Dario Sabidussi | University of Pennsylvania M. Arch | Graduate School Architecture Portfolio by dariosabidussi

O P E R AT I O N A L D

S U B L I M E I

Un i v e r s i t y o f Pe n n s y l v a n i a M . A r c h

“Whereas the beautiful is limited, the sublime is limitless, so that the mind in the presence of the sublime, attempting to imagine what it cannot, has pain in the failure but pleasure in contemplating the immensity of the attempt.” -Immanuel Kant, In the Critique of Pure Reason

The role of the sublime within architecture is a limitless exploration into the expression of architecture, whether it be literal, historical, symbolic, or subconscious. In this sense, we can understand the sublime as a spiritual and existential idea of space, time, death, and the divine. In an architectural discourse, the manipulation of space, form, light, etc. evoke senses of the sublime. More importantly than the architecture itself, in my opinion, are the operations of meaning involved that create the sensory and spiritual apprehension of the sublime. Following the ideas of Immanuel Kant, the aesthetic of building form analyzes architecture “in regard to form and sensory qualities, its processes of production,” and how operations / symbolic motifs that take place within design create an almost divine meaning to the built world. My interest in design stems in how time and space, meaning and expression, deepens the architectural processes. The dialogue of architectural expression and operations following design intent vs reality is what I attempt to explore through my architectural work and how the sublime finds itself in contemporary society is what I wish to investigate further.

CONTENTS

01. Living Green Adaptive Re-Use Housing Project M. Arch Year 2 Fall Term, University of Pennsylvania

02. Views Beyond Penn Museum Archive Extension M. Arch Year 1 Fall Term, University of Pennsylvania

03. Homuncular Dreams Speculating De-Extinction through World Building M. Arch Year 3 Fall Term, University of Pennsylvania

04. Urban Misplacement Urban Infill Construction Management Debris Facility M. Arch Year 1 Spring Term, University of Pennsylvania

05. Ethereal Luminosity Mill Creek Wellness Center HOK Design Futures 2021 Project Submission

06. Seneca Growth Complex Facility for Celebrating Life and Death through New Funerary Traditions M. Arch Year 2 Spring Term, University of Pennsylvania

Graduate | University of Pennsylvania

LIVING GREEN Adaptive Reuse at Gowanus Bay Terminal | ARCH 601 | Fall 2020 Studio Leader: Ben Krone Awards: Pressing Matters 10 Publication Nominee

Constructed in 1922, the Gowanus Bay Terminal, or the Red Hook Grain Terminal, was built in the Port of New York to invigorate the underused water way as a state-run grain elevator. Unfortunately, the Grain industry boom in New York City had its peak 7 years prior to the start of construction, leaving the Gowanus Bay Terminal as a “magnificent mistake.” After years of abandonment and neglect following its immediate demise postconstruction, the Grain Terminal now sits as a dead building occupying one of the most beautiful sites for views to Hoboken, the Statue of Liberty, as well as New York City. Recently, Red Hook, Brooklyn has introduced a ferry way transportation route for direct access to and from New York City, resulting in a higher demand to live in Red Hook for ease of access to the city. The sudden shift of demand has created an increased threat for locals living in Red Hook. With new businesses and communities approaching the sought after neighborhood, current Red Hook residents face the threat of gentrification. On that premise, the studio proposes a solution for the relationship between the creative mixed housing and the existing Red Hook Grain Terminal building. Proposing an adaptive reuse low

Image: Existing aerial view of the Gowanus Bay Terminal

income housing strategy for the Red Hook Grain Terminal, Living Green seeks to combat the effects of gentrification in Red Hook, Brooklyn through the emergence of a localized and self-sustaining garden market economy. A ribbon typology is introduced in the intervention in order to minimally interfere with the existing grain silo structure, while also providing the opportunity for the introduction of various micro-gardens to be engaged with by the Red Hook residents dwelling within the housing complex. The ribbon operates on both the exterior and interior, creating an organized circulation and moments for shared and intimate experiences on the exterior of the building. Capitalizing on the opportunities of vertical construction within the existing grain silo structure, the intersection of different unit types promotes an ambiguous condition between housing and gardening, as the opportunities for vertical growth becomes available by connecting different unit types. Turning a seemingly “dead” building into an alive one, the design intent is to use gardening as a tool to foster community engagement and interaction to maintain the success of the community market and to promote healthy and active lifestyles.

