ERIN PELLEGRINO Selected Works
Erin Pellegrino is an architectural designer, educator and innovator with an interest in design/build interventions with deep contextual relationships. Her most recent work focuses on a series of renovations of modernist structures on Martha’s Vineyard. She is a graduate of the Harvard Graduate School of Design and the Cornell University College of Architecture, Art, and Planning. She is currently a Visiting Critic at Cornell, leading a studio with Ben Nicholson that focuses on the form and function of birds and their nests. Her pedagogy manifests from the notion that the practice of architecture is also a project. As we move into the next generation of designers, the traditional methods of honing skills and craft both in school and in practice must be challeged. The profession is a collective project, one that design students, professionals, and veterans alike work towards maintaining and evolving. She has maintained her engagment both in academia and in built work, seeking and executing projects that align with these ideals and challenging traditional notions of the role of the architect in a project. The output of this work seeks to foster innovation, challenge process and engage new ideas. Beyond the level of the project, she actively explores the the bounds of representation and physical engagement through modelmaking, prototyping and cross-disciplinary collaborations. She was awarded a Design Honor Award by the American Institute of Architects, New England for the Alpine Shelter project in Slovenia. She was also awarded the Paul M. Heffernan Travel Fellowship, to travel and build the project in the Julian Alps. She has participated in lectures at IUAV in Venice, Italy, the Harvard Graduate School of Design, UVA in Charlottesville, Virginia, and at the Anchorage Museum in Alaska. Most recently, Alpine Shelter Skuta was awarded a Core77 Award for architecture in the built environment and was featured on the cover of Phaidon’s Environmental Living. The project was also nominated for the prestigious EU Mies Van Der Rohe award. Described as a “maker and a thinker with a strong emotive dimension to her work”, she is interested in the instrumentality of architecture. At Cornell, her design excellence was recognized with the Charles Goodwin Sands Memorial Medal for her thesis on architecture and
professional. Alpine Shelter Skuta Glasshouse Renovation Design Miami Schoolhouse South Africa
student work. The Magic Hedge: with Ben Nicholson Cornell University Fall 2017 Option Studio - B.Arch and M.Arch Students Small Scale Interventions with Sami Rintala, Dagur Eggertsson and Mark Cruvellier, Cornell University, Spring 2017 Option Studio - B.Arch and M.Arch Students Introduction To Architecture with Jim Williamson and Luben Dimcheff Cornell University, Summer 2014 Pre-College students
etcetera. Furniture Design Exhibition Design Industrial Design
ALPINE SHELTER SKUTA
Project Type: Design/Build Collaboration with OFIS Arhitekti, Frederick Kim and Katie MacDonald Summer 2015 The bivak is an object that represents a basic human necessity, a shelter. It is a symbol of refuge. The outer form and choice of materials were chosen to respond to the extreme mountain conditions, and also provide views to the greater landscape. Its position within the wilderness requires respect for natural resources, so the foundations are as minimal as possible as the object is temporary in nature. The design of the interior dictates modesty, totally subordinate to the function of the shelter. It provides shelter and accommodation for up to eight mountaineers. The project developed from a design studio led by OFIS partners Rok Oman and Spela Videcnik at the Harvard Graduate School of Design. In fall 2014, a studio of thirteen students tackled the challenges of designing an innovative yet practical shelter to meet the needs of the harsh alpine climate. Inspired by the vernacular architecture of Slovenia with its rich and diverse architectural heritage, the chosen project was designed by Frederick Kim, Katie MacDonald, and myself. The design consists of three modules, in part to allow for transport and also to programmatically divide the space The first module is designated for entry, storage and preparation of a modest dinner. The second module allows for both sleeping and socializing, with beds that face each other for communal eating and gathering.. The last is module is dedicated to sleeping, and from both sides of the shelter, one can experience the panoramic views of both Skuta, the valley, and the city of Ljubljana.
