_University of Pennsylvania _Weitzman School of Design
M.Arch Selected works :// 2021 - 2024
_Fragments, desires, and residual figures _Contents.
_Imagined Places: Desires of the unbuilt environment.
Inquisitive design comes to fruition from diverse human experiences and a deep understanding of our surrounding world in its past, present, and unbuilt future. Designing our future will forever be tied to unconventional methods of practice and there is nothing more significant to be drawn upon than the relevance of otherworldly inspirations. As architects, we may reminisce on remnants of the built past and rely on its residual effects to design a better today and tomorrow. Hereby lies a probing dilemma; is it our role to provide solutions, or ask questions? Naturally I feel that neither takes precedence, for these acts exist codependently. The versatile nature of design is what captivates me into this field, drawing me towards bridging the gap between both principles. Apart from a passion to find balance and understanding in design, my architectural journey has also brought self-discovery; I have grown to find solace in investigations that never end. I can now proudly introduce this as a document that will never be complete. Forever under construction — remaining unbuilt.
These projects are not built, yet they exist...as long as they can be imagined. My desires lie in inspiring powerful solutions through provocative speculation. Across this collection of works, I interrogate my surroundings through explorative themes, obsessive iteration, and unlikely affinities, all the while uniquely tailoring each approach to its corresponding brief.
ARCH 602 | Spring 2023
Instructor | Nate Hume Location | LES, NYC
Partner |Marjorie Tello-Wong
_Frames and Grains:// An urban orchard and confectionery.
This project explores the main program of an interwoven Urban orchard as an intergrated food bank in the Lower East side. This follows the site’s rich history of Orchard Street- what once was a field of trees and crops is now is just known as a commerce street. These interplays of rural vs urban, or natural vs man made that are already present through the site, is now reflected through the project’s program of synthetisizing and condensing the Rural Orchard into a controlled setting. By doing so, we hope that new ways of social engagement will unravel through space by breaking the boundaries of public/ private. This can create new opportunities for community engagement through the integrated activity of fruit picking amongst engageable confectionery spaces. How can we transform the modern day grocery store aisle into an engageable interactive food bank?
Alongside programatically blurring the boundaries of the typical atrium, the project seeks to break up and re-configure thresholds of enclosure. With its open ground floor and suspended programs, this “spilling” orchard renders itself visible and engageable from the outside. We further explore the possiblities of frame and enclosure, looking to stuff our structure with loose forms of massings and envelope strategies.
01:// Interior view of integrated public factory/ confectionery space.
By revisiting the typical building envelope, we introduce an interwoven spillage of program and space. By blurring these thresholds of enclosure, we find a loose and playful definition of what exterior and interior relationships can be. The overlapping, intersecting and loose zoning behaviors of the cladding are also reflected in the interior conditions.
02:// Experimental drawing showing “spillage” of the orchard space and its tectonics.
03:// All roads lead to the orchard // Plan details.
04:// 1/4” flr plan showing the spilling orchard and embedded core.
Candy factory
Juice production
Exterior eating area 4. Controlled orchard
05. Interior garden.
deck 07. Unciontrolled orchard 08. Eating area 09. Orchard mechanics
10. Garden 11. Fruit production
Confectionery 13. Exterior gardens
Basement cafe
Hydroponics mechanics
Indoor orchard with controlled planter systems/ UV lights.
The open ground.
Stone cladding, and unique fruit picking experiences.
Material layering & spatial conditions of enclosed spaces.
Trellis system in controlled spaces.
Open screen facade for uncontrolled spaces.
& interior
through material and
facade
spaces
color.
Physical model details highlighting the Orchard space.
An_addition.
ARCH 601 | Fall 2022
Instructor | Hina Jamelle
Location | NYC
Seeping Resurgence++
_Housing and more:// An extravagent dissolvment of the determinate corner.
The existing Corbin Building, with its intricately crafted façade embellished in terracotta carvings and rich cast-iron formations, stands as a beacon of historic complexity on the corner of 13th and John St. This street corner that once possessed an ordinary, modern caliber, now delightedly wears and flaunts the bright jewel that is this newly restored structure, awing pedestrians with its striking contrast to the surrounding context. In efforts to expand this extravagant revival, this project proposes a mixed-use development that peels New York City’s corner open while embracing the existing structure’s timeless materiality and iconic techniques. In its ornate expressions, the new housing units dissolve from the corners of the existing structure, forming sculpted playscapes of public space below.
