EVAN BENEDETTO CERILLI
Bachelor of Arts in Architecture 2011
I live on Earth at present, and I don’t know what I am. I know that am not a category. I am a thing - a noun. I seem to be a verb, an evolutionary process - an integral function of the universe. -R. Buckminster Fuller
Contents PARAMETRIC DESIGN 3Dimensional Logic
6
Systematic Capture
12
Aggregated Surface
16
ARCHITECTURAL DESIGN Bethlehem Greenway
24
Design by Site
44
Lehigh Visitor Center
50
PHOTOGRAPHY
Algorithmic and systematic processes have influenced the evolution of our understanding of the universe. Exploration of algorithmic systems and patterns may allow us to develop new architectural structures, forms and designs.
Parametric Design
3Dimensional Logic Individual project
Approaching design with a logical and systematic method, and parameterized variations results in complex and durable structural forms that are both natural and synthetic.
Unit Development Choosing a triangular prism-like unit design allows for three alternate connections. The unit is then able to grow upon itself and expand over one plane.
6
Studio 2
Professor Jung 2009
Connecting multiple units together results in a self-organizing 3Dimensional dynamic surface and pattern.
6x8� Study Model paper and glue
Unit Refinement The unit is modified in order to decrease the mass of both the unit, and the aggregation of multiple units.
Unit Top Perspective
7
Parameterize The unit template isolates the variables within the logical system; height and width.
8
Altering the internal logic of the system, and parameterizing the unit dimensions into five different sizes enhances the system’s growth possibilities and potential.
Left: Final Model System Pattern Right: 32x32� Final Model paper, glue & brads
9
Systematic Capture
A collaboration with Mario Delgado & Andrew Sullivan
Studio 2
Group Leader
Professor Jung 2009
Nature is abundant with patterns and variations of logical systems. Identifying the patterns within these logical systems allows us to design our own systems for use in architecture. Abstract Crystallized Resorcinol, Methylene Blue and Sulfur
A systematic and logical pattern is found within a photograph of a natural phenomenon through a series of drawings. From the drawings, a logic is developed which relates the density of the units to their respective sizes. The smaller the size, the higher the density, and vice versa...
Indentify
12
Force Multiply
Logic
Height is added to the logic system in direct relationship to the diameter of each unit. The smaller the diameter, the shorter the unit.
8x8� Study Model • paper and glue
13
The final model is refined with a new plan and blueprint of the logical system. The vector lines illustrate the forces that shape the patterning and variations of the system and its units.
16x16� Final Model • paper and glue
14
Final Model Detail
15
Aggregated Surface A collaboration with Mario Delgado & Andrew Sullivan
Group Leader
Logical systems have the abilitiy to grow and expand upon themselves. In this project, we create a 3Dimensional unit that by building upon itself becomes a more complex form and pattern.
Unit Development
The origami toy, known as the “fortune teller� is selected for its various connection possibilities.
16
Studio 2
Professor Jung 2009
Interconnecting the individul units results in a surface with a systematic pattern, able to expand upon itself. The properties of the unit also allow the surface to twist in on itself.
17
Unit Production By localizing the key characteristic of the surface - the diamond - we simplified the unit production so that multiple units could be assembled using one sheet of paper.
18
Template cut-out
Template cut-out
Unit Variations
Final Model Modified Unit Pattern • paper
Varying the unit size within the pattern alters the way in which the surface functions and grows. The larger pieces tend to grow in one dimension, while the smaller grow into a third dimension in tightly bound spirals.
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Left: 24x32� Final Model • paper and glue Above: Final Model Detail Right: Final Model Perspective
“For me the diagram is a device, a tool that I am always using, that I am improving, that is an extension of my mind...I can’t see the diagram disappearing, as it is a mediation, and you need to go through that mediation.” - Bernard Tschumi
Architectural Design
Bethlehem Greenway Independent Study with Professor Jung
Fall 2010
As financial capital becomes ever more mobile and concentrated, cities can rise and fall over a matter of decades. Within only one century, the City of Bethlehem became the second largest steel producing center in the world. Now, Bethlehem is a “shrinking city”. The city’s southside community had been built around the world famous Bethlehem Steel Mill. The mill operated throughout both World Wars, and supplied steel for the skyscrapers of New York City. When the mill shut down, so did much of Bethlehem. Now, left behind in the wake of the foreign industrial and economic development, the city is constructing a new identity for itself. The Greenway – a linear park following the former path of the old railway – is intended to facilitate this transformation. The challenge of the Greenway Project was to design a space with historical reference, which at the same time moves the community forward towards a new identity. The design and its features were developed through community based data and opinions.
