J. Cameron Parkin Portfolio by J. Cameron Parkin

J. CAMERON PARKIN PORTFOLIO

CONTENTS Research

Sidewalk Labs Small Grant Program Coding a Biophilic Core Software Embedded Design Material Anatomies

06 08 16

Installations + Prototypes STARscape LinkLab Urban Armature

22 26 30

Practice Teeple Architects inc. nArchitects Bing Thom Architects Hosper Landscape and Urbanism

36 37 38 39

Teaching

ARCH 212 - Digital Fabrication ARC 611 - Advanced Digital Models ARC 193 - Design Studio ARC 113 - Visual & Digital Media

42 44 46 48

/// RESEARCH

SIDEWALK LABS SMALL GRANT PROGRAM Toronto /// 2018 Using species and habitat information gathered from open data sources and a computational work-flow developed in previous work, this research models bird movement between varying types of habitats surrounding Torontoâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Port Lands and Eastern Waterfront. The findings are presented in a series of maps that vividly illustrate regional habitat networks. Proposed developments in the region are tested for their effects on the networks, and a network intervention suggestions are made. By illuminating the ecological context surrounding Quayside and the Eastern Waterfront area, this research identifies opportunities for new developments to leverage these habitat networks to support and engage bird populations, strengthening regional ecosystems and improving neighbourhood vitality and wellbeing.

Methods developed in â&#x20AC;&#x153;Coding a Biophilic Coreâ&#x20AC;? by author Supervised by Maya Przybylski

PARKIN /// RESEARCH /// SIDEWALK LABS SMALL GRANT PROGRAM

Avian habitat networks and sighting hot-spots by habitat type in Sidewalk Labsâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; area of interest

CODING A BIOPHILIC CORE: Digital Design Tools for Toronto’s Avian Habitat Networks Toronto // 2018 This research develops a methodology for computationally sensing, illustrating, and utilizing avianfocused patch networks to locate and inform ecological interventions in dense urban settings. These interventions are designed to extend the range of regional avian ecosystems, promoting beneficial urbanite-fauna interaction, often referred to as biophilia. This research is in response to Toronto’s rapid densification, where in recent years, there has been a major increase of residential and mixed-use development in the downtown and central waterfront areas. Literature shows that as populations move to urban centers, there is a need for people to have access to thriving, biodiverse green space to foster mental health and environmental responsibility. At the same time, experts in landscape architecture and urbanism critique existing approaches to providing green space in cities, which often lead to sterile, ornamental lawns that limit urban biodiversity. To move beyond this approach, experts call for more dynamic and complex strategies in urban ecology. As a response, this work explores computational methods of modeling networks and habitats that are borrowed from landscape ecology, graph theory, and parametric architecture, in the pursuit of a design methodology that thrives amidst the complexity and dynamic nature of urban and ecological systems. The resulting body of work involves simulating two dimensional and threedimensional agent movement within patch networks, populating these networks with bird sighting data, and using this information to locate and inform a variety of intervention typologies. The work generated in this thesis is broken into three parts, with each part exploring a progressively smaller piece of urban fabric. The first part maps patch networks and suggests interventions in Toronto’s downtown and central waterfront, the second part explores how these interventions affect bird movement in the three-dimensional fabric of CityPlace and Fort York, and the final part composes an artificial habitat that attracts local bird species and acts as a biophilic amenity for urbanites in CityPlace’s Canoe Landing Park.