This process results in a synergistic permeation of furling iron formations and grafted overhangs which seep onto the site’s streets, sidewalks, and transit connection as a permeating landscape, forming the project’s public commons program. Through an embracing of craft and fabrication, the project forms public spaces for creative makers to come sell, trade, or exhibit their crafted works, from wearable art to home decor and goods. Because this marketplace aims to continuously dissolve into the streets, sidewalks and subway connections, filling New York city’s public realm, the method of unfurling space-forming represents a powerful resurrection of New York City’s crafting industry. The project invites public participation by opening corners and blurring the barriers and understandings between public, private, and facade.
01:// Unit clusters and formation in plan.
2 bd unit.
1 bd units. Formation.
02:// 8th Flr plan showing unit organization and treatment of street.
04:// Facade formation diagram/ map.
05:// Individual units highlighting design techniques.
07:// The dissolved corner blurs notions of public and private.
From sky to ground://
The furling iron formations that make up the housing units now melt onto the street level and market space program, transforming into usable public space. The facade’s ornate embracing takes on spatial roles as it latches onto and grows from the existing building - becoming walls, floors, and furniture. The building’s exterior has a desire to not only fold into space and ground, but it yearns to become the sky as well with its unfolding reach and untamed siloutte.
08:// Section Chunk & Hinge// Housing unit embedment and the public corner.
section showing spatial interrelationships and connection to site.
10:// Detail showing marketplace and workshop spaces.
Residual_01
Seminar| Spring 2024
Instructor | Ferda Kolatan
Partners | Khang Truong & Leo Huang
Un-still Life: In pixels & plastic, reflections of consumerist society.
_”Image, object, architecture”seminar.
In pixels and bytes, a tale unfurls, A still life reimagined in digital swirls. Where once on canvas, society’s dreams unfurled, Now in screens, our desires are hurled.
Glossy spreads and social streams, Reflecting our world in shimmering beams. Products arranged, a promise gleams, Of fulfillment found in consumer schemes.
But in the realm of play, another scene, Toys emerge with a vibrant sheen. Miniature gadgets in colors keen, A mirror of the world which they have seen. Toy smartphones chirp and ring, In synthetic hues, they dance and sing, Echoing the consumerist swing.
Like still-life’s past, they portray, An idealized world in plastic array. Where aspirations in miniature stay, And consumer culture holds sway.
So in this digital age, let’s pause and see, The reflection of our society’s decree. In advertisements and toys that be, A playful yet insightful symphony.
1.
The image: Triptych posters.
2. The object: Handheld toy and assembly.
A_Window.
“Pre-cast
Concrete” | Fall 2023
Instructor | Richard Garber
Partners | Kirah Cahill, Sophie Wojtalewicz, Penghui Zhang
Throughout the design process, our team experimented widely with varying gestures patterns and styles in order to formulate a hybridized panel design. This collaborative approach ensured that the final panel was a true almalgamation of our efforts as a collective. As a precedent study, we looked at the Broad Museum in LA. The broad features a unique reinforced precast concrete facade system known as “The Veil” which not only provides abundant natural lighting throughout the building but is also self-supporting and load bearing enough to allow the absense of columns throughout the building. Another quality of this facade system that interested us were the window apertures and how they wrap the corner of the building. To this end, our panel features aperture designs that has opportunity for different connections and modulation, as shown in the speculative assembly drawing. The panel was designed and documented in the shop drawings perfectly and precisely for easy construction on Pour day. Accounting for foam, rebar, insulation, carpentry, and exact material amounts, we were able to see our design come to life-- a truly remarkable experience where a design is seen fully from conception to execution.
FOAM TICKET.
CNC Foam
04:// Fully erected and cured panel
Shop ticket.
05:// Speculative axonometric drawing of panelization and assembly.
ARCH 501 | Fall 2021
Instructor | Laia MogasSoldevila
Location | Philadelphia, PA
Dissolving Temporalities++
_Formative Flows:// Sediments, time, and immortal ruins.
