PORTFOLIO FINAL low res

Study of Musikerhaus

Site in Downtown Gainesville

HistoryIronically, Gainesville’s most significant addition, the coming of the University of Florida in 1905, foretold the eventual decline of the downtown area. New developments, businesses and construction moved steadily westward. Still, until World War II the Courthouse Square remained the center of Gainesville business and social life. Here political gatherings were held at election time and famous speakers like William Jennings Bryan orated. The circus and minstrel parades centered in downtown and courting couples sipped soft drinks at Miller’s soda fountain or viewed silent pictures at the Lyric Theater. During the earlier part of the twentieth century downtown was mainly mercantile with a few lawyers, doctors and dentists practicing their professions from offices above the grocery, hardware, furniture and clothing stores.

During the late 1920s and 1930s the automobile trans-formed part of the old downtown with related retail services like car dealerships, gas stations, vulcanizing shops and tire and battery stores. Eventually the Main Street railway tracks, some older buildings and spacious tree lined medians disappeared to accommodate an ever increasing number of cars. Following World War II, when the student body of the University grew rapidly, the city expanded, too, moving into the Northwest and Southwest areas and leaving behind the central city with its narrow streets, small shops and insufficient parking. New suburban malls now took over as retail and shopping centers, while government and related services became crucial to downtown survival.

In the 1960s and 1970s a reversal of this trend occurred as downtown redevelopment brought a new courthouse, post office, city hall and library. Along with a three-story Judicial Building, a new downtown plaza emerged with a fountain and outdoor amphitheater. Paralleling the restoration and renovation of older homes in the Northeast and Southeast, downtown began to preserve and readapt its historic buildings: the abandoned old post office was converted into a home for the Hippodrome State Theater, the Seagle Building was renovated into luxury apartments, and the decaying Commercial Hotel became county offices.

In 1987 alone the Star Garage became a legal center, the old Gainesville Sun building was transformed into the Sun Center, and the Florida Theater was extensively renovated. Finally in 1989 work began on a new public library and on the restoration of the unique Bethel gas station. Downtown has not only survived, but with a number of new and restored restaurants, the vernacular-styled Arlington Square Apartments and a historic streetscape, it is thriving and vibrant.

Hippodrome Theather

Aerial views of Burial Chapel in context

The Burial ChapelTranscendentBeyond or above the range of normal or merely physical human experience. Surpassing the ordinary. Existing apart from and not subject to the limitations of the material universe.

Alvar Aalto often spoke of the necessity to design for “man at his weakest”, or in the case of a hospitalized patient, for “the horizontal man”. In addition to the condition of illness, we experience heightened weakness and helplessness when facing the death of a friend or relative. The design of a funeral chapel or funerary objects, such as a casket urn, grave marker or monument, calls for special sensitivity, understanding and tact. Funerary Architecture and design has to be consoling and dignifying.

My first impulse was to create a chapel that was monumental to contrast the existing structures downtown. I later realized that monumentality of that sort would conflict with the emotions I wanted to evoke in the chapel. A monumental structure would feel like a gigantic tombstone in the middle of downtown Gainesville.

The purpose of the Burial Chapel is to humanize the process of dealing with death. It will also be a place for family members to come back and remember their lost ones. The focus is placed on the emotional content of the Architecture and the experiences evoked by the space. Creating a transcendent experience became more important than creating a monument for the city.

Aerial view of Burial Chapel in context

The ConceptPlato’s dialog the Timaeus begins with a distinction between the physical world, and the eternal world. The physical one is the world which changes and perishes: therefore it is the object of opinion and unreasoned sensation. The eternal one never changes: therefore it is apprehended by reason. These ideas became analogous to the program of the Burial Chapel in my mind. I saw the Chapel as representing the eternal world since the religious ceremony takes place inside the chapel. The Garden of Remembrance then became the physical world that changes and perishes, with the unattended garden at its heart, literally represents loss as it erratically changes with the passing of time.

Plato believed that the triangle was the building block of the Universe. In the Timaeus Plato explained that the triangle is used as the basic unit of the “Platonic Solids”. He alleged that the Platonic Solids make the four elements which the Greeks thought constituted the physical universe: earth [Cube], water [Icosahedron], air[Octahedron], fire[Tetrahedron] and Heaven.

I decided to use the proportions defined in Plato’s Lambda as the basis for the proportions of the Building.

Preliminary Tomb like scheme for the Burial Chapel

Plato’s Lambda

3’ 27’

9’

Plato’s Lambda proportions in the Burial Chapel

Plato’s Lambda [Timaeus 35b] “Now God did not make the soul after the body, although we are speaking of them in this order; for having brought them together he would never have allowed that the elder should be ruled by the younger... First of all, he took away one part of the whole [1], and then he separated a second part which was double the first [2], and then he took away a third part which was half as much again as the second and three times as much as the first [3], and then he took a fourth part which was twice as much as the second [4], and a fifth part which was three times the third [9], and a sixth part which was eight times the first [8], and a seventh part which was twenty-seven times the first [27]. After this he filled up the double intervals [i.e. between 1, 2, 4, 8] and the triple [i.e. between 1, 3, 9, 27] cutting off yet other portions from the mixture and placing them in the intervals”.

The Burial Chapel

View from 2nd Place

Elev. [S-001]

Elev. [W-001]

Elev. [N-001]

The ObjectiveIn our culture the art of architecture is threatened by two opposite processes; architecture is reduced to mere utility and economy, on the one hand, and to pure representation or aestheticization, on the other. In these processes the fundamental historicity, collectivity, and mental essence of architectural impact is lost. When buildings are viewed as aestheticized constructions and objects, the emotive, empathetic, and compassionate quality of architecture is lost. Yet, the task of architecture is to create horizons and frames for human experience, and to give even mundane acts and situations of life meaning and dignity.

