Material and Immaterial Details | Architecture Portfolio by Darcy Engle

Material and Immaterial Details

Portfolio Darcy Engle University of Virginia School of Architecture

Master of Architecture ‘19 University of Virginia School of Architecture dle2eb@virginia.edu storagespace.haus Copyright 2021 by Darcy Engle All rights reserved.

Resume 004 Framing 006 Architecture as Connector 009 Approaching Sanitation 029 Museum of Catastrophes 051 Baltimore Flex Space 071 Neighborhome 083 Intersections with Infrastructure 091 Urban Toolkit 109

Darcy Engle

T: 716.341.0717 E: dle2eb@virginia.edu W: storagespace.haus

Curriculum Vitae

Education

University of Virgina Master of Architecture High Honors UVA in Barcelona Urban Design Semester Program UVA in China Design Summer Program SUNY Buffalo State College Bachelor of Fine Arts in Interior Design Honors Danish Institute for Study Abroad Interior Architecture Summer Program

Professional Experience

fxCollaborative Winter Externship

BHDP Architecture Summer Internship

Lighting Design Innovations LDI Lighting Design Internship

Iskalo Development Corporation Interior Design and Architecture Internship

Teaching and Research Experience

Lecturer at UVA School of Architecture Design Studios in Architecture, Landscape Architecture, and Urban Planning

Research Fellow Yamuna River Project Researcher on Water and Urbanization in Delhi and Jaipur

Research and Teaching Fellow Urban Strategies Researcher on Urbanization and Public Space in Toronto, CA

Research Assistant Networked Public Space | Arctic Design Group

Dean’s Honor Teaching Fellowship Head Teaching Assistant for Undergraduate Architecture Studios Year I

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Technical Skills

AutoCAD Rhino Revit SketchUp ArcMap ArcGIS Pro V-Ray Grasshopper

InDesign Photoshop Illustrator Premiere Pro

Honors and Awards

AIA Henry Adams Medal for Excellence in Architecture Highest award for a graduating M.Arch student

Foam Wood Laser Cutting Hand Drawing Hand Drafting CNC Routing 3D Printing Casting

UVA SoA Award for Public Service Award given to graduate student for public service to school during their education Architecture Press Release Second Award Project Award for Approaching Sanitation Bathroom Prototypes ARCHITECT Magazine Studio Prize 2020 Award to Rajasthan Cities: Jiapur Advanced Research Studio during YRP Fellowship Architecture Masterprize in Small and Miscellaneous Architecture Project Award for Approaching Sanitation Bathroom Prototypes Rethinking the Future Highest Award Project Award for Approaching Sanitation Bathroom Prototypes ARCHITECT Magazine Studio Prize 2019 Award to YRP: A Piece of the City Advanced Research Studio Archstorming Emergency Housing Mexico Competition 1 of 10 Honorable Mention Projects World Architecture Community Project Award for Approaching Sanitation Bathroom Prototypes Archstorming Unbuild the Wall 1 of 10 Honorable Mention Projects Marie Dellas Creative Achievement Award SUNY Buffalo State College Award given to one student who exhibits excellence in the College of Art and Design Barbara Czurles Nelson and Donald J. Nelson Award Scholarship given to a second year student who exhibits excellence in interior design Zhengzhou University of Light Industry Exchange Scholarship Recipient 1 of 2 SUNY Buffalo State students selected for a two week China exchange program Hazel M. Bleeker Alumni Scholarship IES Lighting Design Scholarship First Place Award IIDA International Interior Design Association | Crit 500 First Place Award Exhibitions

Ostenda Illuminata Design / construction of exhibited research project Arctic Portals for Anchorage Museum, AK Sample portal design / build team exhibited in the Smithsonian Museum, DC Design Advocacy Exhibition by Manifesta at UVA Project featured: Approaching Sanitation International Year of Light Invited Artist Digital Media Exhibition at the Burchfield Penny Art Center SUNY Buffalo State College, Interior Design Student and Accreditation Shows Student work exhibited, curation of exhibition, and set up

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Framing

Throughout my three years in architecture school, I found it challenging to understand what made a good architect and what type of architect I wanted to be. My perspective existed as one thing before I began and after the first week at the school, the possibilities exploded. It was easy to get caught up or sidetracked however, I found one action always pulled me back: thinking through details. This was a common thread while designing in all of the various types and contexts of the forthcoming projects.

Detail emerged at various stages throughout the projects yet consistently led to one common result - that these defined particularities each positioned me one step closer to understanding the human (or non-human) experience in relation to each of the designed spaces. I believe that a comprehensive understanding of the design question at hand and a thoroughly investigated response are two aspects which get one closer to good design.

From this series of projects, I have learned of the complimentary nature of material and immaterial details - how the careful articulation of these can impact overall concepts of spatial interaction down to critical moments where we interact with the architecture.

Attention to detail occurs at these following stages: 1. Context Analysis: The observation and listening to the context for which you are designing through histories, environments, users, and materialities is an essential step to working through a design process.

This allows the proposal to emerge from and be rooted in their place.

2. Design Process: From sketching to modeling to collages and photography, it has been critical to be thorough in the design process to explore the possible options for any given project. The process of exploring possibilities from the object scale to the urban scale of course change in size, but the process of conscious and critical iteration often yields thoughtful results which are not as achievable without a detail oriented approach. Through this series

As the title suggests the studies of details in this portfolio are both material (physical) and immaterial (atmospheric or experiential). The details come through process and result, thought and action.