GLASSHOUSE RENOVATION
Martha’s Vineyard
The Glasshouse was originally designed by Chester Wisniewski, an apprentice to Frank Lloyd Wright, professor at Cooper Union for over two decades, and founder of Davis, Brody and Wisniewski (now Davis, Brody, and Bond). Its renovation is a constant process, as maintaining a glass building on the island is no easy task. The result, however, is a beautiful living space that blurs the boundaries between outside and inside. The layout is rational and functional to maximize utility and the connection to the exterior landscape. All of the private bedrooms open to an interior courtyard; this provides the interior circulation path amongst Japanese maple trees and a screened-in private garden. One makes use of the wraparound interior and exterior porch frequently, living does not happen solely within the house, but within nature as well. At sunset, the interior surfaces reflect the orange, red and yellow hues of the sky.
PITCH
Design Miami Finalist
Project Type: Competition Collaboration with Mikhail Grinwald, Katie MacDonald, & Jake Rudin; Engineering: AKT II Miami, Florida May 2015 Welcoming all to Design Miami, Pitch takes the vinyl tent as a provocation, not to reconsider the canopy as an overhead shelter, but to rethink the ground—to pitch the tent upside-down as a landscape. Visitors enter and exit the fair over, under, and through a geometric landscape that is both familiar and unexpected: structurally and materially similar to the existing tents, yet habitable and spatial in new ways. Sloped surfaces provide shaded seating for events and leisure, framing a courtyard and reorienting the entrance toward the Botanic Garden, Convention Center and the ocean. The interior surfaces of the pavilion are covered in low-resilience polyurethane ‘memory’ foam, which provides a safe and comfortable surface for play and relaxation. During the week of the show, the constant deformation of the foam is gradually imprinted on its surface and becomes a record of the event. In addition to the two existing Design Miami tents, the underside of the large slope is used as a partially enclosed public exhibition space. This ‘third tent’ will feature work from the Harvard Graduate School of Design, and will extend the fair-going experience to all visitors. Pitch is a play on the materiality and geometry of the tents as its immediate context, but also as widely recognizable features of Design Miami. At the conclusion of the fair, the pavilion will be recycled; the steel and aluminum will be processed at local facilities and the PVC membrane will be cut and manufactured into Design-Miami branded umbrellas, as a final iteration of the tent particularly well-suited to Miami’s beach culture. Pitch is a mediating interface—a vibrant public platform for Design Miami. Like a landscape, Pitch is illusory. From one view, it seems to extend out from the tents. From another, it is an excavation. The Design Miami logo is similarly animated as an anamorphic projection, coming into and out of alignment as visitors approach and enter the pavilion. After circulating through the exhibitions, fairgoers exit the tent into a small oasis and join passersby on
SCHOOLHOUSE SOUTH AFRICA Project Type: Design+Build Cornell University Sustainable Design Structural Systems, Spring 2012 The built project is a product of a two year process orchestrated by Cornell University Sustainable Design, an interdisciplinary student-led organization at Cornell University. Students, with the help of academic advisors and industry professionals, executed the project through a semester of research, a semester of design development integrated into the Bachelor of Architecture comprehensive design studio curriculum, and three months of construction. My design was chosen to adapt into the final build project. We collaborated with local partners in construction and education to refine the design. I was one of thirty student volunteers traveled to South Africa to construct the school alongside local laborers from the surrounding neighborhood, Cosmo City. Strong emphasis was placed on sustainable passive sustainable technologies to decrease cost and energy dependency. Conscientious decisions in resiliency are found in all dimensions of the project: the architectural design, construction methods, material production and purchasing, included facilities, project financing and day-to-day operations. A year after construction, the ECD center was still not connected to the grid. However, teachers and students explained that these passive technologies create a bright, warm, and efficacious school without the use of electricity, regardless of the lack of local infrastructure. This project was completed with generous support from Cornell University, in partnership with Education Africa,
SCHOOLHOUSE SOUTH AFRICA
