A T L A N T A URBAN DESIGN + ARCHITECTURE + CIVIC INFRASTRUCTURE
JOEL JASSU G E O R G I A I N S T I T U T E O F T E C H N O LO GY . G R A D UAT E W O R K
Introduction
I was born and raised in the slums of Banda in Kampala, Uganda. I miraculously got a scholarship to join the University of Memphis to study Architecture for my undergraduate and now pursuing my masters degree at Georgia Institute of Technology. My experiences living in Uganda have shaped my understanding and empathy of design because of the many cultural experiences I bring to the table. I have spent the last six years doing start-ups and leading teams from United States, Italy, Sudan, Togo, United Kingdom and Uganda doing cross-cultural projects in Uganda. I hope to continue working on global initiatives like this particularly in Africa in the future. My professional experiences include working on different project scales with Looney Ricks Kiss in Memphis, TN and the Perkins+Will Atlanta office. The work shared in this portfolio presents projects in Atlanta focused on using Atlanta as an Urban Labaratory to explore how civic infrastructure, urban design and architecture can come to make real impact particularly in fast growing metropolitan cities hence the title ATLANTA.
CONTENTS
Introduction ................................................................................................................... iii Completed Projects ..................................................................................................... 05 Atlanta BeltLine . Red Squares . Woven Landscape . Bowen Homes . On-Site Banda
Appendix ........................................................................................................................ 60
Completed Projects M . A R C H A R C H I T E C T U R E . G R A D UAT E W O R K . C O M P L E T E D P R O J E C T S F R O M 2 0 1 7 - 2 0 1 8
ATLANTA BELTLINE URBAN DESIGN + ARCHITECTURE + CIVIC INFRASTRUCTURE
Project Overview Background World cities are defined by remarkable public spaces and that was one of the ambitions of this project. By rethinking something as simple as a bridge over North Avenue the project sought to charge the space with something that would not only be inspirational, but would be spectacular. Their challenge was to design a new bridge for the Atlanta BeltLine directly above North Avenue.
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It was a quick three weeks to project with some practical rules that included: movement across the pathway could not be interrupted; North Avenue needed be linked to the BeltLine in a thoughtful way; and the design had to capture rainwater. Beyond the program requirement, this was a project was meant to inspire conversation about great public spaces in urban Atlanta.
Design Response Project Drivers The project was focused on celebrating an already existing urban that connected a historic neighborhood to the south of the city, North Avenue, 22 mile BeltLine loop, and the edge of downtown Atlanta at Ponce City market. This was a great opportunity to create an inspirational public space that celebrated an entrance to the city and allowing the new proposed bridge to only be a part of an already existing urban node.
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Design Response | 9
With the gradual drop in topography, the project intended to make the gesture of a gate opening up the valley towards Atlanta’s skyline directly north of site. The main circular structural tube is on the same axis as North Avenue was a move to reinforce the project’s orientation to the city. The tension rods were carefully woven together to give the project a sense of lightness and elegance to allowed the suspended BeltLine to be visually celebrated as well as provide a space to pose and appreciate the Atlanta’s Skyline.
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Design Response | 10
RED SQUARES A R C H I T E C T U R E + C I V I C S PA C E + C I T Y H O U S E
Project Overview Background In 1919 the Social Democratic city council of Vienna initiated a radical program designed to reshape the social and economic infrastructure of the Austrian capital along socialist lines. The most enduring achievement of “Red” Vienna was the construction of Wiener Gemeindebauten - 400 communal housing blocks incorporated with libraries, theaters, public squares along with other public facilities. Hence the name Red Squares.
While “housing” is a single component of a much larger political ‘whole’, The project operated at the confluence of urban design, architecture and civic/political infrastructure and how these factors could create a new expression of private and public space. This endeavor produced a mixed-use and mixedincome housing with a distinct interaction with the public domain.
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Urban Block Analysis Dating back to the small block sizes that formed early American cities, the design response takes advantage of the unique exsisting conditions that split a typclal 200x200 block size to create building forms that reference back to the intimacy created by small building blocks.
