David M de Céspedes_Selected Works_Architecture & Urban Design

GATES HOUSING FOR A NEWAGED COLLECTIVE

VERTICAL TERRITORY ENGAGING ROBOTIC FABRICATION

TRANSIT ECOLOGY HIGH SPEED RAIL AND DEVELOPMENT IN DETROIT

David M de Céspedes

INUNDATION URBANISM AND INFRASTRUCTURE INJAKARTA

SELECTED WORKS ARCHITECTURE & URBAN DESIGN

CORN BELT MIGRATION OCCUPYING THE MISSISSIPPI RIVER

HOUSING FOR A NEW-AGED COLLECTIVE YONGSAN, SOUTH KOREA

MASTERPLAN: TOWERS ON THE PARK

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MASTERPLAN: TOWERS ON THE PARK

NEW COLLECTIVE FORM

RESIDENTIAL 2000 UNITS 40 FLOORS

Gates

GARDENS

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2012

Collaborators Pooja Dalal, Jordan Hicks

Advisors Vivian Lee, El Hadi Jazairy

VERTICAL GREENHOUSE LOCATED AT ENTRY TO SPINE PARK

SHOPS

30 RETAIL SPACES IN THE BASE OF THE BUILDING

RIP

COLUMBARIUM

RESTING PLACE FOR LOVED ONES

CREMATORIUM

THE DEAD ARE HUMANELY AND EFFICIENTLY PROCESSED

HOTEL

BOUTIQUE ACCOMMODATIONS NEAR TRAIN STATION

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proposed site condition with housing structure

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he proposal for Gates as an urban megaform in a derelict context outside Seoul, South Korea began as a formal response to the master plan laid forth by the collective studio. In that plan, the district’s infrastructural spine (a constructed landscape that covered rails and highway) was lined by towers. Gates inverts this condition; the towers become voids. This new collective form is a modern parallel to Seoul’s medieval fortifications. It is a wall punctuated by gates, drawing a sharp division between the city and the spine through a lush forested landscape.

The gates, meanwhile, articulate connections. Pedestrians pass through the northern gate to access the top of the spine.

The part of the building around this gate features community greenhouses. An arterial road passes through the southern gate, leading to Yongsan’s central train station, and the urban fabric across the spine.

This gate houses a hotel. The central gate houses a crematorium and columbarium – necessities in South Korea, where cremation is subsidized and land for cemeteries is scarce.

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section through units and public corridor

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g_07 section through housing corridor

The configuration of housing units capitalizes

on the building’s massing. The project is a single loaded corridor, 40 stories high and 460 m long. All of the housing units line the northwestern side of the building, with the bedrooms along the exterior wall, overlooking the city. The units are small and simple. The sunny southeast side of the building, overlooking the spine, is a 7m wide corridor full of small areas for social interaction, recreation, and communal amenities (from ping pong tables to planter beds to exercise bikes to barbeques to telescopes) helping elderly residents to stay active in their community.

Public corridors expand and contract, allowing for spontaneous occupations of collective spaces. g_07

g_08 plans

Along the edge of each void, circulation bays create a connection between housing corridors and surprise programs.

Circulation bays act as expansion joints, utilizing a lightweight grill material which enables transparency forty floors high.

Unit A

Unit B

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g_10 three unit types within housing structure

Unit C

Each of the three unit types take advantage

of the 3.5 meter width of the structural grid. The unit types are dispersed throughout the spine, favoring irregularity in both the units and the public corridors. In all cases, the private bedrooms face the city of Yongsan and in the distance, Seoul.

During the daytime, Gates reflects the city back on itself, reflecting structures and open sky. At night, the building becomes a collectivized beacon, positioning the aging Seoul population at the center of the city, both visually and psycologically.

On the opposite side of the structure, the ciirculation corridors always face the spine, acting as a vertical continuation of the public activities along the spine’s landscape.

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proposed site condition with housing structure

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Tunnel-Form Construction

Elevated Publics

Secondary Voids

If the housing units provide the glue for the

megaform, the punctuation of public corridors, secondary voids, and diversely programmed gates offer a productive counter-argument to the perceived banality of the a large, dense structure.