Thismuseum extension dedicates itself to the art of sediments, the art of the earth. Inspired by the shapeshifting properties of sand and soil, this building exists in a perpetual state of transformation. The sedimentary flows of the site exist in conjunction with the dredging that is supposed to take place on the river every 5 years, from which the collected material is to be completely wasted and disregarded- this process has been delayed for over 20 years now. As a response to this circumstance, the building’s structure will perform a reinvention of that unglamorous cycle, taking gross and raw material and transforming it into a curious installation via a time-based design of two phases. The structure aims to transform this recurring process into something more spectacular.
Phase I: 2021-2050
Every 5 years, the sludge is distributed into the museum walls through a conveyor filtration system, catering to a spectator’s perspective. In idle time, the mixture performs its spontaneous dance as it swirls and bubbles through the pools of containment which the building lies embedded between. This period of spectacle works in supplement to the land artists, pottery makers, and innovators that choose to embellish the exhibit’s ever-accumulating interior.
Program diagram.
2. movement
1.Int. mass
6. Formative ground
5. Sediment carriers
4.Containment pools
3. Human + sediment flow
02:// Time based material accumulation diagrams.
Phase II- 2050 on://
From the surrounding sediments, this structure builds itself up layer by layer. As the material accumulates, the building’s temporal notions diminish, for one day it will perform by burying itself completely in the land from which it came. However, these fruitful ruins continue the cyclic process of sediment distribution, offering its lifetime of sedimentary resources to the public. This structure will in turn, remain in existence as a disbanded relic, repurposed as a hub for land artists and researchers everywhere.
04:// Axo showing chunk cut with [1] containment pool.
03:// Collage renders.
05:// Entrance level plan showing exhibition space and material buildup.
06:// Section showing sludge filtration process through containment pools.
07:// Elevation view.
09 :// Physical model fully assembled & base detached.
Residual_02
“Chambers” Excersise| Fall’ 21
Instructor | Laia MogasSoldevila
Team | Rachel Seto, JingHuang, Xiayu Zhao
Sinuous Spawns
_Intrusive object:// The continuous expansion.
Emerging from unknown origins, The Spawn is a curious life form in a perpetual state of expansion. Since materializing here on Weitzman grounds, it has spread at an exponential rate and shows no signs of stopping.
Although the Spawn’s properties are alien to us, there are a few similarities that can be drawn to the behaviors of certain organisms on Earth. Reminiscent of cholla cactus skeletons, the main body is primarily texturized by a mesh of cells. Encompassed in a jacket of purple fur is the Spawn’s shell, which the main body expands and grows out of. The extremities of the body are tinged green- a visual representation of the growth that occurs at those points.
The Spawn’s main method of expansion is similar to coral spawning, in which the host releases orb-like spores that are dispersed outwards from the body. These spores then attach themselves to a new surface and begin the cycle once again.
Callowhill is a site of multiple personalities. The ways the site is captured and distributed in image and digital consumptions results in a series of characters; Callowhill, Spring Garden, Loft district, Chinatown. The various interpretations of the site bring me to question where the true image of Callowhill lies within the cloud of imposters. Did it ever exist? What did it look like? Or rather is the true image of the site the entire combination of this multitude? In the age of urban renewal and utopic advertising, this project explores an idea that does not add to this cause but instead stands as something in opposition to that by existing as both the iconic carnival market as well something that celebrates Callowhill’s image as a community run secondhand marketplace, embracing object exchanges and trade. The program transforms from a labyrinth of treacherous facades and meandering walkways describing a flashy place of icon, to the embedded true image of Callowhill, The market of Remnants. This is a reflection, a footprint and a reclaimed landmark, harnessed by the people of Callowhill themselves.
Collage
02:// 24 x 36” physical 3D collage.
03:// Section cut showing collection exhibition space and collector market.
From collage to space formation://
This project looks closely at collage as a method of compiling “the incomlete” to achieve “the ever accumulating” and the guise of skewed perceptions. These ideas of collage go hand in hand with the notions of site and collection, thus playing a key role in forming spatial elements and program.
08:// Experimental collage exploring program and mass.
Residual_03
Visual Studies| Fa‘21 & S ‘22
Instructors | Miroslava Brooks & Nate Hume
_Selections from Visual Studies exercises. 01_Homebody// 02_Difficult Wholes
In Homebody, the excersise was to study our dwelling and produce an unfolding elevation and plan analysis depicting movement and daily life.