24
Greenway
New St.
Bethlehem Southside
Adams St.
Webster St.
Taylor St.
Polk St.
25
Site Analysis
Southside Bethlehem
New St.
Block I
Adams St.
Block III
Block II
Boys and Girls Club
26
Polk St.
Block IV
Holy Infancy Elementary School
Vegetation
Block I
Taylor St.
Webster St.
The three subject blocks of the Greenway have the potential to become a focal center for activities and events. Markets, businesses, elementary schools, and retirement homes surround the space. The challenge is to celebrate this diversity by designing a unique space that could stimulate the local economy, revitalize the urban fabric, and support the Bethlehem community.
Litzenberger Retirement Home
Night Light
Block II
Block III
Block I
A 12 foot path runs along the side of the site for pedestrian and cycling transit, acting as a linear axis for the site.
Age
Block II
Block III
Block I
Block II
Block III
Businesses
Block I
Residents
Block II
Block III
Block IV
Block I
Block II
Block III
Block IV
Business : Resident Ratio Commercial
Community
Residential
On Block I (New - Adams) there is one business for every resident living within the area. This ratio decreases with each successive block, to practically no businesses per resident in Block IV (Taylor - Polk). The decrease in the ratio of business to resident reveals the nature of the urban fabric. This section of the Greenway transitions from urban and commercial to residential. The urban and residential polarities are connected by the newly designed community space.
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Activity The amount of activity on each block varies throughout the day. Block I is continuously busy due to high business density. The elementary school’s recess and lunch times make Block II most active during the morning and afternoon.
Times of Activity
Activity Level
Block I
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Block II
Block III
Program Analysis Uses
Programs
Programs of Interest The programs of interest are those that have the most connections to the users.
Users Block III
Block II
Block I
The possible uses of the space and their relation to the users show which programs would serve the most people. Greenspace is of primary importance, followed by the playground, a gathering space, and community gardens.
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Design Development Inspired by Bethlehem’s history as a steel producing city, the grid system for generating the form of the greenway is derived from the crystalized structure of ferrite steel.
1 • The grid connects the three separate blocks of the site into one cohesive and continuous space.
Block II Adams St.
2 • Like the movement of a highway or rapid river, the circulation is linear and direct in high areas of activity (Block I). It intertwines and wanders as activity levels decrease (Blocks II & III).
Block I 3 • The isolated circulation path serves as a secondary slower path to the primary linear 12 foot walking and biking path.
4 • Elevations and landforms emerge in the voids of the newly formed grid, creating mass and volume.
5 • Final Elevations
Grid 30
Movement
Isolate
Mass
Finalize 31
Master Plan Plaza (commercial) Block I
Playscape (community) Block II
Plaza Park Garden Stage Greenspace
Climbing Structure Interactive Fountain Stepped Seating
Program
Greenspace
32
Local Businesses
Seating
Adams St.
New St.
The program of each block corresponds to the business : resident ratio. The plaza is located in the urban space, while the gardens are placed in the residential area. A playground acts as a transition from plaza to gardens, and can be used by the children of the Boys and Girls Club and Holy Infancy Elementary School.
Boys and Girls Club
Secondary Path The path that runs through the playscape and gardens functions as a secondary transit path for slower moving activities, whereas the 12 foot wide main trail is utilized by runners and bikers.
Gardens (residential) Block III
Gardens
Litzenberger Retirement Home
Taylor St.
Holy Infancy Elementary School
Webster St.
Public Seating
33
Playscape (community) BLOCK II
Plaza (commercial) BLOCK I
Final Model Plaza
34
Open
Gardens BLOCK III
(residential)
Final Model Gardens
35
Adams St.
New St. Adams St.
Webster St.
Webster St.
Master Plan Final Model • 7’ x 2’6”
Taylor St.
Plaza Grass Field Performance Space
Steel Plaza
New St. - Adams St. (Block I) Pattern of Crystalized Steel used for plaza design
The plaza will serve as an entrance to the park. The design is thus intended to draw the visitor into the Greenway. The unique appearance of molecular crystalized steel is represented in the patterned ground of the plaza space. This pattern continues and eventually dissolves into the open field of grass.
36
The greenspace can serve as a seating area for the performance stage on the opposite side of the block. This space will function as a small venue for local performances and events, such as Bethlehem’s yearly “Music Fest”.
The plaza will host local events and gatherings, such as the weekly farmers market and the community celebration known as “First Friday.”
Performance Stage
The block is split into two sections: a plaza, and a field for performances.