Typical Urban Block
Broad Street Introduced
Nelson Street
Design Response
Project Overview| 13
Location Plan
Five Points Station
The site is South Downtown Atlanta, centered around the south end of Broad Street and the Garnett Street MARTA Station. Once the center of civic and commercial activity in Atlanta, the area has been through an 80-year period of decline, and is currently over 50% surface parking lot. Recently, however, a German developer has purchased over 40 lots and is planning for the areas rebirth - and has likened the area’s incredible re-urbanization potential to the opening of East Berlin after the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989.
Garnett Station Scale
0
100
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Design Response Project Drivers The project wraps around two historic existing buildings to create a continuity between the new and old city. In order to create a blurred relationship between the private and public realm, a horizontal plane was introduced above the first floor commercial level (20 feet above broad street) creating a 35 foot tall public space below with gathering areas, theatre and resting spaces all connecting both Broad and Peachtree street seamlessly. The plate would the become the first floor and amenity level for the residential units above with perforations to allowing visual interaction vertically.
The diagonal shading systems whose shape is informed by the relationship between Trinity Avenue and the site creates a dynamic experience by the shadows cast throughout the day. Nelson street (pedestrian only) was extended through the site to connect Broad Street and Peachtree Street. The towers were carefully spaced to allow communication between occupants across the residential towers. All units open up to a common space to allow occupants on the same level to create smaller pods of community.
Design Response| 15
Diagrams
City Block and Existing Buildings
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Site Parameters
Building Form
Private and Public Platform
Location Plan Mi nS
tre
Br oa dS tre
lso
et
tch
Ne
et
ell
Str
ee
tS
W
A
Pe a
ch
tre
eS
tre
et
Trinity Ave SW
A
Tri n
ity
Scale
0
Av e
SW
40 Design Response| 17
Amenity and Residential Levels
5
4
1
2 3
5
LEGEND 1. Amenity Level 2. One Bedroom Apartments 3. Two Bedroom Apartments 4. Common Space 5. Existing Buildings
Scale
0
60
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Section A-A
Scale
0
30 Design Response| 19
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Design Response| 21
WOVEN LANDSCAPE E C O LO GY + H U M A N H I S T O R Y + A G E N C Y + C I V I C A R C H I T E C T U R E
Project Overview Background Woven Landscape proposes a symbolic measurement of Amicalola Falls site’s history through a series of events embedded in vertical structures connected with hemp. The essence is to provoke a discovery, gathering and research environment through a non-linear story telling approach. In addition, it will serve as an interface between ecology and history as well as a learning and interactive experience.
The dates selected for this story run from 1721 with the cession of the Cherokee nation to north Georgia, until present day. The project’s ephemeral condition, due to the use of woven hemp, maintain iterations coming every two to three years. Therefore, creates an ever changing condition through Amicalola Falls State Park. Project Team: Joel Jassu, Chelsea Davis, Solangely Rivera
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Understanding The Site By carefully studying the site, the team was able to identify opportunities, threats and design opportunities. The site is burried in a deep valley about 200 feet deep with Amicalola falls crowning it at the top and a reflecting pool at the bottom.
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Understanding Human History Set in Dawson County in the northwest portion s Georgia, Amicalola Falls has been a geographic jewel hidden at the start of the Appalachian Mountain chain for hundreds of years. Carefully molding and crafting the land, we unearth this forgotten history and place it at the feet of the falls to be met by all who choose to visit. Guests are encouraged to wander, discover, gather and search in hopes of leaving impressed with a better understanding of ecological relations and all that the Amicalola Falls represents.
Project Overview| 25
Design Response Project Drivers We call to order precisely 297 years of history dating back to 1721, when the cession of the Cherokee nation from their own territory first began. 297 wooden poles intricately placed in the ground provide the basis of experience. Through the poles we weave together the historical framework that has been set. With this we track a story and continuously connect and reconnect one event to another in hopes of communicating a history that cannot be told otherwise. Upon entering the site, you are greeted by a host of poles standing 30 feet tall.
