Elise Marie Francis
Elise Marie Francis www.elisemariefrancis.com efran053@fiu.edu 305.615.0588
Education Master of Architecture
Genoa Study Abroad
Genoa Study Abroad
gpa 3.97
Design Studio 8
Master’s Thesis
Florida International University
Florida International University
Florida International University
Miami, Florida Aug. 2013 - April 2018
Genoa, Italy Aug. 2016 - Dec. 2016
Genoa, Italy Jan. 2018 - April 2018
Skills
Professional Experience
The ability to self-educate has led me to acquire a broad array of digital software skills:
Graduate Research Assistant |
Adobe Photoshop, InDesign, Illustrator Autodesk AutoCAD, Revit, Maya Rhinoceros, Grasshopper + plug-ins Google SketchUp Adobe Premiere Pro, Lightroom Model-making and drawing with detail-oriented and meticulous craft:
Tasks: curate and edit books exhibiting the experience and work produced by students of the Architecture in Genoa Study Abroad program // lead workshops and software tutorials in AutoCAD, Revit, Rhinoceros, and Adobe Suite for first-year formative students
Paul L. Cejas School of Architecture Miami, Florida Aug. 2017 - April 2018
Architectural Designer | Tasks: collaborate on a design team to create architectural drawings, renderings, and presentations for an informative and interactive exhibition on Sea-Level Rise for the Miami Children’s Museum
Hand-crafted model-making 3D printing Laser-cutting Hand-drafting
FIU By Design
Personality traits that have allowed me to accomplish my goals:
Graduate Assistant | Tasks: work with students from high schools across the U.S. during a one-week intensive workshop // visualize design ideas reflecting a given theme, through renderings and tangible objects // assist in curating an exhibition and performance held at the end of the week
Dedication Passion Focus Creativity Adaptability Connectivity Dependability
Miami, Florida Jan. 2017 - Aug. 2017
National Young Arts Foundation Miami, Florida Jan. 8th 2017 - Jan. 14th 2017
Design Student Intern | Tasks: update company profile // to collaborate on design proposals // to visit active construction sites and participate in company meetings Bynoe Rowe Wiltshire Partnership Port of Spain, Trinidad May 2014 - July 2014
Languages
Accomplishments
English Native Speaker
FIU Ambassador Scholarship | Florida International University
Italian
Miami, Florida Aug. 2013 - July 2017
Full tuition paid
Communicate on an Intermediate Level
Dean’s List for Academic Excellence |
This distinction is reserved for students who earn a semester GPA of 3.5 or higher on 9 or more semester credit hours
Florida International University Miami, Florida Aug. 2013 - Aug. 2017
Organizations Associate AIA Member May 2018 - Present
Professional Fraternity for Architecture and the Allied Arts | Alpha Rho Chi
FIU SOA BEA Gallery Design Studio Exhibitions |
Design studio projects displayed yearly in
curated exhibitions of student work
Florida International University Miami, Florida April 2014 - Aug. 2017
Peer Mentor // Professionalism Chair // Assistant Educator // Alumni Member
Government of Trinidad & Tobago Additional Scholarship |
Florida International University
St. Joseph’s Convent
Miami, Florida Aug. 2014 - April 2018
San Fernando, Trinidad Aug. 2013 - April 2018
CAPE 2013 examinations
1st place in Technical Studies
Table of Contents THE IKONN HOUSE
// 2 - 5
SANTUARIO ALLE EDICOLE VOTIVE
// 6 - 9
THE VERTICAL CITY
// 10
THE BAC ADDITION
// 11
SEE WATER RISING
// 12 - 15
RE-VITALIZED HIGHWAY
// 16 - 17
SOBE MERCATO VIVO
// 18 - 21
THE WAY STATION
// 22
The Ikonn House
THE IKONN HOUSE is an investigative project that implements future building technologies. The project focuses on maximizing the potential of the site in response to environmental conditions, whilst maintaining site specificity and durability in an environment that is constantly in flux. The site is located in Miami Beach, Florida, with challenging environmental conditions such as sea-level rise and storm surge. As a response, inhabitable areas of the house are elevated well above sea-level with steel piles. Operable polycarbonate panels allow for direct ventilation. The enclosure can be disassembled in the event of an imminent natural disaster, whilst the steel structure can withstand hurricane force winds. Pools on the ground level produce an evaporative cooling effect creating a comfortable micro-climate. Semi-private spaces intended for collaborative work activities are held within transparent polycarbonate plastic capsules, partially obscurred by the strategic placement of vegetation on the site. Spaces for domestic activities that are more private, such as the bedroom and bathroom, are housed within opaque polycarbonate plastic capsules. An extensive shade structure of operable polycarbonate panels serve as a double skin for controling ambient temperatures outside of the capsules.
