Architecture Portfolio by Francesca Zucchi

FRANCESCA ZUCCHI

â&#x20AC;&#x153;What are the most important things about life? The first one is simplicity, second one simplicity and of course the third one ... simplicityâ&#x20AC;? - Glenn Murcutt

BIO & RESUME My name is Francesca Zucchi. I was born and raised in Italy, where I also obtained my BS in Architecture from ‘Politecnico di Milano’. I first came to the US as an exchange student in high school and have returned for my MArch at Arizona State University. I decided to pursue my graduate studies there to gain a different prospective on the discipline, being America is a younger country, with a very different landscape, especially Arizona. I believe in an architecture that is responsive to place. Beside architecture, I appreciate all different forms of art from performing art to visual art to literature and poetry. I enjoy travelling and learning about different cultures and I am very interested in human and social behavior.

AWARDS ASSOCIATIONS

DESIGN EXCELLENCE AWARD | Spring 2014 Arizona State University | Tempe AZ USA DESIGN EXCELLENCE NOMINEE | Fall 2013 and Fall 2014 Arizona State University | Tempe AZ USA AMERICAN INSTITUTE OF ARCHITECTURE STUDENTS member

CONTACTS

fzucchi@asu.edu | 480 300 9467

EDUCATION

MASTER OF ARCHITECTURE (MARCH) | August 2013 - May 2015 Arizona State University | Tempe AZ USA BACHELOR OF SCIENCE | ARCHITECTURE | Sept 2009 - Sept 2012 Politecnico di Milano | Milan Italy Thesis | Row House Today - Typology variations according to new needs Case Study - Free Parcels at Borneo Sporenburg Amsterdam Graduated with honors - Cum Laude

PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE

OTHER EXPERIENCE

SKILLS

INTERESTS

PROJECTS

EXHIBITION DESIGN | BUILD Glenn Murcutt Exhibition MUSEUM EXPANSION Tacoma Art Museum ADAPTIVE REUSE AND RESKIN The Regency House CULTURAL CENTER A New Social Hub STUDENT HOUSING Mixed-Use Building FREE PARCEL Row House Typology

CASE STUDIES

MUSEU D’ART CONTEMPORANI Richard Meier WILLIS, FABER & DUMAS Norman Foster

PHOTOGRAPHY

PERSONAL WORK The Splitting of the Ego ARCHITECTURE Milan | Phoenix TRAVEL Italy | France

01 02 03 04 05 06 07 08 09 10 11

PROJECTS

EXHIBITION DESIGN | BUILD Fall 2014 | ASU, Tempe, AZ

Glenn Murcutt is an Australian, Pritzker Prize winner architect. The ‘Architecture for Place’ exhibition, which showcases his work, travelled to several countries before, but we were the first ones to bring it to the United States. We were provided with the exhibition panels and models by the Architecture Foundation Australia. We designed the space in a way that would allow to fit 185’ of panels while having only 138’ of wall space, conveying Glenn Murcutt’s philosophy. The project was conducted as a team of twelve students, from different disciplines, in collaboration with the ASU Museum staff at the Nelson Fine Art Center, and Professor Jack Debartolo 3 AIA. My role in the group was Head of Design. Website: www.gmexaz.org

CONCEPT “What are the most important things about life? The first one is simplicity, second one simplicity and of course the third one ... simplicity” - Glenn Murcutt

45°

SIMPLE MOVE

We were able to gain the needed wall space through one simple move, while establishing a relationship with the column grid of the exhisting building. We believed that simplicity would allow Glenn Murcutt’s work to stand out while being more in tune with his philosophy.

SUSPENDED PANELS

We also chose to suspend the panels off the walls and raise the middle wall off the ground for the same reasons. The middle wall carries the same datum of the panels on the exterior gallery walls, going from 2’ to 8’, guaranteeing continuity.

VALUES The values that we chose for the exhibition were Sense of Place, Discovery, the creation of a Dialogue and Simplicity, key points in Glenn Murcuttâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s philosophy. Through the following four moves we were able to manifest these established values.

THRESHOLDS

VIEWS

PROGRAM

CIRCULATION

HANDS-ON EXPERIENCE The studio was heavily hands-on. We worked a lot with models, which aided us in the group work and during reviews with professionals. Also, the full scale construction of the exhibition allowed us to learn and gain a new level of understanding of how things come together. The Construction Zone assisted us during the building phase.

