sepa sama
Selected Academic and Independent Works of Sepa Sama, 1999-2009
Copyright © 1999-2009 Sepa Sama and Partners. All rights reserved.
Crow sounds airplane took the night an Iranian was born in a Turkish area with an Arabic name and Israeli ring He swallowed all the pains and designed places of poetry carefully There is a story about a British traveler who went to Tehran long ago. He came across a Memar (a traditional architect or builder) constructing a dome and singing poetry simultaneously. The traveler paused; he found this sight idiosyncratic to this place. As he watched, a fight broke out in an adjacent bazaar. People gathered there, and he sighed about their decision to watch the fight instead of watching architecture in its making filled with singing poetry. Like the British traveler, I, too, have chosen poetry and architecture. There was a sunny day. I was 8. I ran to the store, sweet and dust in the air. I came back in a hurry carrying a new notebook that had all the colors on its cover. I wrote and painted in the new notebook. Poetry, I called it—I didn’t know what architecture was—but the nature of drawing and thinking together started then. Later, there was the Iran-Iraq war and I depicted war. In my drawings, war was confronted by the Simorgh, a bird of wisdom th reimagined by 13 century Persian poet Attar. Today, as an Iranian in exile, I recall Attar, who wrote his celebrated collection of poems, The Conference of the Birds, during the Mongol invasions. Sometimes I see myself walking with vivid steps in the garden of poetry on the volatile grounds of war. After high school, I traveled extensively in Iran and Europe. I compared the cities I observed and identified the ways that geography and culture inform different design approaches. My first professional position involved working on the construction of over 30,000 units of low-income housing in south Tehran, Iran. The symphony of construction fascinated me: opening fresh ground, pouring a simple foundation, monitoring, trucks, workers, hours passing, the day coming to a close. All the design opportunities and improvisation, all the parts came together. Contemplating the city. My job was to assist a task-oriented project manager in monitoring subcontractors. Along the way, I developed a specific interest in architecture, which deepened after meeting and observing architects in action. I realized that architecture gives form to social behavior; it is silently instrumental in the materialization of civilizations. Architecture is a process, not a subject. It is an act of constant learning, figuring out, and creating. Later, I was accepted into a combined undergraduate and graduate architecture program at Shahid Beheshti University in Tehran. While I studied, I continued my work with several construction sites, a combination which inspired new design ideas: as I worked, I would picture how a façade could be different, how it might be built, and contemplate the consequences of design. Meanwhile, in the classroom, I extended my design tools and enjoyed theoretical discussion about architecture. I developed a perspective regarding architecture that resembled abstract painting: there are no symbols, simply a play of light, pattern and structure that gives form to a program. Before long, I was involved in a series of independent design projects, including façades, lobbies and interiors. Most significantly, I designed and built a 22,000 square feet building— the first time that I was exposed to the entire phenomenal process, from the first sketch to the last doorknob. In the process,
I learned how much I needed to learn in order to collaborate productively. Mutual respect and trust between parties are both critical to the success of any architecture project. During my undergraduate years, my mother and I founded the Ariane Art Gallery in Tehran, which quickly became one of the city’s most successful contemporary art institutions. Unfortunately, the Islamic republic of Iran did not tolerate the gallery; they see art as an ideological enemy. In a single moment that dramatically changed the course of my academic and professional life, they savagely invaded our gallery, and we were forced to flee our home country. At the time, I was about to begin my master’s study and had recently founded a design firm, Sepahram and Partners. Now, I had to start everything all over again: I was part of the diaspora. We moved to Los Angeles, where I decided to be tough, patient and quiet. I read contemporary Persian poetry and paid close attention to contemporary design while studying at the Southern California Institute of Architecture (SCI-Arc). In Tehran I had been able to work with ease; in Los Angeles, I felt like a newborn. The language, the city, the culture and people were all unfamiliar. From this point on, I felt obligated to learn as much as possible from both my new home and my old home. The in-between was a zone of creativity, of negotiation and interaction. As I completed my undergraduate work at SCI-Arc, I submitted to ten international competitions, worked professionally for RoTo architects, participated in three art exhibitions, and was involved in the construction of a 30,000 square foot project in Los Angeles. As I look back on the ten years from 1999 to 2009, I recognize a major cycle in my creative growth. I worked, studied, improvised and engaged in many independent projects, from poems to essays to objects to buildings to cities. In the process, I developed a thirst for learning. I learned that in some situations, I am powerless—for example, I was just two years old during Iran’s Islamic revolution. However, other situations offer me the power to create opportunities. Going forward, I don’t intend to confine myself to the conventional practice of architecture. Instead, I intend to pursue a career rooted in academics, in the study and practice of theory. I see the architect as a leader who experiments with many forms of art, learns about cultures, learns about everything around him, learns how things work, and is ultimately prepared to draw the avatar of civilizations. Humans are mechanisms capable of altering a built space with a poetic state, in a way that no machine ever could. I will trace poetry in my work.