Upon entering the site, you are greeted by a host of poles standing 30 feet tall. Held firmly in the ground and protected below grade by repurposed bitumen coating, each is impressed as a very specific markers of time. Creating opportunities for enclosure and varying spatial types, the organizational pattern of the posts alone relay undertones of a non-linear connectivity. Changing densities and weaving patterns create space in the site in a way that allows the visitor to inform their own journey.
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cherokee nation
The Memorial
1 7 2 1
1721-1800
cherokee nation
8’-0�
Cession of the Cherokee Nation begins until it is eventualluy deminished to the bounds of northwester Georgia.
Sensor #2
Design Response| 27
Site Plan
A
Scale
0
200
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Gathering Space
Scale
0
60 Design Response| 29
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BOWEN HOMES URBAN DESIGN + HYDROLOGY + CITY PLANNING
Project Overview Background The project aims to answer very broad questions of Climate change, how to retrofit urban infrastructure, and how retrofiting automobile dominated sites can be done by working collaboratively with the Georgia Conservancy, the Westside Watershed Alliance and environmental engineering consultants to prepare a new master plan for NPU-G - In this case former Bowen Homes site.
The challenge to NPU-G, is to contribute ecologically to the repurposing of Proctor Creek, while also guiding and stimulating future real estate development, and addressing gentrification in creative ways. Project Team: Joel Jassu (Team Lead), Shuyi Huang, Tiffany MooYoung, Rajhasurya Ashok
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Problem Preposition Street Connection
Street Connection issue The site does not have connections to Carey park due to the historic segregation of white and black neighbourhoods
Current Street Network Current fragmented street network
Proposed connections New connections through streets and green infrastructure can tranform the development
Project Overview| 33
Understanding Hydrology Systems
Tree Cover The area is fully covered with health and fully grown trees
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Slope Analysis Understanding the slope will inform how water management is executed
Water flow pattern Due to urbanisation, many historic creeks were covered causing water quality problems
Design Response Three Focus Areas The goal for the redesign of Bowen Homes is to reduce the stormwater runoff within the Proctor Creek Watershed, reducing runoff downstream into the Chattahoochee River. Implementing these green infrastructure strategies will infiltrate, filter and treat water so the overall quality is improved, as well as save money by reducing the reliance on storm water diversion. The development perspective goal of the Bowen Homes is to establish an urban framework so the site has flexibility in the future to accommodate commercial, residential, and recreational needs for future growth. 35 | Joel Jassu // Georgia Institute of Technology // Nov. 2018
Carey Park Since the it is located on top of the water shed, there was need for a retrofit to infill the empty lots, increase connectivity and create water mangement strategies to improve the quality of water down stream. Bowen Homes This is the main part of the project that is very disconnected to the rest of the neighbourhood and development of new housing and mixed use could not happen without careful management of water. A.D William Creek and Park The restoration of the creek is vital to improve the water quality, reduce flooding and provide a new amenity for the development.
Design Response| 35
Carey Park The neighborhood was subdivided in 1913 and was developed by John Carey and his son Dan Carey. The neighborhoods bordering Carey Park are Almond Park neighborhood, Brookview Heights neighborhood.
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Rain Gardens The green spaces double as water collection area.
Exsisting houses Some are in good condtion but same are not in good condition.
Exsisting Fragemented street network.
Green Spaces The new reclaimed lots provides a series of green spaces to the public.
Infill New single family increase the density and utilize the vacant lots.
New Street Connection New streets help to connects neighbourhood together.