MUSEUM EXPANSION

Spring 2014 | Tacoma, WA The project is a 16,000 sq ft expansion of the Tacoma Art Museum. The current building, designed by Antoine Predock, does not engage its surroundings and disappears in the gray Seattleâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s sky. We wanted to make this museum a landmark for the city, open to the public and its environment. In order to do so we decided to open the ground level by creating a plaza that could allow for diverse outdoor events. We also designed a skin for the building that would make it stand out while providing a sense of identity and shading for the glass facades. The renderings were done by my partner Michael LeMieux.

MAJOR MOVES To make the museum more welcoming to the public we pushed the building back from the street edge and created a plaza at the ground level. We addressed circulation of people both coming on foot or by public transportation from the main street and people driving to the museum and parking in the back. The new skin is an abstract representation of a brush stroke that hugs the building, embracing both structures as one. OUTDOOR PLAZA

CIRCULATION AND VIEWS

up dn

CONNECTION TO ART

PROGRAM In order for the building to better engage the public we made the walls of the sculpture gallery at the lobby level operable so that the entire bottom floor of the expansion can act as a public plaza. Also, we moved the cafe to a more prominent location to attract more people to the area. The new art galleries are placed at the upper level, surrounded by the circulation path that ends into a lounge area with an amazing view to Mount Rainier. Classes have been added to allow for more educational activities to take place at the museum. All the mechanical and storage areas have been placed in the lower two levels.

UPPER LEVEL (+1)

4 4

11 12

6 7 8

10 9

LOBBY LEVEL (0)

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18

Classroom Family Interactive Space Patio Gallery Lounge Event Space Orientation Museum Store CafĂ¨ Ticketing Restrooms Coat Check Sculpture Gallery Storage Mechanical Room Control Room Black Box Gallery Exhibition Space

15 OFFICE LEVEL (-1)

14 PARKING LEVEL (-2)

SCREEN The screen that embraces the building, which allows the museum to assume the role of a landmark in downtown Tacoma and acts as a shading structure for the upstairs gallery circulation, ties together the existing building with the new expansion. The structure is a space truss that is tied back to the building at the roof and floor of the second level. The screening is achieved with perforated metal panels mounted to the space truss on both sides. PERFORATED METAL PANEL SKIN

STEEL TUBE STRUCTURE

FACADE ASSEMBLY

BUILDING SECTION DETAIL

ADAPTIVE REUSE AND RESKIN Fall 2013 | Phoenix, AZ

The Regency House on Central Avenue is a 22 story high condominium that does not take advantage of its strategic location in the city and its position on the light rail route. The structure has a hostile appearance and does not provide any public amenities that would attract people to the area and possibly provide extra revenue to the building. Moreover, the Regency does not have any characteristic that ties it to its unique location of the Arizona desert, further enhancing its lack of belonging and connection to the area. My intention was to open the building to the public and reconnect it to its location. This project was conducted under the supervision of Professor Wendell Burnette FAIA.

MAJOR MOVES Two new volumes toward Central Ave will reconnect the building to its location and house new amenities and studio apartments, a new financial model for the Regency house. An updated facade made of copper, a material found in Arizona, will provide a new local identity to the building while shading its balconies via perforated sliding panels.

3 bedroom unit 2 bedroom unit 1 bedroom unit Studio 1 bedroom unit in a new volume

Current condition - 118 units

Public amenities in a new volume

New condition - 180 units + Amenities

New condition - Typ floor plan CREATE A FINANCIAL MODEL

RECONNECT TO CENTRAL AVENUE

RECONNECT TO ARIZONA

UPDATE MATERIALS AND PROVIDE SHADE

NEW PUBLIC AND PRIVATE AMENITIES The ground level of the building introduces new public amenities toward Central Ave and new private amenities to the residents in the back of the property. Also, the new northern volume houses new public amenities, like retail, a hotel, a restaurant and lounge and a park, that will attract more people and revenue to the area.

Central Ave

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12

Coffee Shop Elevator Lobby Outdoor sitting area Bistro Lobby Lounge Laundry room Office Library/Bar Pool Gym Spa

Light rail station

2 3

6 7

Public Private Public Access Private Access

N FLOOR PLAN - GROUND LEVEL

Lounge bar Restaurant

Hotel

Park

Retail

Cafè

SCALE 1/16”=1’-0”

Bistro

2 2

FACADE DETAILS The facade is made of copper panels, some perforated, some press formed, some operable and some fixed. The panels are movable in front of the balconies, to allow the resident to control the amount of sun light that enters the room, while they are fixed in front of the receded windows. The pattern of the copper panels is an abstraction of the vascular tissue of a Saguaro cactus, strengthening even more the local identity of the building.