In the Difficult Wholes exersise, by using projected color, the assemblage can further amplify its moments of interference between part and whole. These strategies should not be used to code the figures but rather to produce new parts and spatial effects. New linkages can be forged between figures through color which seems to cross their boundaries and unite them without physically merging the figures together. Figures can also be broken down into implied parts and appear to gain new features through the projections.
1. “HOMEBODY”
2. “DIFFICULT WHOLES”
A_Garden.
ARCH 701 | Fall 2023
Instructor | Ferda Kolatan
Location | Ephesus, Turkey
Partner | Francisco Anaya
Chimeric Bloom++
_A letter to the Anthropocene: Crafting a synthetic eden in an anthropocentric swampscape.
In the heart of an anthropocentric swampland and the state of our modern-day ecology, this project explores the intersection of human influence and the primordial allure of the untouched mire. Through intensely manmade processes, a paradoxical realm emerges from the swampscape in fantastical clusters that teeter the edge of peril and paradise. This dichotomy is inherent in the swamp’s allure, where the toxicity of human impact mingles with the sublime beauty of untamed nature. Throughout this, we envision the creation of an anthropocentric garden. While a “garden” is a testament to human ingenuity and ecological restoration, we also reimagine this as an interworld of artificial natures and exuberantly colorful displays— a symbol of symbiotic splendor as well as the toxically sublime. In the scope of human history, “The Garden” is a place where Fear and Wonder occur simultaneously. From the “Jewelled Garden” of Gilgamesh, which represented a boundary between the physical and nonphysical world— to the Garden of Eden as a place of both pristine harmony and immense destruction. It is within this tapestry of mythology that this project unfolds into a contemporary narrative which echoes the ancient pursuit of creating an idyllic haven. The quest to forge a harmonious relationship with nature is now refracted through the lens of the Anthropocene.
In an era where our ecosystems face unprecedented manmade stress, the concept of a synthetic garden becomes a canvas for reimagining nature. The feasibility of this reimagining is grounded in present-day technological opportunity. To this end, the project is situated in The ancient port of Ephesus, which sits as an abandoned swampscape of great Archaeological significance and untapped world-making potential. For these reasons, we treat the site opportunistically— we will drain the old port of its sludgy and unstable material by reinforcing its grounds through the construction method of jet grouting techniques combined with excavation processes. From the employment of these earth-scarring practices, our garden blooms.
This construction method is primarily employed to stabilize the ground through a process involving drilling and injecting soilcrete into slushy or loose ground. The injections result in Column-like grout formations that helps fill in the voids in loosely packed grounds. These grouts are fully emended and are then excavated in order to expose them. Depending on the type of ground, the grouts will externally display strangely intricate buldging and necking conditions— when sliced through the middle, a smoother core of soilcrete is visible. We’re inspired by the potential of these visual qualities because the resulting strange columns begin to hybridize the perceptions of artificial or natural. So, while commonly utilized for constructing retaining walls and underground load-bearing structures, this project goes beyond its conventional applications and delves into innovative possibilities for shaping the garden’s emergence. From these interests the project deals with chimeric notions, as they merge personalities and transition from something purely functional to something more experiential and ritualistic.
01:// jet grouting & dewatering.
02:// Aerial view of ancient city of Epehsus and the Garden pit.
03:// Section cut of the Garden mid- early construction.
06:// The garden mid-bloom and on-going construction.
As more grout insertions populate the old port, more the land becomes drained and excavated– resulting in an open pit- field of blooming clusters that becomes saturated with foliage overtime- an engineered garden. Resulting in an atmosphere of intensely artificial and otherworldly displays. The deep well dewatering system is put into place through a series of underground pipes that begin to extract the water and sludge from the port. These unprocessed byproducts feed this engineered garden. This synthetic garden becomes a living laboratory, where peril meets paradise, enchantment meets aversion, and technology meets a new nature.
The living laboratory- Where peril meets paradise://
Entrance to the pit- The Toxic Sublime://
Visitors enter the pit through descending its wall of columns. The jet grouting technique creates a strangely technological yet archaic ornament. Have these columns always been here or is it a new emergence? With the grout columns selectively sliced, the colorful mixture used for injection is revealed at the core. In careful formation and intricate carving, the columns create an otherworldly opening to the swampscape below.