Supervised by Maya Przybylski Funded by the The Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada

PARKIN /// RESEARCH /// CODING A BIOPHILIC CORE

Intervention and mapping collage

Low movement resistance

GIS TREES

AERIAL TREES

VEGETATION

NATURAL COVER

GIS GRASS

AERIAL GRASS

GREEN SPACE

BUILDINGS

STREETS

WATER

High movement resistance

Exploded resistance and accommodation layers

PARKIN /// RESEARCH /// CODING A BIOPHILIC CORE

Agent network building process

PATCH ADD

PATCH ENHANCE

ECOTONE SPREAD

MATRIX SMOOTH

Intervention placement process

PATCH ADD

ECOTONE SPREAD

PATCH ENHANCE

MATRIX SMOOTH

Intervention strategies

Patch Add

Patch Enhance

Habitat network and Intervention locations - Detail

Ecotone Spread

Matrix Smooth

PARKIN /// RESEARCH /// CODING A BIOPHILIC CORE

Base mesh

Structural ribs, pixel division & allocation, sun study

Assigned plants + Nesting boxes Assembly generation process

PARKIN /// RESEARCH /// CODING A BIOPHILIC CORE

Fragments and views of (left to right) grassland, open woodland, and forest portions of Patch Enhance habitat intervention

SOFTWARE EMBEDDED DESIGN MATERIAL ANATOMIES Toronto // 2019 Architects are increasingly bundling digital components together with physical assemblies in their pursuit of responsive (or sentient, adaptive, interactive) architecture where hardware and software work together with physical assemblies to mediate the physical environment in real time. Given that architects are responsible for creating built environments capable of enhancing certain values while downplaying or rejecting others and also that digital components, such as software and data, have spatial, social and cultural in-and-off themselves, this practice, labelled here as softwareembedded design (SED), calls for a new set of obligations and methods for understanding and supporting architects’ engagement with their projects’ computational elements, their soft materials. This work advances efforts to build critical computational literacy for SED designers by introducing and testing an analytical framework which offers a new lens through which to consider the digital components used in SED projects. As soft materials become part of an architect’s toolkit, it is imperative that the values and objectives embedded in computational components of a project and the critical practice around their use match those projected and exhibited towards its physical elements.

Principle Investigator: Maya Przybylski Research Associate: Cam Parkin Research Assistants: Vincent Min and Alice Huang Funded by the The Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada

PARKIN /// RESEARCH /// SOFTWARE EMBEDDED DESIGN MATERIAL ANATOMIES

Drawing of FUTUREFORMS’ Murmur Wall foregrounding “soft materials”, inspired by Reyner Banham and François Dallegret’s illustrations

ACTIVE: consciously and deliberately participating in the project PASSIVE: contributing to the project without explicit knowledge or consent

ACTIVE/PASSIVE

PASSIVE

CITIZENS

COMMUNITY GROUPS

INSTITUTIONS

NON-HUMAN SPECIES

ENVIRONMENT

individual inhabitant of the project’s domain

groups of citizens working under a collective identity

corporate, governmental, research groups, project authors/owners

non-human fauna and ﬂora

climatic and environmental elements and systems such as water, air, soil

SITUATED/REMOTE

SITUATED

SITUATED: physical relationship to the project governs the nature of the engagement. REMOTE: engages with the project regardless of physical location

Participant types and attributes. The Project Anatomy Framework organizes participants into five categories and two subcategories

Writing Actions participants assign or alter values or states of the project

SET DEPLOY / DISTRIBUTE

CONFIGURE

Place or share a material assembly into a new context

(re)conﬁgure the elements of a material assembly. This can include hard materials but also soft materials such as data and processes.

CONTRIBUTE

Add to a material assembly (voluntarily or involuntarily). In a way that the contribution stays as part of the project after interaction ends

QUERY

BE SENSED

Request or retrieve a speciﬁc item or outcome

Set into motion a set of operations resulting in a reaction/response. – doesn’t stay in the project

USE

(catch-all term) employ a physical material assembly for its intended purpose. (Such as sitting on a bench)

EXPERIENCE

engage in a project’s atmosphere

COLLECT

Read or access predetermined streams of data

LEARN

gain or acquire knowledge/information

Reading Actions deﬁned by accessing or retrieving project amenities

GET

The Project Anatomy Framework identifies 9 types of actions available to participants 18

PARKIN /// RESEARCH /// SOFTWARE EMBEDDED DESIGN MATERIAL ANATOMIES

OUTCOMES ASSESMENT

Equity Access Participation Experience

Information Financial Opportunity

Connection

Amenity Visibility Engagement

Rights Security

Security Privacy Intellectual Property

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Learn

Query

Sensed

Configure

SET

Soft Mater

GET

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LEGEND Significant Value Increase

