Kay Mashiach - Portfolio 2018-23

halokinesis AA DRL

society nano AA DRL

out of stock AA DRL

color-form synesthesia USC SoA

timber tower USC SoA

carapace pavilion USC SoA

stone age USC SoA

machiya housing typology USC AALU

nanjing road USC AALU

bishan people USC AALU

tsukiji market USC AALU

phnom penh economic housing H\B

USC SoA

HALOKINESIS is an architectural endeavor that utilizes salt, a universal material, to re-balance coral colonies and locally eradicate coral bleaching within applicable locations.

HALOKINESIS is the magical ability to move salt with one’s mind, and thus, this project explores salt crystallization’s phenomenology by harnessing this power within our reality.

Salt, an essential and abundant element on earth, is known for its ubiquitous flavoring and preservation, while also denoted as a sterilizing agent. However, salt remains a vital element of life. Salinity’s decreasing ocean density in relation to its paradoxical attributes of sustaining and annihilating situates itself as a priority in investigating its usefulness and applications.

Our elemental was focused on salt. Focusing our experimental manifestations around appropriation of the origins of salt production processes, both natural and artificial, we revealed this element as holding an inherent nature of super-temporal growth. This required us to elicit interventions through controlling behavioral propagation. As we further identified salt to be a keystone to the ecological processes of the world, we took into consideration the circulation and movement of salt bodies on earth (halokinesis). Our HALOKINESIS relied on time, coupled with a responsive scaffold, growing crystals to achieve strength and formations. Salt tectonics, halokinesis, and crystallization are typically referred to as existing within a geological time scale.

On the basis of research, we identified two different processes that would influence crystallization: solution-related and scaffold-related. Our controlled-variable approach led to the spicule scaffold, which outperformed all other scaffold types as spicules entangled with each other, forming robust structures.

In the 'unlimited solution’ of the ocean, salt is in superabundance, becoming the site for HALOKINESIS. By designing and embedding intelligent systems, our goal was to create a system that receives environmental data to determine agent behavioral patterns, adapting to external forces from the continuous and substantial environmental variability. Following the information flow, a structure would be generated by the swarming behavior that constantly interacts with local organisms and terrain.

By implementing a cyclical system of crystallized agents that rehabilitate coral reefs through the introduction of higher salinity levels, HALOKINESIS gives agency to the scaffold in order to determine ideal formations.

https://issuu.com/kaymashiach/docs/phase_02_booklet_final_issuu

https://youtu.be/hBAt_7Z0UNY

Halokinesis is defined as the movement of salt and salt bodies, similar to the movement of water. It is the study of subsurface flows of salt as well as emplacement, structure, and tectonics of salt bodies. Another term used to refer to the study of salt bodies and their structural formation is salt tectonics.

The concept of subsurface salt flow, or halokinesis, embeds itself as an integral aspect of the relationship between global tectonism and sea-level change. This relationship provides a fundamental insight into the direction of a structural and contextual foundation for this thesis. Simulating this phenomena, we input initial and surface state pressures as well as rock densities, which defined a generic cylindrical tectonic. The effect of halokinetic structures on the Earth’s crust leaves impressions which are marked by the pushing of local tectonic plates, creating a fracture which is filled in by salt flow.

We found that crystals are idiosyncratic. Each output is a result of a unique set of conditions, including temperature, humidity, pressure, location, and more. In the same way as it is understood that no two snowflakes are the same, hence snowflakes are crystals, all other crystallizations are as well. Characteristic outputs include hardness, cleavage, optical properties, heat conductivity, and electrical conductivity.

Further, it was necessary to highlight different processes of salt other than crystals and halokinesis. We highlighted certain use-cases such as flavoring and health as being significant to both humans and animals alike.

Other salinity processes identified included ocean salination, salt production, nucleation, and heat storage.

Spicules are structural elements found in most sponges to provided skeletal support. Possible mutations and classifications were extracted, and differentiated by number of axes, end mutations taxonomies, and geometries. The scaffold of spicules provided an opportunity for us to enhance structural integrity through crystallization.

The first iteration began with a simplified 2D geometry with perpendicular intersections which proved useful for initial crystallization experiments on the self-binding nature of salt. Optimization led the spicule to be generated from a 3D geometry with arms attached at the nodes, allowing for more surface area in terms of crystallization seeding points. Applying agency became integral to the spicule design, catalyzing pneumatic elements within the behavioral formation. We tested taxonomies of a single bifurcated arm to understand the crystallization-tosurface-area ratio, giving us insight into optimal end mutations. Ultimately, the reasoning for the spicule was to insight and create a better performing growth vessel. Providing meshing to the spicule allowed porosity necessary for the penetration of saline solution and coral polyps.

spicule design

ARMS CORE

PNEUMATICS

crystallized spicule wall that is sustained under water

scaffolding

crystallized spicule cave that sustains a cavernous roof structure

crystallized spicule bridge that can bear weight and withstand water impact

1/2 spicule

spicules

1 spicule

For our tank crystallization experiments, we explored known typologies that can be produced. The ‘wall’ was created by building up layers of spicules, and submerging it in the salt bed. The spicules for the ‘bridge’ were set in place and after crystallization solidified the spicules, making it extremely strong as all became one system. For the ‘cave’, we scaled down the spicules as to understand population as input and structural capabilities. Each of these models are sectional and suggest the ability to continuously aggregate, which will be displayed later.

Due to the evaporative properties of the surfacelevel water, salt grews and solidified faster above the surface level and slower in saline water. This informed the harvesting input of our salt crystallization system.

These experiments were not representational. As we dealt with a real-life material that is only scalable in quantity rather than proportion, our models were literal, and thus meant as merely sections of our proposed realities. Here we experimented with Epsom salt, table salt (NaCl), and sodium acetate.

