I. ARCHITECTURE
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“Jessica’s combination of live performance, film, installation was, for me, one of the best thesis projects presented. It was synthetic yet expansive, provocative but at times calming. I think it successfully expanded the field within which students can operate during thesis without risking the possibility of moving away from the architectural towards the purely theatrical.” - Peter Zellner (SCI-Arc Faculty) Graduate Thesis 2011
Graduate Thesis Professor - Coy Howard
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PORTFOLIO
t is a thing, a thing more easily experienced than explained. It is about this moment rather than the fantasy of a moment, and I welcome you, the audience to witness this moment performed here today. It is my small and humble version of total design, a gesamthunstwerk, and a synthesis of many mediums in a contemporary version of the Baroque tradition. This performance is about confounding perceptions and associations, a hypertrophic and hysterical form of histrionics. It is about blending shapes which have rich associational qualities, colors, graphics, representational content and historicism, to create exaggerated experience. It is about the architecture of the human body, the interiors and exteriors, and the metamorphosis between inside and out. It is a suspension of reality and it is real.
Inside-Out/ Outside In Thesis Performance: Friday, Saturday and Sunday September 9, 10, and 11 SCI ARC’s Keck Hall Limited Seating Available Showtimes to be Announced
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Inside-Out/ Outside In Thesis Performance: Friday, Saturday and Sunday September 9, 10, and 11 SCI ARC’s Keck Hall Limited Seating Available Showtimes to be Announced
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Skyscraper Professor - Coy Howard
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PORTFOLIO
n this project for a high-rise fashion institute, I mixed sculpture, collage, photography, and digital tools to guide my design. Art and architecture are so intricately related in the design process that it is unjust to separate the disciplines. The resulting building is composed as if it were a painting.
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Principles of the Rhizome - Deleuze and Guattari I. Principles of connection and heterogeneity: any point of this system can be connected to anything other, and must be II. Principle of multiplicity: only when the multiple is effectively treated as a substantive, “multiplicity” that it ceases to have any relation to the One. III. Principle of a signifying rupture: this system may be broken, but it will start up again on one of its old lines, or on new lines. IV. Principle of cartography and decalcomania: this system is not amenable to any structural or generative model; it is a “map and not a tracing.”
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Biogenetically Engineered Life Professor - Sir Peter Cook
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PORTFOLIO
he goal of this project was to imagine the future of a specific location. Looking at the work of J.G. Ballard and other prominent science fiction writers, I designed genetically engineered first-aid agents which grow in response to the needs of the victims trapped in the fictitious Los Angeles earthquake. In an attempt to reach the people affected by the earthquake, the system of genetically modified agents adapt to the conditions of their environment. Based on certain parameters synthetic ‘seeds’ grow into organic machines that satisfy specific needs of the people in that location. These agents create a new adaptive infrastructure to replace the wreckage of the old freeways and transportation grids. Each agent communicates with each other along countless invisible electrical and chemical connections without physically touching similar to the organizational system of the internet or human brain.
Biogenetically Engineered Life The destruction of Los Angeles has been the central theme or dominating image in more than a hundred and fifty novels, short stories, and films. Moreover, since 1960, the city and its suburbs have been destroyed in narrative an average of three times a year with the rate accelerating since the 1990s. After the great earthquake in 2020, the megalopolis of Los Angeles was hardest hit through the center of downtown, a region that served as a crossroads of the major infrastructure for the twentieth century. The freeways, power lines, river, railroad, and bridges were all affected. Fires erupted and medical response teams were unable to reach those trapped in the rubble. Despite the tragedy and devastation, people continued to live in the downtown area.
economic loss
displaced households
82-252 billion
142,000-735,000
need of public shelter
fatalities
42,000-211,000
3,000-18,000
costliest disaster in U.S. history
costliest disaster in U.S. history
debris
30,000-735,000 measured in tons
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Energy Supply
Organizational System
toxic clean
first aid
energy
leaves
fire retardant
one use biodegradable needles
solar leaves
roots
consumes toxin
pain relief
siphons oil runoff
fruit
stores clean water
antibacterial bandages
stores gasoline
stem
air filtration
light
conducts electricity
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toxic clean up hybrid medical supply hybrid energy supply
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Beyond Architecture
T
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PORTFOLIO
his chapter contains a selection of photography, poetry, furniture, and animation completed during my time at SCI-Arc.
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Poem Bleed Blood Bupkis Belly Bold Bottomless Pucker Puss Piss and Cold Sly Sucker Fucker Fish Fold Sequin Dress Feather Fuss Sell, Sell, Sold
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Photographic Portrait
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Architect Hernan Diaz-Alonso, one of my lecturers at SCI-Arc, posed for this portrait I took. He intends to use it as his official publicity shot. opposite page: I made this picture frame using found materials.
The Tree House
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The Tree House Sin Sin, Come on in ‘cause nobody knows where the Hell you’ve been Dance off your pretty little skin and have some good bad dreams with a bottle full of gin and a pistol in your jeans
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“Now architecture really needs a kiss, to kiss, and a theory of kissing.”