Although the city-side of the building offers a disciplined repetition of rectangular bays, the view from the spine offers a faรงade of constant g_13

g_14 exploded axonometric of structure

Ramped Circulation

Expansion Joint

activity and difference. Rhythms are negotiated at different scales; three gates of varying heights offer vastly different programs, expansion joints provide secondary repetition through the height of the building, ramped circulation routes ease transitions for residents across mulitiple levels, and secondary public voids allow for the future programming and community-building by the residents.

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2012

Advisors Matias del Campo, Adam Fure Collaborators Ziuliang Guo, Justin Tingue, Andrew Wolking

Ve r t i c a l Te

ENGAGING ROBOTIC FABRICATION THROUGH THERMODEPOSITION ANN ARBOR, MICHIGAN

final model of vertical territory test subject

erritory

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Omni-Directional Interpolation

Derivative Interpolation

Contoured Compatmentalization

Exclusionary Interpolation

Transitory Aperture

High Amplitude Frame

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Low Amplitude Frame

Continuous Interpolation Enclosure

Continuous Interpolation Matrix

Topological Aggregation

Vertical Territories of Recursion worked through the lense of “apophenia,” or the unmotivated seeing of connections. The complementary nature of robotic fabrication and non-euclidean spatial constructs set the stage for exploring alternative futures in which the architect’s role has shifted: from the designer of controlled space to the programmer of controlled chaos.

Combining the capabilities of Processing, Maya,

and Grasshopper, several spatial explorations tested degrees of enclosure; each test leading to both physical and digital models. Though slight variations in scripts yields vastly different spatial configurations, the transition from pattern to mesh moved to the fabrication phase.

Further, the transition from 3D printing to robotic thermodeposition warranted an entirely different approach for the same outcome.

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proposed site condition with housing structure

vt_06 proposed site condition with housing structure

Various rudimentary extrusions helped to

manifest clear capabilities and limitations of thermodeposition. Definitions of height, thickness, and width translated to temperature, speed, and force. This translation of languate equated to spatial definitions not based on space, but on thermodynamics.

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proposed site condition with housing structure

vt_08 planar sections through structure

Planar sections through the vertical territory

identify varations in spatial opacity. After each layer of deposition, 3D scanning identifies several z-coordinate nodes, acting as the moments of subsequent deposition. Thus, the rules governing height and opacity translate into an indeterminate form. The vertical territory can theoretically construct itself infinitely; although each new layer is dependent on specific coordinates, no two levels are identical.

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te_01

2011

Advisor Maria Arquero de Alarcon

Transit Ec

HIGH SPEED RAIL AND URBAN DEVELOPMENT DETROIT, MICHIGAN

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City of Detroit - served as a basis for mapping issues related to depopulation, unemployment, and brownfield redevelopment. The argument of transit-oriented ecology positions Delray not as a context on the brink of resurgence, but as a spatial resource for the region, ripe for development not based on inhabitants, but on industries of production and industry. Thus, Delray is envisioned as a simultaneous condition of transit hub, industry, and unpopulated wilderness.

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proposed site condition with housing structure

The context of Delray - a community within the

proposed site condition with housing structure

Correlation between rail infrastructure, abandoned properties, and unemployment.

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Potential plots of development and remediation in Delray.

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proposedand funding siteorganization condition with structure housing forstructure Delray

proposed plans of station site condition and connected with housing development structure

+ 46 ft.

+ 18 ft.

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Ground Level

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Roofscape + Water Capture

Circulation + Light Apertures

Elevated Plane + Terminal Entry

Terminals + Objects

Ground Plane + Intermodality

proposed site perspective ofcondition public plain with housing structure rendering of central space of train station

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breakdown of development uses

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2012

Advisors Meredith Miller, Etienne Turpin Collaborators Elizabeth Nichols, Klara Puspa Indrawati, Shinta Hadianti Mecca Dina, Anita Jue Yan Viola Zhang

Inundatio

ENGAGING INTERSECTIONS OF FLOODING, URBANISM, AND INFRASTRUCTURE MENTENG, JAKARTA, INDONESIA

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existing site, Manggarai Lock, Jakarta

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Ciliwung River and the Jabodetabek Region i_03

The Ciliwung River, originating at Mount Bogor, serves as the primary watershed for Jakarta and surrounding cities. The megaregion is referred to as “Jabodetabek,� and includes a broad area that contains approximately twenty million inhabitants. The visual research on Manggarai, a small community largely consisting of informal settlements along the Ciliwung River.