The process of the large tank formations provided us with insight on what in-situ crystallization needs. Salt creep is the phenomena of crystallization growing, dendtritically, on surfaces that were not fully submerged in solutions. The salt creep further engaged us with timelines of evaporation: the thinner it is, the faster crystallization occurred and vice versa. In this model, we needed to implement a heat source to replace the hot conditions in which the salt naturally crystallizes. So, we applied two heat lamps, which encouraged a great amount of crystallization. The crystallization occurring at the surface of the water were produced by slow evaporation mixed with surface tension. Over time, table salt specifically becames blurred in its formation, as individual crystals became integrated with their neighbors.

The large-scale model explored the ability to make certain forms and maintain its original state through crystallization. We wanted to understand how a large-scale formation crystallizes in outdoor conditions and how the salt crystals themselves transform. Over time the spicule formations settled into natural arches, but external movement of the tank for display purposes caused non-crystallized spicules to fall and lose their original shape. We were able to analyze the timelines of our crystallizations to better understand how time and environment affected salt crystallization and structural stability. We ensured that we would collect and analyze the process of each of the tanks.

While epsom salt yielded a formation of crystals that was both aesthetically fascinating as well as quicker in growth time, the stability over time failed. After our 90-day check-in with the experiments, the Epsom salt began to turn into a powdery substance, similar to snow or sand. This meant that Epsom salt could not withstand long durations and certain environmental factors. Sodium chloride, the traditional table salt that we had used in our experiment, yielded a strong and durable result. It retained its crystal structure over time and even strengthened the structure as it dried. This meant that it was a more conducive salt to attain our structural needs and environmental use-cases.

scaffolding

Water surface crystal seeding occurs as the solution meets the air.

Crystal seeding increases in ridges on spicules. Crystals do better with a greater surface area and course surface texture.

The cubic-pyramidal shape of the table salt, NaCl, is very apparant throughout the crystallizations.

Salt creep on the tank walls thickens overtime as crystallization continues and water naturally evaporates.

pneumatics

Pneumatics being integrated into our salt formations became necessary to meet buoyancy needs for salt harvesting (crystallization is greater at the water’s surface). Secondly, incorporating an intelligent system provided the means for fluid and adaptive scaffolds. In order to understand pneumatic behaviors, we isolated variables such as thickness, cavity size, rib style, and shape. In relation to the spicule, isolating the pneumatic location was a priority in exploring behavioral output - whether positioning the pneumatic arm on the geometry face, edge, or node. As the passive bifurcated arms were already placed on the nodes of the dodecahedron, we decided the pneumatics would act as an active arm - a replacement of the passive rather than an addition to the spicule.

Simulating pneumatics was meant to quickly explore hundreds of behavioral output. We simulated stiffness by incorporating a spine, understanding how spinal orientation can mitigate interaction.

Our scheme for the last iteration of the pneumatics began by stressing the necessary attributes and behaviors for our system. Incorporating a bump on the pneumatics was meant to enhance grip for peer spicule interaction and attachment. Further, as scale changes, rib density, sizing, and thickness must vary in order to maintain preferred inflations. We first explored a simple cylindrical form, analyzing variable rib densities and sizing for bending and inflation purposes. However, the cylindrical form increased the curl of the pneumatic. We aimed for bending paralleled with elongation.

Approaching the prototypical pneumatic, we decided to give an organic form taken from the pneumatic simulations. We increased the sizing of the cavities to reduce joint count for bending, while increasing inflation. The multiple scales of pneumatics corresponded to different model outputs. However, when approaching these different scales, the pneumatics could not merely be scaled proportionally. Rather, we had to maintain cavity sizing in relationship to rib thickness to keep behavioural outputs the same.

On the agent scale, we explored different inflation ratios within the pneumatic arms as we needed the ability to move down and up within the water column. These ratios are in relation to the bifurcated passive arms of the spicules and are calculated based on output behaviors. We identified specific ratios for our system’s outputs and translated them into the four different phases of a spicule’s behavior.

Simulating the phasing behavior vertically in a body of water revealed the drag, lift, and other necessary hydrodynamic attributes. We examined the current flows, extracting proxemics, and found the hydrodynamic properties during the transition between phases. The effect of spicule movement on water can influence coral habitats, which is something we would like to avoid. To avoid the solidification from crystallization, a pneumatic can continuously pump air in and out. Each spicule holds the capacity to engage in all phases.

We explored harvest phasing in-situ. The harvest stage is unique to the rest of the cycle as it employs non-crystallized individual spicules to transform from individual to colony. The 10x inflation is able to carry the weight of its own spicule, 20x inflation is able to carry itself and peer spicules, and 30x inflation is able to carry itself as well as peer crystallized spicules.

We identified agent reactions to current force so the formational outputs are the result of current and crystallization. Adding layers of inputs to our simulations one-by-one helped us understand how each parameter affects the whole dynamic. Parameters included to create rules were current force, buoyancy calculations, neighbor count, cohesion force, and salinity seeking. We conducted a physical crystallization test with inflated spicules. As time passed, the crystals grew heavier, causing the whole piece to sink. This is based on a pneumatic system with a static inflation, hence providing evidence for the necessity of agent phasing. We then accounted for this in the simulations: an agent’s search radius looks for neighbors underwater. The agent decides its own pneumatic phasing when the formation is sinking by the mass of salt and will inflate to provide buoyancy.

After enough salt is crystallized, agents migrate by a self-propulsion mechanism to nearby at-risk coral. The detection of the coral reefs by the agents is then translated into positional behaviors that forward a vertical formation making system. For phase 03, the pneumatic inflates with air and releases the air out the back, propelling the spicule and its counterparts, and then refilling at the water surface. We simulated the self-propulsion behavior, isolating path type and agent count in relation to passive spicules. Simulations of migration start with the spawned agents from the harvest formation. The agents are equipped with intelligence, sensing vertical distance to the sea floor, so it can move towards shallower waters. Agents also contain color sensors to scan for bleached coral.

stigmergy+pollination

The spicule is a vessel for growth, so we included coral growth as well. During protection formational agency, passive spicules will drop to the sea floor, allowing coral more opportunities for growth, and polyps to attach. A major input to coral growth is decided upon the direction of the sunlight in the ocean, so its photosynthetic propertiesare as input is included for the organization of our salt dispersal system.