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of projects, it has become apparent that iteration occurs at different points - from details, material explorations, concept developments, and so on.

munication and unclear or mis-represented material can be perceived in ways that are unexpected and unintentional.

3. Building: From experiences constructing (for me it was exhibits and urban scale furnitures) you understand the importance of craft. As students we often visit many buildings and sites throughout our education, but I believe we cannot just look at the overall end result but carefully understand how something is put together. We have to be aware of the difference between something that is constructed poorly versus something that is constructed well.

These four key areas are where I believe the details of a proposal come to life and hopefully they are exhibited through the following seven projects.

4. Representation and Documentation: Through taking design studios myself and now through teaching, I’ve learned the vast styles of architectural representation and how essential it is to select something that represents your project clearly but also that it is likely even more important what aspects of your project you are documenting. Hierarchy in an overall set of documents and within individual drawings themselves is as critical as the concept or the details of a building. Drawing is com-

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Architecture as Connector:

Education, Social and Community Space through the Programmatic Vehicle of a Library Professor(s): Jeana Ripple Year: Spring 2017 Category: Academic Project

The library is a program where, in the digital contemporary society, it is as essential to provide space which support the neighborhood and city as it is to provide space to house analog media.

The Federal Hill neighborhood in Baltimore, Maryland is a primarily residential area surrounded by a perimeter of key urban programs including a market, schools, and an under-supported technology hub. The neighborhood lacks indoor and outdoor flexible spaces where the residents and local stakeholders can mix, collaborate and share resources.

The concept for this project is to create a meeting point for the community by wrapping up support spaces which strategically connect to each of the key local programs in the neighborhood.

This shell houses lecture and exhibition spaces, maker and technology support spaces, indoor and outdoor meeting spac-

es, a cafe and garden, and the traditional stacks. As the library continues into a more digital realm, the stacks and physical exhibition spaces can be moved or removed to provide more flexibility.

The series of forms matches the proportions of nearby row houses and this rule breaks to provide outdoor spaces on different levels, skylights, and windows with views to the street.

The facade is the primary building element explored in this project and continues the wrapping concept providing a purity along the perimeter of each of the unique forms. As the facade follows along the section, the forms shift or rotate and they integrate areas of open versus closed, programmed versus flexible, loud versus quiet, visible versus invisible, and connected versus disconnected spaces to support the range of activities which will occur here.

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Shopping Historic District

Schools Tech Harbor

Shopping Historic District

Schools Tech Harbor

Residential Schools

Residential Schools

Residential Light Commercial

Residential Light Commercial

Step One: Site Research Step One: Site Research

Step Two: Define Site

Step Three: Context Analysis

Step Two: Define Site

Step Three: Context Analysis

Step Four: Massing

Traditional Library

Views to Downtown

Light / Views to Harbor

Traditional Library

Views to Downtown

Light / Views to Harbor

Views to Neighborhood

Views to Neighborhood

Step Five: Lift for Through Access

Step Six: Mass Rotation and Manipulation

Step Seven: Cross Programming

Step Eight: Define Program

Step Five: Lift for Through Access

Step Six: Mass Rotation and Manipulation

Step Seven: Cross Programming

Step Eight: Define Program

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Step Five: Lift for Th

Step Four: Massing

Step Five: Lift for Through Access

Classrooms

Incubator Space

Public Space

Classrooms

Incubator Space

Public Space

Metal Facade Panels Aluminum Studs Facade Panel Connection

Audimute Soundproofing Ribbed Steel Decking

Wide Flange Steel Joists Wide Flange Steel Beams Exterior Concrete Structure 3/8” Steel Reinforcing Bars

The architecture within this proposal is meant to guide one throughout the building. As one enters the site, they have an opportunity to choose between two paths through the library through the cafe and more vocal and collaborative library programs or through the stacks and classroom spaces for thought and contemplation. On the ground floor, these paths are visibly and physically connected through a plaza which opens to the street towards the front and shifts levels to connect to a neighborhood in the back. While architecture here acts as a guide, it simultaneously doesn’t want to force directionality so there are moments where a visitor can pause, reflect or change course on their journey of curiosity.

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Metal Facade Panels Aluminum Studs Facade Panel Connection

Ribbed Steel Decking 3/8” Steel Reinforcing Bars

Wide Flange Steel Beams

Wide Flange Steel Joists

The building and the drawings are designed to reflect the multiplicity of experiences that can coexist within this space. A school group can come and have an open discussion on the auditorium bleachers, a small group of college students can study in the semi-enclosed meeting space, local organizations can advertise their upcoming events, a grandmother can read with her grandson in the children’s library stacks, and neighbor can read quietly in the outdoor reading garden.

The directionality of the spaces projects louder noises in one direction and intentionally separates quieter spaces through walls and floors. Quiet spaces still have visual connections to more active areas through windows and openings.

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In viewing this project, much of the explanation lends itself to the outer perimeter of the section along the facade. However, this project needs to serve a community of people where some may appreciate or gravitate towards the physical or analog methods of learning. Therefore, within the library are areas of typical book stacks. These elements are specifically not an addition or extrusion from the facade form so that they can be flexible, moved, extracted as the library program evolves and the needs of the neighborhood evolve over time. Further, in plan, when laying out the spaces of the building, room was alloted for the addition of more stacks if more physical books are requested or rotated in by the community.