The city of Gainesville has been for the past few years making a huge effort to revitalize the downtown area. While some of the city’s efforts have been successful, like in the case of the Hippodrome Theater, most of the new development is of a very banal nature and it does not create a meaningful experience for the people visiting downtown. With the Burial Chapel I seek to create a condition in downtown with the potential of evoking an emotional experience. There are a lot of churches in the vicinity but most of them are of a vernacular nature, caricatures of what a spiritual temple should be, and are incapable of evoking any real emotion. My objective is to create in the heart of downtown Gainesville a place where people can have a spiritual retreat, a place to contemplate life, death and loss with dignity in the middle of a most conventional downtown redevelopment project.

Sect. [BB-001]

Interior View

Program

1.0 Garden of Remembrance.................. X

2.0 Burial Chapel................. 2,600 S.F.

3.0 Entrance Lobby.................. 400 S.F.

4.0 Private Viewing................. 300 S.F.

5.0 Urn Exchange/Reception................. X

8.0 Service Accessory Services............. X

9.0 Parking................................ X

10.0 Administrative Offices.................. X

6.0 Memorial Staging Area.................. X 7.0 Ceremonial Preparation Area............ X

11.0 Restrooms.............................. X

1

7

4 3 5

6

8

2 11 9

Floor Plan [-001]

10

The Burial Chapel-

Sect. [AA-001]

The Garden of Remembrance-

The Light wellsThe book, the altar and the family private viewing rooms are the three moments in the Burial Chapel that are celebrated with natural light. Programmatically speaking these are the most significant moments in the chapel and I wanted them to stand out when experiencing the Chapel. All three light wells are concrete monoliths that will differ slightly in color and texture from the stone that is used on the walls.

Chapel Light Studies

Altar Light well

Book Signing Light well

Private Viewing Light well

1

3

Light well sketches

2

4

4

Altar light well-

1.Top 2.Front 3.Side 4.Perspective

4

1.Top 2.Front 3.Side 4.Perspective 1

3

2

4

4

Private viewing light well-

4

Book signing light well-

4

1

1.Top 2.Front 3.Side 4.Perspective

4

4

2

3

The DoorsI designed three doors to mark the transition from common spaces into important or ceremonial spaces. One of the copper sliding doors is to enter the Chapel from the waiting area.

The second one is to enter the family private viewing room and the third one is to go into the Garden of Remembrance. All three doors are made of copper plates that have openings to strategically let natural light in. I design each door with a particular mood in mind to represent the function of the room that the door guards. The entrance door represents acceptance. The family private viewing door represents unity. The Garden of Remembrance door represents longing.

Chapel- [Acceptance]

Private Viewing- [Unity]

Garden- [Longing]

3

2 1

3.Private Viewing

2.Garden 1.Chapel

A Full Scale Door Detail

A

Interior View of Chapel with doors

Metal Frame

Metal Clip Full Scale Door Detail

Copper Plate

Wheel

Door section AA

1

2

4

4

1.Top 2.Front 3.Side 4.Perspective

sketch studies of openings

Light well Studies

9:00 AM

10:00 AM

11:00 AM

12:00 PM

1:00 PM

2:00 PM

3:00 PM

4:00 PM

5:00 PM

6:00 PM

7:00 PM

Garden of RemembranceTo understand human life one has to accept Death.

In western culture Letting go of loved ones is a very difficult thing. The Garden of Remembrance is design to make its visitors contemplate, and experience Loss, in order to gain acceptance. Not a depressing space but one that evokes reflection in a solemn way. The Garden of Remembrance is a walled garden that divides the space into pockets of different sizes to accommodate small groups or individual visitors. The main feature of the Garden of Remembrance is the unattended patch of native plants that is at the heart of the Garden. These plants are left on their own to flourish, struggle and/or perish. When confronted with this disquieting vision of a negated garden the visitors will be encouraged to reflect on loss as it erratically changes with the passing of time.

sketch of garden

View from the corner of 2nd Pl and 1st street

View from the Sun Center Plaza

HistoryBuilt between 1930 and 1934 to deliver freight to factories and warehouses along New York City’s bustling industrial West Side, the High Line was once part of an infrastructure improvement project that ultimately eliminated 105 dangerous street-level rail crossings in Manhattan. The structure originally ran from the Hudson Rail Yards down to Spring Street. It remained in service until 1980, though its southernmost blocks were demolished in the early 1960s. Since then, it has faced an uncertain fate. No longer necessary for its original purpose, yet valuable as an unobstructed right-of-way through Manhattan, the High Line sits dormant, with grasses, trees, and wildflowers overgrowing its tracks. It is owned by New York Central Lines, a wholly owned subsidiary of Consolidated Rail Corporation (Conrail), and it is managed by CSX Corporation. CSX is the Conrail shareholder which acquired asset management of the Line in 1999.

Also in 1999, a not-for-profit group of neighborhood residents, businesses, design professionals, and civic organizations joined forces to form Friends of the High Line, hoping to reuse the remaining 1.5 miles of track as an elevated rail-trail. Nearly 12,000 miles of rail-trails have already been opened nationwide, and an additional 16,500 are in development.

In late December, 2002, the City of New York filed papers with the Surface Transportation Board (STB) requesting that negotiations begin to transform the High Line into an elevated public walkway.

Specifically, the City requested a Certificate of Interim Trail Use, or CITU, for the High Line. The granting of a CITU would start a process called “rail-banking,” which allows out-of-use rail corridors to be reused as recreational trails.

The City of New York’s request for a CITU is just the first step in a long, complex set of procedures required to transform the High Line into an elevated public open space. Numerous political, legal, and financial challenges must be met, involving negotiations between CSX, the City of New York, the State of New York, underlying property owners, and community groups, before a final design can be developed.