There are many environmental factors contributing to coral bleaching, however, a key variable more recently acknowledged and researched is salinity. When environmental events such as monsoons, hurricanes, and typhoons occur, a sudden influx of freshwater causes salinity to decrease from an average of 35ppm to as little as 10ppm. These events typically occur in coral habitats. This sudden change is shocking to coral, creating imbalances, and ultimately cause the symbiotic organisms, zooxanthellae, that provide coral 90% of its food, and its color, to leave its coral host. The phenomena we know as bleaching is the effect of zooxanthellae leaving its coral host. Bleaching does not mean death, and if conditions return to normal quick enough, the zooxanthellae will return, but if conditions do not change, coral is left as merely a skeleton, later covered by algae. We looked at coral reef typologies to better apply structures and formational types to our agent rehabilitation simulations.

Platform reef + Atoll

+ Guyot + Cays

Bank reef

+ Fringing reef + Barrier reef + Ribbon reef

Apron reef + Patch reef

After migration, the system would enter the protection state to regenerate coral colonies, and our agents will self-organize as an everchanging formation that can balance the salinity level temporarily and reduce the harmful influences caused by rapid climate change. While pneumatic components offer buoyancy, the passive agents would be dropped at certain locations in order to act as an anchor for formation and disperse salt to re-balance salinity level. Learning from salt tectonics in nature, we translated pressure and density into buoyancy and cohesion force. With information from the neighbors, agents would behave collectively, forming an autonomous cluster.

stigmergy+pollination

society nano

Completed with a group for an AA DRL workshop focused on Arduino and coding, we were given the options to create robots with Machine-Human, Machine-Environment, and MachineMachine interaction. We focused on the last, seeking inspiration from bio-luminescence, underwater creatures, and air balloons. Simplicity in concept was the key to complexity in this case, so we decided to employ the use of color sensing, specifically of red, green, and blue. Initially the goal was a flying robot, but with the time-frame of four weeks, it was more realistic to create the illusion of floating robots. We created a pulley system, with fishing wire attached to a continuous rotational servo. The robots were each comprised of a color sensor, red, green, and blue LEDs, a servo, battery, Arduino nanos, and breadboards. By setting up a higher population of robots, in our case, 18, we were able to identify reactions from a simple rule-set engaging in the emergence of patterns. At first, the robots detected a color and then emitted the same color of detection, but it resulted the eventual entropy of all robots encountering a single state (a single color). The system would then stop. We then turned to the more complex rule-set in which a single color detected converts to a different color (not that of which is detected). The result was a continuous system, with each moment having an overall idiosyncratic state. The complexity brought out from this rule-set resulted in an unpredictable organization.

With the inspiration from flying-machine and bio-luminescent, we decided the robot should be able to fly or float and with the ability to glow. The material silicone is light, transparent, and can be easily cast into different shapes. We designed different types of shells for silicone shells for the robot. The dots on the surface of the shell is for structural use as they provide support to the thin silicone surface. A void space was left in the middle part for the Ardunio and electrical setup.

if ( greenValue > redValue && greenValue > blueValue ) {

Direction of the Sensors

Triangular Grid

if ( blueValue > redValue && blueValue > greenValue ) {

if ( greenValue > redValue && greenValue > blueValue ) {

Initial State Everyone stays on the same level / else if (greenColor > redColor && greenColor > blueColor) { servo.detach();}

‘Green’ _

Tighten the String Go Up

if (redColor > greenColor && redColor > blueColor) { servo.detach(); delay(2000); servo.attach(10); servo.write(180); delay(750);}

Under the new rules, all individuals come together to form a NANO-society. We cannot predict how they will move because they respond consciously in a complex color field, forming a self-organizing system.

When the robot sits in a high-population collective, its sensors read local RGB data instead of individual colors. Neighbors present many different colors, so the sensor is set up to read composite color and judges the relationship of the RGB data to determine how it should react.

Tinfoil was employed to close the edges of the frame, reflecting light back into the area, and allowing the sensor to read more accurate color data.

Tighten the String Go Up

else if (blueColor > greenColor && blueColor > blueColor) { servo.detach(); delay(2000); servo.attach(10); servo.write(0); delay(750);}

With a team of six individuals, we set out to respond to the prompt of active bending with piano wire as a medium: we created a system with discrete components that elicits a flexible whole. Our goals were to explore how different wire thicknesses affect bending properties of components as well as examine the behavior of the system clearly with a primitive, rigid geometry accompanied by a complex, active unit. Through creating a dynamic system of rigid and active bodies, we especially wanted to move away from the typical organized system, and instead we looked to cast a chaotic cloud through an organized jumble. Our module is comprised of five pyramids and two sliders. There is a center pyramid, in which every point is attached to another pyramid, comprising a five-part pyramidal structure. Including the experimentation of the slider was key to achieving an understanding of how flexible this component can be. Applying a tension feature to this element gave us an opportunity to combine wire thicknesses and lengths to locate an appropriate set of active and passive components. The connection point between two pyramids are facilitated through the attachment of our active slider component. By attaching edges of the pyramids to the mobile wire within the movable loop, we can afford a basic expansion or contraction of the space between. This prototype asserts itself as the mobile asset to its structure. The movement we assigned to the object was expanding and contracting in its outer line as controlled by an unspecified user. Exploration of formation encapsulated a single-wire component that attaches itself onto a rigid structure as a symbiotic parasite.

+ component type 01 + component type 02

+ ORANGE

+ 1 SLIDER

+ 1 CONNECTION

+ component type 03

active+passive

simulation open components

closed components

+ RED

+ 2 SLIDERS

+ 2 CONNECTIONS

ORGANIC/CHAOTIC

Stability:

Flexibility:

Density:

GRID/TRIANGLE

Stability:

Flexibility:

Density:

GRID/RECTANGLE

Stability:

Flexibility:

Density: grasshopper kangaroo script

Deciding to build a cloud aggregation stemmed from the ability to provide more configurations in output and sufficient high-density transformable assemblies. We experimented with the three main types of systems in the frame: the well-organized system, rectangular grid, and triangular grid. They performed well as they presented more flexibility but did not meet our expectations in stability and density. We opted for a more disordered, chaotic, and organic system where the basic units are connected with more complexity.

