PORTFOLIO OF WORK by edwardponti

Part 1 Architecture Student Abridged Portfolio

INTRO PROJECTS

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CURRICULUM VITÆ EDWARD PONTI SALOMON’S HOUSE [ISLE OF RUM]

A LIBRARY FOR ROME

A NEIGHBOURHOOD PLATFORM

TECHNOLOGY AND ENVIRONMENT

CURRICULUM VITÆ

DoB. 22/01/1992 Address 57 Lansdowne Road London W11 2LG Telephone 07887 794 348 Email egponti@gmail.com Website www.edwardponti.com

EXPERIENCE/EMPLOYMENT Peter Yiangou Associates | December 2009 | Work experience Experience at a practice specialising in historic building conservation and high-end refurbishments in the South West, taken out of an interest in historic architecture, and established my route into architectural education Gained an understanding of Sketchup and AutoCAD Experience in submitting planning applications GIFT Charity fundraising | Autumn 2010 | Face-to-face street fundraising Representing the NSPCC and selling direct debit memberships to the charity across Greater London, it gave me an invaluable practical knowledge of selling against indifference and, occasionally, contempt Worked as part of a new team each day Training in sales workshops Starcom-Mediavest | July 2012 | Advertising agency internship Working in a global company, and shadowing meetings with Absoulte Radio and Proctor & Gamble allowed me to understand how a large organisation operates with its clients, as well as bringing my own design expertise Analysing demographics for Gillette and Herbal Essences Brands Redesigned the powerpoint template for revenue reports Architectural Association | July 2013 | Summer School Worked as part of a team of international students designing a ‘Museum of Rain’ in Victoria Park, East London

SKILLS Extensive modelling expertise, highly skilled with workshop tools acoss scales (metalwork, modelling, carpentry, plastics etc.) Highly able hand-draughtsman Sotware proficiency: Adobe Illustrator Adobe InDesign Adobe Photoshop Autodesk AutoCAD 2013 Google Sketchup 8 iMovie Microsoft Office Online website design (Squarespace/Wix) Rhinoceros 4 Effective group worker/leader, having worked successfully on many university projects as part of a team Participated in an Outward Bound team leadership course hiking and canoeing across the north east United States (1 month2008) Self-taught pianist (grade5/6) Clean driving licence

REFEREES Lisa Moffitt | Architectural Design Tutor + Course Organiser | 0131 651 4246 | lisa.moffitt@ed.ac.uk

Further references available by request

EDWARD PONTI

Educated in London, Oxford and Winchester, I am a RIBA part 1 student currently living in London as part of my 3rd year studying at the University of Edinburgh. I hope to spend this year working in practice, broadening my skills, as well as familiarising myself with the processes of architectural practice. I have been intensely interested in the arts throughout my life, being a talented drawer and painter, winning praise for my work; a skilful craftsman who enjoys making furniture from scratch; a keen photographer, maintaining and using a collection of cameras and processing equipment; and a skilled writer, contributing to school publications and later, blogs. My curiosity in architecture, however, was stimulated through a history class studying the work of John Vanbrugh. It impressed me that an entire space could be a total work of art, and that it was entirely a collaborative effort, far more so than many of the arts. What fascinated me even more was that there seemed to be a purpose and a story behind every detail, seeming both to

reflect and shape the culture it was born into. I have a keen desire to learn new processes, and constantly push my own boundaries; in my architectural education I have consulted with paper manufacturers, disassembled washing machines for modelling purposes and negotiated access into restricted buildings in order to get a better photo. Above all, though, I take immense pride in the quality of my output, and in all of my work I strive for perfect execution of both the wider concept and detail, maintaining a consistently high standard of work. My particular interests in architectural history, drawing (by hand) and handcraft (carpentry and modelling) have informed my work, leading me to explore how these can be used to facilitate the contemporary design process, and as such, all of my work has featured hand drawing and fine modelling to a large extent. All of my projects at university have allowed me to explore design in an urban, historical and environmental context, and have only strengthened my resolve to become â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;an architectâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;.