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The formal geometry of the building aligns with the geometry of its context and as one enters they move from one form to the next from right to left or left to right. However, the architecture is just as important as one moves forward and backward as these are the main connections to the community. On the ground floor this forward | backward connection leads to the street and the surrounding neighborhood. On the highest accessible floor, the forward | backward connection mimics Baltimore’s rooftop culture and looks to the harbor. In addition to these connections, access to the library always occurs along this axis and interior circulation happens on the perpendicular axis. These organizational rules help to guide visitors to and through the library.

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On the Facade

electronics, exhibition spaces, exterior walls or interior partitions.

The facade’s definition in this context expands beyond protection, warmth, and safety and includes way finding, circulation, passageway, quiet garden, auditorium or learning space, and meeting room to name a few.

As we see the facade with decreased resolution, we find it is not simply a critical architectural element at the scale of a single building, but has an implication on its urban context as well. They are often thought of a solid closed surfaces but their careful perforations weave them into a greater urban context.

This element transforms to something rendered individually to something that helps produce a whole urban story. The urban articulation of this facade was as critical as the interior articulation. When understanding how it appeared within in its context, it was critical to choose a materiality that differed as many of the commonly used brick materialities had associations to spaces which were inaccessible or uninviting to persons of particular demographics. Selecting something that is more neutral and undefined presented a contrast and freshness within the context. One consistency that remained was the proportions of the facades so the scale of the building fit and did not overpower its neighbors. Finally, as the facade met its surroundings, the design transformed and offered possibilities to occupy the space in different ways. Near the cafe, one can sit outside on the facade steps and read or watch passersby, underneath the raised plaza the facade acts as protection and a semi enclosed space for activities and circulation, and as one moves up through the building, they can finally look back to their city as they emerge onto the facade’s occupiable roof space.

The design of this case details the facade in a fairly consistent manner as it wraps around the building and the primary change occurs through the form which the facade takes on as it shifts to different surfaces. Additional details however, could expand the facades richness even further. The palette of materials and how they are constructed, the suite of perforations, the use of screens and layering, the specification of depth, and further usages to the facade surfaces are all opportunities which can be explored and adapted for alternative projects.

Working to understand the possibilities of the facade became a critical experience within the context of understanding the library program as well. In opening this project, I discussed the rapid change that accompanies this program as we continue to shift from a physical to digital world. By playing with the richness along the edges of this project, the floor space remained widely flexible and easily alterable. This flexibility will allow this library to shift with society or potentially in the future this is no longer a library at all.

When we think about the particular possibilities incorporated into this single architectural element, it opens a discussion of what would occur as we continue to re-conceptualize other typical building elements. In this case, the facade is re-conceptualized in a very site and program specific manner, however there is also great possibility when we think of new possibilities for standardized building elements, building technologies, construction methods or even construction technologies.

“The building envelope is possibly the oldest and most primitive architectural element. It materializes the separation of the inside and the outside, natural and artificial and it demarcates private property and land ownership (one of the most primitive political acts). When it becomes a facade, the envelope operates also as a representational device in addition to its critical environmental and territorial roles. The building envelope forms the border, the frontier, the edge, the enclosure and the joint: it is loaded with political content…The envelope is the surface and its attachments.”

- Alejandro Zaera Polo, The Politics of the Envelope, A Political

Critique of Materialism1

The history of the facade within architectural texts has frequent connections to textiles and fabrics. For example, Adolf Loos posits in The Principle of Cladding (1898) that “In the beginning we sought to clad ourselves, to protect ourselves from the elements, to keep ourselves safe and warm while sleeping. We sought to cover ourselves…this covering is the earliest architectural feature.”2 Within Loos position, early descriptions of the facade emerge; protection, warmth, safety. Over time the facade transformed and adapted along with design of architecture, technologies, and environments. They have become thin or thick, perforated, layered, extruded, woven, stretched, stacked, and so on which has created unique visuals and atmospheres from the exterior perception to the interior experience. With the transformations of the facade come new opportunities for relationships to the architecture that are more guided, sensorial, pleasurable and deep with meaning. In many cases today, the facade is a wall of glazing to allow one to see in or out, have well lit spaces, and because the aesthetic of the glass is on trend and attractive to both architect and consumer. However, a glazing hasn’t always been a typical material or role for a facade. Historically, there is more meaning associated with this architectural element and during the course of this project, this was a goal to re-understand the “enclosure”, the “surface”, and “meaning” of the facade.3 During this study, I found that as the facade became less of a thin materiality cladding an exterior and became more integrated or expanded in its functionality, the idea of the building shifted from something which felt objectified (and perceived as a noun) to something which was occupiable in particular ways (and could be perceived as a noun or spoken of as a verb).

Within the case of this project, the facade is the architectural element which is carefully adapted and transformed to articulate an experience which is unique to this context. Typically when we think of the facade it is around us on all [4] sides of a building or room. For this project, the facade is meant to wrap around the sectional perimeter of the building rather than the planar perimeter of the building. As one moves throughout the facade shape shifts becomes stairs or seating, storage for books and 1

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Zaera-Polo, Alejandro. “The Politics of the Envelope” in Log 13/14 (Fall 2008): 193-207 Loos, Adolf. “The Principle of Cladding.” In On Architecture.

California: Ariadne Press, 2002.