High line section with context

High line track

Sketch study of vertical piazza

The Vertical PiazzaThe vertical piazza is the urban carpet rising and folding on itself until reaching the High Line. The idea is for it to become an access point to the High Line Park and also a gathering place where the people of the community can come together. The vertical piazza not only will be the main access point into the high line but it becomes the connective tissue that wraps around the existing tracks and the program.

Piazza del Campo

Sketch studies of vertical piazza

Folding the vertical piazza

The ConceptThe most important characteristic of the High Line during its fifty years of operation was the movement of freight and people back and forth. When asked to create a public space that was both a gateway and a container it became obvious to me that what I wanted to capture in this structure was movement. In this case what is captured in the armature that became the vertical piazza was the vertical movement of the street or piazza to reach the High Line and even become a protective canopy at some points. The ground became a spiral going up that was frozen in time. The programmatic elements, the school and the gateway to the High Line are enveloped in the armature that resulted from the unfolding of the piazza.

Reggio Emilia SchoolIn the “Reggio” system of education, “the environment is the third teacher”. This means that the space in Reggio schools is carefully considered, and asked to not only provide Beauty and Functionality, but to engage experimentally and interactively with its young occupants. As part of the revitalization of the highline I have been asked to add a programmatic element to service the community. There are two main reasons I decided that a Reggio Emilia School would be the most appropriate program for this section of the High Line. One reason is that all the residents of the area will benefit from having a specialized school in the area. The second reason is that Reggio Emilia school will complement the booming art scene that is happening in this part of Manhattan. The vertical piazza will be the centerpiece of the school and at the same time become an entry point into the High Line park.

For the Reggio Emilia school the vertical piazza becomes a “performative” space in that it not only accommodates inhabitation, but itself plays out issues of measure, light, time, sound and adjacency becoming the “third teacher” that is crucial in Reggio Emilia education. I will explore and use the rich spatial programs of Reggio Schools as an inspiration for the pursuit of a performative (rather than didactic) space.

Morning- Green glow

Morning- Yellow glow

shadows marking the passing of time

in Piazza del Campo Afternoon- Red glow

The SundialA sundial is a device that tells the time of the day by the position of the Sun. As the Sun moves across the sky, the shadow-edge aligns with the different hour-lines. All sundials must be aligned with the axis of the Earth’s rotation to tell the correct time.

Full scale test

The High Line is oriented in a North South axis. Color can be applied to turn the vertical piazza into a type of sundial that uses color instead of light or shadow to tell the time of the day. This is not meant to be an exact method to tell the time of the day but it is meant create an environment that reacts to the position of the Sun. There will be 3 distinct ambiances that will be perceptible to the people in the vertical piazza. In the Mornings the sunlight coming from the east will make the vertical piazza look green. As the sun moves higher in the sky the green and the red reflectors are activated and the combination of the two colors makes the vertical piazza look yellow. When the Sun moves west only the red reflectors become activated and the vertical piazza glows red signaling the day is coming to an end.

Much in the way that the shadow of the tower in Siena marks the passing of time, the change in color will mark the passing of time while changing the experience of the vertical piazza for the children in the Reggio Emilia school.

vertical piazza

Sections views of vertical piazza

sketches of supports

sketch model of vertical piazza with the school

The ObjectiveThe High Line runs through three neighborhoods that formerly were centers for transportation and industrial uses: The Hudson Rail Yards area, Far West Chelsea, and the Gansevoort Meat Packing District. The context reflects this heritage, with a building inventory that includes many garages, factories, and warehouses. The area is now under significant redevelopment pressure and has begun to change in character. Over the past 15 years, Far West Chelsea has become an international art-world hub, with many of the galleries that once clustered in SoHo moving into warehouses and loft buildings between 20th and 29th Street, west of 10th Avenue. At the southern end of the Line, many meat processing factories in the Gansevoort Meat Packing District have been replaced by designer boutiques and destination restaurants. At the northern end of the Line, the City has begun a coordinated redevelopment initiative that may include a substantial new business and residential district, as well as a multi-use sports and entertainment facility.

Composite sketch plan and section

1.0 6.0

7.0

3.0

2.0 5.0

4.0 8.0

1.0 7.0

8.0

2.0

Inventory of Parts

01 02 03 04 05 06 07 08

................... ................... ................... ................... ................... ................... ................... ...................

Exterior Skin Interior Walls Bridge Vertical Circulation Supports [anchors] Vertical Piazza Metal Frame [windows] Windows

Classrooms Area-

sketch study of school bearing walls

Perspectives of Clasroom Area

School Offices-

Perspective View

Open Market Area-

Views at ground level

HistoryThe new Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering department was recently created by merging the departments of Mechanical Engineering and Aerospace Engineering. Merging all of these fields of engineering became the logical thing to do due to the similarity of the classes required for each of these programs. Housing all of these departments in one building became the next logical step to facilitate the flow of information and ideas between the departments.

The Mechanical & Aerospace Engineering department defines four objectives as the cornerstone of its mission. The first objective is naturally education. The department has an obligation to provide exceptional educational experiences to its students. The second objective is to conduct state-of-the-art basic and collaborative research towards advancing science and technology in mechanical engineering and aerospace engineering.

Research is the lifeblood of any influential university. Thirdly we provide service to professional societies, our local community, and the State of Florida. Finally we profess our support of the University in the fulfillment of their missions. These objectives were crucial in the design and development of this project.

Site Plan [-004]

Model of supersonic transport being tested in a wind tunnel at NASA’s Langley Research Center

The ConceptThe dynamics of fluids in motion are at the core of Aerospace Engineering. Fluids dynamics has a wide range of applications, including calculating forces and moments on aircraft, determining the mass flow rate of petroleum through pipelines, predicting weather patterns amongst thousands of other applications.