Part of the workshop task was to simulate active bending using Kangaroo on Grasshopper. Selfaggregation is digitally assumed by populating points in a spherical volume, similar to the state of the physical aggregation. The forces of gravity, friction, component collision, and slider pull for point adjustment led to an initial rest state. During simulation, the system changed state from loose to taut, identified by the cyan sliders.

Color as identity explores and exploits the circumstances in which color can represent a disposition through relationships of a color to an element and a color to another color. This began by tracing the origins of colors in history, specifically pigments, to find the superimposed and inherent connotations. From there, I studied the site of Reseda Boulevard in the San Fernando Valley, mapping its colors on multiple scales and categorizing the ways that color was manifested in the architecture of the site. Using pigments. I superimposed a category onto an image of a different category, for example, deception was superimposed on an image displaying identity ultimately browning the image. Doing this was meant to present new approaches to using color as applied to specific elements and circumstances. Understanding how color behaves independently and subserviently to physical conditions is where this thesis lies.

The project aims to show the ease at which basic wall paint can perform and transform a space and a user’s reading. By creating a set of rules that can be set to any city in any circumstance, color can enhance a space without physically altering it. Paint is the cheapest way to make something look good. Reseda Boulevard, what used to be a well-known hub for the Valley, lost its edge and is looking to restore what it once was. Applying color on all elements along a boulevard provides the necessary face-lift that the street needs, ultimately empowering the boulevard and giving it identity. Not only is identity created on the large scale, but it exists on all scales through the application of a rule-set that aims to enhance businesses, buildings, streets, and neighborhood blocks.

The final deliverable for this thesis project was a film that explored the various modes of representation and compositions meant to show the idea of applying color and painting the boulevard. The relationship of the street to the building façade became linework through the simple use of elevational shots and street shots, therefore allowing for a basis of color imposition throughout the film.

Uranine

Color: Materializing Objective Truth and Subjective Formalism in Architecture

Abstract

Color exists as a material mediator between Platonic realism and new realism. Platonic realism defines universals and abstract objects existing objectively and outside of the human mind. New realism, as I interpret it, depicts reality as existing truthfully only because of its human involvement. In this case, reality is perception whether or not it is experienced by everyone in the same way. The beauty of this is that reality thrives in the idiosyncratic nature of humans and cultures and is not meant to be the same reality as everyone else sees it. On the other hand, one technique that equips objects with reality is color.

Architecture’s move from specific to ambiguous was largely visually driven in color. As color and materiality got pushed out of architecture, so did any tie to reality, humanity, and relatability. As Sam Jacob depicts architecture as a matter of fiction materialized as real, color is part of that “real fiction”. Color so effortlessly and subconsciously ties architecture to humanity without revealing itself as a piece of non-fiction. It exists in architecture which is the fiction, but becomes one of the main circumstances creating truth in the architecture.

This thesis looks at the objective nature of color and its necessary involvement in architecture formally and cohesively rather than graphically or supplementary in order to understand its role in defining reality. Color ultimately provokes a conversation between the fictional characteristics of architecture and the truth of humanity. How can color as a formal driver enable an architecture that is more truthful? Can color become a greater manifestation of reality? Can color facilitate more interaction between human and architecture?

Fundamentally, color divulges truth.

Yves Klein and James Turrell, FOCUS (2018)

International Klein Blue pigment

Fra Angelico, The Annunciation and Expulsion of Adam and Eve from Eden (1426)

Lapus lazuli pigment

Lapus Lazuli

Sky + Ocean

Vermilion

Rose

Anish Kapoor, Mother as Mountain (1985)

Indian red pigment

Louise Bourgeois, The Red RoomChild (1994)

Cadmium red pigment

Paul Gauguin, The Yellow Christ (1889)

Sulfur Oxide pigment

Wolfgang Piet, Pollen from Hazelnut (2013)

Pollen pigment

Sulfur Sun

Terre Verde Grass

Olafur Eliasson, Green River Project (2000)

Peter Paul Rubens, Cimon en Pero: Caritas Romana (1630)

Terre Verde pigment

Some of the first steps in color experimentation included the simple recoloring of images. The selected images are ones that already have a clear connotation for most people in the world: a blue ocean, the red telephone booths of London, the primitive colors of Le Corbusier’s Unite de Habitacion. The question in these instance that I was attempting to sort out was whether color redefinition can lead to a transformation of a subject, or whether the original colors were inherent to their phenomena or spectacle.

As the thesis dealt with understanding inherent or applied meaning to color, pigments were of value to the argument. Over time, color has been analyzed and assumed through art, whose comprehension comes from what color or pigment was used. Playing around with pigments and their properties was meant to better understand a painter’s point of view as art was being made.

As part of our thesis studio, each student was assigned a site to apply our research in any way we saw fit. Each site used to be, or still is, the site of a drive-in theater in Los Angeles. The site I selected is in Reseda, in the San Fernando Valley, where I grew up. The opportunity explored was to turn it into a hub of the same caliber as it was when the drive-in theater existed in the area. We were tasked with creating a photo essay, with all photos taken on film. This site analysis explored color, materiality, and texture on three different scales. I was interested in how film translates and perceives these elements on each scale in relation to what I, the viewer, perceived. Afterwards, I grouped the images based on categories which displayed specific characteristics through scales or subject. My own transformation of the images utilized pigments to superimpose other categories on certain images. Two things emerged from this action: the controlled output that I created on the front of the image, and the unexpected outcome on the back of the image caused by messy pigment use. Both of these outputs were in parallel to color throughout cities: the planned vs. the unplanned.

Deception. Actual color is perceived dulled when photographed up close.

Deception superimposed on Identity.

Identity superimposed on Material.

Material superimposed on Feral.

Color resulting from or applied to varied and explicit materials.