Press formed and perforated 16 ounce copper panel with 3-1/2” x 3” x 1/4” galvanized steel angles with a ball bearing roller or roller guide

Continuous back to back 3-1/2” x 3-1/2” x 1/4” angles with (2) 5/8” diam expansion anchors @ each angle @ 24” o.c. at existing concrete slab

Painted steel balcony railing (3/4” x 3 - 3/8” top railing and 1/4” x 3/4” x 3’ vertical members) Sliding glass wall (NanaWall HSW60 -aluminum extruded frame with double insulating low-E argon fill safety glass) SCALE 1/2”=1’-0”

CULTURAL CENTER

Fall 2011 | El Rocìo, Spain El Rocìo is a small town in the Parque Nacional de Doñana, between Sevilla, Huelva and Cadìz, in Andalusia. Every year, during the week of Pentecost, nearly a million people come here for the pilgrimage to the Virgin Mary of El Rocìo. The town comes alive during that week, but is then left almost abandoned the rest of the year. In a future scenario where oceans rise El Rocìo would be on the water, becoming a strategic port town between Cadiz and Huelva. Our project proposes to introduce a new area to the city where a cultural center would rise, attracting people from all over the world throughout the entire year, bringing new life to this town. The project allowed us to collaborate with the Universidad the Sevilla during a ten day workshop held between Sevilla and El Rocìo.

FORM GENERATION The forms of our buildings were generated from a study of the geometry, grids and folds of the city, infrastructures and water.

PROGRAM The cultural center introduces a facility that allows for different activities to take place in this new area of the city. Lectures and exhibitions are some of the opportunities that these new buildings offer, allowing for activities to take place year round.

4 3 8 2

1 4 4

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8

Access ramp Lobby Conference hall Exhibition space Restaurant Gathering area Office Restrooms

05 STUDENT HOUSING Spring 2014 | Bergamo, Italy The old, dismantled train station in the Southern area of the city is in the process of being repurposed. One of the desired programs for the area is a mixed-use student housing complex that would host public amenities for the community while providing room for students. A change in elevation occurs at the northern edge of the lot, making it a challenge to connect the two sides. To tackle the issue we decided to place the public amenities at the lower three levels connecting the lower plaza to the Northern park via a portal and a ramp. Sustainability and energy efficiency are considered according to current practices. The energy efficiency was reached by studying sun paths and shaping the volumes accordingly. Also, solar panels cover the roofs allowing for a Net Zero building.

MASTERPLAN The masterplan for this project allows the new building to tie strong connections to the surroundings via existing force lines. The southern volume is lower than the northern one to avoid shading during the colder months. The opening between the buildings allows for an urban forest and a plaza that connects the street to the northern park via a portal, new view to the city.

ALIGNMENTS AND PRIMARY AXIS

NEW CONNECTIONS

GENERAL STRATEGY AND LAYOUT

PUBLIC / PRIVATE SPACES

1 2 3 4 5 6

Public Plaza Cultural Center Retail Library Access CafĂ¨ Bus Stop

3 1

5 3 4

N GROUND LEVEL

HOUSING AND SUN EXPOSURE The student rooms are positioned on the south side of the residential floors to allow for a better sun exposure. A light shelf is introduced at each window at one third of the heights and on the east side of the window as a shading device in the summer months and a light diffuser throughout the year, allowing for the room to be further lit inside the space. The split window allows for a better ventilation of the space.

2 1

SUMMER SUN

ROOM VENTILATION

WINTER SUN

1 2 3

Light Shelf Operable Window Fixed Window

SINGLE ROOM

2 BEDROOM APARTMENT

1 5 4 2

PRODUCED BY AN AUTODESK EDUCATIONAL PRODUCT

3 1 2

4 1

HOUSING LEVEL (TYP) 4 AND ABOVE

1 2 3 4 5

Terrace Study room Kitchen Lounge Laundry room

BRIDGE CONNECTION The suspended pathway between the two buildings allows for a direct connection of the two volumes and access to the northern park. This allows for a more efficient access to the programs located in both buildings and the private rooms.

06 FREE PARCEL Spring 2011 | Amsterdam, NL The Free Parcels are row houses that are part of the new masterplan for the former port of Amsterdam. Our project was about designing the end unit lot, a unique typology since it has three open sides instead of two, like a typical row house. This project got me really interested in housing typology and especially row houses to the point that I developed my undergraduate thesis on the topic. Through my thesis I explored how the row house typology has changed according to the new needs of current society, basing my argument on the Free Parcels as a case study.