“Two People Kissing always look like fish”
- Sylvia Lavin
- Andy Warhol
Kiss/Kiss Professor - Florencia Pita
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PORTFOLIO
edia is like a kiss. Using 3D-printed models I made a short animation that was informed by the writing of architecture critic Sylvia Lavin. Media is capable of creating intense affective environments. It is more than purely intellectual; it is emotional. It appreciates intuition. Light, color, movement, perspective, and texture; all of these choices of composition cannot be successfully orchestrated in a purely intellectual manner. There must be passion. There must be a kiss.
Kiss/Kiss
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Perspective 01
Perspective 02
Perspective 03
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“Jessica’s project turned out to be one of the most fun, inventive, and atmospheric projects in the class. It was based on pneumatic structures, with studies done in both actual materials and real-time digital simulations. The work exceeded the territory of 2GA, which is really a fundamentals studio. It raised the bar for other students.” - Tom Wiscombe (SCI-Arc Faculty)
Pneumatic Museum Professor - Tom Wiscombe
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PORTFOLIO
n response to a competition brief for a Science and Technology museum I designed an inflatable and portable building. The building would itself be representative of contemporary scientific technologies, utilizing new materials such as tensotherm fabric and carbon fiber tubing, and it would be complimented by the close proximity of the iconic Los Angeles Natural History Museum.
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Steel Tube Connection Plate Bolted Steel Connection Plate
7'10-3/8"
23'2-5/8"
19'7"
5'1-1/8"
2” ETFE Fabric with Aerogel Insulation Layers
Glass Handrail
6'10"
1" 3'0-1/2"
A8.5 1 Reinforced Concrete Column
Welded Steel Column A8.5 2
0-3/4"
11-1/4" 1'0"
1"
43'3-1/4"
8'0"
Welded Steel Column
Finished Ceiling Reinforced Concrete Slab
6'11-7/8"
Reinforced Concrete Column
21'3-7/8"
APRIL 2010
A8.4 2
10'10-1/8"
18'0"
DATE
1'0"
Steel Finish Plate
6"
1'0"
A8.4 Wall Section
7-1/2"
1'0"
Reinforced Concrete Curb
Reinforced Concrete Slab Finished Ceiling
A8.4 1
DATE
March
z JEBZ Archit
PROJECT
SCALE 1’0” = 3/8”
Wa
TITLE
900 Exposi Los Angel
Exp Lo
Ene
200 N Los A
The
Mar
DE ISS
Zachary Te Jessica Bru Emily Rob Elizabeth
2"
JEBZ
1580 Hype Los Angel 213.321.86 213,321.98
Eliza
JE
213.321.68 213.687.98
3320 Hami Los Angel
ARCHI
6” Steel Tube
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Toronto Ecological Studies Professor - Eric Kahn
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PORTFOLIO
he following work demonstrates a selection of preliminary environmental research and graphic design studies for the Saint Lawrence Market North Building Design Competition, issued by the City of Toronto, and to be built in Toronto’s historical market district. The competition calls for a marketplace and court building. The market is intended to house the popular local farmers market and antique fair and pose as a rentable event space. The court’s primary function is to raise revenue from parking tickets and perform civil service duties. The juxtaposition of the court house and marketplace programs maintain the tradition of the marketplace as the historical public meeting arena, thus housing all public services. Within the brief there is a clear separation of these two primary functions. There is also a bias favoring a stacked market place with court functions above.
Waterfront
1780
1850
1890
1920
2010
change of tree line change of agricultural fields change in urban area change in shore line
Taddle Creek
Victoria Creek
Court Creek
Cathedral Creek
Newgate Creek Old Shore Line
Station Creek
Leader Creek
Taddle Creek
Victoria Creek
Court Creek
Cathedral Creek
Newgate Creek Old Shore Line
Leader Creek
Station Creek
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Immigration
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The Anatomy of Migration BirdsÊ existÊ naturallyÊ inÊ urbanÊ areas,Ê withÊ someÊ speciesÊ becomingÊ particularlyÊ adeptÊ atÊ livingÊ inÊ cities.Ê TheseÊ yearÊ roundÊ residentÊ birdsÊ includeÊ pigeons,Ê gulls,Ê cardinals,Ê HouseÊ SparrowsÊ andÊ EuropeanÊ Starlings.Ê DuringÊ theÊ twoÊ annualÊ migrationÊ periods,Ê theÊ residentÊ birdÊ populationÊ experiencesÊaÊsignificantÊinfluxÊofÊmigratoryÊbirds. TheseÊ areÊ birdsÊ observingÊ theirÊ annualÊ cycleÊ ofÊ migrationÊ northÊ inÊ theÊ springÊ toÊ theirÊ summerÊ breedingÊgroundsÊandÊsouthÊinÊtheÊfallÊtoÊwarmerÊ regionsÊ whereÊ theyÊ spendÊ theÊ winter.Ê MostÊ migratoryÊ birdÊ speciesÊ areÊ unableÊ toÊ adaptÊ toÊ livingÊinÊcities.ÊDuringÊtheirÊbiannualÊflyoversÊtheyÊ becomeÊ confusedÊ byÊ theÊ combinationÊ ofÊ lightÊ pollutionÊ andÊ theÊ effectsÊ ofÊ glassÊ inÊ theÊ urbanÊ environment.Ê ThisÊoftenÊresultsÊinÊsignificantÊnumbersÊofÊbirdsÊ collidingÊwithÊbuildings.Ê TheÊ redÊ areaÊ indicatesÊ theÊ areaÊ ofÊ downtown,Ê whereÊfood,Êliving,Êshopping,Êentertainment,ÊandÊ night-lifeÊ areÊ allÊ accessibleÊ onÊ foot,Ê withinÊ 5Ê minutesÊofÊeachÊother.