Significant Value Decrease

Potential Value Increase

Potential Value Decrease

Directional Connection

Project Anatomy and Outcomes Assessment of Amphibious Architecture [The Living, xClinic, Natalie Jeremijenko, and Chris Woebken] 19

/// INSTALLATIONS + PROTOTYPES

STARscape Toronto // 2017 Traditionally, a part of the Canadian identity is a connection to our vast natural landscapes. At night, our sky fills with stars that reveal an endless world beyond us. However, as our urban areas expand and the population moves to city centers, stars in our sky have become hidden by light pollution. What was once a crucial part of human storytelling, imagination, and navigation is now invisible to the majority of Canadians. By embracing both the fantasy of the untouched night sky and the reality of the urban condition, this installation asks us to reflect on our relationship with the stars while imagining how we could regain a connection to our vast skies. The installation takes the form of an undulating canopy stretching through an alleyway, encapsulating viewers in a veil of digitally-generated stars and constellations in constant motion. The mesh canopy reaches down to create pockets that surround occupants in projections of stars, while at the same time framing a view of the cityâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s dull and empty night sky. By alternating between these two conditions, STARscape both creates a sense of fantasy and reveals a stark reality.

Completed as a project lead with University of Waterlooâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s F_RM lab

PARKIN /// INSTALLATIONS + PROTOTYPES /// STARscape

Overhead view of Installation

Installation views 24

PARKIN /// INSTALLATIONS + PROTOTYPES /// STARscape

Surface curvature digital model 25

LINKLAB Waterloo // 2018 LinkLab is proposed platform to visualize load and deflection data collected from sensors located in an interior pedestrian bridge at University of Waterloo’s Engineering 7 building. To create an atmospheric field of light that is responsive to movement on the bridge, a series of radial acrylic “fins” are proposed. Each radial grouping is lit by a cylinder if LEDs that would change colour based on a custom script converting point sensor data into a field of activity. To gauge the atmosphere of light moving through acrylic fins, intensive testing of material, manipulation, and fabrication took place using a full scale prototype of a single radial group.

Project Directors: David Correa, Maya Przybylski Core Project Team: Cam Parkin, Shiobhan Allman, Boran Wang

PARKIN /// INSTALLATIONS + PROTOTYPES /// LINKLAB

Prototype detail view

Prototype

PARKIN /// INSTALLATIONS + PROTOTYPES /// LINKLAB

Installation proposal and design options

URBAN ARMATURE Waterloo // 2018 Urban Armature was designed and built as part of a graduate elective. The project brief asked the team to activate an underused and uninviting public space in front of the Gardiner Museum of ceramics. To ensure that the public was engaged and felt ownership over the space, the proposal suggested that the community was actually involved in the creation of the project. In the end, the activation took the form of two large pieces of urban furniture that invited the community to engage them through ceramic tiling events. The form of the project gently curves, alternating between seating, mosaic walls, and a bar. The two pieces engage the public at street level, before inviting them into and framing the upper public space.

Project Team: Negar Behzad, Suhaib Bhatti, Golnaz Djamshidi, Alexandra Hucik, Carly Kandrack, Ali Mohebali, Cam Parkin, Fotini Pitoglou, Danielle Rosen, Pavel Tsolov, and Anqi Zhang. Elective delivered by Jonathan Friedman

PARKIN /// INSTALLATIONS + PROTOTYPES /// URBAN ARMATURE

Installation providing seating and activity

Community engagement events

PARKIN /// INSTALLATIONS + PROTOTYPES /// URBAN ARMATURE

/// PRACTICE

TEEPLE ARCHITECTURE INC. Toronto, Ontario // Sept 2015 - Aug 2016 Student Architectural Intern

Nunavut Arctic College Expansion Category: Academic / Community Location: Iqaluit, NU Phase: Schematic Design Role: Design, Modeling, Visualization