07:// Down through the Wall and into the Pit.
09 :// Toxic sublime- Experiencing the garden.
08 :// Garden detail.
10 :// Cluster section chunk- Synthetic Eden.
An_illusion.
ARCH 704 | Spring 2024
Instructor | Ali Rahim
Location | Dubai, UAE
Partner | Khang Truong
Skeumorphic Projections++
_A study on discreet strength and the power of elegance through skeumorphic relationships.
Skeuomorphic /skew·morf·ick/ adj.
+ of mimicking quality./ Design of an object that mimics the form of the object while made from another material or by other techniques./ something appearing to be what it no longer is.
+ i.e Stick on “wood” vinyl, electric car charging pumps.
This project explores the Skeuomorphic by dematerializing notions of Power, Opulence, and Performance. Through design research of the Lamborghini supercar, we’ve concluded it a symbol of speed, vigor, and strength. This is represented even aesthetically and materially, through its use of sharp seams, faceted surfaces, and loud coloration. In contrast, the supercar’s interior exudes a discreetly elegant quality through soft, matte surfaces, subtle curves, and meticulous stitching. In observing these two faces of the same coin, we ask ourselves what happens when we hybridize Hard and Soft further, blurring their assigned roles both formally and functionally? What if we use Skeuomorphism as a way to challenge perceptions rather than portraying fraudulency? For these reasons, the project is composed entirely of GFRC, offering a highly diverse appearance to the project despite its true homogeneous nature.
Programatically, this project stands a supercar headquarters in Dubai which is in actuality a discreet safehaven for its migrant worker population. Aside from material illusions, the project explores programmatic skeumorphisms which reflects Dubai’s deceptive qualities. The project features living quarters hidden in plain sight, supercar shells which serve as human escape pods, vertical rotating carousels meant for customer seating, and benches which turn into walls which turn into lighting fixtures.
Skeuomorphism exists in Dubai as an imitation of opulence, where qualities of shininess, ornamentation, and the color gold exist on various levels of the socioeconomic spectrum. Therefore, the project seeks to challenge perceptions of power and luxury by offering hybridized forms, extracting those qualities and juxtoposing them in strange conditions. Through the imitation of various elements such as stitching, fabric softness, and metallic hardness, we hope to subvert material and formal expectations in the project. By exploring the formal and textural potentials of GFRC, the project is manipulated into the appearance of 3 qualities, leather, metal and GRFC itself. Through these we also introduce a temporal skeumorphism-- a relationship between old and new through the purposeful aging of the GFRC. Over the three interrelated Skeumorphisms of material, structure, and program, we present this project as a reflection of Dubai’s strange and complex new history.
1/8”
Legend:
01. Lobby/ Reception
01a. Lobby II
02. Showvase space
03. Migrant worker kitchen.
04. Prayer room.
05.Dormatories I
06. Dormatories II
07. Private baths.
08. Private entrance.
09. Escape path I
10. ““Loading/ Unloading””
11. Migrant worker .
12. Escape path II.
13. Office & conference.
14. Public viewing carousel.
15. Car workshop/ repair.
Worker living quarters discreet access to escape pods/ showroom displays.
Culmination of Public and Discreet.
Temporary migrant worker living quarters.
Working quarters, customer, and Escape path.
Hidden in plain sight, car shells display as escape pods.
Worker’s private entrance to car Workshop.
GFRC & Skeumorphism://
The drawing details on the left display GFRC as a visually diverse material despite its homogeneous assembly.
03:// Chunk render showing GFRC at its ful material potential & spatiality.
Soft & Hard- From Ai to Realization://
Early Ai explorations result in the development of design techniques pertaining to the design research. An interest in hybridizing soft and hard materials results in a juxtaposing fusion of unique conditions-Pierce, stitch, facet, sinuous, layer, overlap, embed, inflate.
04:// explorations on material superimposition.
07:// 1/8” final physical section model.
GFRC behaviors in spatial moments ://
Glass fiber reinforced concrete has the potentials to mold, shift, and shape into any form or textural apperance. This allows for deceptively unique spatial and structral experiences.