Graduate | University of Pennsylvania

O P E R AT I O N O F C O M P O N E N T S Aiming to capitalize on the opportunities available in reusing the existing grain terminal structure, 4-unit type systems were developed that could be interlocked, left adjacent, and entirely open to one another – promoting the potential for a complex system of public and private, or open and closed, conditions within and outside the existing silos. The development of an exterior access ribbon would serve as a connector to the interior distribution and circulation network. Adjacent to the exterior access ribboning is the “living path” and water distribution network. The living path serves the vital function of not only housing the exterior gardens, but also transporting water to the gardens for nourishment, which is supplied by the rainwater collection system and waterfall, designed as a public park and housed on the roof of the existing silos.

One-bedroom

Two-bedroom

With the goal of each resident participating in the communal gardening experience, Living Green will include 4 one-bedroom apartments, 8 two bedroom apartments, 7 four bedroom dorm style apartments, and 14 studio apartments, allowing for between upwards of 60-70 residents participating and engaging in the garden market.

Four-bedroom (Dorm Style)

One-bedroom (Studio)

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Community Market and Storage Rain Water Collection System Interior Circulation / Produce Distribution Network Unit Aggregation /Organization Access / Walkway Path Living Path / Water Distribution Network Communal Grow Spaces

Exploded component diagram illustrating role of layers within the building system

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Typical 2 Bedroom Unit Interior and Housing Lobby

Adaptive Reuse

Living Green at the Gowanus Bay Terminal- Fall 2020

Graduate | University of Pennsylvania

V I EWS BEYON D Penn Museum Archive Extension | ARCH 501 | Fall 2019 Studio Leader: Daniel Markiewicz Awards: Published in Pressing Matters 9

In this three-part assignment, this project uses experimentation of spatial engagement as well as framing as a tool to explore architectural opportunities and experiences beyond the existing Penn Museum. The Museum is, in many ways, currently being treated as an artifact itself. It serves as an architectural relic with its own history, its own story. Tucked away and engulfed by the vertically modernized developments, the museum and the views created by the museum are entirely hidden like the artifacts in museum archives, stored and kept away from public engagement. Ultimately, the formal dialogue between the existing and the beyond is non-existent. This project explores the relationship between the new extension and the existing urban context of Philadelphia

surrounding it. The new system serves as an initiator for the many dialogues between urban space and architecture itself by blending both historical and modern design into one cohesive structure. It acknowledges not only the views available to the museum, but abstractly reinvents the museum to be a view in its own way. It directly competes with the vertical construction surrounding the museum, offering a new architectural experience both within and beyond the museum. The extension questions what is beyond the existing and explores how architecture can engage with the artifacts kept within the museum. Through the exploration of floating space and vertical development, the extension attempts to expand above the existing and exploit the new and beyond.

Image: Courtyard view looking up to the proposed intervention

Graduate | University of Pennsylvania

I N T E G R AT E D P R O G R A M S Upon entry to the intervention, two main access points are created based on the original placement of the gateways that greet visitors upon courtyard entrance. The form not only serves as support for the building, but also as direct vertical circulation to the programmable spaces above. The first floor serves as the primary space for archive storage and protection. With direct access to the Exhibition space, artifact mobility is made possible and with ease. The form allows for dynamic storage opportunities organized by halls created by the extended armatures of the building. Formally interlocked between the 3rd and 1st floor, the Exhibition space serves a space to connect education and storage. The exhibition space not only acts as a catalyst for education and learning, but also as a space to store and protect artifacts. The Third and Fourth Floor are spaces for social engagement as well as educational opportunities. With spaces dedicated for classrooms, study rooms, offices, as well as lounge areas and Cafe, dynamic opportunities are created though the merge of education and social interaction.

Worms Eye Isometric Illustration and Section illustrating interior and space beyond

Graduate | University of Pennsylvania

E L E VAT E D O P P O RT U N I T I E S Lofted above the existing Penn Museum, Views Beyond stands as a monument paying homage to the existing conditions and history of the museum itself. By keeping the existing virtually untouched, the archive extension provides a separate, yet dynamic opportunity for a new architectural language and experience both within and beyond the museum.