I started observing diagrams and pictures that show how fluids flow through solid objects. That is how eventually I started thinking that the way in which fluids flow through solids could work as an organizational element for the program. Those flow diagrams I created with the buildings on the site, as the solids became the basis of a parti of sorts that guided the design and development of the project. Fluids will find the most efficient way to navigate through obstacles and using the flow diagrams as a basis for the building will make a structure that is very efficient to navigate and that reacts to the existing context.

Sketch studies of internal circulation

Top view and East elevation

Department of Mechanical and Aerospace EngineeringThe new Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering department is composed of about 58 faculty members, 200 graduate students, and 940 undergraduates conducting exciting research and providing both undergraduate and graduate programs through the Doctorate program.

Some of the issues the faculty want addressed in the new building are their current problem with small classes. They are having problems finding lecture rooms in the university for the large classes. Efficient access and egress will be main issues to drive the design of these large lecture rooms.

First Floor Plan [-001]

2.1 4.2

Program 2.6

1.0 Administration......................... 13,000 S.F.

1.1 Dean’s Office

1.2 Administrative Offices

1.3 Graduate student offices

2.0 Educational............................ 35,000 S.F.

2.1 Auditorium (200 people)

2.2 Large Classrooms (85 people each)

2.3 Small Classrooms (35 people each)

2.4 Computer labs

2.5 Library

2.6 Interchange space [Student Plaza]

2.3

3.0 Laboratories........................... 16,000 S.F.

3.1 Anechoic Chamber

3.2 Wind Tunnel Room

3.3 Faculty Research Labs (Theoretical)

3.4 Faculty Research Labs (Machine Oriented)

4.1

4.0 Service Areas.......................... X

4.1 Bathrooms

4.2 Elevators

4.3 Cafeteria

4.2

2.5

2.6

Second Floor Plan [-002]

Third Floor Plan [-003]

1.1

2.1

2.4 4.2

4.2

1.2

2.2

4.1

4.3

4.1

4.1

4.1

2.3 1.3 4.2

2.5

4.2

North Facade-

Views of north entrance

West Facade-

View west facade

View of bridge

West Facade-

View of west facade entrance.

View exposing spine columns Sketch studies of spine columns

A

A

Section AA Model

B

B

Section BB Model

East Facade-

sketch studies of facade

Views east facade without glazing

Student Plaza-

Views east facade from studen plaza

sketch study of student plaza

Views of south entrance

Section Models

South Facade-

The ObjectiveThe objective is to produce a building on campus that will test the limits of the compatibilities between the site and the program to produce a work of architecture that satisfies the goals set in the program and at the same time it reacts to its surroundings.

Because of its location on north and south drive it is the first University building students and visitors see after they pass the stadium and the O’Connell center. In many ways it is a Gateway to the University campus and it should have a presence that reflects such a privileged position.

The interaction between the new MAE building and the rest of the university will be enhanced by improving existing walkways and by adding new open spaces where students from the MAE building can interact with students from the rest of the campus. All of these objectives will be met while respecting the scale of the urban fabric of the rest of the Campus.

Manhattan bridge sketch

History[DUMBO]Ever since Robert Gair discovered a location with access to shipping just north of the new Brooklyn Bridge in the 1880’s, the neighborhood saw a rise of factories, Warehouses, and dock storehouses. Although the area has been known in the past as Rapailie, Olympia, Gairville, or Waterville, it is now known as DUMBO (which stands for Down Under the Manhattan Bridge Overpass) and these old factories have been converted into luxury lofts and old warehouses into Art galleries and theaters. Dumbo is not quite Brooklyn brownstone and not quite Manhattan glass condo. With its exposed Belgian block streets anchored by massive bridge structures, Dumbo has a unique character all its own.

Site analysis model

Master Plan [DUMBO]In the past few years there has been a lot of controversy about the neighborhood’s future and the designations of the historic districts and the rezoning of the area. Old commercial buildings continue to be converted, and several major construction projects are in the works. Warehouses are becoming homes, galleries and are housing the headquarters of design and creative companies. The objective of this master plan is to bring life back to the waterfront and make it once again a destination. This will be achieved by adding residential, commercial and cultural institutions to the area. The premise of this project was to leave aside the bureaucracy of zoning and planning agencies and give the site to a single designer and contractor to develop with one vision for the waterfront.

sketch studies of master plan

study model of master plan

Program [DUMBO]

1.0 Housing............................ 4,000,000 S.F.

1.1 1,000 units of 1,000 S.F.

1.2 1,000 units of 1,500 S.F.

1.3 1,000 units of 2,000 S.F.

2.0 Hotel................................ 360,000 S.F.

2.1 400 units of 900 S.F.

6

3.0 Theater................................ 8,000 S.F.

3.1 10 theaters at 300 S.F.

3.2 10 theaters at 500 S.F.

4.0 Commercial........................... 150,000 S.F.

4.1 3 at 50,000

5.0 Services............................. 250,000 S.F.

6.0 Public/Civic......................... 100,000 S.F.

4

7

1

3 2

7.0 Ferry................................. 10,000 S.F.

sketch studies of cinema

Preliminary model of cinema

Brooklyn CinemaA movie theater complex that will contain twelve theaters and at the same time incorporate other functions including restaurants, bars and nightclubs all in an enclosed environment to guarantee maximum capacity year round.

The ObjectiveThe overall objective of the cinema is to take advantage of the site as much as possible.

This site provides an incredible view of Manhattan Island and that is the reason why one of the main features of the project is a wide boardwalk for people to perform outside activities all along the shore while enjoying the views.