LIGHTHOUSE The unit assigned was the end unit. Based on the fact that this district used to be the port of Amsterdam, we decided to use the concept of a lighthouse, a beacon for the area. To express this idea we provided the unit with large windows that radiate a lot of light at night.

EAST ELEVATION

PROGRAM We tried to utilize the small lot as efficiently as possible, allowing for wide views over the canal. The living spaces are kept at the lower levels, while the sleeping areas are at the higher ones, with the exception for the music room which stands above all, with direct access to the rooftop terrace.

FOURTH FLOOR

THIRD FLOOR

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11

Entryway Garage Kitchen Dining area Living room Bar Study Master bedroom Bedroom Music room Roof Terrace

SECOND FLOOR

2 4

3 1

FIRST FLOOR

LONGITUDINAL SECTION

DETAILED SECTION

Drawing the entire detailed section allowed us to really understand how this building comes together. The exterior slate tile cladding is held off the insulation to allow for an air gap in between, which better protects the building from temperature shifts. Operable louvers shade the glazing while radiant floors heat the building.

2 5 3 4

6 8

1 6

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8

Flashing Slate tile cladding ( 53x60x4 cm ) Air gap ( 7 cm ) Thermal insulation ( 6 cm ) â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;Porotonâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; blocks ( 30x30x25 cm ) Horizontal rail profile Operable louvers Glazing

4 7

8 A - DETAIL

CASE STUDIES

MUSEU Dâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ART CONTEMPORANI Spring 2014 | Richard Meier

These case study drawings were developed during the 1st year of my Master of Architecture. The goal of these drawings is to represent the essence of the chosen building through the composition of one image that provides as much information about it as possible in a critical way.w The Museu dâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;Art Contemporani in Barcelona is a very unique space. The outdoor plaza is extended inside the museum, both visually and physically. Great importance is given to this connection, while the gallery spaces are not as well considered, especially in regard of lighting. I tried to capture this character in my drawing by animating the outdoor-indoor plaza and by leaving the gallery spaces empty, not being the most important spaces in this museum.

WILLIS, FABER & DUMAS Fall 2013 | Norman Foster

The Willis, Faber and Dumas Headquarter in Ipswich, England has a glass curtain wall facade that allows the building to reflect its surroundings during the day, while the interior lighting make the structure glow like a lantern at night, showcasing the building to the area. The main concept for this building therefore is to establish a dialogue with its environment, sometime disappearing and sometimes being at the center of attention. The 1/2”=1’-0” model helped me gain a greater understanding of the facade system and its connections, made of silicone and small steel plates.

PHOTOGRAPHY

09 PERSONAL WORK Splitting of the Ego I have always been fascinated with this topic both in literature and psychology. The main concept is that in ourselves we are split between our consciousness and unconsciousness, always in conflict with each other. When we present ourselves to others we tend to only show a part of us, never the totality of who we really are, of which at times we are still unaware of. This project tries to creatively represent this topic. The half that is physically missing from these objects stands to represent the half of ourselves that we do not show to ourselves or others.

10 ARCHITECTURE Torre Velasca | Corso Italia | Milan, Italy Photographing architecture is a way for me to gain a greater understanding of the subject at hand. These two buildings are icons for the city of Milan. They are part of the post war history of the city. I did my undergraduate degree in Milan and discovering these gems throughout the city has been inspiring in my way of viewing the city and architecture. In Europe we always have to deal with the pre existing historic buildings and It was interesting to study the different types of architecture that made the city throughout the years and how they dealt with their pre existences.

ARCHITECTURE Byrne House | Will Bruder Architects During the Summer of 2014 I interned at Will Bruder Architects. I was lucky enough to be able to go with Mr. Bruder to see a few of his projects and get an insightful understanding of them through his eyes. The Byrne Residence in particular stood out to me for its relationship to the surrounding desert landscape and its unique use of materials. The walls are almost all slanted to different angles creating great prospective and interesting spatial relationships. The interior and exterior spaces are blurred by large glazing where the frames disappear and leave space for the landscape to flood the interiors.

11 TRAVEL Florence | Rome | Paris Italy is my home, where I was born and raised under the influence of its strong and deeply rooted culture. It is there where I learned about beauty and architecture, where I developed a passion for art and literature. In Italy, as in most European countries, new architecture always has to understand, respect and dialogue with the pre existing historic buildings. Travelling to cities like Florence, Rome and Paris allowed me to gain a greater appreciation and understanding of these realities.

fzucchi@asu.edu | 480 300 9467