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Final Physical Model illustrating an implication of the extension within the site context

Museum Archives

Penn Museum Archive Addition - Fall 2019

Graduate | University of Pennsylvania

HOMUNCULAR DREAMS Speculating De-Extinction through World Building | ARCH 701 | Fall 2021 Studio Leader: Simon Kim | In Collaboration with: Miguel Matos Awards: Pressing Matters 11 Project Nomination

Architecture has always been interested in the predominance of the object and its qualities. Our interest, however, goes a step further in the speculation of behavioral aspects and the possible relationship among objects. From the beginning of our architectural design process, there was a clear interest in the exploration of entities that could be capable of being codependent of each other, but at the same time independent of human interactivity. We call these objects “Homunculi,” or rather, full scale architecture albeit small in size. They work as a family that is wired, alert, sensate, and capable of recording and documenting their experiences of our world. Their documentation process introduces Generative Adversarial Network (GAN) Images as a method of not only producing images of their recorded experiences, but also physically and spatially distorting the world humans recognize and understand to speculate a future of creating entirely new built environments. Images produced by the objects are used as symbols and new object-field organizations used to challenge human pre-conceptions of what World Building is. Our development of the Homunculi design stems from the idea of co-dependency. The Homunculi are designed with different identities with the intent of allowing the objects to depend on each other as a way to adapt to present possible future conditions. There was a constant interest on the development of

two objects that possessed seemingly opposite qualities, from their formal aspects to their behavioral, but that were able to assimilate each other to create new conditions. Mobile versus static, organic versus mechanic, natural versus synthetic, urban vs natural. These are some of the qualities explored through the development of the Homunculi that then allowed us to translate into building form. By translating ideas of collecting and producing into full-scale architectural forms, we used our site of Los Angeles as an opportunity to research different environments that our intervention could take advantage of. In particular, the La Brea Tar Pits served as a pivotal area of research for allowing us to explore how our architectural Homunculi could excavate and collect environments of the past and reproduce them as an environment for the future. By speculating alternative natures and worlds using the information we have collected from the past, we can start to re-imagine a future not made for humans, but rather a future where humans and environment co-exist in a synthetic world. By reproducing the native fauna and flora species collected in Los Angeles, we can allow our architecture to correct the errors of humans that have led to the extinction of countless plant and animal species, and begin to design and build a world not made for humans, but rather made for species of the past to thrive.

Image: Built Physical Model of Homunculi in Urban Context

De-Extinction | oW rld Building | Synthetic Nature

Proposed Intervention Situated in Site Context

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T H E

R A M B L E R :

T H E

C O L L E C T O R

The Rambler is an object built by nature, for nature. It was designed with mobility in mind. It was conceived to be able to explore different terrains as it collects natural elements like soil, energy, nutrients and data. These elements are collected in hopes of depositing them into our second Homunculus, which acts as a repository and creator of its own adjacent environments. The Rambler’s adaptive skin allows it to camouflage itself using data extracted from different environments. This allows it to exhibit a different appearance at different times of the year, but most importantly it serves as a defensive mechanism as it allows for the rambler to escape from future dangerous encounters. When seen in the public realm, the Rambler poses no threat. If resting, the Rambler constantly documents its surrounding environment. It analyses the existing conditions of the setting it is in and begins to plan where it will move next. Image Bottom: Section Illustrating Rambler in Rural context Image Right: Rambler kit of parts a. Hydrofilic Agent used for Water Storage b. Suction Mechanism for below grade moisture c. Kinetic Power Source / Energy Supply unit d. GPS Tracker device

Illustrations showing Rambler Functionality and Mechanisms

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NAT U R E

De-Enicxto | World Building | Synthetic Nature

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LIQUID / SOIL COLLECTOR AND DEPOSITOR RELOCATION DEVICE WATER STORAGE COMPARTMENT ADHESIVE RIBBED ARMOR PERFORATED STRUCTURAL MEMBRANE SMALL MATTER SIFTING MEMBRANE DOCUMENTATION CAPSULE NUTRIENT ABSORBING SPONGE

K I T INFILTRATION BARRIER LIQUID DISPENSER AIR PARTICLE VACUUM HEATING COILS INERTIA HYDROPHILIC BEAD STORAGE KINETIC ENERGY SUPPLY DATA STORAGE VESSEL