Site
Circulation
Program
AMERICAN COLONIAL HOUSE STYLE
POSTMEDIEVAL ENGLISH
SPANISH COLONIAL
DUTCH COLONIAL
FRENCH COLONIAL
GEORGIAN
From 1600s to American Revolution (1775 - 1783); The revolution resulted from increasing colonial unhappiness with British rule; A range of styles influenced by several European countries
1600 - 1740
1600 - 1850
1625 - 1840
1700 - 1850
1700 - 1850
SOUTHERN
NORTHERN
PITCHED ROOF
FLAT ROOF
URBAN
RURAL
URBAN
NEOCLASSICISM AFTER THE REVOLUTION (1780 - 1860)
FEDERAL
GREEK REVIVAL
New classicism for a newly independent America; Thomas Jefferson felt that ancient Greece and Rome expressed the ideals of democracy; Reflection of classical ideas of order and symmetry
1780 - 1840
1825 - 1860
SIDE-GABLED ROOF
LIMITED-HEIGHT PORCH
TOWN HOUSE
FULL-HEIGHT PORCH
THE VICTORIAN ERA
GOTHIC REVIVAL
ITALIANATE
One of the most prosperous times in American history; Named after the reign of Queen Victoria in Britain (1837 - 1901); Mass-produced and factory-made building parts were now able to be transported over railways; Resulted in large, elaborate, affordable houses
1840 - 1880
1840 - 1885
ASYMMETRICAL
CENTERED GABLE
HIPPED ROOF
TOWN HOUSE
FULL-FACADE PORCH
FRONTGABLED ROOF
GABLE FRONT + WING
HIPPED ROOF, LIMITED PORCH
CLASSICAL BOX
SIDE-GABLED ROOF
NEOCLASSICAL
During the rise of industrialism; Families who profited from the industrial revolution put their money into architecture; Business leaders gained great wealth and built palatial homes; Change of material from wood to stone
1895 - 1955
COTTAGE
FULL-HEIGHT PORCH
TOWERED
CENTERED GABLE
SYMMETRICAL
CENTERED WING/GABLE
ASYMMETRICAL
TOWN HOUSE
SECOND-STORY OVERHANG
FULL-FACADE PORCH
BUILT-IN GARAGE
HIPPED ROOF
HIPPED ROOF, PROJECTING WING(S)
FLAT ROOF
FRONT-GABLED ROOF
ROBIE HOUSE - FRANK LLOYD WRIGHT
HIPPED ROOF
CROSS-HIPPED ROOF
CRAFTSMAN
SPANISH REVIVAL
ART MODERNE
ART DECO
Rejection of Victorian opulence; Instead compact, economical, and informal due to rise of American middle class; Comfort and informality; Featured influences from Art Moderne and Art Deco styles, from the International Expo in Paris
1905 - 1950
1915 - 1940
1920 - 1940
1925 - 1940
After the Great Depression and Pearl Harbor bombing, those who could afford their own houses wanted simpler styles; Building trends responded to federal laws; Due to the Federal-Aid Highway Act (1956), the formation of the interstate highway system made it possible for people to not live where they worked
SIDE-GABLED ROOF
CROSS-GABLED ROOF
HIPPED ROOF
FLAT ROOF
MINIMAL TRADITION
STYLED RANCH
1935 - 1950
1955 - 1985
CAPE COD
GABLE + WING ROOF
SPANISH
COLONIAL REVIVAL
HORIZONTAL EMPHASIS
NEOCLASSICAL
FRENCH
MID-CENTURY MODERN
1950 - 1975
1920 - 1970
1933 - 1965
FARNSWORTH HOUSE MIES VAN DER ROHE
GLASS HOUSE PHILLIP JOHNSON
CONTEMPORARY
Due to the growing number of immigrants to America, a mix of various styles began to emerge; Walter Gropius and Marcel Breuer brought the Bauhaus, which Mies Van der Rohe transformed into the International style
1945 - 1990
FRONT-GABLED ROOF
CROSS-GABLED ROOF
KAUFMANN HOUSE - RICHARD NEUTRA
1965 - 1990
FLAT ROOF
FALLING WATER FRANK LLOYD WRIGHT
As a result of consumerism and a growing American middle class; Historic styles combined with modern details built during periods of growth and prosperity
1985 - PRESENT
CLASSICAL
ITALIAN RENAISSANCE REVIVAL
POSTMODERN
TUDOR
EAMES HOUSE - CHARLES AND RAY EAMES
DECONSTRUCTIVIST
21ST CENTURY
1950 - PRESENT 1965 - PRESENT 1980 - PRESENT
NEW TRADITIONAL
COLONIAL REVIVAL
MULTIPLE-FACADE GABLES
CROSS-GABLED ROOF
MILLER HOUSE - EERO SAARINEN
ORGANIC
SHED
NEO-HOUSES (1965 - PRESENT)
SHINGLE
FRONT-FACING GABLE W/ WING
TUDOR
INTERNATIONAL STYLE
FRONT-GABLED ROOF
FRONT-GABLED ROOF
VERTICAL EMPHASIS
A-FRAME
INTERNATIONAL STYLE (1920 - 1970)
MID-FACADE GABLE
SIDE-GABLED ROOF
AMERICAN BUNGALOW STYLE (1905 - 1930)
SIDE-GABLED ROOF
CROSS-GABLED ROOF
MONTICELLO - THOMAS JEFFERSON
1955 - 1975
CROSS-GABLED ROOF
HIPPED ROOF
TUDOR
RANCH
FRONT-GABLED ROOF
MOUNT VERNON - GEORGE WASHINGTON