professional. Alpine Shelter Skuta Glasshouse Renovation Design Miami Schoolhouse South Africa
student work. The Magic Hedge: with Ben Nicholson Cornell University Fall 2017 Option Studio - B.Arch and M.Arch Students Small Scale Interventions with Sami Rintala, Dagur Eggertsson and Mark Cruvellier, Cornell University, Spring 2017 Option Studio - B.Arch and M.Arch Students Introduction To Architecture with Jim Williamson and Luben Dimcheff Cornell University, Summer 2014 Pre-College students
etcetera. Furniture Design Exhibition Design Industrial Design
THE MAGIC HEDGE
Montrose Point, Illinois Ben Nicholson and Erin Pellegrino Fall 2017 Option Studio, Cornell University
There are some locations on Planet Earth whose ground is so saturated with ‘goings on’ that they plead for attention. Such a place is the Montrose Magic Hedge, a man-made spit of land in Chicago that pushes out into Lake Michigan. Once a base for Nike nuclear missiles defending the megalopolis, it is now a safe haven for over 400 species of birds on their semi-annual migration on the Mississippi Flyway. The pastoral setting, crisscrossed by eager-beaver bird watchers, also makes the perfect cover for illicit love. The studio will create a project for the intersection of Nukes, Migration and Forbidden Love: when the chips fall, these are sure to be three quintessential components of the 21 st century, prophetically speaking. The studio will begin by making a deep study of the life of a bird and its nest, utilizing the Cornell Ornithology Lab, the world’s center of bird study. An Everything Drawing will be created, a new form of architectural representation that combines the figurative, the technical, the textual and the diagrammatic aspects of what a project can be. The Everything Drawing will show the rich interconnections between predator & prey, materials & construction, systems of camouflage, gender roles, site weather, migration patterns and the immutable form of eggs. On one sheet, this new kind of architectural drawing will be created that demonstrates the rich interconnectivity of all that constitutes a construction, be it emotive, practical, political or global. The second project addresses the site. We will comb through its nuclear history, and study Chicago’s underground of illicit love. The nuts & bolts of the site will be pulled apart and everything examined, from the grand majesty of the weather-whipped dynamics of Lake Michigan to the disposal of oceans of trash on Chicago’s beaches. A similar Everything Drawing will be made of the rich politics and practicalities that compose rustic parkland within a pulsating urban fabric. Student work: Elie Boutros, B.Arch ‘18 Coco Tin B.Arch ‘19
THE MAGIC HEDGE
Montrose Point, Illinois Student work: Christina Zau, B.Arch ‘19 Maria Ding, B.Arch ‘19
SMALL SCALE INTERVENTIONS
Spring 2017 Option Studio, Cornell University Lofoten, Norway Sami Rintala, Dagur Eggertsson and Mark Cruvellier with Erin Pellegrino
The intention of this studio is to engage in the detailed design of site-specific, small-scale interventions within the context of large-scale natural landscapes. An essential challenge and objective will be to explore how to accomplish a lot with a little in such an environment. The project will be sited in northern Norway, the Lofoten peninsula in particular. Site specificity in such remote places has a lot to do with the human beings who have been living there for centuries, their culture and their understanding of their landscape. All this has generated an inner landscape which we need to explore and our intent is to work with a real client for a project (or several small ones) which in a few years from now could potentially be built in full scale. One of the possible tasks could be to design a watchtower overlooking a North Atlantic beach that is used for surfing competitions and that also can be used by tourists who are on the lookout for whales and sea birds. Such interventions will reflect and interpret their site closely. Moreover, they will be highly material specific and closely detailed, with wood being of primary but not necessarily exclusive interest. Prototype model building and material testing is intended to be done at large scale – e.g., 1:1 – even if not necessarily on site. Structural form and its relation to design ideas/ concepts will be of central focus and concern, as will be the close relation of these interventions to their immediate site and larger landscape context. Cold weather climate and dark winter days will be integral to design considerations, but so will be their opposites during the precious and light-filled Scandinavian summer. A field trip to Oslo and the northern Norwegian city of Bodø and the spectacular setting of the Lofoten Islands will take place. Vernacular as well as contemporary examples of Nordic architecture and other built works will be closely studied for the lessons they convey.