L’Heureux, Erik. “The Analogy of the Veil” in Deep Veils: Gordon Goff Publisher, 2014.

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Approaching Sanitation:

A Typological Response to the Study of Bathroom Infrastructure in Delhi, India

Professor(s): Maria Gonzalez Aranguren and Pankaj Vir Gupta Year: Fall 2018 Category: Academic Project

The stretch of the Yamuna River which runs from the Wazirabad Barriage to the Okhla Barriage through New Delhi, India is the most contaminated part of the entire river. This pollution, which constitutes this as a dead river, is almost entirely contributed by human feces, industrial effluents, and irrigation chemicals.

This is a critical issue due to the growing population in Delhi and downstream along the river and the lack of clean water to support them.

A goal of the studio was not only to gain an understanding of how to clean the water, but how to prevent pollutants from entering the water to begin with. The pollutant of focus for this project was human feces. The primary reason there is so much fecal matter in the Yamuna River is due to a lack of well constructed and reliable infrastructure between the starting point of the toilets and the end point of the sewage treatment plants.

However, the secondary reason is that although the government had an initiative to install 75 million toilets by 2019, there is still a large portion of the population without access to bathrooms and therefore defecating in the open.

The last recorded data on open defecation states that 700,000 people in Delhi or four percent of the population still defecates in the open. This number may seem low, but there is reason to believe that not all those who have access to restrooms are ac-

tually using the public facilities. This is due to vandalism, lack of cleaning, broken plumbing, safety concerns, hours of operation, and the distance they are from where the users call home.

In response to these issues, the research conducted throughout the semester began by identifying locations in Delhi where there is the greatest need for bathroom infrastructure. In looking at these locations, scales and types of bathrooms were designed for the unique urban scenarios which appeared in these locations. For example, some bathrooms were designed to be affixed to existing rooftops in dense urban villages, whereas others were designed for underused parks and vacant lots. A series of standards were created so additional bathroom typologies could be quickly added or adapted from the existing manual of designs. The standards included how to source water, how to remove or connect to waste management services, construction details, typical programs and layouts, typical materialities, and projected number of users, hours of operation, and upkeep for each bathroom typology.

The overarching goal of the designed interventions is to provide temporary to permanent variations of semi-public to public bathrooms which low cost and low technology to construct; which solve issues of the current public bathrooms in Delhi and to bring them closer to those who need them the most.

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Typology B. Constructed toilet facility that is connected to both city water and city sewage.

Open only during daylight hours as there is no electricity. Small street vendor sets up shop next door.

Typology A. Temporary toilets in public park set over a waste tank which is emptied by truck. No running water but a station to pump and wash hands.

Typology D. Interior bathrooms shared among all residents of building. Running water from tank on rooftop. Sewage connection drops directly into open drain.

Typology C. One latrine for multiple households. A pit is dug and collects waste. Has to be emptied every couple of months. No running water.

Existing Urban Plans | Sample Sites

Site A. Parking Lot

Site B. Vacant Lot

Site C. Near Bus Stop

Site D. Rooftop

Site E. Under Overpass

Site F. Open Fields

Site G. Neighborhood Parks

Site C. Small Plaza

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Women walking over a mile to make a daily trip to the bathroom with children

Waste truck

Water tanks filled by city truck

Mother washing children

Woman cleaning laundry

Waste tank emptied by city truck

Multiple activities occurring around the water tap and bathrooms in parking lot

Researchers noting the activities and specifics of situation

When explaining the design process for the bathroom typologies, it is critical to contextualize some of the findings from the mapping process and research trip. The analysis of mapping made me aware of the lack of bathrooms available to low income households and through on the ground research, I cataloged types of public restrooms, where they were located, or where transitional and low income persons in the city congregated and could potentially use more facilities.

From the existing facilities, some of the main issues were lack of water and waste removal. Water is often brought via truck to these facilities, but this is unreliable due to competition for water so toilets can get backed up due to lack of water to flush. Addi-

tionally, some toilets don’t connect to proper sewage disposal and waste flows directly into open drains or streams which lead to the Yamuna.

Another key observation from on site research was what else the users were doing when they went to the bathrooms. The situation above shows a woman who brought children with her to get bathed, the children playing, some laundry to do, using the toilet, and taking water from the tap back to home. This is a process she has to go through and the collection of programs is helpful to make this trip more efficient. This bathroom type is an example from an urban village in Delhi located near shops, little restaurants, and a park as well.

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X-Small Typology | This bathroom prototype was design to live as a single toilet or to be aggregated into a group of toilets.

The small structure also houses a few different programs such as space for an ATM or vending machine, a shaded seating area, and space for washing hands. Because this prototype is the smallest scale, it can fit in places where some of the larger bathrooms cannot. It can be hard for water and waste trucks to reach this facility, but there are other modes of transportation that can tow out the waste such as the rickshaw. The X-Small bathroom uses primarily bamboo for construction as it can be locally sourced, can be pre-fabricated and transported to sites and erected quickly. This type can exist in dense urban areas,

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along roadways, under overpasses, in public parks, etc until more permanent facilities are able to be built. Once the facility is no longer needed in an area it can be quickly disassembled and reassembled elsewhere or recycled for an alternate use.

The use of bamboo for the facade material allows for light and air to penetrate into the space keeping the odor less than when in an enclosed, unventilated space. The two levels and dense bamboo cladding on one wall provide privacy for the interior.