Final Model Block I
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Adams St. Webster St. Holy Infancy Elementary School Climbing Structure Interactive Fountain Grass Field
Natural Playscape
Boys and Girls Club Basketball Court
Adams St. - Webster St. (Block II)
The playscape design was informed by research into play. According to a study done by Ingunn Fjørtoft, a natural landscape for play (such as a forest) improves a child’s motor skills and creative capacities more than a conventional playground. Research also reveals that certain landscape characteristics are better suited to particular types of play. Play is broken down into three categories: construction, symbol, and function. The design of the playscape incorporates these research concepts by translating them into form and space, thereby creating a “natural environment” for play.
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Types of Play Construction Play
Structure building (fort building).
Symbol Play
Role-playing and fantasty games (house, pirates).
Function Play Physical forms of play (running, climbing, sliding).
Data Analysis In order to better assess the research information, the data is organized and processed into a visual diagram. The diagram reveals the landscape characteristics of each type of play.
Topography
Vegetation
Interpretation
Construction Forest (Symbol / Construct)
Imagined and built play are characteristic of areas with dense shrubs and trees, like a forest.
Symbol
Function
Tree Physiognomy
Climbing
Rock (Climbing / Sliding) Sliding
Running
Climbing and sliding occur on steep and uneven landscapes characteristic of rock formations.
Field (Running)
Shrub Physiognomy
Shrub Density
Running activities are characteristic of flat, varied landscapes with scattered vegetation.
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Data Analysis For safety reasons, the physical types of play (function) are situated in the center. The more imaginative and abstract types of play (construction and symbol) are placed on the sides of the site, by the streets.
Build Imagine
Slide Climb
Forest / Shrub
Build Imagine
Run
Rock
Field
Forest / Shrub
Adams St.
Webster St.
The topography and vegetation of the landscape take form according to the designated types of play.
Boys and Girls Club
40
Holy Infancy Elementary School
Rock Development The climbing and sliding structure is also developed from the pattern derived from crystalized steel. The structure is similar to a rock that has emerged from the ground.
Grid
Shrubs
Open Running Field
Extrude
Carve
Open
Final Model Block II
41
Public Seating Gardens
Community Gardens Webster St. - Taylor St. (Block III)
The Litzenberger Retirement Home was once known for its community gardens. The design reintroduces the idea of community gardens for the senior residents of the home, as well as for local residents, and the children of the Boys and Girls Club and Holy Infancy Elementary School. By serving diverse age groups, the community garden design fosters positive interactions and relationships among disparate generations. Elementary school classes and Litzenberger Retierment Home residents can participate in gardening simultaneously, within the same space.
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Types of Gardens Public Gardens
Designated for public use.
Litzenberger Gardens
Designated for members of Litzenberger Retirement.
Park Gardens Designated for park gardens and artwork.
Gardens
Public Seating
In order to encourage interaction amongst community members, the public gardens, the Litzenberger gardens and the park gardens all share the same beds and are dispersed throughout the site.
Gardens Public Gardens Litzenberger Gardens Park Gardens Final Model Block III
43
Design by Site It often appears as though a building is designed without sufficient consideration of the landscape and the surrounding site. This project is an in-depth exploration of the relationship between site and building.
Program Location
Lehigh University Campus
A graphical diagram of how wind would move through the site is generated from the concept of building turbulence.
44
Therefore, in approaching the design of a cafe and lounge for Lehigh University, I decided to initially focus completely on the site and ask: how could the site influence and shape a building and its landscape?
Cafe / Lounge
Site Analysis Wind
Studio 2
Professor Jung 2009
Sun
The amount of sunlight on the site is tracked over a five hour period and processed into a diagram.
The two diagrams are combined and overlayed onto the site. A template is created from which the building can develop and grow from the site.
The wind diagram lines direct the placement and form of the building. The amount of sunlight determines the height to which the building grows, like a plant, the more sun, the taller it grows.
The graphical diagram acts as a springboard for the design, which then becomes a story derived from the diagram.
45
Formal Development
A series of study models aid in the interpretation of the diagrams, altering different characteristics in each new model.
46
“Diagrams mediate between physical constructs and concepts or percepts on an organisational level. Their performance depends on how they are employed.� - Alejandro Zaera-Polo
The form of the site and building are finalized after developing the design through multiple study models.
Site Plan Elevation
47
Final Plans
1.2
1.1
1.4
1.1 • Cafe 1.2 • Seating 1.3 • Mens Room 1.4 • Womens Room
Skin Development
1.3
Skin and structure is developed from a pattern found within nature in order to make the walls appear as if they have ‘grown’ from the site.