Application of color on signage to represent a brand or store.

Material. Identity.

Feral. Unorganized

Space. Color applied

applied expressively linear. applied in a manner creating dimensionality and form.

Space superimposed on Line.

Feral superimposed on Deception.

Line superimposed on Space.

Unorganized or unplanned application of paint.

Photo Essay, Site Analysis of Reseda in Relation to Research

The “Village” The “Strip”

The “Village” strip mall typology gets its name from the architectural schematic type of the village:

Buildings are scattered across a site.

Usually contains different programs within each building.

In terms of the strip mall, one of the buildings (usually the one at the corner or closer to the street) will be a key kiosk or a fast food drive-thru.

The “Cradle”

The “Cradle” strip mall typology gets its name because of its “U” shape, necessarily cradling the parking lot, ultimately creating a nook of some sort:

Stores/retail exists along the U shape.

Parking is in the center of the strip mall.

Each storefront faces the parking lot, rather than the street, creating isolation of the strip mall amongst its neighbors.

The “L”

The “Strip” strip mall typology gets its name from the evolution of the name “strip mall”, as this is the most typical shape of the strip mall and is a direct representation of the typology’s name:

Stores all face the street.

Parking is in front of the retail, acting as street frontage or will exist in between two “strip” buildings.

Stores/retail are all in one line, mimicking the classic nature of street retail, but with a parking lot in the front.

The “L” strip mall typology gets its name because of its layout in plan, and is one of the most typical types seen in Los Angeles: Stores/retail do not always face the street, rather it is perpendicular to it axis armature.

Parking sits within the “L” and along the shape.

This type of strip mall usually exists on a corner of a major intersection, which is why it is shaped as such, taking advantage of its location.

The “Cradle”

The “Strip”

The “L”

The “Building”

The “Marketplace”

The “Building”

The “Building” strip mall typology gets its name from its proportions in plan view, as the figure-ground is typically thicker than that of the “strip”:

Stores may face all directions around the building.

Parking is in front of the building, acting as street frontage to the site.

Many times, the “building” is multi-storied and carries more program, but still acts as a strip mall because of the relationship to the parking lot and to the street.

The “Marketplace”

The “Marketplace” strip mall typology gets its name from the first type of strip mall ever made, called the “drive-in market”:

Stores face the parking lot, usually placed far away from one another as these are large strip malls.

The program typically contains a large-scale market used by all the locals.

This type is the largest of the strip malls because of the user necessity for the program. This is the most “convenient” of the strip malls because of its use.

Planning the intervention for Reseda prompted the research of the town’s architectural vernacular. One thing very unique to Los Angeles, but more specifically to the San Fernando Valley, are strip malls. They were developed as a result of the car-centric city of Los Angeles. A parking lot became a part of the architectural language here, rather than adjacent. I categorized and mapped the typology of strip malls based on characteristics, which then would be used in the future intervention.

color sets

Color Connections

Through identifying existing color along Reseda Boulevard, I created a color palette for each neighborhood block that would then be referenced when determining building and element color coding. The exploration of color was meant to be employed on the boulevard to provide identity on multiple scales, including the city, the streets, the blocks, buildings, and store-fronts. Color inherently provides a sense of identity and attachment to a larger whole.

Element 1…Deception

Code Section (818.1.1) Sidewalks

Code Section (818.1.2) Signs

Code Section (818.1.3) Utilities

Element 2…Identity

Code Section (818.2.1) Retail Facades

Code Section (818.2.2) Awnings

Code Section (818.2.3) Glass

Element 3…Line

Code Section (818.3.1) Mullions

Code Section (818.3.2) Fences

Code Section (818.3.3) Security Gates

Element 4…Material

Code Section (818.4.1) N, S, E, W Walls

Code Section (818.4.2) Roof Vegetation

Code Section (818.4.3) Vegetation

Element 5…Space

Code Section (818.5.1) Alleyway walls

Code Section (818.5.2) Alleyway

ground

Code Section (818.5.3) Intersections

Element 6…Feral

Code Section (818.6.1) First Responders

Code Section (818.6.2) Street

All Rules

Code Section 818.1.1, Sidewalks

Code Section 818.4.1, N, S, E, W Walls

Code Section 818.2.1, Retail Facades

Code Section 818.2.3, Glass

Code Section 818.3.1, Mullions

Code Section 818.5.2, Pavement

Code Section 818.4.2, Roofs

Code Section 818.4.3, Vegetation

Code Section 818.2.2, Awnings

Code Section 818.1.2, Signs

Code Section 818.5.3, Cross-walk

Code Section 818.1.3, Utilities

Painting Procedures

Color Tests

As the intervention called for a unification of the town through color, the cheapest architectural transformation out there, it was only fitting that it was represented through painting. Using digital painting tools, I went on to draw and test color theory for the town. Identifying the different types of strip malls and store-fronts as being the primary architectural vernacular incited a need for identity within a major block of building. The final output was a film that embodied my thesis which explored painting, color blocking, and systematic pigmentation.

application

timber tower USC SoA

The Timber Tower is a comprehensive studio project which prompts the design of an office space using cross-laminated timber (CLT) construction. The project received the Innovation Award, determined by reviewing before a Super Jury.

The structural design of this project centers itself around the idea of the “penetrable shear wall”. In prescribed circumstances, the shear wall must be an uninterrupted wall from ground to roof to perform as a structurally sound building. However, by utilizing circular holes throughout the entire wall, it allows the shear wall to be inhabited safely. The use of the circle provides sufficient load transfer through the wall, acting both gravitationally and laterally.

The structural grid used caters to the maximum size of a CLT floor panel. In each direction sit three walls, sequentially alternating the organization of the circles so that one circle was not in line with the circle on the following wall. By alternating the walls, it creates a smaller grid size, with the perception of uninterrupted spaces as a result of the openings. Because the structure of the building is essentially a series of CLT shear walls, the cores of the building are not a necessary part of the structure.