2.3

5.4 7.0 6.1 5.2

3.0 4.0

5.1

5.3

First Floor Plan [-001]

Program [cinema]

1.0 Theater................................ X

1.1 Eight small theaters

1.2 Four large theaters 1.1

2.0 Concessions areas...................... X

2.1 Two large concession stands

2.2 Two small concession stands

2.3 Storage Space

3.0 Main plaza............................. X

4.0 Ticket Booths.......................... X

1.1

5.0 Restaurants............................ X

5.1 Small restaurant/Cafe

5.2 Main restaurant

5.3 Fast food restaurants

5.4 Bathrooms

6.0 Nightlife.............................. X

6.1 Bar/Nightclub

1.2

2.1 7.0

1.2 1.1

1.1

5.4

1.1 2.1

7.0 Boardwalk.............................. X

2.2

1.2 1.2

1.1

Second Floor Plan [-002]

1.1

1.1

The ConceptThe concept of the Brooklyn Cinema was to explore through the materiality of the building the relationship between light and darkness. In a theater darkness provides the transition between the real world and the fantasy projected on the screen. Based on this idea the theaters were designed using concrete representing the darkness and the open atrium represent the light. The poetry comes in to play in the way that these spaces interact with each other.

Sect. [CC-001]

Sect. [DD-001]

Sect. [EE-001]

AA BB

CC

EE

Sect. [AA-001]

Sect. [BB-001]

DD

sketch studies oF courtyard truss

View of exposed courtyard truss

Universty of Florida Campus

Site

View of existing site condition

The ConceptThe Florida Railroad as the generator of the city of Gainesville. The Florida Railroad was the first railroad to connect the east and west coasts of Florida, running from Fernandina to Cedar Key. I used the grid of the city as a metaphor for the present state of the city of Gainesville and the memory of the old railroad line and the relationship of the two as the basis for the exploration of form in this project. I united the two to from one, the past and the present together frozen in time is what this building represents.

The ProblemThe problem is to bring a solution to the housing problem in a neglected area of the city of Gainesville. At the same time this project should become a catalyst to revitalize community activities in the neighborhood.

Process sketches

Multi-family housing in Southeast GainesvilleWhat does the future look like? The issue of community design is currently very popular, and nostalgic projects such as Celebration and Seaside have captured the public’s attention. But the future is more complicated than a sanitized version of the past. While New Urbanism argues for some admirable causesknowing and helping one’s neighbors, lessening dependence on the automobile, reducing each family’s footprint on the planet through smaller lot sizes- important issues are often ignored or avoided. The goal of this class is to strategically operate within this larger and messier field.

This project will be produced within a truly postmodern site. The site contains a dozen cell phone towers, several fuel oil stations, high power lines and an electric plant, two concrete manufacturing concerns, a large brownfields site, a bus station, a supermarket, an historic juke joint, a theater, many restaurants, artist studios, a homeless shelter, a funeral home, many junk yards, an ice manufacturing plant and a variety of neighborhoods. It’s located adjacent to downtown Gainesville, surrounding it on the east, south and western edges. It is the oldest part of Gainesville and holds rich multiple histories. It has been neglected as a residential area for decades, despite the fact that its residents are often part of multigenerational families who have lived within a few blocks of each other for as long as anyone remembers.

Views including habitable sidewalks

Top view and south elevation

First Floor Plan [-001]

Second Floor Plan [-002]

1.6

1.6

1.1

1.7

1.4 3.0

1.5

1.7

1.4

1.5

Program

1.0 Apartments............................. X

1.1 Master Bedroom

1.2 Bedroom

1.3 Master Bathroom

1.4 Bathroom

1.5 Kitchen

1.6 Dining room

1.7 Living room

2.0 Underground Parking Lot................ X

2.1 Parking spaces

2.2 Pilotis

2.3 Concrete Garden

2.4 Vertical Circulation

3.0 Habitable Sidewalk..................... X

1.4

1.1 1.2

Third Floor Plan [-003]

2.2

2.4

The ObjectiveThe objective of this project was to develop an appreciation for this layered and subtle industrial context, and to propose appropriate housing on this postmodern site. The project was approached first playfully, then pragmatically. Gainesville city officials and neighborhood residents were consulted during the design process in an effort to make proposals that were realizable and appropriate as well as creative. In order for this building to start reviving this part of the city I placed the parking lot under the building. This allowed me to widen the sidewalks enough to create a space that could be occupied by the community. One positive impact of the wider sidewalks is that it will help make the neighborhood safer for the children that attend the two main schools in the area by providing a sidewalk for them to walk or ride a bike to school.

Parking level [-000]

2.1

2.4

2.3

Views of habitable sidewalks

View of south facade

Habitable sidewalk

Concrete garden

Pilotis

Schools Housing

Creek Garden

Habitable sidewalk

Mt. Moriah Baptist Church

sketch studiy of piloti

Parking Area

Vertical Circulation

Vertical Circulation

Support

Circulation

Glazing

Interior Partitions

Building Envelope

Interior circulation

Circulation between buildings

Circulation between buildings

Interior view of three bedroom unit

Interior views

Building Sections

structural model

PilotiPilotis, or piers, are supports such as columns, pillars, or stills that lift a building above ground or water. Beyond their support function, the pilotis (or piers) raise the architectural volume, lighten it and free a space for circulation under the construction. They refine a building’s connectivity with the land by allowing for parking, garden or driveway below while allowing a sense of floating and lightness in the architecture itself.

Pilotis at the L’unite d’Habitation in Marseille

View of south facade

Cooper River Bridges

Typical buildings on Queen street

HistoryTwo unlikely collaborators - Marty Knowlton, a world-traveling, freespirited social activist and former educator, and David Bianco, a highly organized university administrator, founded Elderhostel.