Morgan State University Calvin & Tina Tyler Hall Student Services Center Category: Academic Location: Baltimore, MD, USA Phase: Schematic Design Role: Design, Modeling, Visualization

Bianca Condominiums

Category: Residential Location: Toronto, ON Phase: Re-zoning, Design Development Role: Project Manager

Miami Facade Renovation Category: Residential Location: Miami, FL Phase: Schematic Design Role: Project Lead

Seneca College Extension

Category: Academic Location: King City, Ontario Phase: P3 Competition Role: Design, Modeling, Visualization

PARKIN /// PRACTICE

nARCHITECTS Brooklyn, New York // Jan 2015 - April 2015 Architectural Assistant

Jack Layton Ferry Terminal Competition

Category: Park / Public Space / Transit Location: Toronto, ON Phase: Competition Role: Design, Scripting, Modeling, Visualization

Chicago Navy Pier

Category: Public Space / Pavilion / Kiosk Location: Chicago, IL Phase: Design Development Role: Design, Product Research

MIT Mercantile Building Category: Commercial Location: Cambridge, MA Phase: Schematic Design Role: Design, Modeling

BING THOM ARCHITECTS (Revery Architecture) Vancouver, B.C. // Jan 2014 - Aug 2014 Junior Designer

University of Chicago Center in Hong Kong Category: Academic Location: Hong Kong Phase: Schematic Design, Design Development Role: Site Documentation, Design, Modeling, Visualization

Banff Centre Campus Redevelopment Category: Cultural Location: Banff, AB Phase: Competition Role: Modeling, Visualization

PARKIN /// PRACTICE

HOSPER LANDSCAPE AND URBANISM Haarlem, Netherlands // April 2013 - June 2013 Landscape and Urban Design Intern

Brussels Public Square Category: Public Space Location: Brussels Phase: Schematic Design Role: Lead Designer

International Garden Festival Berlin Category: Park Location: Berlin Phase: Competition Role: Design, Presentation Drawings

Antwerp Park Groot Schijn

Category: Park Location: Antwerp Phase: Competition Role: Modeling, Presentation Drawings

/// TEACHING

ARCH 212 - DIGITAL FABRICATION University of Waterloo // 2018 + 2019 Authored and Delivered Course Description and Objectives (from course outline):

This course will introduce students to the tools, work-flows, and culture surrounding computeraided design/computer-aided manufacturing (CAD/CAM) and its creative applications within architecture. Students will learn how to work with CAD/CAM technologies while expanding their knowledge of two and three-dimensional CAD geometries that inform the digital fabrication process. Specifically, the course will cover 3D scanning, advanced mesh and surface manipulation in Rhinoceros 3D, Grasshopper, as well as 3D printing, CNC routing, and laser cutting. As this course runs parallel to the Arch 292 design studio, it will provide the ability for students to explore experimental forms using digital and physical models. This course will focus specifically on the role of models and making in design, as well as the translation between digital and physical as a fertile ground for design research. The course will begin in physical space, with maquettes created for the exploration of affect in Arch 292. Through the course, the maquettes will be 3D scanned, digitally manipulated and rationalized, before being fabricated using a series of tools and strategies. In addition to becoming literate in digital modeling and fabrication, students will be introduced to parametric / algorithmic / associative modeling. These tools will be employed to streamline and manage the complex geometries and work-flows generated in the course and create procedural design logics. By the end of the course, students will have a strong understanding of the strengths, limitations, and intricacies of different fabrication methods, and have the ability to think critically regarding what work-flows best suit the type of exploration, representation, or investigation they are pursuing.