1890 - 1940
1900 - 1920
MID-20TH CENTURY BOOM (1930 - 1970)
TOWN HOUSE
1890 - 1955
PRAIRIE
GABLED ROOF
TOWERED
ITALIAN RENAISSANCE REVIVAL
1940 - 1980
Low horizontal houses with open interior spaces; Organic architecture, modernity, Japanese serenity
ASYMMETRICAL
TOWN HOUSE
TOWN HOUSE
FRANK LLOYD WRIGHT’S INFLUENCE (1900 - 1955)
AMERICAN FOURSQUARE
SIDE-GABLED ROOF
1855 - 1885
ASYMMETRICAL
1950 - 1955
GILDED AGE (1880 - 1929)
GAMBREL ROOF
SECOND EMPIRE
COLONIAL REVIVAL
1880 - 1955
HIPPED ROOF
RURAL
GEHRY RESIDENCE FRANK GEHRY
1990 - PRESENT
SEGMENTAL VAULTED ROOF
ORTHOGONAL DECOUPAGE
MATERIAL-BASED
LOOSENED SHAPE
MCMANSION
1990 - PRESENT
FRENCH
VICTORIAN
CRAFTSMAN
PRAIRIE
MEDITERRANEAN
The Ikonn House
Structure
Technology
The Ikonn House
Santuario alle Edicole Votive Edicole Votive
“The ... city is a tale of places overlapping, interlocking and huddled together, flights of steps, lanes, terraces, pergolas, gazebos, cloisters, gates, soaring buildings, towers, elevators, and lookout points.” – V. Galdi Secret Genoa waits patiently to be discovered. Over an eight-month period I have endeavored to explore Genoa’s well-kept (and sometimes unkempt) treasures. My design methodology is an architectural form of narrative collage inspired by the writing of Italo Calvino and Bruno Schulz. The city is understood as a dense space of intertwined and overlapping stories that can be (re)written using alternative narratives that reveal essential qualities of the city without relying on what may be considered strictly factual. Edicole Votive are the catalyst for this story, architectural constructions that are embedded within or attached to facades of buildings, usually composed of two columns and a pediment, often hosting a figure within an apsidal space.
Niche Spaces
Spatial Relationships
Santuario alle Edicole Votive
They are typically located above eye-level, visible to passers-by from afar, but difficult to investigate at close proximity. Edicole Votive act as a portal to another realm, a potential space of connection between the sacred and the mundane. The “Shrine to the Edicole Votive� imagines a recently abandoned and newly discovered space in which a fictional character, the Caretaker of the Edicole Votive, may have lived and worked. It is simultaneously a composition of and an erosion of large-scale, edicola-type spaces that allows the visitor to explore the mystery of the inaccessible spaces within edicole votive. At the same time, partially restored edicole are displayed within the space as a tribute to the work of the Caretaker who is no longer present. The Shrine to the Edicole Votive evokes the material, light, and spatial qualities of the spaces within edicole votive. It is composed using a spatial and material collage technique drawn from a library of photographic and sketching studies overlaid on the collected memories of my experiences discovering hidden Genoa and my architectural pilgrimage in Europe.
IUAV Garden - Scarpa
Laurentian Library - Michelangelo
Gypsotheca - Scarpa
Ronchamp - Corbusier
Monumental Cemetery of Staglieno Photographic and Sketch Study
The Vertical City
The studio focused on form-finding and formal manipulation using parametric modeling techniques. Primary modular forms were initially generated in Autodesk Maya, then multiplied through repeating parametric operations including spatial translation, rotation, and scaling. The project imagines a new type of tower that does not meet standard accepted formal expectations. The existing topography was manipulated in order to generate an opportunity for a series of towers to emerge from and merge with the new terrain. An interconnected transportation tunnel is embedded within the ground, eliminating the presence of vehicles. Pedestrian bridges connect towers and elevate users above the undulating landscape. There is the possibility for the site to flood due to sea-level rise, thus the proposed solution conceives an environment that can accommodate this reality.