The roof has a water catchment system to collect rainwater, however the primary water source for this typology is through water delivery to the bathroom facilities. These bathrooms require low maintenance which can be shared by the community.

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for the unit just below. The space is to be used by both men and women on different schedules over the course of the day. There are two toilets within the facility, a shared hand washing station, and a place to wash bodies and clothes. Similar to the small typology, the roof has the ability to collect and funnel water to the tank during rainy seasons. The structure is constructed out of bamboo and has a hinged facade which can swing up to provide additional shade during hot summer months. The bamboo facade here can further be used to hang wet towels and clothes to dry. This type is meant to be more permanent and therefore the water and sewer connections here would connect to the city infrastructural systems when possible.

Small Typology | Many informally constructed residences in Delhi are built incrementally over time. Typically when a dense informal settlement arises, the government will step in and provide some necessary services like public bathrooms in an open space or a garbage pick up location. It is very rare and or takes years before a bathroom can be added and connected to waste removal and water lines. Therefore this typology is something which can become funded by government, however it is more personal so the residents will have more agency to maintain the facility. This typology is located on the rooftops of the existing informal homes. The structure slightly cantilevers over the facade to provide shading and space to hang laundry

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Ground Floor Plan | Vending

First Floor Plan | Women’s Toilets

Second Floor Plan | Women’s Bathing

Third Floor Plan | Men’s Toilets

Fourth Floor Plan | Men’s Bathing

Fifth Floor Plan | Laundry

grey water from the laundry can be reused to flush the toilets.

On each floor are areas of seating and operable facades for further ventilation and clothes and towel hanging space. The exterior and interior of the staircases has a durable woven mesh material which provides enclosure for safety and further privacy for the bathing and bathroom spaces. Because this facility would serve several people each day, it should be connected to city water and sewage services and is meant to exist for a longer term. As one can see from the floor plans and section, the form of this typology is orthogonal on two sides and breaks this rule to expand the floor plates for additional space and for added circulation spaces.

Medium Typology | The Medium Typology rises vertically on small vacant lots in dense informal urban areas. This is a public shared facility which includes separate mens and womens toilets and bathing spaces, laundry area, water collection and sales, and vending. For privacy and safety concerns, the mens and womens circulation within this typology are separate. The organization from the ground floor to the fifth floor in this facility is critical. The womens bathing and bathroom spaces are on the first and second floors because they typically bring children with them and taking them up more flights of stairs would be challenging. Mens bathing and bathroom spaces exist on the third and fourth floors. On the fifth floor is laundry because the

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32’-6” 10m

41’-6” | 12.65m

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Large Typology | The large bathroom prototype is meant to expand horizontally in a more open public space. The programs featured in this type are separate mens and womens bathrooms including private bathing spaces, a vending space, bike storage, and an anganwadi (daycare). In addition, the rooftop and facade connect to the surrounding public space for playing, lounging, and gathering. Like in previous prototypes, the bamboo facade allows for hanging laundry. This typology can exist by connecting to existing city infrastructure systems or by constructing a waste tank underneath to be emptied by city truck. This facility includes the opportunity for electricity and therefore can operate 24 hours per day.

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65’-3” | 19.85m 77’-0” | 23.5m

X-Large Typology | The final typology is the x-large which is designed to be constructed in public areas such as neighborhood and city parks. This is the most formal and long-term facility and spreads out to include more public space and flexible facilities where the community can come not only for necessity but to gather as well. Built in a non-formal community this typology is constructed over top of a large waste tank which can be used for fertilizer and also emptied by city truck as needed. The water tanks can be filled by either city trucks or through connection to city water lines. On the raised platform are four key spaces surrounding a covered gathering area and drinking water station.

The programs include separate mens and womens bathrooms

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with bathing areas, a large vending space and an anganwadi for local children. The platform extends beyond the structures to provide lounging spaces along the facilities steps. The structure has electricity and therefore the bathroom spaces can operate 24 hours per day. The anganwadi and vending spaces have operable facades to open towards the public space. As this typology exists on one floor, there area a combination of bamboo walls for shade and ventilation and more solid walls made of concrete for privacy. This spacious facility has the opportunity to serve many people and even as private restrooms are more widely introduced, the additional programs will establish the importance of this facility in the community.

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Museum of Catastrophes

An Experiment of Translation and Empathy Towards Climate and It’s Impacts

Professor: Luis Pancorbo Crespo Year: Spring 2019 Category: Academic Project

Each of the experiences is laid out in a sequence where within the museum you can travel to one experience and learn how it connects to the next. The idea is to isolate and identify not just an overall experience such as earthquake, but to understand all of the extreme situations which can be a result of one such occurrence. For instance, shaking ground or falling objects or seeing the rubble post catastrophe. To further portray the experience, the design of the museum has a rhythm of extreme, compressed spaces which expand into moments of refuge interspersed along the path. This is to mimic the experience of a true catastrophe in how they occur and then pause until the next build up breaks.

The buildings program is organized along two circulation paths.

One which allows you to experience the catastrophes and another where you can experience the architecture without the intensity of the catastrophe. These two paths act in opposition to each other as one is for the everyday, a commuter or walking path through a garden, with light, breeze, and resting areas and the other with the catastrophes positioned along the path.