Overall View of Carey Park
1
3
2
LEGEND 1.Green Spaces 2. Senior Living Facility 3. Single Family Homes
4
4. Commercial Development
Design Response Carey Park | 37
Street Quality and Water Management
Scale
0
30
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Location Plan
Scale
0
40 Design Response Carey Park | 39
Bowen Homes Built in 1964, named after John W. E. Bowen, Sr. In 2008, 913 residents had to leave the complex of 104 buildings, which contained 650 units . Bowen Homes was the last large family housing project left in Atlanta and its demolition on June 3, 2009. 1
1
2
LEGEND 1. Proposed Road Network 2. Zoning 3. Building Typology 4. Building Count 5. Green Infrastructure
3
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4
5
Typical Residential Block
2 1 5 1 4
3
5
LEGEND 1. Multifamily 2. Single Family 3. Mixed Use 4. Green Infrastructure 5. Currentlt Vacant School
Design Response Bowen Homes | 41
Water Management After being contaminated and abandoned for generations, Proctor Creek itself is currently being developed as a greenway trail from near downtown to the Chattahoochee River and beyond. This is the main part of the project that is very disconnected to the rest of the neighbourhood and development of new housing and mixed use could not happen without careful management of water. 1. Residential Park 2. Water Management Details
1 42 | Joel Jassu // Georgia Institute of Technology // May. 2019
2
Green Infrastructure as Public Asset
Design Response Bowen Homes | 43
A.D William Creek and Park The mile long creek is located in the City of Atlanta and is named after Reverend Adam Daniel Williams. A pioneer in social justice and the maternal grandfather of Martin Luther King, Jr.
AD William Park is part of Williams Elementary School which is owned by the City of Atlanta and is eleven acres and has a soccer field, baseball diamond, playground equipment, and other activities.
A
A
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Detention
Filtration
Infiltration
Treatment
Detention By holding large amounts of water at the top of the water shed and letting it out incrementally, the amount of water going down stream is able to be controlled and treated. This slows the water down and reduced flooding and erosion.
B
B
Design Response A.D William Creek and Park | 45
Infiltration and Treatment Before the water gets into Proctor Creek, it is important to treat is, slow it down, allow the flood zone to flood when needed because this will reduce the impact it will have on Proctor Creek. The area is designed to be a place for recreation and when it floods, it will perform as a water sponge.
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C
C
ON-SITE BANDA URBAN HOUSING + ARCHITECTURE + MATERIALS
Project Overview Background Banda is a hill that lies in Nakawa Division, within Kampala, the capital of Uganda, the third-largest economy in the East African Community. Banda also refers to the neighborhoods on the slopes of the hill and between Banda Hill and Kireka, extending all the way to the Kampala-Jinja Highway. Characterised by extremely poor housing and drainage conditons, the slum has seen water contamination and disease outbreaks become common space.
This project seeks to reimagine how new ways of material assembly can play a role in conserving a valley that was once covered with rich forest and wetland life, set new standards of resource managemnet as well as providing a solution for the hosuing crisis in the slum for both Kyambogo University students and the local residents.
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Problem Preposition Housing Conditions
Sub-standard housing 75% of the population cannot afford standard housing even with vast available building materials.
Drainage Poor drainage systems and poor natural resource management are the main cause of disease out-breaks.
Design Opportuniy Could good design help with resource management and solve a housing crisis?
Problem Proposition| 49
Understanding Site
Boundary Banda slum is very compact and wedged between two valleys
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Slope The site is located at the bottom of the watershed bounded by a rich and active swamp.
Street network The site is located in close proximity with major and minor roads.
Design Response
DWELLING Each dwelling unit will serve one university student.
GARDEN Many people depend on agriculture so the garden is used to provide daily food and manage storm water.
Design Response| 51
Materials and Construction All the building materials are harvested and processed on site.
SITE The site currently has one permanent house and the home owner is also the car taker of the adjacent property known as the RESERVE in this case.
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EARTH WORK
STRUCTURE
FLOOR 1
The site is cleared for construction and all the earth from the site is used to make building material for the project.
The hearth is supplemented with structure earth walls to create two anchor points on which the frame will sit.
The first platform is built and the hearth completed. The floors are 2x8 members places 24� center line to center line.
Construction Process continued
FRAME
WOOD WORK
FLOOR 2
WOOD SHINGLES
Vertical frames are sit on the first platform for support. These frames are made on ground and then proped up.
The second wood frame with horizontal members is used to made the entire wood structure stable and rigid.
The second floor is used the installed on the rigid wood frame to create the loft space.