The use of the circles within the shear walls provide continuous and open circulation throughout the building, while simultaneously providing opportunities for pockets and privacy. Throughout this project, it was necessary to create a new take on the open office floor plan. Rather than placing a grid of columns, the interest lay in how the structure can inform spatial conditions while not be obstructive to the environment.

The façade is placed to regulate sunlight around the building. The facade circles act as a small-scale bris soleil, and yet views outside are not stifled. The beauty of the building is its ability to display playfulness while forming upon a strict functionally. The reading of the building displays a unique approach to a city’s vernacular and a new relationship to local architecture. Most buildings in the Arts District in Los Angeles do not provide spaces of gathering and decompression, whereas this building encourages sociability by creating a double-height space on the ground floor and adding a generous building setback from the street for interaction.

social space

work space

This structural system was simply a series of massive perforated shear walls. By utilizing the specific sizing of CLT wooden-floor slabs in parallel to the structural grid sizing of the project, I was able to remove structure which would otherwise be used in buildings of this caliber. For most projects, the cores acted as the primary structural system, but in this project the cores are structurally obsolete, merely used as circulation. Consulting with ARUP throughout the project revealed this system as the first of its kind, with the engineers debating whether to include floor joists. Ultimately, I included it, but the Super Jury engineers decided that it was unnecessary as the devised system was sufficient.

structure+comprehensive

The floor plans attaining both the open and closed style were a result of alternating and interlocking shear walls. The office building vernacular has been a back and forth between the communal and the cubicle. I aimed to meet both standards through the mere design of an overarching structure. The flexibility of the space allows the users to take advantage of this opportunity, adapting it to their needs however they see fit.

The model was meant as an extension of these thoughts, with the ability to understand the whole versus the individual. Being able to take it apart allowed for others to understand its scalability and function.

plan layouts

OFFICE LAYOUT 2 PLAN @ 56’ - 0”

carapace pavilion

The Carapace Pavilion is a real-life, in-progress project located in Joshua Tree National Park, created as a prototype for a new bathroom design that would exist throughout the whole park. Beginning not only as a bathroom prototype, the Carapace pavilion is also a material prototype for the use of Ultra High Performance Concrete (UHPC) as a structural shell rather than just a façade treatment. The structure is an anticlastic structure with five panels all cast out of one mold. A graduate student working on this project had centered his thesis upon creating a structure as such, therefore generating a Grasshopper script that could adjust the design of the shape, whether it be turned anticlastic or synclastic, have larger or smaller openings, et cetera. The shape is essentially three circles aligned at midpoint, with the outer two having the same dimension and the inner one designed to be adjusted in size. Furthermore, the team determined the thickness of the UHPC to be a minimum of 2.5 inches while still being structural; therefore, the panels are extremely thin towards the center and thicken to about 6 inches at the edges. Each cast is attached with X-connectors by JVI. One half of the connector is cast into one panel and the other into the connecting panel, which on-site at installation time get welded together.

The team examined, not only the possible shape of the structure, but also its texture and apertures. Working with a group of structural engineers, it was determined that adding apertures to the wall panels could lower the structural integrity, as opposed to adding those apertures to the edge of the roof where the cantilever was would make the load lighter. We created a shape that gradated both in size and amount. Because only the roof panels have apertures, the cast had to be equipped with detachable foam block-outs for the apertures.

My part in the team was to create graphics, style, and overall look of the pavilion’s design and the drawings. I created the design of the patch that attaches to everyone’s coveralls when working, created the apertures, defined the curve of the over hang, decided the color of the UHPC, as well as created the template and graphic style for a book. Along with another student, we ran the Media Team.

https://issuu.com/kaymashiach/docs/220401_kay_mashiach_-_constructed_ histories_essay.

structure+assembly

A cylinder, or more specifically, a tube, was the ideal geometry for our pavilion. Utilizing computational modeling, we created a script that defined a tubular geometry that could have a variety of casts from just one mold. For structural performance as well as aesthetic sake, a circle is always structurally sufficient, lacking weak points, or joints. The use of UHPC coupled with apertures, the tubular geometry, and smart connections (vector connectors by JVI, and earth augers), all prompted the pavilion to be a structurally innovative project. The planning for the project was thorough, as the team attempted to sort out all factors in fabrication, assembly, and installation. However, this project was a first for everyone involved, including the provider and creator of UHPC, which prompted complications and modifications.

mold-making

casting prototyping process fabrication

Countless individuals, companies, and disciplines sought to provide collaborative efforts for the Carapace Pavilion, as to impart their knowledge but even more so to capitalize on the experimentation engagement. The Carapace provided an academic outlook on architecture which deals in innovation and deviation of the typical procedures recorded in the industry. However, the project also situated itself on a deliberate platform intended to explore the ability of implementing rigorous and complex systems in a real-world practice.

Acknowledgements must be given to everyone involved, including Clark Pacific, JVI, Lafarge Holcim, Clark Construction, Cresset, PCI West, PCI Foundation, Walter P. Moore, and countless student and faculty volunteers. The Carapace is an award-winning pavilion and has been published in quite a few publications for its innovation.

furniture USC SoA

The use of shapes, especially inspired by the Memphis movement, informed the design of a circle and a cross to work as a pair. The cross as a table provides a more organizational opportunity, intertwined within the idea of a rectangular table and a circular one. This shape provides more sides without making it intuitively endless. The legs following the cross tabletop enabled the freedom as it was unobtrusive to the user. The circle, being the shape assigned to the chair, fit best with its function as it allowed for more freedom of movement, as well as a large seat comfortable for all users. The single armrest originated from the form in which I naturally sit on a chair, which usually is to rotate 90 degrees with one leg up and one arm on the chair’s backrest. The armrest, existing tall and singularly, provides the perfect seat for me and still includes a backrest for comfort. This furniture set looks at the blending between tectonic and stereotomic, incorporating the materiality of steel rods and cast terrazzo.