1 | INVESTIGATION [ISLE OF RUM]

Early Greek philosophy was often concerned with how an object could be defined over time. Zeno of Elea was the first to ‘prove’ that movement was an illusion, purely a composite of still moments that together provide the illusion of motion . If time is structured, he said, then motion is impossible. Heraclitus later argued that this temporal permanence is relative, and any moment is in fact an expression of the change that is about to happen- a moving arrow’s direction implies the movement it is about to experience. With this reasoning, he figured that “you cannot step twice into the same stream, for as you step in, other waters are ever flowing onto you”. With this providing an overarching mantra in our work, we were concerned with the way in which we can continuously track water over time, building an ever-clearer understanding

of how it behaves in relation to other factors, and expressing this interrelationship via a systematic account of the being of the river. Our initial task was to design a means of examining fluid exchanges. The resulting ontological model allowed us to experiment with the effect of gradient and texture on the flow of water across surfaces. Recording these results, we catalogued our findings into an initial taxonomy, a system for classifying the outcomes of each experiment according to characteristics observed, an insight that effectively allowed us to predict the outcomes of future experiments. Previous page and above

An excerpt from the intial taxonomy, showing the results of a simulation of Glen Duian, at the source (2o); results drawn into a density diagram, alongside attachments for measuring other rivers Left

The ontological model

2 | SURVEY [ISLE OF RUM]

Ptolomey in his Geographica says that mean flow of the river). All of these were it is the “most sublime contemplation of housed within a backpack, constructed mankind to demonstrate by mathematical theorem an understanding of the heavenly firmament … of the Earth itself which, since it cannot be physically encompassed … can at least be moulded into an image of itself.” Our intention is then to survey the river in as much as we can and, to the best of our ability, capture the essence of the fluid state of the river. In these essences we can find, by the application of wisdom, the true state of the entire river. Building on the findings of our investigation, we developed a set of survey instruments for Rum. Each engineered to register a certain condition identified in the taxonomy, 8 instruments measured both container/sectional conditions (bed texture, gradient, width and depth), and fluid conditions (surface texture, purity, speed, and deviation from the

by ourselves using parts of school chairs, which served as a mobile survey station. The survey was carried out at 8 points which we felt typified stages of the river (for example source, dam, confluence, bridge, estuary and mouth), taking 4 readings to create an accurate sectional picture. From this information, we built up a picture, albeit a flawed picture, of the river by extrapolating our data across the length of the river by way of a second taxonomy. Though produced a posteriori, this taxonomy was in effect our ninth instrument and allowed us to speculate as to the condition of the river between our measuring sites. Previous page

The river as ‘seen’ by the four instruments measuring fluid conditions Left

The backpack on Rum, looking across Rubha nà Ríome towards The Cuillin, Isle of Skye Above

View of sample tubes (purity), pressure guage (speed) and quadrat (surface texture)

3 | PROPOSAL [ISLE OF RUM]

In Francis Bacon’s New Atlantis, a utopian island community of scientists and researchers work tirelessly to “find the true nature of things”. From this, researchers, or merchants of light, are sent out into the world to draw and collect information that is then brought back to the centre the operation, Salomon’s House; “the noblest foundation that was ever on this earth, and the lanthorn of [the] kingdom”. At this house, compliers “draw the experiments … into titles and tables, to give better light for the drawing of observations and axioms out of them”, while lamps “consider of the former labours and collections [to] direct new experiments, of a higher light, more penetrating into nature than the former”. Drawing parallels between this and our elevated island site, we aim to create a new Salomon’s House for the better understanding of the fluid conditions of the river. This survey will take place across three scales, each taking into account the timescales at which river processes operate; container conditions play out on a geological timescale, while fluid conditions are, as per Heraclitus, infinite. With this in mind, four survey buildings will act as instruments themselves, each registering a single fluid condition and providing a visual and physical account of it. Mobile, ‘micro’ instrument packs will be

provided at each station to provide a more complete survey of the container conditions between instrument locations, facilitating a longrunning process of survey and documentation. Docking stations will be placed at 160 points along the river, onto which surveyors (‘merchants of light’) will affix a lightbulb when a particular section has been surveyed. Reflecting the gradual process of change in the river bed, the lightbulb will run out over time, signalling the sectional enlightenment (or ignorance) of that river portion. All of these stations will draw power from a hydroelectric generator in the ‘macro’ building which will collate the data taken along the river, thus providing an image of the river as it is, by way of an ever-expanding taxonomy. This is a physical manifestation of the taxonomy; a Salomon’s house equipped with a laboratory for analysis of data, and a computer system for storing and interpreting it. By way of the micro-survey, this taxonomy would be constantly adjusted as it is refined towards an ever-more-accurate definition of the river. Previous page

(Clockwise from top left) four instruments measuring: speed, surface texture, purity and deviation. Left and above

Salomon’s house, showing the light funnels for living (wood) and storing (brass); on site at Coire Dubh on the Isle of Rum, looking towards Barkeval