Wood shingles are layed over waxed african mats to keep water out. Several layers of wood shingle are needed for proper protection fom the elements.
Design Response| 53
Amenity and Residential Levels
6 3
3 4
8
5
7
5
7
4
2 1
6
1 2
Scale
0
15
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LEGEND
LEGEND
1. Existing House 2. Garden 3. Typical 150 Sq.ft Unit 4. Hearth 5. Balcony 6. Latrines 7. Parking and Compound
1. Hallway 2. Entrance 3. Tranluscent wall 4. Bathroom 5. Bed 6. Lounge 7. Light well and shading 8. Storage
RESERVE
STACK EFFECT
LOFT
STRUCTURE
LATRINES
Source of all building materials as well as food.
The hearth allows air flow through the common areas for thermal comfort.
The space is small in square footage but bigger in volume to allow warm air to rise.
Lined with structural wall but also serves as storage for the residence.
Typical way of sevewage management. It requires periodic emptying.
Section C Scale 1/16” = 1’-0”
Design Response| 55
Thermal Comfort Cross ventilation is used to make sure the rooms are culturally comfortable throughout the year. 1
LEGEND
4
4
2
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3
5
1. Potential for water collection 2. Garden water overflow 3. Hearth 4. Shaded walkways 5. Family kitchen
KIREKA Next political boundary that shares boundaries with the site.
Design Response| 57
STREET
OWNER
GARDEN
Water filtration systems allows water to be filtered and slowed down before reaching the reserve.
Owns the property and is the sole care taker of the RESERVE .
Garden as the core of life in developing countries. In this case it also helps with storm water management.
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WELL
RESERVE
CREEK
Approximate location of the well used for irrigation, domestic use and construction.
Trees for wood and earth for other materails are all onsite. The reserve is the final water filtration area before the over flow enters the bounding creek.
The highly contaminated creek drains the entire valley and provides water for irrigation and some people with no clean water supply use it for domestic use.
Design Response| 59
Physical Model
Vertical wood frames and interior walls.
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Cutting opening through the rigid wood frame.
Roof and hearth installed. Roof material is tree back carefully assembled similar to actually local construction processes.
Buildings for me represent opportunities of agency, transformation, and storytelling. They are not just artifacts. There is this big tradition of buildings-as-artifacts - constructed artifacts - but for methey are these incredible sites of negotiation. David Adjaye
Appendix
Completed Projects: Kit of Parts, Memphis TN, 2014 . Landscape X, Memphis TN, 2014 . Micro House, Memphis TN, 2015 . Women’s Theatre Festival Memphis, Memphis TN, 2015 . Lichterman Nature Center, Memphis TN, 2016 . Mid South Coliseum, Memphis TN, 2016 . Bryce Corporation, Memphis TN, 2016 . Normal Station Theatre, Memphis TN, 2017. WOVE Amicalola History and Nature Interpretation Center, Dawson County GA, 2018. Exhibitions: VIAGGIO: An Architectural Journey through Culture and Time, Benjamin L. Hooks Central Library, Memphis TN, 2017. Recognitions: Alpha Rho Chi Bronze Medal . Dean’s Creative Achievement Award (Runner up), University of Memphis . Department of Architecture Creative Achievement Award, University of Memphis. T. Gordon Little Fellowship,Georgia Institute of Technology, Van Walton Memorial Scholarship, University of Memphis, Jack R. Tucker JR.,FAIA, Travel Grant Recipient . Awards: Women’s Theater Festival of Memphis Competition (First Place), BFA Design Excellence Award McWhether Library green space . BFA Design Excellence Award - Litcherman Nature Center . Acknowledgements: Prof. Brian Bell, Prof. Richard L Dagenhart, Prof. Jen Pindyck, Prof. Michael Gamble, Prof. Tarek Rakha Georgia Institute of Technology . Photo Credits: Stephen D Norris . Sophorn Kuoy. Colophon: Swiss 721 Lt BT . Swiss 721 BT . Original Edition 2018 . Graphic Design by Joel Jassu