2018 Student Feedback Quality of teaching: 4.5 / 5 Quality of course: 4.6 / 5

2019 Student Feedback Quality of teaching: 4.5 / 5 Quality of course: 4.5 / 5

â&#x20AC;&#x153;(Cam) is organized and sets out clear deliverables for projects. He keeps the class flexible and adjustable to what we are interested in working with while maintaining a clear understanding of what he expects from the projects. Lectures are a good length, class time and meetings for work are helpful, and the overall structure of the course is both intriguing and manageable.â&#x20AC;? - selected from anonymous student feedback

PARKIN /// TEACHING /// ARCH 212 - DIGITAL FABRICATION

Anya Chuprys, Eva Sabourin

ARCH 212 // Digital Fabrication // Study Index

Fabrication Method 01 // Iteration 01

Fabrication Method 02 // Iteration 01

Fabrication Method 03 // Iteration 01

Fabrication Method 01 // Iteration 02

Fabrication Method 02 // Iteration 02

Fabrication Method 03 // Iteration 02

Fabrication Method 01 // Iteration 03

Fabrication Method 02 // Iteration 03

Fabrication Method 03 // Iteration 03

3D printed, laser cut, and CNC milled student explorations based on 3D scanned mesh

ARC 611 - ADVANCED DIGITAL MODELS University at Buffalo // 2019 Authored and Delivered Course Description (from course outline):

This course will build upon methods of computerizing architectural representation and move into the territory of computational exploration. In Algorithmic Architecture, Kostas Terzidis explains the difference between computerization and computation, saying that the former involves digitizing “predetermined” and “well-defined” ideas, while computation involves exploration through logic and process, with the goal of “extending human intellect”.1 In the context of this course, we can think of creating digital models and renderings of preconceived design ideas for the purpose of communication as computerization and using digital models for procedurally driven design research as computation. This course will specifically address the use of computational models as generative, analytical, iterative, and rational tools in design. While we will exclusively use Rhino and Grasshopper for modeling and visual scripting, students will be equipped with an understanding of advanced modeling and programming that will make other software more approachable. Computational literacy will also be addressed through precedents and critical discussion of the role of these approaches in practice. In addition to exploring computation throughout the course, visual communication will be discussed and reinforced to ensure good habits and promote thoughtful representation of the complex relationships and assemblies that can coincide with computational approaches in design.

Objectives:

Part 1: Students will solidify their skills in Rhinoceros 3D while beginning to think about parameters, constraints, and procedures. Part 2: Students will apply understandings of modeling principles in a parametrically driven environment (Grasshopper). Part 3: Students will develop the ability to conceptualize a design computationally by creating a grasshopper script from scratch while working through the generation, analysis, development, and fabrication of a simple design. Part 4: Students will utilize a suite of software to produce rich and illustrative drawings that communicate complex relationships developed through the course.

2019 Student Feedback Quality of teaching: 4.4 / 5 Quality of course: 3.9 / 5

“Lectures were very informative, and exposed our class to stimulating examples. Tutorials were very helpful, presenting overall strategies, and specific tips for how to navigate different programs.” - selected from anonymous student feedback

PARKIN /// TEACHING /// ARC 611 - ADVANCED DIGITAL MODELS

Illustrations of field condition interventions: Students digitally represented far from equilibrium systems and computationally generated, analyzed, and iterated interventions to engage their system.

ARCH 193 - DESIGN STUDIO University of Waterloo // 2019 + 2020 Critic / Instructor Studio Coordinated by Maya Przybylski Course Description (from course outline):

During the 1A studio in the fall you developed key skills in spatial thinking and associated practices of its representation in both two and three dimensions. In this second design studio, you will continue the development of architectural design foundations, albeit in increasingly more complex contexts. Within this studio, architecture is treated as a practice-based discipline engaged by way of a variety of activities, or operations. For us, we understand these activities as constituting the drivers of architectural production and can include a variety of undertakings including but not limited to: spatial and geometric experiments, site analysis and mapping, material and tectonic explorations, and program- and user-based analysis. During the term we will foreground different sets of operations and explore their distinctive capacity to generate architectural ideas and drive their associated production. Recognizing that the development of an architectural project is shaped by the combination of activities used, you will be asked to take clear intellectual and design positions on what, why and how you design. You will be directly thinking about the strategies, methods and materials you use to help shape your ideas and forms. Along the way you will be asked to experiment, take risks, ask questions and pursue answers through design-related activities.