A LIBRARY FOR ROME

Finding form and program from a set of 20 models, an initial series of machines was created to mulch and compress books, providing the basis for a project in which old literature is reprocessed into new literature. Based on an ever changing statistical model, literature is spread from library to library, accounting for similarities in preferences geographically and socio-economically. With an intricate web of analysis, the existing hegemony of the larger northern cities, and the imbalanced influence metropolitan areas in general in is redressed; the ‘mezzogiorno’ is fractured. Facilitating this will be hub libraries, of which this is one. Taking books from other libraries, here books are mulched, rolled into fresh paper and printed into new literature. The building takes its form from one of a series of formal models, a hinged

‘toy’, and wraps itself around the existing church, recalling the medieval street pattern torn down by Mussolini. The swinging movement dictates the geometries of the building, with the 1st floor reading area as an inversion of the Theatre of Marcellus, adjacent to the site.There is an interplay between the industrial processes of book making and the daily library functions, as, for example, the main entrance lobby and bookshop open up into a loading bay for receiving unwanted literature from satellite libraries at night. So too, the stairwell mediates and hinges the two distinct functions of the building, as per the initial model. Previous page and above

Views of the library by the Tiber from Lungotevere dei Pierlioni/ Piazza di Monte Savello Left

Partial section of the mulching and paper processing machinery

A NEIGHBOURHOOD PLATFORM

In James Craig’s plan for New Town, public spaces were manipulated and envisaged as theatre to attract wealthier residents from the dark narrow streets of the Old Town and the down-at-heel port of Leith. Prince’s Street provided a promenade for a new society to flaunt its mercantile wealth, with the Gardens an amphitheatre oriented towards the spectacle of the Old Town tenements, while up the hill the George Street axis drew the eye towards landmark squares at either end. Narrower service corridors, such as Rose Street running either side served a capillary function, hosting pubs, bars, service entrances and grocery stores. Charlotte Square, at the west end of the George Street axis, however, is a shadow of its former self. Isolated by a major traffic intersection which drives away pedestrian traffic and public interest, the Adam townhouses have become brass-plaqued solicitors offices, with the Albert Memorial park now padlocked, and the wide cobbled streets asphalted parking for tourist busses. Sited in a

carriage mews behind the square, my proposal is a regenerative project; a platform to act as a catalyst for a renaissance of the neighbourhood. In trying to emulate with the vibrancy that the small streets have given George and Prince’s Streets, the project aims to flush out the capillaries of Charlotte Square by taking the place of an electricity sub-station and a cluster of garages. The project comprises a flexible community teaching and rehearsal space, cafe and restaurant, adjacent to a small theatre. Economising on its small footprint, the theatre space itself is reconfigurable, while the exterior cladding of the theatre is designed to allow market-stalls and other installations to be hung against it. Previous page

An elevation of the south side of Robert Adam’s Charlotte Square Left

A section of a roof plan of the neighbourhood, with the site shaded Above

Model of rehearsal space

A NEIGHBOURHOOD PLATFORM

TECHNOLOGY AND ENVIRONMENT

1 | DUDDINSTON PIER

These two projects were run in parralel with our design studio, and were part of a course exploring how to make design compatible with sustainability and environmental performance. Working in a team of four, we were tasked with designing a two-level viewing pier for a wildfowl sanctuary. Our design was taken from a concept model which used cross-braced timber to map the floor of the loch, resulting in an â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;Sâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; shaped curve. The solid profile of the pier- a continuation of an old wall which juts into the loch- consists of shuttered Scots Pine, and gives the pier an opacity that allows birdwatchers to enjoy the wildfowl on the lake, without disrupting it. A second level to the pier turns

back towards the shore, offering views around the headland towards the east section of the lake. The project offered us the opportunity to understand basic wood construction, and as a team we calculated the anticipated loads on the pier, and devised a dowel and bracket joint system for assembly. Previous page, left

An axonometric showing the general arrangement of building componenets Above

View from Duddingston Lochside

GEORGE SQUARE | 2

Working in a group of three, we designed a sculpture gallery on the Edinburgh University campus. A major initial concern was to site the building in the optimal position for wind and passive solar gain. Due to the blustery nature of the site, as well as considerations relating to environmental performance, we studied the traditional Hebridean â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;Black Houseâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;, a low, thatched building typical of crofting communities. Choosing thatch as a cladding for both roof and walls, we gave the building an incredibly efficient rating of .10w/m2K for the walls and .17w/ m2K for the roof. Additionally, we were required to calculate the daylight factor and specify lighting, as well as conduct an acoustic analysis.

Previous page, right

Detail sections illustrating thatch construction Above

Exterior view, showing glazed south elevation and, right, outdoor sculpture court

Thankyou for considering

07887 794 348 egponti@gmail.com www.edwardponti.com