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Graduate | University of Pennsylvania

T H E

R E P O S I T O R Y :

P R O D U C E R

The Repository exists in the urban realm as an unsettling form coated in its own natural creation. As the Repository awaits nutrients found by the Rambler, a large void remains vacant within the side of its form. Active at all time of the day, synthetic nature growing within its body begins to grow from its openings and seems, allowing the Repository to consistently release its matter. Drawing is used a way to begin to understand how an object could process and produce a new environment and what mechanisms may be needed to effectively create a synthetic nature. The Rambler and Repository exist to support one another with the goal of creating a new synthetic environment within urban settings that continually destroy existing nature. They operate independently, going on their own adventures within their respective settings, however when connected, they protect and provide for one another. Image Bottom: Section Illustrating Repository in Urban context Image Right: Repository kit of parts a. Power Supply Unit / Distribution b. Motion Detection Sensor c. Organic Matter Synthesizer / Storage d. Synthetic Nature Expulsion Mechanism

Illustrations showing Repository Functionality and Mechanisms

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W O R L D S

De-Extinction | World Building | Synthetic Nature

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NETGAIN HYPER 9D MOTOR NUTRIENT DISTRIBUTION INTERNAL HABITAT PROCESSOR PROCESSED ELEMENT REPOSITORY ELECTRIC TRANSMITTER RELOCATION / DEFENSE ACTIVATOR

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SECONDARY DISPOSAL CHUTE ULTRASONIC RANGE DETECTOR BENTONITE PROTECTIVE MEMBRANE POWER SUPPLY MODULE DOCUMENTATION CHAMBER TERRARIUM COMPARTMENT

Exploded Godzilla Drawing of Repository Systems

Graduate | University of Pennsylvania

HOM U NC U L I TO WOR LD BU I LDI NG The formal language and function of the Rambler and Repository is reintroduced in the architecture of our building as a way to speculate how non-human architecture can engage with existing site conditions to produce its own new world. Tar Pits discovered by Rambler drones are excavated for fossil research. Information collected will be used to reproduce extinct species through genome sequencing rooms. Behavioral research rooms will train species will train and adapt species to exist in their modern environment. Data is transferred to a new Incubator Homunculus, which will reproduce extinct species. Eventually, the intervention will reproduce an entire world, allowing species of the past to thrive once again.

Graduate | University of Pennsylvania

R E S U R G E N C E :

T H E

R E S U R R E C T I O N

The Rambler, once imagined as a collector of nature now serves as a detector and collector of below-grade un-discovered Tar Pits, rich with fossils and genetic information of species that no longer exist. The Repository Is reconfigured, duplicated, and transformed into a protective shell that researches, produces, and protects newly created environments of the past. A new object, the Incubator, connects itself to the Repository as a way of transferring data to allow for new life to be grown and released from various locations. Together, the objects form a catalyst for producing new worlds and new environments - Resurgence. Resurgence is created through a network of systems and technologies that allow it to produce new worlds. Petroleum based Tar discovered will be collected, processed, and re-purposed as a safe, synthetic protective barrier. New fertilizers and nitrates collected by Resurgence will be studied and processed in order to promote new life, and then released as a gas through the various nozzles penetrating Resurgence’s skin. Systems for collection, research, data transfer, production, and recreation are all found within Resurgence, as well as a tunnel boring system, to allow Resurgence to burrow itself into the earth in search of new fossils. As it buries itself over time, covering itself in it’s own synthetic Tar, Resurgence becomes what it seeks to find- a new fossil.

Incubator (New)

Drawings and Physical Model used to illustrate sectional Formal and Spatial relationships

Repository

Rambler

(Multiplied)

(Updated)

Resurgence

De-Extinction | World Building | Synthetic Nature

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SYNTHETIC TAR MEMBRANE GRC PRE-FAB PERFORATED PANELS DN15 ALUMINUM CLADDING NOZZLES GALVANIZED STEEL FIN FRAMING CP BOARD LINED WITH ROCK-WOOL PRIMARY STEEL FRAME