Objectives:

The goal of the studio is to continue the development of essential architectural concepts, techniques, and devices that you will practice throughout the rest of your design career. Specifically, the course will support: > Development of analytical skills through precedent, site and program analysis > Exploration and deployment of concepts at multiple scales > Positioning site, contexts and environments as conceptual drivers > Understanding and engaging materials in terms of their structural and spatial characteristics > Understanding and engaging material assemblies to support programmatic and experiential performance > Development of skills in self-criticality and design literacy to encourage iterative design strategies > Development of 2-D and 3-D representational skills and techniques to explore, advance and demonstrate architectural concepts. Description by Maya Przybylski

2019 Student Feedback Quality of teaching: 4.3 / 5

“Having Cam as a prof in studio was very useful. He always gave great feedback and suggestions without trying to overpower my project with his ideas. He really helped me push my ideas to their peak, and didn’t make me feel too overwhelmed. He always directly answered any questions I had, and gave me references to search up on my own. Overall I really appreciated all of Cam’s help and hope I can work with him again in future studio assignments.” - selected from anonymous student feedback

PARKIN /// TEACHING /// ARCH 193 - DESIGN STUDIO

Final library “plus” project. Students designed a small library plus additional community program along Toronto’s rail path. Students engaged design through programming, mapping, and tectonics, among other methods.

ARCH 113 - DIGITAL & VISUAL MEDIA University of Waterloo // 2019 + 2020 Authored and Delivered Course Description:

The course is structured as an introduction to digital representation techniques for the purpose of visually developing and communicating spatial ideas and architectural design concepts. Students will engage in the use of the computer, specifically through a series of applications, intended to be added to their already existing representational toolkit. Rhinoceros 3D will be the primary software used for Computer Aided Drafting/Modeling (CAD), with V-Ray being used for rendering. Adobe Creative Suite will serve as the graphic applications in the work flow. As you have learned in your first semester, the practice of drawing and model making are central to the architectural practice. This being said, there has been a massive shift towards digital tools in architecture, to the point of ubiquity. In this new digital realm, there are nearly infinite software and work flows the can offer efficiency, and expand creative boundaries. This being said, it is important to carefully consider the integration and application of digital tools in the practice, as blind adoption of these tools can present pitfalls. While a 3D model can be an invaluable tool to quickly develop formal relationships in your building, getting absorbed in the minutiae of a digital model can be distracting and crippling. While the ability to produce photo-realistic renders can be a convincing method to communicate a project, it can ignore the architect’s ability to establish visual hierarchy and evoke specific atmospheres. This course looks at the practice of digitally drawing, modeling, and rendering, and equips students with the ability to navigate and utilize digital tools in a nimble, efficient, and productive manner. Thus, the course seeks to not only equip students with technical skills, but with criticality and insight on the use of these tools in their work. Throughout this course, two goals of digital representation will be explored: inquiry, and communication. Inquiry refers to using drawings and models for oneself to test, learn, understand, and reveal, while communication refers to expressing established architectural motives and subtleties to someone else. These are by no means separate approaches, but both are key to consider in the practice of drawing, modeling, and representation.

Objectives:

1. Translate knowledge gained in Visual communication 1 to a digital work flow 2. Gather, evaluate, and utilize precedents to build toolkit of visual representation techniques 3. Develop custom methods of representation that foster a specific understanding of a selfauthored project

2019 Student Feedback Quality of teaching: 4.6 / 5 Quality of course: 4.6 / 5

“Cam Parkin was a great prof. His lectures/tutorials were set up in a great way and are always very organized. He obviously cared about getting the lesson across to the class, and this seemed more important than any final result which is great. He is always very friendly and makes himself very approachable.“ - selected from anonymous student feedback

PARKIN /// TEACHING /// ARCH 113 - DIGITAL & VISUAL MEDIA

Student “working hybrid” drawing: This course focused on carefully layering information in drawings to set up productive relationships between key project elements to leverage drawing as an operation design tool.

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