To conclude, as I was designing these spaces, I wanted to understand what are the qualities of space and how can these characteristics enhance the emotional experience throughout the museum. To try to achieve this, I worked with thickness, controlled viewpoints, darkness, careful design of experience along circulation, and focused moments of light.

“Southern California, often to it’s own surprise, has developed a style of urbanization that not only amplifies natural hazards but reactivates dormant hazards and creates hazards where none existed.”

- Wesley Marx, Acts of God Acts of Man, 1977 In reading about the history of catastrophes in Los Angeles, be they environmental, societal, or other, they so frequently occur in this place that for local residents there is an extreme fear of their surrounding environment and for those of us from a distance, it appears to become another repetitive news item in our inundation of daily media feeds. I found this to be a particularly intense and overwhelming reality and wanted to explore impacts and empathy through the design of a Museum of Catastrophes.

Focusing primarily on the environmental catastrophes, the research began by understanding the types, history, frequency, and spacial experience of these catastrophes which impact Los Angeles. It was also important to acknowledge and understand that people are not simply victims in this situation but likewise make daily decisions about how they treat and use or abuse their environments.

Thinking across the spectrum, from those who have never experienced catastrophes personally to those who are constantly at risk of exposure to catastrophes, the program of the Museum of Catastrophes emerged. Here, visitors will be able to feel, learn, and see how catastrophes may unfold, unpacking each of the extreme sub experiences which could be part of a catastrophe.

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When looking at a map of Los Angeles, it’s important to note the complexities and densities of potentially dangerous natural and unnatural disasters. We can see that there are very few places that haven’t been harmed or can be considered areas of refuge in the city. Additionally, the plus signs show just a few of the most renowned movies which tie into this narrative of disasters in Los Angeles. As media, both news and pop culture, portray the disasters in very extreme ways, how does that impact how we react to them when we see a more minor disaster or an unextreme event? Smaller natural and unnatural occurrences are then overlooked even though their longterm impact can accumulate and become as dangerous as large scale natural disasters.

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The conceptual model for the project asks us what is the cause and what is the effect. As we continue to extract from our environments, increase emissions, and not take daily and longterm actions to have more positive impacts, our environment responds. This model was intentionally double sided to say that while in one place you may take more away and you might not see the impact directly, it is likely having an impact on someone somewhere. All around more consciousness and new approaches to how we understand and see climate is critical to make any positive changes to the downhill direction the planet is going.

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What does a catastrophe feel like? Is it uneasy to stand on shaking ground? Do we feel anxious when we can’t see because of clouds of smoke or burnt debris? Do tight spaces of broken buildings make us feel claustrophobic? Unfortunately, these overwhelming conditions will be more frequently experienced by some of us as natural disasters become more regular and often times it is not those in the location the disaster occurs that are causing the largest impact on the environment. It is challenging to feel the way a climate victim feels when we are reading about a headline on news app. We might feel empathy for a brief moment, but then an advertisement appears and we tend to forget.

This museum will hopefully challenge people to understand in a new way through a more physical experience of catastrophes.

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This museum is primarily constructed out of concrete to create a feeling of a cool, dark shell where these experiences can occur.

While concrete can have warm impacts on a space in different architectural scenarios, here it is meant to be a place where the visitor is uncomfortable. This discomfort further enhances the our memory of the space. A precedent I was closely looking to and a building I remember with very particular detail is the Jewish Museum in Berlin by Daniel Libeskind. He used scale, directionality, light and dark, and compression and expansion, to create spaces which heightened the atmosphere for specific experiences he wanted the visitor to see. A similar approach was taken for this museum so we can attempt to understand what this must feel like for the victims.

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Baltimore Flexible Space Professor(s): Charlie Menefee Year: Spring 2018 Category: Academic Project

This project is meant to examine closely the detail of material and our relationship to the experience of it. Baltimore has a longer period of bitter cold which means during those months, people are trying to find comfort in their interior environments.

However in the summer, they want to spend as much time as they can outdoors. For this design development project, we were assigned a typical lot between two existing structures with a street in the front and the rear of the site. We had to occupy approximately 50% of the site footprint and could not exceed three stories in height to be of similar proportions to the surrounding context.

The approach to occupying the site was to position the building towards the south edge to provide a small public space on the

northern half of the site and to capture more of the northern light. The fins on the facade wrap around the entire exterior to and help to guide users into and up throughout the space.

The two primary materials used in the space are wood and concrete. Concrete becomes the shell of the space and forms a more continuous material surface. The wood offsets the continuity and breaks up the space into smaller increments. It also provides a softness for comfort in the otherwise cool shell.

Custom double hung windows line the facades to open the space in warmer months and allow for a natural breeze to enter the space. Finally the open floor plan offers a place where events or exhibitions, classes or community meetings could all take place.

