted to the site. What results are haeccities of both formal and material characteristics, and a strange palette of colors to reflect a recycled architecture. Machinic Insites is a critical evaluation of how recycling and waste management in Philadelphia could be closely integrated to re-purpose building materials in a potentially infinite ecosystem. | Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
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BUILDINGS TO BUILDINGS Isometric (above) / Aerial (right) Eight years ago, Philadelphia was receiving $67 per ton of processed recyclables. As of last year, the city is paying $105 per ton. This is because processing companies are losing potential buyers of recycled materials, and as a result, they are forced to streamline their recycling process into fewer types, further decreasing the quality of recycled material and the demand for it. Furthermore, the cost to recycle for the city has trickled down to taxpayers in Philadelphia. In 2020, it was estimated that $9 million of the city’s taxes went towards recycling. The question is not whether or not to recycle, but what is the best way to recycle? And in the long term, how can we create a larger market of buyers who will purchase and re-use recycled material? We propose that the potential solution is to motivate creative product companies to use recycled materials. One popular example is Nike’s line of recycled footwear in a cradle-to-cradle cycle, using shoes to make new shoes. At the start of our design process, our studies were derived from images of recyclable goods, artwork that is made of trash and textiles, animal scales and skin that allude to textiles, and simple geometry. What results (via the use of artificial intelligence software) are haeccities of both formal and material characteristics, and a strange palette of colors that a usual designer would not think to use. Such characteristics became essential to a manifestation of a no-waste recycling ecosystem.
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| Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
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PERMANENCE / IMPERMANENCE TOP FLOOR PLAN (above) / Sections (right) The project is estimated to last up to ten years, but some aspects are designed to be more permanent. For example, a generous setback from the pedestrian sidewalk and a sunken garden in the courtyard will remain much longer than the installation. We imagine that this courtyard space may be used by the community as a compost and shared garden as well. The rail park is also punctured through a wall below, and an elevated platform allows for public
access through out project from the rail park level. The existing bearing wall is repurposed into a temporary 3D printing space during construction and left as an event space for public and private use. The project integrates itself onto the corner of the existing school to use the core, and an accessible ramp at the entry. The project therefore also takes advantage of the existing bathrooms, stairs, and elevators.
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LEGEND: 01 - GALLERY 02 - CLASSROOM 03 - CORE
04 - NOT IN SCOPE 07 - ENTRY 05 - CORRIDOR 06 - RAILPARK
| Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
IN BETWEEN REALMS |
RECYCLED FABRIC SKIN
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3D PRINTED RECYCLED POLYMER INTERIOR W/ FIBER OPTICS
3D PRINTED METAL STRUCTURE
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MATERIAL HAECCEITIES Material Composition (above) / Isometric (right) To create a no-waste ecosystem, it seemed that we needed to also minimize the amount of structural mass that would support the overall form through studies such as this. The exterior skin was also studied as if it could be manufactured from 3D printing technology out of knitwear textiles, much like the artist works in
our original data set. The design process was therefore closely integrated with our construction process, thinking of our overall form in terms of chunks and fused layers. The supporting framework is made of recycled metals and recycled building materials, 3d printed with multiple extruders on site and fused together.
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| Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
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CLASSROOM
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SPATIALITY Perspective (left) / Section Cut-Away (above) The gallery is located on the level of the park to allow for public presence. On the northern edge of the existing school, the project is pulled more taught in fabric against the structure. The west edge is hung more loosely from the underlying support. The highest floor also allows for a stepped presentation / classroom space, to be used
by the charter school or artist presentations. The project connects to the existing school by balcony spaces that are repurposed into doorways, accessing the new galleries for their use. On the northern side, the building seems to soar above the sidewalk and latches onto the school and rail park prominently – custom made for its context. | Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
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| Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
DANIEL ORTEGA
CURRICULUM VITAE Email: doarch@design.upenn.edu Phone: 402-418-0195 Website: doarch.net
EDUCATION 2019 - 2022 University of Pennsylvania Masters of Architecture
Expected completion in May 2022.