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UN-PROCESSED TAR EXCAVATION SYSTEM TAR SUCTION PUMP SYSTEM CORRUGATED STEEL DECKING INFUSIBILIZATION CHAMBER (TAR OXIDATION) DATA TRANSFER PIPE LINE SYSTEM ULTRASONIC TAR ATOMIZER NOZZLE

Resurgence Chunk Illustrating Interior Framing and Nature Creating Systems

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Rambler Excavating Fossils from Tar Close-Up Detail

De-Extinction | World Building | Synthetic Nature

Image Top: Tar Pit Fossil Excavator Interior Image Bottom: Conservatory for Re-Created Extinct Life Interior

Graduate |

Regeneration Incubator Detail Illustrating Mammoth Development Sequence

De-Extinction | World Building | Synthetic Nature

Image Top: Pre Release Pod Incubator Interior Image Bottom: Mammoth Embryo Incubating in Protective Pod

Graduate | University of Pennsylvania

URBAN MISPLACEMENT Recycled Construction Debris Facility & Market | ARCH 502 | Spring 2020 Studio Leader: Maya Alam Awards: Published in Pressing Matters 9

Callowhill is a district molded by diverse cultures and people throughout history. The assortment of traditions and people, that compose Callowhill creates the “misfit neighborhood.” These divisions, or seams, in its urban context allows for a new development that embraces the misalignment of the districts components by combining its cultural and historical divisions in a new building form. Preconceived notions of easily understood forms are broken and misaligned in order to create a new “mis-fitting” development. The exploration of “misfit” through eccentric geometry design and market program enables the re-imagination of a city development than can symbolize diversity, and seeming misplacement, of the elements that have created Callowhill.

Urban Misplacement will emerge from the seams of Callowhill, in between Spring Garden Street and N. 10th Street, Philadelphia. The district itself is easily recognizable for its vast network of public parking lots built in the 1960’s. As the lots begin redevelopment, a Construction Debris Recycling Facility will prove to be essential for the coming years. As more luxury apartments are being constructed, Callowhill is also in dire need for more low-income housing. Therefore, a hardware market with recycled materials will be created to aid in supplying the community with low income-housing opportunities. Additionally, a communal park will be introduced to connect the public and private sectors of the neighborhood, creating a new market experience where industry and community can co-exist.

Image: Programmatic still life render designed to illustrate proposal interest

Graduate | University of Pennsylvania

FORMAL LOGIC Through a variety of programmable opportunities displayed, the marketplace will provide not only multiple uses, but also a variety of experiences that can be explored throughout the spaces developed. Floor heights shift and change to create feelings of private vs. public, pathway ramps circulate to give direct access to multiple levels of market, outdoor spaces begin to engage with the surrounding environment and existing viaduct and future viaduct park. Spaces for entertainment, food and beverage, recycling, and shopping are introduced physically through seams and slippages, but are experienced collectively in one cohesive form. Geometrically, four sequences of formal manipulation are utilized in creating the overall massing. The sequences, depending on program, are sheared, split, and combined in order to create a dynamic form with distinctive opportunities for a variety of programs. The communal public space is carved from the massing in order to allow for the opportunity for direct public integration within the overall recycling process. The divisions of program also serve as ties for interaction between the community and industry. The Callowhill community will begin to understand and experience the process of regenerating the materials that once defined the district in building form and will begin to re-imagine the future of the district that celebrates the beauty and dynamism of Callowhill.

Recycling Debris Facility (Additive)

Tool / Material Retail Market (Additive)

Community Gathering (Subtractive)

Industry, Commercial, Public Integration

Section Perspective illustrating formal arrangement and program variety

Graduate | University of Pennsylvania

P U B L I C I N T E G R AT I O N Curvilinear vs linear elements are used to activate new and lively spaces within the building form. Public space and private industrial space are directly linked and begin to overlap through dynamic walkways and passages that open into different programmable spaces. A central communal space is carved from beneath the form and into the earth to provide for public access and engagement, while the debris recycling process directly engages with the public through a lofted conveyor system for recycled materials.