Knowlton had recently returned from a four-year walking tour of Europe, carrying only a backpack of bare essentials and staying in youth hostels.

He was impressed by the youth hostel concept, with its safe, inexpensive lodgings and opportunities to meet fellow travelers. Knowlton was also taken with institutions in Scandinavia, called folk schools. There, he saw older adults handing down age-old traditions - folk art, music, lore and dance - to younger generations Seeing Europeans in their 60s, 70s and 80s playing an active and positive role in their communities made Knowlton wonder why their American counterparts didn’t have a similar opportunity to remain active after retirement. And, why not give them continued opportunities to learn as well?

Back in the U.S., Knowlton shared stories of his travels with Bianco, then director of residential life at the University of New Hampshire. Why should older Americans be expected to disappear quietly into a mundane retirement? Bianco, after hearing about Knowlton’s experiences, said, in a burst of enthusiasm, “This campus ought not to be having a youth hostel, it ought to be having an elder hostel.” The name was born, and a learning program was conceived that combined stimulating, not-for-credit classes on a wide variety of subjects with comfortable, inexpensive lodgings.

Today, Elderhostel has evolved as an organization, and so have our programs and participants. Since our first programs at five colleges and universities in New Hampshire in 1975, today’s Road Scholar programs include an extraordinary range of topics, formats and locations in every state in the U.S., in 150 countries, and aboard ships and sailing vessels on waterways throughout the world. The “hostel” lodging of more than 35 years ago has given way to today’s comfortable hotels, inns and other more luxurious yet affordable accommodations. At the heart of today’s organization are the participants, who are lifelong learners engaged in programs that foster camaraderie and a sense of community.

Existing parking lot to become the site

The Objective-

Facade study with context window pattern

To generate a design that is concerned with adjacencies, sizes and locations of all the programmatic elements in a way that fits well in the surrounding context. Mimicking the structures of the past is not the only option an architect has if he is to design in a city that has a rich historical setting. I created a structure that aesthetically was completely different from the existing and yet it becomes part of the urban fabric by respecting the parameters set by the existing fabric not the form of the structures that make up the fabric.

Facade study

Facade study with bridge element

Sketches of bridge element

The ElderhostelThe Elderhostel organization is interested in establishing a base of operation in the city of Charleston, South Carolina to sponsor national and international travel and study programs. The program will be open to anyone over the age of 55 focusing on Charleston’s history and culture and range from lectures, museum tours, food, wine tastings, to cross country biking, canoeing, and white water rafting. The program consists of a meeting hall that would house banquets and serve as a pleasant gathering space for people involved in the program. There will also be a major display/gallery space where exhibitions related to the program would be housed. Housing for the presenters will be provided and a wing with administrative offices is also necessary.

Building in context

Building in context

5.0

Program

1.0 Entry/Lobby............................ X

1.1 Information Center

1.2 Restrooms

2.0 Meeting Hall........................... X

2.1 Main Hall

2.2 Food Preparation

2.3 Storage Space

1.2

2.2

3.0 Seminar Rooms.......................... X

3.1 3 seminar rooms

4.0 Display................................ X

4.1 Gallery

2.1 2.3

1.1

5.0 Library................................ X

5.1 Reading Room

5.2 Librarian Counter

6.0 Presenters Housing..................... X

6.1 3 studio apartments

7.0 Administrative Office.................. X

7.1 Secretary Suite

7.2 Bookkeeper Office

7.3 Director Office

7.4 Assistant Director Office

7.5 Small Conference Room

7.6 Storage Rooms

First Floor Plan [-001]

7.5

7.3

7.2 7.4

7.1

1.2

1.2

4.1

6.1

Second Floor Plan [-002]

6.1

6.1

Third Floor Plan [-003]

Structural Model

The ConceptThe significance of the Cooper River Bridges is the main approach I have used to relate my design with the rich historic legacy of the city of Charleston. The main function of these historic landmarks is to connect the city of Charleston to the rest of the world. My concept is based on the fact that the main purpose of this facility is to connect its visitors to the city of Charleston and it’s history. The main functions of the building are connected together by a steel frame modeled after the Bridge that starts at the façade of the building and wraps around the main programmatic components of the building. Just like the Cooper River Bridges, the steel frame will be a connection between everything Charleston has to offer and the world. Using the Cooper River Bridges as the conceptual basis for this project affects many of the aesthetic decisions on the project. One of them is that for example all vents and ducts, electrical equipment and most of the structure is to be exposed. The reason behind my decision is that in the bridge all of the components are exposed becoming part of the experience and I feel all the components of the building should become part of the experience as well.

Site

Preposterous BeginningsAn eccentric person has the resources and political sway to build a house within an unusual site. I’ve been asked to design a home in a cell phone tower taking advantage of every positive aspect of the urban monument I have been asked to recontextualize. The problem is to transform into a housing unit an infrastructure element in the city of Gainesville that is not intended for human occupancy but yet it has a presence in the urban fabric.

Sketch studies of volumes

The ConceptThe cell phone tower is located on south main street, two blocks from downtown Gainesville. Due to its prime location the tower is visible for miles but it goes mostly unnoticed for being just another ordinary communications tower.

The concept for this project is to take advantage of the visibility of the structure and create a unique living structure that becomes a landmark that will provide identity to the community.

The Objective The objective of this project was to examine housing in a very unconventional way. Choosing arbitrarily a strictly functional structure to create a home forced me to produce an innovative solution to the ordinary functions of a home that work in harmony with the specific condition of the tower.