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Menteng Neighborhood Manggarai River Lock Ciliwung River

Manggarai Lock in relation to Menteng, Jakarta

Urban Canal System

The Actor-Network diagram spatially maps

the various agencies, organizations, and levels of government who work collectively to mitigate extreme flooding conditions. Although many of the actors work cooperatively, especially during times of extreme weather conditions, our research found several redundancies, miscommunications, and gaps with regards to managing Jakarta’s intricate system of canals and rivers.

The site of interest along the Ciliwung River is located at the crux of three different water systems, all of which disperse water away from Menteng the wealthiest neighborhood in Downtown Jakarta.

The Manggarai Lock is a series of barriers, allowing or restricting flows of water, sediment, and waste. The water index [right] depicts the various potential situations of water flow, identifying differences based on season, rainfall, and water volume.

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Actor-Network Diagram of social and infrastructural relationships

MANGGARAI LOCK

SEDIMENT/WASTE REMOVAL

lock anatomy and flooding/variable matrix

TRASH GATE

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WATER LOCK

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Sectional studies of accessible riverfront conditions

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Accessible scenarios along the river’s edge

Although residents largely turn their back on

the various water systems throughout Jakarta, the Ciliwung River represents many challenges of the city; the water acts as a barometer, indicating the overall health of the region’s infrastructures of water, waste treatment, and pollution. The lock was therefore analyzed for its spatial possibilities. Two scenarios along the river indicate potentials for the river where inhabitants play an active role in improving the health of the water system.

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2013

Advisor Rania Ghosn

proposed site condition with housing structure

Corn Belt

SPATIAL PROTOCOL FOR MIGRATION, RESETTLEMENT, AND OCCUPATION OF THE MISSISSIPPI RIVER

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Migration

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proposed site condition with housing structure Upper Mississippi Lock & Dam Map

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T

he proposal for Gates as an urban megaform in a derelict context outside Seoul, South Korea began as a formal response to the master plan laid forth by the collective studio. In that plan, the district’s infrastructural spine (a constructed landscape that covered rails and highway) was lined by towers. Gates inverts this condition; the towers become voids. This new collective form is a modern parallel to Seoul’s medieval fortifications.

It is a wall punctuated by gates, drawing a sharp division between the city and the spine through a lush forested landscape.

The gates, meanwhile, articulate connections.

Pedestrians pass through the northern gate to access the top of the spine. The part of the building around this gate features community greenhouses.

An arterial road passes through the southern gate, leading to Yongsan’s central train station, and the urban fabric across the spine. This gate houses a hotel. The central gate houses a crematorium and columbarium – necessities in South Korea, where cremation is subsidized and land for cemeteries is scarce.

“We don’t talk about the farm much anymore. From what I can tell from the drone monitors, the crops seem to be doing fine...”

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“All of us at Safe Zone 01...I’d say about 200,000 farmers and their families, live on the ring - I hear it’s to protect the prairie land inside the zone.”

All of us at Safe Zone 01...I’d say about 200,000 farmers and their families, live on the ring - I hear it’s to protect the prairie land inside the zone.

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Not sure what the Army Corps has been up to on that island anyway, word is they’re trying to find a way for us to get back to the corn belt.

“...look to the island and all you see is prairie and the Mighty Mississippi, but turn to the horizon and corn grows right up to the edge of the safe zone.�

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“The plains – six...well I guess you’d call them plazas – are spread out around the ring...on the weekends it feels like New York City’s Chinatown; all those people roaming around, dipping below the surface to the markets, then popping back up for some fresh air.”

“They say it won’t be safe for another few years.”

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Maybe it’d be nice to go back, but the Safe Zone’s home now.”