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Educational Theatre

01 Recycled Debris Market Entry

Taper Slot Screen to Manual Sorting

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01 Taper Slot Screen to Manual Sorting 02 Rail Park Intervention 03 Observation Terrace 04 Public Cafe & Educational Theatre 05 Hardware Market Lobby 06 Public Park

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Graduate | University of Pennsylvania

ETHEREAL LUMINOSIT Y Mill Creek Wellness Center | HOK Design Futures 2021 | Spring 2021 | 1 Week Project In Collaboration with Miguel Matos

Currently, there is a growing interest within the healthcare industry to design community to reevaluate the impact of their work to benefit communities on both urban and rural as well as small and large scales. A new focus in healthcare design is community-based health, justice and wellness. This idea of individual health being a direct outcome of a deeper influence of place, community, and collective experience allows for a deeper imagination of what the future of healthcare and community based design can become. This project begins to investigate the intersection of localized healthcare, access to healthy food, urban open space, and the synergies resulting from the careful planning of disparate

Image: Aerial Vinette capturing landscape intervention

uses on a specific site in the Mill Creek Neighborhood of West Philadelphia Aiming to capitalize on the studied health benefits that link neighborhood greening spaces to reduced negative cardiovascular outcomes in pregnancy (Urban Health Lab), Ethereal Luminosity aims to explore the use of light and landscape as architectural motifs. The proposed intervention not only fosters community engagement, but also promotes a healthy and welcoming environment that integrates itself within the existing landscape. Taking into consideration the neighboring Philadelphia Masjid organization and the symbolic role light plays within traditional and historic Islamic architecture, the design proposal investigates the duality between light and built form to create a spiritual experience that promotes civic participation.

Graduate | University of Pennsylvania

P R O G R A M VA R IAT I O N Through the curation of program, the proposed design attempts to maximize its uses while producing a radical change to traditional healthcare and wellness building design. Situated along Lancaster Avenue adjacent to The Philadelphia Masjid and Clara Muhammad Square, the site affords the opportunity to front onto a major commercial corridor, in which case we have proposed a new Community Based open-air market and Cafe for the promotion of civic participation and community wellness. Additionally, a privately run Maternal Health Clinic is proposed in order to offer the residents of Mill Creek prenatal clinical services that is convenient, comfortable and familiar. The design approach attempts to camouflage the commercial intervention within the existing site landscape in attempt to capitalize on the studied positive health outcomes of pregnancy when surrounded by greenery. To reinforce the concept of using greenery to promote health and wellness, therapeutic spas are penetrated within the programmable spaces in order to allow for a deeper level of community engagement as well as allowing green spaces to exist both beyond and within our intervention. By minimally intervening with the existing landscape, the intervention creates a public park space as an additional program to promote public integration and community engagement, where two radically different programs (maternity clinic and market) can exist cohesively within one overall system linked by greenery and wellness.

01. Carved Mass

02. Void

03. Sloped Landscape

04. Penetrations

Longitudinal section illustrating therapeutic gardens penetrating programmable spaces

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Level One Plan 1

Food market entry / Cafeteria

Cafe seating area

Pharmacy

Open food market

Demonstration kitchen

Storage room / Janitor closet

Market storage

Full-service kitchen

Community park

Service access

Educational library

Standard exam rooms

Corridor to community park

Waiting area

Exam rooms with ultrasound

Cafe entry / Take-out counter

Maternal clinic reception

Patient self-care room

Private offices

Open office area

Conference Room

Supervised children’s area

Multipurpose room

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Image (above): Interior perspective of Cafe | Image (below): Public park ground perspective

Health Care

First floor Maternity Clinic lobby

Graduate | University of Pennsylvania

SENECA GROWTH COMPLEX Celebrating Life and Death through New Funerary Traditions | ARCH 602 | Spring 2021 Studio Leader: Simon Kim | In Collaboration with: Diego Ramirez Awards: Published in Pressing Matters 10

Death in Architecture has for an extensive period been explored through the creation of memorials, cemeteries, mausoleums, and cenotaphs. Yet the increasing global environmental crisis has not fared well under the continuous practices for post death. The greater population often has greater needs that must be addressed through more substantial attempts. With over 570 thousand deaths in the US alone, COVID-19 has exposed the current issues relating to the treatment of human remains. While hospitals bored the initial brunt of the crisis as people flooded emergency rooms, the volume of human remains has pushed the system for caring for the dead to its limits. Hospital morgues, funeral homes, cemeteries, and crematories found themselves overflowing and backed up. Beyond the scale of human remains, there is an extreme lack of space for the dead to rest in peace. Traditionally, tax-funded potters fields, like Hart Island in NYC, have been used as mass grave sites for victims of disease, those not claimed by families, or those homeless. Prior to COVID, Hart Island was in poor condition, and now even worse with the mass overload of remains as well as environmental effects, like erosion, ruining what is supposed to be a place of reflectance and remembrance.