Underground Parking and concrete garden

1.3

Program

2.3

1.0 Living Room

1.1 Living Room

1.2 Bar

1.3 Bathroom

2.0 Dining Room

2.1 Dining Room

2.2 Kitchen

2.3 Balcony

1.2 2.2

3.0 Bedroom

3.1 Bedroom

3.2 Bathroom

4.0 Home Office

4.1 Office Space

4.2 Library

5.0 Home Theater

5.1 Home Theater

5.2 Game room

1.0

First Floor Plan [-001]

2.0

Second Floor Plan [-002]

4.2 5.2 3.2

3.0

Third Floor Plan[-003]

4.0

Forth Floor Plan [-004]

5.0

Fifth Floor Plan [-005]

Sect. [AA-001]

HistoryIn 1918, the University YMCA purchased 20 acres of land and water at Lake Wauburg as a recreation center for University of Florida students. This was before the road across Paynes Prairie was completed. The journey to the lake took about a half-day on a winding road of mostly sand with the danger of getting stuck in the sand and mud. In 1928 Dr. John Tigert became president of the university. The University YMCA dissolved, and the land was deeded to the University of Florida with the understanding that the Union would administer the facility. The Union took over the running of Lake Wauburg, known then as Camp Wauburg, in 1936, and the transfer of the property to the University of Florida occurred in 1938.In 1939 a recreation center and a small residence were built on the property. Today both are renovated and currently in use.

Program

1.0 Fish Ponds............................. 2.5 Acres

1.1 Inground Fish Ponds

................................. 1,000 S.F.

................................. 3,767 S.F.

................................. 3,767 S.F.

................................. 3,767 S.F.

................................ 20,000 S.F.

1.2 Fish Pens in lake Wauberg

................................. 1,000 S.F.

................................. 3,000 S.F.

2.0 Hatchery............................... 3,500 S.F.

2.1 Water quality lab

2.2 Fish food production lab

2.3 Offices for staff of five

2.4 Enclosed small ponds for fish production

3.0 Cultivated Fields...................... 2.5 Acres

4.0 Greenhouse............................. 3,500 S.F

4.1 Exhibit and recreation

4.2 Hydrophonic growing area

4.3 Nutrition Lab

4.4 Offices for staff of five

5.0 Educational Center..................... 5,000 S.F.

5.1 Library 2,500 books

5.2 Meeting and conference room for 150 people

5.3 Reception/information

5.4 Outdoor spaces for presentations

5.5 Bathrooms

The ObjectiveThe Main objective that I have set for the project is to take as much advantage of the site as possible. The main attraction to the site is the scenic beauty that the lake provides.

To bring this view into all the main rooms becomes an important priority in this project to achieve harmony between the indoor and outdoor spaces. A very practical organization of the program would make it easy for workers and visitors to the project to easily access anything in the building.

Cultivated Fields and Fishponds organizational diagrams

The ConceptSpecialization in nature is the concept that I am exploring in the design of this project. All living organism use specialization to divide the work an organism has to perform amongst the different parts to achieve maximum efficiency. The shape of the different parts of an organism is a direct result of that process of specialization that occurs in nature in the form of evolution. To apply the concept of specialization to the project, I studied the relationship between the spaces required by the program and their function.

Once I understood these relationships I developed a hierarchy that allowed me to organize the spaces according to similarities in their functions.

sketch study of educational center

Lake Wauburg Aquaculture CenterThe Aquaculture Center will be a demonstration facility for research and education in the science of cultivating fish in controlled fluid environments and agricultural food crops in hydroponics and terrestrial environments.

Educational Center

................. 5,000 S.F.

1.0 Library 2,500 books 2.0 Meeting and conference room for 150 people 3.0 Reception/information 4.0 Outdoor spaces for presentations 5.0 Bathrooms 6.0 Courtyard

6.0

6.0

1.0

5.0 3.0

2.0

4.0

Floor Plan [-001]

Sect. [AA-001]

Sect. [BB-001]

Model Views

Perspective From dock

Study of The School of Athens

01.URN FOR RAUSCHENBERG -Program [criteria] Designing an urn for the ashes of Robert Rauschenberg was an opportunity to internalize the client in order to create an object that embodies his essence without becoming one of his art pieces. Death is in many ways a return to nature. The urn had to be design using a biodegradable material and that is why a chose to make it out of cardboard. Rauschenberg is well known for his combines of the 1950s in which materials and objects were used in innovative combinations to create art. He basically transformed everyday objects into Art. Transformation being an important theme of his work I felt that that should be the main theme of his urn.

I created a “life map” for Rauschenberg where all the major events in his personal and artistic life are represented. I also designed an urn that is one long strip of chipboard that folds on itself creating the urn. I used that life map to create a unique pattern on the urn that is specific to Rauschenberg’s life. The urn is to be presented stretched to the family at the burial ceremony and folded in place before enclosing the ashes. Once the ashes are inside the urn is to be buried at a location chosen by the family.

-Robert Rauschenberg [1925-2008] Was an American artist who came to prominence in the 1950s transition from Abstract Expressionism to Pop Art. Rauschenberg was both a painter and a sculptor but he also worked with photography, printmaking, papermaking, and performance. He was awarded the National Medal of Arts in 1993. Joseph Albers originally of the Bauhaus school became Rauschenberg’s painting instructor at Black Mountain College in North Carolina. Albers preliminary courses relied on strict discipline that did not allow for any “uninfluenced experimentation”. Rauschenberg described Albers as influencing him to do “exactly the reverse” of what he was being taught. Rauschenberg lived and worked in New York City as well as on Captiva Island, Florida until his death from heart failure on May 12, 2008.

-Program [criteria] In Greek mythology every story has characters that are larger than life that overcome mayor obstacles in order to earn something. Every story has a lesson to be learned. The objective of the Prometheus Theater is to create a performance space that is based on major themes of Prometheus story. The performance at the top of the tower becomes the knowledge [virtue] that must be reached by swimming to the tower and climbing to the top. The ones that have what it takes to get there earn the performance.