SMALL SCALE INTERVENTIONS
The Market
Spring 2017 Option Studio, Cornell University Lofoten, Norway Sami Rintala, Dagur Eggertsson and Mark Cruvellier with Erin Pellegrino
As one the primary components of the Fredvang Fiske Market scheme, the fish market space, acts as both a economic and social generator. The main market space is located within the bottom floor at the south end of the Trobjornsen building cluster. The flexible market space is surrounded by seven large sliding doors, and can be opened during summer months connecting inside the outside while also perceptually extending the market onto the adjacent dock. Corresponding to the material treatment of the bar and tower components, the ceiling of the market is a timber scrim which gradually changes density along its length. This Market is seen as a daily operated fresh fish market, with the opportunity to sponsor a weekend farmer’s market along the water’s edge.
Feasibility Report
Feedback
Design Process
Developed Scheme
Epilogue
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The Bar
The Tower
The bar, is a long rectangular extension of the existing restaurant space within the top floor of the Trobjornsen building cluster. This newly constructed space provides an intimate view of the harbor boats unloading and loading along the dock, visually connecting visitors to the active fishing industry within Fredvang. Along with the views of the dock activity, the floor to ceiling windows frame the magnificent mountain panorama across the far side of the harbor. The newly constructed rectangular frame (which slightly cantilevers over the dock below) has enough room for up to 16 people to sit eat and have a cold beer.
Like the bar, the tower acts as a device to visually connect visitors to the active fishing industry which surrounds the building site, however, instead of providing a close intimate visual of the activity along the dock, the tower allows visitors to see incoming boats and boats making their way out to sea. The tower is an unconditioned public space which can remain accessible at all times of the day, and enjoyed by both tourist and locals. The tower itself is clad with a wood screen which gradually densifies as you ascend the steps to the top. The further you climb the more insulated from the surrounding views you become until you reach the dramatic panorama of the summit. In addition, the tower steps become a main entrance point to access the restaurant for those walking along the dock from the north. This double function of the stairs is intended to increase connection between the second and ground levels.
Feasibility Report 108
Feedback
Design Process
Developed Scheme
Epilogue
Feasibility Report 110
Feedback
Design Process
Developed Scheme
Epilogue
Packaging + Shipping OVERVIEW
Packaging + Shipping 81
MODULE COMPONENTS ARE PLACED WITHIN SUPERSTRUCTURE ON-SITE
Deployment on Site MODULAR PROGRAM Each floor frames a certain view of the island, helping visitors locate themselves within the larger context and giving them information about the locations they are observing. The modular aspect of the tower allows the rotation of each floor to maintin a continuous circulation while changing the seating area and opening directions to face the different neighboring conditions.