Ecological justice does not cease to exist when human life does. The Seneca Growth Complex attempts to incorporate and diminish the impact humans have by posthumously incorporating donators into new organic materials that will be used to grow, monitor, and sustain the native natural ecology of Seneca Village and of Greater Central Park. Through different methods of re-purposing human remains, including bio-degradable Capsuli Mundi that can recompost human remains into trees, or bio-cremation, an ecofriendly alternative to flame-based cremation, we can begin to consider and promote a future where anyone, regardless of their ethnic or economic background, can posthumously serve their community and become a part again of the ecosystem they once inhabited. Loved ones will not only be visited as part of the environment, but also as part of the complex itself, with human ash being a primary aggregate in the structure that creates this new space for celebration and remembrance. Processional walkways, ritualistic forms, two theaters to celebrate both life and death, as well as new lab spaces to treat and convert bodies to both structure and nature will be introduced within central park to create a space where life comes from death.

Image: Tumulus processional walkway into Theatre of the Dead

Ecological Justice | Ritual | Life and Death

Isometric Explode Chunk Model illustrating various functions of the proposed intervention

Graduate | University of Pennsylvania

C E N T R A L PA R K A S C E M E T E RY In total 800,000 gallons of embalming fluid is leached into the environment along with 30 million board feet of wood for coffins yearly in the United States. With a funeral service averaging between 8 to 10 thousand dollars, marginalized communities are not only marginalized in life, but also in death. For those who cannot take part in traditional Western burial traditions, the complex promotes alternative methods of burial, with the two primary methods of re-purposing bodies being incorporating human ash in the structural components for the interventions form, but also using the human body as a source for plant nutrients, in turn creating a new landscape for central park. The exterior arboretum canopy exists as the protective shell for trees grown from human remains. The form of the building continuously expands outward to completely re-imagine central park as a space for a new funerary tradition, where people can visit loved ones both as constructible material but also as new flora. Over time, central park will not only be a place for natural preservation and leisure, but rather, a place of reflectance, remembrance, and celebration of those who have passed. Bio-brick and bio-concrete made from human ash will create the loadbearing components of the form, with a space frame supported by bioconcrete as the expandable canopy to protect the precious new life the intervention will create.

Section detail of Capsuli Mundi application

Proposed new tree cemetery adjacent to site intervention

Graduate | University of Pennsylvania

A1_ArtiThcial to Pure Nature Connection / Support

A2_Interior Tumulus Glazing Detail (Hidden)

A3_Interior Tumulus to Space Frame an

I N T E G R AT I N G L A N D S C A P E A N D F O R M The complex serves to integrate itself within the existing landscape. Above grade, visitors are engulfed by both synthetic and pure nature as they find themselves in the Theatre of the Living. Processional walkways flow and weave themselves across the upper levels around the ritualistic entry Tumulus, allowing visitors to parade, congregate, and grieve in multiple spaces throughout the intervention. Below grade, a Hall of Urns finds itself as the pivot point between the Theatre of Dead and Living. Lab spaces are formed to wrap around the Tumulus for Bio-Cremation labs, body treatment rooms, and body storage facilities.

and Green Roof Detail (Hidden)

Legend

T H E AT R E o f t h e L I V I N G 0’

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Hall of Healing Recording Studio Pod Preparation

Back Stage Preparation Performer Workshop Rehearsal Stage Art Gallery Tumulus Artist Storage Art Studio Administrative Greenhouse Memorial Walk Arboretum

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Remains Storarage Lobby Prep Remains Storage Bio-Cremation Lab Storage Closet Offices Pod Fabrication Shop Body Preparation Lab Administration Hall of Urns Theatre of the Dead Private Greiving Area Reception Communal Greiving Space Tumulus Procession Conference Room Body Research Lab Employee Break Room

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Interior of Theatre of the Dead (Top) and Theatre of the Living (Bottom)

Ecological uJ stice

Exterior perspective of Arboretum Memorial entrance

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Body Treatment Facility Interior