Modular studies
Topography
The BAC Addition Concept Sketch
The prompt is an addition to the Bakehouse Art Complex in Miami, Florida. The exisiting building is a converted bakery, accomodating artists local to the surrounding creative neighbourhood of Wynwood. My design references the original sawtooth skylighting system of the old structure. The converted artists’ studios and galleries receive light from the original lighting system of the main building. My concept seeks to negotiate this generic lighting system, by making it specific to the programmatic arrangement for the addition. I have chosen to inhabit the skylighting system in both plan and section. The overall dimensions of the L-shaped building morphs with shifting programmatic placement. Through the use of reflective surfaces in contrast with transparent and opaque materials, light enters the spaces in interesting and dynamic ways, relevant to the use of each space.
See Water Rising
SEE WATER RISING is an exhibition design collaboration between FIU By Design and the Miami Children’s Museum. The design team led by Eric Peterson and Julia Sarduy, included collaboration by student assistants Dominick Mack, Shaylin Castillo, and myself. Working together, we developed a 3000 ft2 exhibition about sea level rise for a culturally diverse, multilingual user group between 2 and 8 years old. Due to the complexity of the subject content and the variable level of capacity for comprehending advanced scientific concepts, the exhibition is conceived as an experiential learning space. It features a variety of play-based activities that promote learning technical and social concepts related to the issue of sea level rise. Children of all ages and abilities can participate in play-based activities that lead to a growing understanding of relevant topics including hydrology, displacement, water density, the water table, salt-water intrusion, kinetic wave energy, mangroves as erosion mitigation, urban planning, flood control, and architectural strategies for negotiating rising sea levels. The interactive design of outdoor exhibition components facilitate knowledge growth in these areas.
See Water Rising
See Water Rising
ReVitalized Highway
An urban promenade reimagines highway infrastructure as a positive, sustainable contribution to urban life. Analysis of the interweaving system of roads that form a major highway near the site, led the design team to develop a multi-level space with layers of interstitial green-scape. The perception of highways as noisy, dangerous, and dirty urban barriers is challenged by introducing walkways that promote a sustainable lifestyle, with spaces for outdoor activities that promote human health. The design of the project was optimized using Grasshopper, for environmental performance as well as formal considerations and circulation solutions. The script optimized the mass of the building according to Solar Radiation and Shading conditions and opportunities. A modular parametric facade system applied to the shell helps articulate the formal qualities of the building while providing ambient shading and reducing Cooling Loads. This project was completed in collaboration with colleagues Alejandro Hernandez and Michael Axinn. My role included design, scripting, and presentation graphics.
EXISTING ENTRY TO SITE
MAIN ENTRY TO LUMMUS PARK
Form-finding
Initial proposal
Highway analysis
Sea-level rise analysis
ReVitalized Highway
Grasshopper
SoBe Mercato Vivo Program Axonometric
SOBE MERCATO VIVO is an apartment complex located in an urban part of Miami Beach, Florida. The neighborhood is culturally diverse and composed of a predominantly working-class demographic. SoBe Mercato Vivo merges Market and Apartment building typologies, by combining a vertical tower with a U-shaped low-rise building enclosing a central courtyard. This new hybrid building typology adds value to the people of the community by providing services that are essential for living. Open public spaces on the ground level encourage residents and shoppers to mingle, promoting social interaction among people from a wide range of social classes. The Market aims to improve quality of urban life in Miami Beach by providing sustainable food options in an environmentally responsible building. As part of a hybrid Studio and Integrated Building Systems course the design proposes structural and energy use solutions including life safety, lighting, HVAC, and load calculations.
Precedent
Context
Massing
SoBe Mercato Vivo
Foundation Plan
Structural Axonometric
SoBe Mercato Vivo
The Way Station
THE APPALACHIAN WAY STATION uses a strategy of alternating Mass/Void operations to form interior and exterior spaces, with periodic transitional moments of spatial compression and expansion. Linear elements with interlocking joints form interstitial connections along the procession into the ascending slope of the hillside. This spatial and tectonic strategy produces repetitive patterns of shadow that modulate the interior and exterior spaces along the itinerary suggesting delicate moments for pause and reflection. Areas where interlocking shadows occur define various programs including entrances, walkways, and seating areas. These intricately shadowed spaces allow Way Station visitors to interact and connect with one another. Spaces carved into the ground within the project provide a sense of peace and quiet, and feeling of being grounded. The more dimly lit spaces in the sequence suggest a place for resting or sleeping. A room above the level of the hillside with a more luminous lighting condition houses totems, keepsakes, and books related to the Appalachian mountains that travelers can view and reflect upon.
Thank You www.elisemariefrancis.com efran053@fiu.edu 305.615.0588