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LEVEL 1
DRAUGEN
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LEVEL 2
RAMBERG
LEVEL 3
YTRESAND
LEVEL 4
FREDVANG
ROOF
Wayfinding Tower SMALL SCALE INTERVENTIONS
Assembly Breakdown MAIN COMPONENTS CORE + SUPERSTRUCTURE + STAIR + FACADE PANELS + GLAZING
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Spring 2017 Option Studio, Cornell University Lofoten, Norway Sami Rintala, Dagur Eggertsson and Mark Cruvellier with Erin Pellegrino
FINAL PROJECT
TERESA MORENO
PROFESSORS | LUBEN DIMCHEFF, HENRY RICHARDSON, AND JAMES WILLIAMSON TA | ERIN PELLEGRINO INTRODUCTION TO ARCHITECTURE | CORNELL AAP | SUMMER 2014
PROFESSORS | LUBEN DIMCHEFF, HENRY RICHARDSON, AND JAMES WILLIAMSON PROFESSORS | LUBEN DIMCHEFF, HENRY RICHARDSON, AND JAMES WILLIAMSON TA | ERIN PELLEGRINO
CORNELL SUMMER COLLEGE 2014
Arch 1110: Exploration in Architecture Program, Summer 2014 Luben Dimcheff, Jim Williamson; Instructors Erin Pellegrino, Teaching Associate Cornell University
The Introduction to Architecture Program is an intensive six-week course in Cornell’s College of Architecture, Art, and Planning that introduces high school and college students to architectural ideas, principles, and methods of exploring architectural problems in a studio setting. The Cornell Exploration in Architecture Program is a program of personal learning experiences focused on the built environment, to both stimulate and challenge students. Assignment are aimed at exposing to new ways of seeing and thinking about architecture, and introduceing all kinds of creative and imaginative design processes that allow architects to shape and control the built environment and that facilitate an architects’ way of seeing the world. Caption
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Founded on the basis that architecture is a discipline that requires both knowing and doing. Students are prepared to know by doing and to learn about architecture through both intellectual and hands-on engagement. We stress that architecture is an imaginative discipline that journeys between the everyday and the extraordinary.
PROFESSORS | LUBEN DIMCHEFF, HENRY RICHARDSON, AND JAM TA | ER
CORNELL SUMMER COLLEGE 2014
Arch 1110: Exploration in Architecture Program, Summer 2014 Luben Dimcheff, Jim Williamson; Instructors Erin Pellegrino, Teaching Associate Cornell University
PROFESSORS | LUBEN DIMCHEFF, HE FINAL PROJECT
ALIEEN HAN
professional. Alpine Shelter Skuta Glasshouse Renovation Design Miami Schoolhouse South Africa
student work. The Magic Hedge: with Ben Nicholson Cornell University Fall 2017 Option Studio - B.Arch and M.Arch Students Small Scale Interventions with Sami Rintala, Dagur Eggertsson and Mark Cruvellier, Cornell University, Spring 2017 Option Studio - B.Arch and M.Arch Students Introduction To Architecture with Jim Williamson and Luben Dimcheff Cornell University, Summer 2014 Pre-College students
etcetera. Furniture Design Exhibition Design Industrial Design
COFFEE TABLE
Collaboration with Jake Rudin
WORK SURFACE
Advisor: Bob Bertoia
EAMES RESTORATION
Restoring neglected icons
ASSOCIATION VOL... 6 Project Type: Publication Design Association, Editor-in-Chief Academic Year 2013-14 I served as Editor-in-Chief and head of branding and publication design for Association Vol..... 6. I designed and managed the production of 7000 copies of Cornell University’s student-run publication.
Collaboration with Katie MacDonald Kirkland Gallery Cambridge, Massachusetts April 2015 Fossa Olfactoria manifests smell as both an olfactory and tactile experience. While scent is oft unexplored or completely omitted from serious discussions of architecture, scent and odor shape experience, occupancy, and comfort in powerful ways. This installation brings the viewer into the epicenter of olfactory experience - the spatial cavity where the olfactory bulb is located playing on notions of scale, phenomena, and bodily experience. An immersive, fleshy fabric membrane obscures an undulating massing of one thousand balloons. The balloons act as both sculptors of space and vessels of scent. Each balloon contains a drop of lavender oil which is released into the air as the balloons deflate, producing a pulsing wall that diffuses scent gradually.
FOSSA OLFACTORIA Artist/Designer, Spring 2015
HABITATION IN EXTREME ENVIRONMENTS Harvard GSD, Spring 2015
Project Type: Custom Branding Re: Designs Designed and manufactured the logo, business card, and marketing material for Re: Designs.
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