2014 - 2018 University of Nebraska - Lincoln Bachelors of Science in Design Graduate with Distinction
EXPERIENCE 2021 Skidmore, Owings & Merrill (SOM) Architecture Intern Chicago, Illinois
As an architectural designer, I collaborated with a team through a competition located in Hangzhou, China.
2020 TIGHE Architecture Architecture Intern Los Angeles, California
Collaborated with Patrick Tighe and his team on a competition in Joshua Tree, California.
2018 - 2019 Morphosis Architects Architectural Intern Los Angeles, California
Worked on representational and visual tasks for projects, competitions, books, publications, and client submissions.
2017 BVH Architecture Architectural Intern Lincoln, Nebraksa
Worked on representational tasks on projects for competitional or client submissions. These tasks varied from physical models to digital media.
INVOLVEMENT 2019 - 2021 Babble Magazine Publication Design Team Member
Babble is a student led Publication dedicated to showcasing work from the University of Pennsylvania.
2015 - 2018 Alpha Rho Chi Worthy Architect (President), Worthy Clerk
Through involvement, I facilitated in helping students improve through workshops and seminars.
2017, 2018 UNL College of Architecture Student Advisory Board Facilities and Resource Committee
With the dean as advisor, the board help create events to enhance student involvement and education within the college.
HONORS AND AWARDS 2022 Metropolis Magazine Future100 2021 Dales Fellowship (1st Place) UPenn. Portfolio Competition 2021 HOK Design Futures Finalist (1st Place) “Enigma” with Nicholas Houser 2021 BLTa Design Competition (1st Place) “Slow & Steady” with Anna Lim 2020 theArk_Humankind after COVID Finalist “The Matryoshka Kit,” team submission 2020 Surface Magazine Design Challenge Honorable Mention “The Matryoshka Kit,” team submission 2019-2022 Weitzman School of Design Scholarship 2018 SARA National Design Award of Honor “Searching for the Ineffable” with Rachel McCown 2018 AIA NE Emerging Architects Excellence in Unbuilt Architecture “Searching for the Ineffable” with Rachel McCown 2018 SGH Inc. / Dri-Design Award of Excellence “Searching for the Ineffable” with Rachel McCown 2014 - 2018 William Thompson Scholar
Future 100 recognizes the top 100 graduating students from architecture and interior design programs in the United States and Canada. To further our abilities, research, and continue our speculation outside of school, a couple of collegues and I have started a small practice. As a team of three, we have participated on nine competitions since the summer of 2020. Most recently, our work has been published on Surface Magazine and has won finalist positions on several competitions. “Searching for the Ineffable” was a project from the University of Nebraska’s 411 Studio. This project explores ways to evoke sacredness without religious affiliation. During our investigation, we wanted to not only understand what it means to be sacred, but to understand how to create spiritual experiences using architecture. Our investigation led us to the following project statement: A sacred space for mourners and visitors who seek self-contemplation, a place to gather, and a place to remember those who have passed, through strategies of space, sensation, and natural phenomena.
PUBLICATIONS + EXHIBITIONS 2021 Pressing Matters 9 & 10 Feature of various projects 2020 Surface Magazine Feature of “The Matyoshka Kit” 2019 INTERFACES Morphosis Architects’ Installation for Milan Design Week 2018 - 2019 Morphosis: 2004 - 2018 Morphosis’s sixth Monograph Project Team Member 2018 National Conference on Undergraduate Research “The Open House Project” with Ryan Miller and Aaron Culliton
REFERENCES Robert Stuart - Smith rssmith@design.upenn.edu Jaeho Jin jaeho.jin@som.com Simon Yoo-Hyun Kim simonkim@design.upenn.edu | CURRICULUM VITAE
Visit doarch.net for more work.