02.PROMETHEUS THEATER

-Prometheus Prometheus was a champion of mankind known for his wily intelligence, who stole fire from Zeus and gave it to mortals. Zeus then punished him for his crime by having him bound to a rock while a great eagle ate his liver every day only to have it grow back to be eaten again the next day.

-Program [criteria] The objective was to design a LAMP for the Brooklyn Cinema project. Since the cinema experience happens in darkness light is of particular importance to the experience. In designing the lamp for the cinema I wanted to express the transition from light into darkness that has become the a ritual we experience every time we go to the movies.

03.BROOKLYN CINEMA LAMP

-The Cohen House, Siesta Key, Sarasota, FL [1955] The Cohen House was first featured in Architectural Record in 1956 with original house plans and photographs. It was awarded the Architectural Record Award of Excellence for house design that year. The house was commissioned by local patrons of the arts, whose engaged lifestyles called for a balance of tranquility-enabling work and rest- and layers of stimulation that would activate and enhance their parties and salons. The “conversation pit,” a hallmark move of Rudolph’s, is the house social nucleus.

04.THE COHEN HOUSE [by Paul Rudolph]

-Revere Quality House, Siesta Key, Sarasota, FL [1948] This building was a cooperative project between the architects, the magazine, The Architectural Forum, Revere Copper and Brass Co., and the builders, Lamolithic Industries.

With the Revere House, Rudolph established the model for the classic 1950’s Florida residence: a narrow one-story rectangle, often one room wide for cross-ventilation from glass jalousie windows; slab on grade; terrazzo floors; non-load bearing walls with high glass window bands; wide overhangs, top-lit interior courts; and attached service buildings or carport, often connected by screen walls to the residence. To achieve the thin ceiling planes in the Revere house, it was necessary to pour a roof slab with beams on top whose surface accommodates ponds of water to help insulate the house. The use of a copper-sheathed fireplace hood and kitchen vent tied it to the Revere Cooper Company advertising promotions of 1948.

Section

Floor Plan

05.THE REVERE HOUSE [by Paul Rudolph]

-Program [criteria] The objective was to design a bench for indoor or outdoor using traditional building materials in an unusual way. This created an opportunity to create a bench that is adaptable in its response to modern lifestyles. The emphasis for the design should be a bench that responds to the functional needs of the 21st century. The trends in design for the last twenty years seem to have an increasing preoccupation with fitting properly and comfortably the different curves of the human body.

Most of the recent designs for almost all appliances now fit ergonomically the contours of the human form.

06.ERGONOMIC BENCH

-Ergonomics Ergonomics is a branch of engineering science in which biological science is used to study the relation between workers and their environments.

The main issue in chair design is the back support. To make the bench fit ergonomically the back of the average American I looked into the contours of the spinal cord and generated the shape of the bench based on those curves. Each of the 2”x 8” pieces of lumber fit into a metal tube and are locked in place by 4” bolts.

1

-Program [criteria] Human Action is a nonprofit organization dedicated to empowering Haitian disaster victims to self-sufficiency through innovations in information technology and virtual education. Human Action believes that reliable access to computer technology and quality education is among the most important factors in an individual’s ability to lift themselves from poverty. eHUB Learning Centers will provide Haitians with the technological tools they need to achieve self-sufficiency.

2

3

The program requiered the following spaces: 1.

2.

3.

4.

Office Module Small apartment Computer Lab Large apartment

4

07. eHUB

-Second life Human Action got offered old shipping containers that were left over from all the aid sent to Haiti after the earthquake to use in any way they wanted to. Modular, shipping containerbased computer labs, constructed from recycled materials, including rubble from the collapsed buildings became the best way to put these containers to good use.

-Mitosis The process that facilitates the equal partitioning of replicated chromosomes into identical groups. Alignment, splitting, separation duplication are that I used to define the relationships of the space with the ground it engages, and the entry and movement between the two.

-Program [criteria] A conceptual gathering space for 50-75 people to meet, exchange ideas, make presentations, and have discussions and interaction concerning a general set of intellectual issues. This gathering space is conceived as a microcosm of a school at the university level. The space is initially thought as an inner space within an outer space with narrow edge zones. These zones 窶田onceived, as much as the space itself with an emphasis on section- could in fact be considered edges belonging to adjacent areas rather than to the inner space itself.

08.Meeting Hall

Because Haiti is located in the Northern Hemisphere the south faรงade receives sunlight most of the day. The west faรงade receives sunlight in the afternoons when the heat is more intense.

The object of our addition to the building is to provide shade when needed while maintaining a view and allow the natural breeze to cool the space inside.

-Program [criteria] The program is to create window farms while reinforcing a structure that survived the devastating earthquake that hit Port au Prince, Haiti in 2010. Window farms are usually modular, low energy, high-yield edible window gardens that for the most part are built using low-impact or recycled local materials. These window farms are added to windows using kits that you can buy on-line. To support the window farms we plan on taking advantage of the 78 inches (200 cm) of rain that Haiti receives annually. We plan on distributing the water collected on top of the building through out the window farm using gravity. We plan on growing highly nutritious vegetable plants such as Collards, Kale, Cabbage, Spinach, Radish, Watercress, bean sprout, etc. The window farms will also be providing adequate sun protection to the living spaces in the building. The Challenge will be to merge a structural support system for the damaged structure of the building and a window farm as an integral part of the new faรงade of the building.

I have identified 3 different kinds of gardens that we want to provide: -A leafy garden -Roots garden -Sprouts Disposal of organic materials will be taken advantage of to create valuable compost for the window farms.

09. Recovering Haiti

Study of Villa Savoye