48
Lehigh Visitor Center
Studio 2
Professor Jung 2009
When developing a design for a visitor center at Lehigh University, I recalled my own experience as a prospective student visiting the campus. I learned most about the school by observing and interacting with the students. Consequently, the design of the vistor center focused on the interaction between visitor and student.
Program Analysis
50
Cafe / Lounge / Information / Exhbition Lehigh University Campus
Formal Development Divide
Dividing the programs into two categories depending upon their occupants allows connections to be drawn between programs.
Program Location
Break
Exhibit & Information
Exhibit & Information
Cafe & Lounge
Cafe & Lounge
The formal diagram simplifies designing and turns the process into an interactive pursuit of multiple forms and possibilites.
The final form of the generative diagram serves as the basis for the formal section and elevation of the building.
Expand
Site Plan
Exhibit
Information
Cafe & Lounge
Elevation
51
In order to facilitate visual interaction between visitor and student, visual exchanges are established within the diagram of the building.
Creating a visual interplay between the parts of the building and the site turns the space into a dynamic and enriched environment.
Above & Left: 8x8� Study Model Top Left: Visual Analysis of site and building
52
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“The function of the diagram is to delay typology and advance design by bringing in external concepts in a specific shape: as figure, not as image or sign.� -Ben van Berkel and Caroline Bos
Architectural photography requires the photographer to search for a subjective understanding and interpretation of a building.
Photography 2009-2010
The following photographs were taken during my semester abroad. I invested in a two week eurorail pass and travelled around Europe, using architectural landmarks as my destinations.
Left: Holocaust Memorial, Berlin Peter Eisenman Right: Villa Savoye, Poissy Le Corbusier
Casa Batllo Antonio, Barcelona Gaudi
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Villa Rotunda Vicenza Palladio
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EVAN BENEDETTO CERILLI
20 Brentonwood Ave, Barrington, Rhode Island ECerilli@gmail.com 401.477.6496
EDUCATION LEHIGH UNIVERSITY
Bachelor of Arts in Architecture 2007 - 2011 GPA 3.66 Major GPA 3.73
SYRACUSE ABROAD
Study Abroad in Florence, Italy GPA 3.86
ACADEMIC HONORS
Deans List Fall 2007, Fall 2008, Fall 2009, National Society of Collegiate Scholars
ARCHITECTURAL EXPERIENCE GREENWAY DESIGN INDEPEDENT STUDY
Present
FRITZ DESIGN PROJECT
Fall 2009
Sole student architect on multidisciplinary urban scale project. Responsible for design and development of master plan for three blocks of urban park. Led and managed team of engineers and architects in the semester long redesign of University building. Worked with and designed plans in AutoCAD.
LEADERSHIP EXPERIENCE TEACHING ASSISTANT
Spring 2011
INTEGRATED LEARNING EXPERIENCE
Present
History of 20th Century Architecture. Lecture and lead class discussions. Advise students on final papers and exams. Direct and manage design team. collaborate and communicate with city officials and community members.
VOLUNTEER EXPERIENCE ABRUZZO
March 2010 CORLEONE
April 2010
Helped construct temporary housing and church for 2009 earthquake victims of Abruzzo, Italy. Worked on farm in Corleone, Sicily to aid in the liberation of farms and businesses from the Sicilian mafia.
PERSONAL EXPERIENCE STUDY ABROAD
Spring 2010
GREEN HOUSE
2008-Present
Full immersion study abroad in Florence, Italy, through Syracuse University. Lived with an Italian host family and adapted to new environments. Gained an increased sense of confidence, independence and assertiveness. Three year member of Lehigh University’s Environmentally Conscious special interest housing. Built and used our own green house, composting system, rainwater harvesting system and recycling system.
MEDIA LEHIGH VALLEY LIVE
October 2010
LEHIGH VALLEY CHANNEL 69
September 2010
Greenway Project news article http://www.lehighvalleylive.com/bethlehem/index.ssf?/ base/news-2/1288497959223520.xml&coll=3 Presented as architect and leader of the Bethlehem Greenway design team in television news story. http://www.wfmz.com/lehighvalleynews/24947024/detail.html
PUBLICATIONS April 2010
Two Architecture studio projects selected for exhibition in University wide journal.
SOFTWARE
AutoCAD, Adobe Creative Suite, MATLab
LEHIGH REVIEW
SKILLS LANGUAGES
INTERESTS
Basic Italian, Latin (4 Years)
Surfing, hiking, guitar, yoga, photography and travel