Ecological uJ stice

Bio-Cremation Lab Interior

DA R I O B E N J A M I N S A B I D U S S I

122 Rock Rd West, Lambertville, NJ 08530 dariosab@upenn.edu | (908)894-4473

E D U C AT I O N 2022 2022 2019

UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA SCHOOL OF DESIGN Master of Architecture | Philadelphia, PA GPA: 4.0/4.0 THE WHARTON SCHOOL Certificate in Real Estate Design and Development | Philadelphia, Pennsylvania LEHIGH UNIVERSITY COLLEGE OF ARTS AND SCIENCE Bachelor of Arts in Architecture with Honors (Summa Cum Laude) | Bethlehem, Pennsylvania

E M P L OY M E N T 2021-2022 2021 2020-2021 2019 2017 -2018 2017-2018

GRADUATE TEACHING ASSISTANT | Univ. of Pennsylvania | Teaching Assistant for ARCH243 (Design Studio) & ARCH634 (Environmental Systems) GRADUATE RESEARCH ASSISTANT | Univ. of Pennsylvania | Research assistant for Professor Simon Kim (Spring) EWINGCOLE | Philadelphia, PA | Summer Architectural Design Intern (2020 / 2021), Part-Time Architectural Design Intern (Fall Semester & Spring Semester), Winter Architectural Project Manager Intern MOHAWK CONTRACTING AND DEVELOPMENT | Allentown, PA | Summer Construction Management Intern GARY R. O’ CONNOR - ARCHITECT LLC. | Lambertville, NJ | Summer Architectural Design Intern LEHIGH UNIVERSITY | Bethlehem, PA | Apprentice Teacher for ARCH 002 & ARCH243 (3rd Year Design Studio)

I N V O LV E M E N T 2021-2022 2021 2020 2019-2021 2019-2021 2018 2017-2019 2016-2019

STUDENT COUNCIL | Vice President of Student Life (Wellness) PEER MENTOR | Selected Weitzman School of Design student mentor BABBLE | Student-run architecture publication, Editorial Team Member PENN DESIGN REAL ESTATE CLUB | Club Member ZELL LURIE MENTORSHIP PROGRAM | Mentorship Program Member CLASS OF 2022 ORIENTATION | Summer Orientation Leader AMERICAN INSTITUTE OF ARCHITECTURE STUDENTS | Lehigh University Chapter Co-Founder / VP ART ARCHITECTURE AND DESIGN CLUB | Executive Board Member

AC A DE M IC HON OR S 2022 2021 2021 2020 2019 2019 2015-2020

COMPETITIONS & EXHIBITIONS 2020 2020 2019 2019 2015

PERSONAL PROTECTIVE POD | Surface Summer School at Penn - Honorable Mention SHIFTING TIDES | BLTa Architects Student Design Competition - 1st Place P.T. CAPTURE | PennDesign Archive Exhibition COLLIN’S FAMILY REAL ESTATE COMPETITION | 1st place in year long practicum competition SHAD FESTIVAL ARTS COMPETITION | Competition Winner

P U B L I C AT I O N S 2020 2020 2019

SURFACE MAGAZINE | Website feature for ‘Personal Protective Pod” PENNDESIGN PRESSING MATTERS 10 | Book feature for “Living Green” & “Seneca Growth Complex” PENNDESIGN PRESSING MATTERS 9 | Book feature for “Urban Misplacement” & “Views Beyond”

PROFICIENCIES

Software

Fabrication

Rhinoceros 6/ 7, ZBrush, V-Ray with Rhinoceros 6, KeyShot 8, 3D Scanning, Enscape, Revit, ArchiCAD, AutoCAD, Microsoft Office, Adobe Illustrator, Adobe Photoshop, Adobe InDesign, Adobe AfterEffects, Bluebeam Revu, ARGUS Laser Cutting, 3D Printing, CNC Milling, Physical Modeling, Hand Drawing

TO MY PARENTS Who have shared in all my joys and struggles, my failures and achievements; and whose interest in my work, as in all my ventures, was never less than my own, this book is affectionately dedicated.

O P E R AT I O N A L D

S U B L I M E I

Un i v e r s i t y o f Pe n n s y l v a n i a M . A r c h