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ThreeÊPrimaryÊAreasÊofÊEnviromentalÊTransformation
1 PrimaryÊareaÊofÊman-madeÊtransformation EssentialÊingredients surplusÊofÊnaturalÊresourcesÊ importmentÊofÊadditionalÊnon-local,Ênon-nativeÊresources humanÊlabor,Ê(mostÊlikelyÊwithÊtheÊassistanceÊofÊmachinery)
2 PrimaryÊareaÊofÊman-madeÊ/ÊnatualÊtransformation EssentialÊingredients sourceÊofÊdisposableÊresourcesÊ(brick,Êtin,Êcement,Êetc.) sourceÊofÊnativeÊtimberÊtoÊconstructÊcontainersÊforÊdisposableÊresources sourceÊofÊsand,ÊfromÊoceanÊcurrents,ÊeventuallyÊcoveringÊconstructedÊcontainers.ÊÊ
1780 1850 1890
3
1920 2010
PrimaryÊareaÊofÊnaturalÊtransformation EssentialÊingredients sourceÊofÊsand onshoreÊbreezesÊtoÊmoveÊsandÊinland vegetationÊtoÊtrapÊandÊanchorÊtheÊsandÊ(marramÊgrass) hurricaneÊstrongÊenoughÊtoÊalterÊtrappedÊsandÊ(hurricaineÊhazel)
1780
1850
1890
1920
2010
changeÊofÊtreeÊline changeÊofÊagriculturalÊfields changeÊinÊurbanÊarea changeÊinÊshoreÊline
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In (Tension) Professors - Rob Ley and Matt Melnyk
A
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PORTFOLIO
team of seven people worked on this project. Our goal was to experiment with new ways of using wood based materials to design an architectural enclosure that could accommodate at least one human being and support its own weight. The structure developed through an intensive process, with initial ideas for the design looking at joints as a pivot point that could be used to generate a curved form. Later proposals took advantage of the flexible properties of the plywood material. As the development process progressed we were able to control the curvature, allowing a greater diversity of modular pieces. The models slowly changed from segmented arches that bend at the joinery, to waves of wood created from jigs and wedges, and then to ribbon-like strands formed from tensioned wires. We then built a wall composed of pieces similar in size and shape, and then manipulated this wall into the overall structure. The final project was a flexible tunnel of curved plywood that stood by itself. A stress test was conducted on a separated strand of four plywood pieces so as not to destroy the larger sculpture and it was found to be strong enough to support several bags of sand, with the break occurring at the joint. The project was displayed for our class, and went on to be included in the neighboring East Hollywood Art cycle, a community art event close by.
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IDTT: Institute of Design and Textile Technology Professor - Ramiro Diazgranados
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PORTFOLIO
The design of this building was influenced by Preston Scott Cohen’s Tel Aviv Museum, the Fashion Institute has a sculpted central staircase and skylight composed of ruled geometric principles, in an acknowledgment to the way the Tel Aviv Museum frames a central space with it’s light well and circulation. In IDTT’s centrally composed space the geometric principles begin to spill out onto the floor plates and walls, blending into the surrounding building. Rather than simply framing an unoccupied space, the center staircase stands prominently in the center and becomes a stage and a runway. The runway staircase melts traditional ideas of women descending steps and people gathering on the front stoop with contemporary ideas of what it means to be on display. The overall building becomes a circular whirlpool, that alters through a bottom up process what would have been a simple rectangular box. The anticipated movement through the building’s interior, softens the sharp edges of the monolithic slab. The overall building becomes a circular whirlpool, that alters through a bottom up process. The parti was initially composed of three parts. The student part, made up of classrooms, studio spaces, and other student facilities, takes up approximately half the occupancy space while the rest is divided between the public part and the administration. The distortion of the parti is driven by the forces of circulation.
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cross section B
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longitudinal section A
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b
a
ground level plan
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b
a
a
first level plan
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b
a
second level plan
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b
a
third level plan
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Cube Duplex Professor - Alexis Rochas
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PORTFOLIO
his chapter represents my introduction into architecture. As my first studio, I was given two precedent studies to copy. The first was Alvaro Liete Siza’s Tolo House, and the second was Le Corbusier’s Maison Jaoul. After a number of studies and recreations of the plans and sections, these projects were then combined to create the Cube Duplex, a formal amalgamation of the previous two precedents and their strict design principles of aggregation within the nine square grid.
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Precedent Study Model of the Tolo House by Alvaro Liete Siza
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Precedent Study Model of the Maison Jaoul by Le Corbusier
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II. Painting & Drawing
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