machiya housing AALU

Completed with a partner in Japan while on the Asian Architecture, Landscape, and Urbanism study abroad, the project analyzes the fundamentals of the Machiya housing typology. A typology very specific to Japan, Machiyas are characterized by the programmatic organization of living quarters on the second floor and a shop on the ground floor. The rooms are flexible with minimal furniture and an extensive set of sliding doors. An engawa (the “in-between” space or a threshold from interior to exterior) sits on the entire inner and outer perimeter of the house, expanding on the continuity of outdoors to indoors. The Machiya that is specifically analyzed is located within the Higashi-chaya district in Kanazawa, Japan, originally a geisha district, preserved by the city as such. This analysis reviews the organizational strategies of the spaces through plan and section. Doing this allowed us to pull out the main properties of the Machiya: flexibility, linear procession, threshold, and engawa circulation. Then, through a series of tests, we transformed the space to be oriented specifically to one property.

shanghai urban analysis

Completed in Shanghai while on the Asian Architecture, Landscape, and Urbanism study abroad, this project is an analysis of mega cities, this one specifically being the analysis of the city of Shanghai. With a partner, we mapped the urban fabric of Shanghai in an attempt to understand its state of being, looking at infrastructure, metro and trains, waterways, green spaces, growth over the years, landmarks, and districts. When I arrived in Shanghai, I chose a more specific district to study: People’s Square, a district in the heart of the mega city which acts as a symbol of both China’s consumption and growth.

Within People’s Square, there is the longest and busiest pedestrian street in the world, Nanjing Road. At 5 kilometers long, 24 meters wide, and attracting over one million visitors per day, Nanjing Road is the hub of Shanghai, developed specifically to fulfill the need of creating a pedestrian space, called for by the local government. The analysis of this boulevard encompasses the small scale, improvised and unplanned objects, rather than the architecture of the buildings. Signage, trams, benches, and lights are an indication of the current state of the city, as it can constantly change from year to year. The drawing is meant to display the vast amount of neon signs on the boulevard. Although not depicted one-to-one, it is taken from the typical form of the signs currently seen and applied in extreme aggregates along the buildings. By doing so, one is able to still get the feel of the boulevard due to its existing excessive state.

SHANGHAI, FIGURE GROUND SHANGHAI LOCALES

PEOPLE’S SQUARE, FIGURE GROUND

NANJING ROAD, PEDESTRIAN

NANJING ROAD, OVERFLOW

SHANGHAI, INFRASTRUCTURE

SHANGHAI, GROWTH

SHANGHAI, BUILDINGS

people in bishan

People in Bishan was primarily a research and intervention project of the small town of Bishan, in the Anhui Province in China. Completed with three other group members - two from Hong Kong University and one from USC - each group was tasked with exploring a different aspect of this town, including agriculture, water, building typology, and history. My team was assigned to ‘people’. Venturing through the town, my two group mates from HKU spoke Chinese and were able to converse with the locals to better know their way of life. As we made our way through the town, we surveyed the type of individuals who lived here, and noticed it was comprised mostly of older individuals and young children. The adults were all missing. The locals explained to us that, as urbanism is rising, the rural is shrinking and the individuals who are of age to work and have a career work in the cities such as Nanjing, Shanghai, and Nantong during most of the year and come back to Bishan only for a few months when the weather is nice.

The neighboring town that the locals call the ‘mother town’ is Huangshan, or the location of the Yellow Mountains. We visited this before Bishan and saw that it is almost a ‘Disneyland’, driven by tourism. Bishan’s townsfolk told us that Huangshan used to be exactly like Bishan - rural and untouched. They are slowly seeing Bishan turning into the next Huangshan and are concerned about their way of life changing.

Our survey of the people revealed spaces, activities, and individuals that play a special role in the town. We spoke to individuals such as Ms. Yu, a construction worker, Mr. Yao, a retired teacher, Mr. Ding, who established the elderly center, Ms. Zhang, manager of the D&D library, and Ms. Wang, a hostel owner. Spaces and activities almost go hand-in-hand here, such as chestnut peeling at the open buildings, majong in the elderly center, children playing at the school bus stop, the century parade in the main street, square dancing at the public plaza, conversations in the D&D library, and tourism at Dog’s Bistro. Based off our research of the people, we were tasked to create interventions: to survey a site and transform it according to either local government, central government, internal tourism, and external tourism. Each group member chose their own and completed the intervention individually. Mine was according to the central government, whose goal was a good quality of life. I set out to create local hubs and workshops for agricultural learning throughout that encompassed all activities we spoke to the people about.

The existing condition of this site in Bishan encompasses a wide range of agricultural elements found in the village. The site houses a chestnut peeling “factory”, an abandoned silk worm factory, a river and river-walk, and farming fields.

This site is a perfect candidate for teaching the wide range of rural techniques that can be applied to urban culture and city living. Throughout the village we will find a plethora of agriculture being implemented in daily lives, from peeling chestnuts with friends to farming vegetables in the backyard to sustain a family, Bishan acts as a great model of living sustainably that can be learned in order to increase productivity and decrease unnecessary spending and waste.

PEELING

In order to introduce workshops throughout Bishan that teach agriculture and sustainability, the activities should be condensed into smaller locales. Similiar to the original site, agricultural activities were concentrated into these zones. A bus stop is placed at each one to increase accessibility for the visiting intellectuals. Each location of activity is developed to create space for learning and enhance the current agricultural function.

Chestnut peeling is given more space, the river-walk is enlivened with plants to study, river is cleaned of algae to allow for cleaner fishing, and the fields are given sheds that follow the lines of the crops for shading. Productivity for both the villagers and the intellectuals is increased by enhancing these specific areas.

As the central government, our current goal is to learn sustainable living from the villagers in Bishan and bring that knowledge back to the cities to implement. Creating workshops that teach intellectuals this type of living and agriculture is a method to increase liveability in the city. The purpose of repopulating Bishan is for city and urban purposes.

Chestnut Peeling ‘Factory’

Abandoned Silk Worm Factory

Open Green Space

Open Green Space

Fishing

Fishing

Access to River

Farming Fields

Activating the spaces that currently focus on agriculture in a way that helps learn the rural methods is important to our workshops. The site houses a plethora of agricultural functions. Each one of these types of program is transformed in a unique way to maximize learning and work flow. A healthy, visually appealing space that caters to the needs of the users is necessary.