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Step Step One: Step One: Identify One: Identify Identify maximum maximum maximum massing massing massing option onsite the site option option on on thethe site

Step Two: Reduce footprint onby site by Step Step Two: Two: Reduce Reduce footprint footprint on on sitesite by half through for through access access halfhalf for for through access

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Step Step Three: Three: Push Push and and facade pull to facade to allow to for for Step Three: Push and pullpull facade allow forallow more sunlight andand a secondary staircase more more sunlight sunlight aand secondary a secondary staircase staircase

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Step Four: Insert orthoganal mass within StepStep Four: Four: Insert Insert orthoganal orthoganal massmass within within manipulated facade to allow interior manipulated manipulated facade facade to allow to allow interior interior to to to maintain more usable dimensions maintain maintain moremore usable usable dimensions dimensions

Step Five: Five: Wrap Wrap exterior exterior pathway pathway StepStep Five: Wrap exterior pathway around around interior interior spaces spaces to connect to connect upper upper around interior spaces to connect upper and lower lower gardens gardens and and lower gardens

StepStep Six: Step Six: SunSix: Sun shading Sun shading shading system system defines system defines defines bothbothboth spaces spaces on spaces interior on interior on and interior and connections and connections connections to exterior to exterior to exterior spaces spaces spaces

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In looking at the primary or most frequent moments of human interaction throughout the building, such as the entrance door, railing along stairways or built in seating, I wanted to focus on what the user would see and feel at these common spaces. Because of the cooler climate, how does one make someone feel warm even when the temperature is below freezing. I believe material in architecture plays an important role in mediating our level of comfort in certain environments. In addition, the use of wood becomes a way finding device to guide one up and throughout the interior spaces. As you emerge on the highest level, the wood fins enclose you in a new way and the sensory experience shifts from a tactile one to a more visual experience of repetition, light and shadow.

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3’-9”

12’-6”

2”x8” Douglas-fir Glulam Fins

Reinforced Concrete 2” Rigid Foam Insulation

13’-3”

Double Paned Insulated Glass

1’-8”

Custom Pine Seat Covers

Detail Two

14’-3”

2”x4” Custom Douglas-fir Handrail

7’-6”

5’-9”

Detail Three

Detail One

Detail Four

5’-0” 5’-3”

13’-3” 19’-4”

10’-0”

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a. Custom pine seat covers b. 2”x8” Douglas fir glulam fins c. Steel framing system / installed from exterior d. #5 5/8” Steel rebar e. 2” Rigid foam insulation f. Reinforced concrete wall g. 1-1/2” 20 Gauge steel grate h. 1/4” L Shaped steel bracket i. 4” Drainage channel j. 4” Rigid foam insulation k. Waterproofing plastic sheet l. 4” Gravel m. Double pane insulated glazing

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Ground Floor Plan

Second Floor Plan

Roof Floor Plan

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Neighborhome

Domesticity and Our Relationship to Things Versus Each other Year: Spring 2020 Category: Competition

This proposition is meant to invoke a critical question: Do we truly find comfort in the myriad of debts endured towards owning our own home or can we find comfort in collective living?

Through scale and accumulation of private property, our focus in relationship to the home, across all economic backgrounds, becomes about obtaining wealth to maintain a lifestyle and purchase more things which get lost in the deep storage spaces of large single family homes, rather than a place for living with family, neighbors and self. The proposal preserves the minimum dwelling unit for privacy, self-reflection, and individual thought, while extracting several typically contained experiences of the individual home and redistributing them for collective use throughout the urban environment. This could be a unique domestic model where your neighborhood becomes an essential extension of your home unit and where residents are interacting more with others through public spaces. When repeated across a few blocks in a city it would be interesting how each group of residents brings a different identity to their neighborhomes.

In this example, the home unit has space for sleeping, working, basic storage, and bathrooms. Some of the spaces which are extracted from the home in this study, we can already find precedent for in our cities today. This includes laundry, collective kitchens, libraries and community study spaces, storage units, theaters, and parks or lawns. With each of these spaces distributed into the community, everyone has similar access to them and to each other. The project also questions the scale of a single family home. Currently, this study works on a grid where a family of 3-6 people could share 2-3 pixels vs a single person or couple could occupy .5 to 1 pixel.

The proposal requests of us to build and maintain a relationship with our family, friends and neighbors, with our neighborhood rather than a relationship with our economic growth. The idea of collective domesticity is increasingly important as it provides an opportunity to remember, interact, and engage with our similarities and differences through shared space.

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The exploded single family home on the left shows a series of many typical and extra spaces that one might find in this type of suburban home. When so many functions are built within one space it is rare that one needs or wants to leave. In addition, if every home on the block had a similar set of spaces, there would be a great amount of excess material used for spaces that are primarily sitting dormant. In addition, if there is less space there is less space for excess personal or individual belongings that distract us from experiences and relationships from others. Extracting underused spaces and making these more public would help reduce material used and increase interaction with those around us.

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When drawing this project, it was an exploration where I tried recording several typical activities that happen at a home and seeing if I have seen them in public space already and how this occurred or could be reconfigured within the context of this project. What I found was that many of these activities, I saw so frequently in public space because we enjoy being near or social with other people so it felt very natural when drawing the Neighborhome. The activities include, but are not limited to, reading or studying, watching movies with friends, playing, sleeping, eating, relaxing, dinner parties, cuddling, and working. While a smaller unit, many of these activities could still take place within the home if one wanted them to.

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Intersections with Infrastructure: An Exploration of What it Means to be Connected at Broadway Junction in East New York Professor(s): Matthew Jull Collaborators: Chris Weimann and Sam Johnson Year: Spring 2018 Category: Academic Project

The neighborhood surrounding Broadway Junction holds a unique position in East New York. As the city continues to expand, this well-connected node could become the next place of interest for development. Passing through its core are five New York City Subway lines and subway depot, several bus routes and a major bus depot, the Long Island Railroad, and a disconnected web of vehicular infrastructure.

While visiting the site, what emerged to the surface were stories of residents, local artists, urban planners and advocates for East New York, describing how they felt this was one of the last places in New York where they could make a mark on their city or have a say in their neighborhood. East New York has several smaller scale arts initiatives and community run programs, but to access commissioned art productions, residents have to travel over an hour via public transit to reach museums or theaters.

The project situates itself in this negotiation; between a city which is continuing to expand and a neighborhood wanting to maintain its identity. Through a careful investigation of the conditions of the site, a few key contextual relationships were identified to build on; a lack of pedestrian access between various transit modes acting on site, a lack of public spaces and social infrastructures

for the current and future populations of this neighborhood, and an opportunity to connect stakeholders to new spaces on the site through the use of existing infrastructure.

First, the project connects a series of parks and parking lots to create a ‘Central Park’ for East New York. Running along its perimeter and protecting this space from encroaching development is a series of buildings which are designed in relation to the various existing rail infrastructures on the site. These infrastructures are incorporated into the design providing access across the site, but also integrated into the landscape of the park, creating smaller informal performance spaces, and connecting to larger social programs of the market, theater, performing arts school, and HRA office building. As one travels around the central park through the programmed access loop, the spaces vary from underground to elevated. This key threshold of program becomes an incubator of activity opening to the park and the surrounding neighborhoods.

As East New York’s population continues to increase, this project will provide space for a cultural hub built on local identity to develop in relation to the unique existing programmatic, spacial and social characteristics of the neighborhood.

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East New York is a desirable location for those looking to own property in New York or for developers. The primarily single family homes and older low rise buildings in the area are much more cost effective than closer to Manhattan. With the existing transit hub, plethora of parking lots, and even some vacant lots, the area becomes even more appealing. As we created a proposal for this project, we wanted to keep in mind that outdoor public space and amenities are critical in moments of rapidly increasing development. The design of the project therefore begins with the demarcation of the public space and activates the entire perimeter where it connects to the community. As the city continues to grow, the public space will remain a central node in this neighborhood.

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To connect with the character of the place and the people who live there, we didn’t want to shy away from the intense infrastructural web, but rather embrace it. By integrating program that builds off of public and free performance spaces we wanted to provide flexible spaces where local artists and performers could provide entertainment closer to home. These programs and other amenity spaces attach to the vacant and still functioning infrastructures. As people begin to visit East New York, they will be met with the identity of arts and other aspects of this vibrant local culture. The program includes flexibility with scale so that small to large scale cultural events can begin to occur within their context and they don’t have to travel over an hour to Manhattan to perform.

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Urban Toolkit:

A Set of Strategies for the Revitalization of Toronto’s Portlands

Professor(s): Mona El Khafif Year: Spring 2019 Category: Academic Project

The municipal governance of Toronto sees this regional influence as a cause for densification of its major growth areas and conservation of those natural features that will allow Toronto to retain the distinction of a truly biophilic city. Contrasting to these idealistic goals, Toronto’s 10-year growth rate of over 200,000 residential units and 6.8 million square m of non-residential gross floor area reflects the development pressure that municipal leaders must prepare for in future densification measures.

Site specific solutions to these development pressures must reflect an understanding of the needs of the current and future citizen, developer, and those natureful inhabitants that rarely have a voice in these land use decisions. Temporary uses of waiting lands offers a mindful approach to development, and may prove a means of slowing or influencing these pressures to incorporate a greater variety of cultural and natural spaces for future generations.

With 790 acres of transformative space, Toronto’s Portlands offer an opportunity to innovate on a unique city realm, which at present is dominated by underutilized film and recreation spaces.

Selected sites within the Portlands provide the most appropriate spaces for these interventions, based on connectivity to neighboring city infrastructure to the North and West, and naturalized beach front and wetlands to the South.

To assist the city and developers with this transformation the project offers a ‘set design’ which can be implemented over time as more interest and investment becomes available. The set design includes a number of surface treatments, programs, and infrastructural improvements. The operations build off of what is currently happening on the site and around the city.

They are general enough at this moment to be implemented on other sites around the city where they can then be detailed with more specification.

Within each set card, a scenario is played out as to who might be the stakeholders involved to accomplish that particular improvement. On the final pages, the incremental process of implementation is visualized to show how and what this could look like over time.

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During the urban analysis phase, we studied the types of temporary events that take place in Toronto looking specifically at the months and times they take place, spaces where they are located, popularity and scale of events, and what types of service or support infrastructure and furnitures might be needed for the events success. We additionally, look at the strengths and weaknesses of the Portlands to identify primary and secondary areas we could act on the site and what existing programs we could collaborate with. Because this is such a large area, it was important to investigate the status of infrastructure on the site and how we could quickly make small changes to have a big impact on how people perceive this expansive industrial space.

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The toolkit is comprised of three main categories and could be further expanded as the area becomes further populated and presents new needs. The categories include program, surfaces and infrastructure. The programmatic toolkit includes ideas which can collaborate with the film studios on site, bring students and commercial activities to the site, and other leisure and eventually residential activity as well. The surfaces are ideas which focus on way finding and a graphic identity to change the memory of the Portlands. Finally, the infrastructural elements identify the connections between the Portlands and downtown Toronto that need to be upgraded or added so there is a more seamless connection between the two destinations.

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Master of Architecture ‘19 University of Virginia School of Architecture dle2eb@virginia.edu storagespace.haus Copyright 2021 by Darcy Engle All rights reserved.