Chestnut Peeling Space

Bus Stop Open Green Space

Fishing

Farming Fields

Fishing Fishing

Access to River

Chestnut Peeling Space

Workshop Indoor Space

Landscaping + Species Learning Space

Sheltered Agriculture Learning

tsukiji market redevelopment

Completed with a group consisting of students from USC and Meiji University, in Tokyo, Japan while on the Asian Architecture, Landscape, and Urbanism study abroad, this design charrette looks at the replacement of Tsukiji Market, a historic and extremely ingrained landmark, with an urban development. Because Tsukiji was meant to be demolished for greater city health purposes and replaced with a parking lot for the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, the prompt is examining the future development of this one-kilometer by one-kilometer site. The lines of this project came from the curvatures of the existing Tsukiji market, leaving a trace of what was once there incorporated into the new site. These lines divide landscape, architectural elements, and circulation. The program includes gallery spaces, a hotel, and a market with a boat system to connect this new development to the relocated Tsukiji market, which is just a few islands south of this site. The goal was to incorporate the beloved cultural notion of the fish market into this new space and allow for freedom throughout the site of infill programs and public elements.

In this project I created the design and layout of the landscape, using the original Tsukiji curve, the axonometric drawing, and the plan drawings.

phnom penh economic housing

The Phnom Penh Economic Housing project was completed with a fellow intern during a summer internship at Hawkins\ Brown. The competition was proposed by the Phnom Penh Special Economic Zone in association with the United Nations Development Programme SDG Finance Initiative and Building Trust International. Its intention is to cater to the needs of low income which includes affordable housing that is functional for its demographic, performative buildings for the environment, and pleasurable spaces for its users. In order to respond to this call, the team began by strategizing the overall goals of the project which included the optimum awareness of vernacular architecture (such as the Khmer house typology), enhancing that architectural tradition, recognizing the environmental surroundings of the tropical climate, and enabling a good quality of life in an affordable manner through sustainable elements and prefabrication.

The master plan organization is such to allow for smaller scale, pedestrian-friendly spaces created by breaking down the site into quarters and providing a primary circulation spine as well as continuous connecting corridors. This provided for a community center and hub for the site in which all users can enjoy, as well as privacy and intimate spaces within the different scales of these corridors.

The design of the units stemmed from exploring the Cambodian vernacular, specifically the Khmer house typology, taking its elements and reworking it into mass housing. The goal of the design was to provide a place for people to call their own, in the same sense as a house within a big and populated site. We set up two types of housing: micro blocks and mega blocks. The micro blocks were meant for families and couples, who can buy one unit and later expand it further by removing and adding walls within the overriding structure. The mega blocks were meant for individuals and served as social housing, with a private living space and shared kitchens and amenities. Every unit throughout the whole site had a private balcony as well as roof access, in both the micro and mega blocks. There are four types of micro block units, each with a unique layout but all containing the same dimensions of CLT infill panels to allow for mass-manufacturing and flexibility of design.

Collaboratively, my partner and I came up with the master plan of the project, but I primarily worked on the concept and layout of the micro-blocks as well as the isometric drawing, while my partner worked on the concept and layout of the mega-blocks and the renders.

Mega

A co-living community, comprising of a collection of self-contained micro-units with communal amenity spaces for a social and affordable lifestyle experience. Green roof

A collection of 1, 2 and 3 bed family units for more private lifestyle.

Modular Living

Each domestic function and its associated space requirements have been optimized to occupy a repeatable and configurable module. The standard space module of 3m x 3m is aggregated as needed to accommodate the differing needs of a kitchen, bathroom, bedroom, living space and outdoor balcony. Different unit types and modes of living can be provided by simply providing alternate module organizations.

Innovative Construction

The building systems such as the structural frame are envisioned as a kit-of-parts that can be pre-fabricated in a nearby, off-site controlled environment and then delivered to the project location for rapid assembly. Other components such as the exterior metal cladding panels and screens and the cross-laminated timber (CLT) infill panels can be produced in the local manufacturing facilities that already produce similar products so that all goods used in the production of the housing development are locally sourced. The kit-of-parts approach also provides for variety in the design by allowing for interchangeable material finishes.

As a comprehensive studio project, we were tasked to explore typologies of long-span structural systems in an architectural circumstance. The Contemporary Architecture museum in Los Angeles, or as the professors called it, CALA, provided a showcase of architecture in a gallery space as well as incorporating programmatic elements such as archival space, lecture hall, offices, lobby, and more. The comprehensive projects sought to incorporate all elements of the building process, such as structural systems and connections, program, parking, cores and circulation, and accessibility.

This project highlighted the truss as its primary structural system. In a sense, the building became an inhabited truss and provided a delineation between programs through the threshold of the truss. At the point of angle within the truss, the vertical structural system is aggregated to allow for proper load transfer in both directions. Further, the truss density gradates according to need: the areas of cantilever have a greater truss density. In the point of overlap between two trusses, a column is extended down and shared between the two, unifying the total structure. The main space, the gallery, was the only straight truss block, meant to highlight the primary function of the building. The secondary spaces included administration, and for privacy purposes, included the angled truss system. The circulation was informed primarily by the direction of the truss with cocoons of spaces within the blocks.

The location of the building was in the Arts District, an upand-coming area at the time this project was proposed. I wanted to create a space of gathering, one without the “fortress vernacular” commonly seen in Los Angeles. The ground floor was an open floor plan, with a single facade of the truss bar that sat on the floor. The rest of the building was meant to give the illusion of floating above the ground. This was echoed in the facade system, as the perforated facade glowed at night but appeared as a mass during the day. The facade provided protection for the art and architecture presented in the space. To further provide lighting, skylights were introduced with curves and thus gave a soft and diluted amount of sunlight. The overall project was received as innovating the truss system, and further was selected to be presented to the NAAB accreditation board on behalf of USC SoA.

second floor plan

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