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TABLE OF CONTENTS VISUAL IMAGINATION, 2007
USA Academic
Independent GRADIENT TECTONICS, 2007
JEWELRY, 2001
In my childhood depiction, war was confronted by the Simorgh, a bird of wisdom reimagined by 13th century Persian poet Attar. Today, as an Iranian-American in exile, I recall Attar, who wrote his celebrated collection of poems, The Conference of the Birds, during Mongol invasions. Sometimes I see myself walking with vivid steps in the permanent garden of poetry on volatile grounds of war.
IRAN
HAFEZ PROJECT, 2003
ESSAY, 2007
RECORDING STUDIO, 2004
ALAMEDA PROJECT, 2007
DIGITAL EXPERIMENTATIONS 1999-2009
ARQUITECTUM, 2006
In the endless volume of start I find my existence as a dream And I do not choose.
ROSE BOWL STADIUM, 2005
RUMI’S HOUSE, 2008
SAN DIEGO ART SHOW, 2005
FLIGHT 93 , 2005
POEM, 2009 SCHENGEN SCULPTURE, 2006
GRANITE SCULPTURE, 2000
FELIX CANDELA METAL MODEL, 2002
VAZARI PROJECT, 2001
JODAT PROJECT, 2002
DESIGN OPOURTUNITIES, 1999-2003
PAINTING, 1999
JODAT ART & LIGHT, 2001
VISUAL IMAGINATION { Seminar at Sciarc}
Instructors: Michael Rotondi Michael Dobry Student: Sepa Sama
This work was done for the final of visual imagination class, the work started by the idea of what happens when dream falls into its physical structure; spring mattress. In order to visualize this, first I extracted the spring mattress from mattress, then I laid it outdoors on the asphalt, I poured water on the ground and the reflection of sun was appeared below the spring mattress, I began taking pictures. Later I worked on the fluidity and light of the photograph in Photoshop environment, the goal was to integrate light and structure. After enough manipulation, there was a moment that the work was paused in a playful coexistence of light and structure.
dimension: 5.5’ x 3.5’ year: 2007
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From left to right: Initial photography, digital manipulation
This work was displayed in Gallery One, San Francisco
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GRADIENT TECTONICS {Softech seminar at Sciarc}
Instructor: Marcelo Spina
Student: Sepa Sama
For the initial part of the class, I investigated Muqarnas and later I modeled a selected Muqarnas in order to understand it’s logics and tectonics, and for the final I designed my own version of Moqarnas. The course explored both digital and physical modelings. In the case of Moqarnas I looked at it in the last 1000 years primarily in Iran, and I realized first it had appeared in the exterior of the buildings and it was structural problem solving as well as a geometrical transition of a right-angled to round shapes. Their most predominant examples are found in places where the box transitions to a dome and to make that transition, Moqarnas had to be invented and later it was constructed for the decorative purposes due to it’s multifaceted surfaces that had a play of light and shadows.
Jame Mosque’s gate, Isfahan
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{ case}
Tower of Toghrul, Rayy, 1139 This was an early example in which Moqarnas has seen in the exterior surface and it functions as the transition of right-angled walls to a round shaped roof.
Masjid-i-Jami, Varamin, 1322. Dome and squinch Moqarnas plays a role in transition of a box to a dome, It was invented to make this transition structurally and later it was an opportunity for aesthetics.
Moqarnas of Amin-o-Doleh Timche in Bazaar of Kashan Moqarnas graduates the entire dome.
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Shah Mosque’s gate, Isfahan In this case Moqarnas transitions a rectangular base to a point.
Jame Mosque’s gate, Isfahan I selected this particular example to model and investigate. How can we get to one point from a rectangular base through play of geometry.
A process of making a Decorative Moqarnas in Turkey
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{ process}
Designing a gradient geometry based on the investigation
Modeling of Jame Mosque’s gate
Making of the physical model of the designed gradient geometry
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{ site}
830 surfaces
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Urban Systems { Seminar at Sciarc}
Instructor: Dr. Dora Epstein Jones Student: Sepa Sama
This paper was written for the final of Urban systems which discusses Frederich Engeles peripatetic view of Manchester in his time and it compares it with Mike Davis’ views of Los Angeles at the present time.
year: 2007
In the endless volume of start I find my existence as a dream And I do not choose. Engels uses separations to describe, separations between classes and people. It forces you to position yourself. It forces you to decide, and find your place within the society in change. He also describes Manchester and London as cities that they depend on brutal treatment of workers to move on and to advance, he points at conditions of workers and the fact that, there is no certain future for any one, he imagines a volume of fear within the city, that dictates many things both for workers and both for employers. As the employers depend on the workers, and both employers and workers depend on the city, Engels looks at the city to investigate the entire ecology, he discovers slums as a phenomenon of major cities and growing cities, he describes its characteristics; the irregular spaces, no infrastructure, no gutters, diseased both physically and morally, Irish immigrants that are lowest paid must live in conditions that surrounds them by prostitution and robbery, a harsh condition, that comfortably ignored by the bourgeoisie. After slums comes law, order, to adjust unordered slums, Engels looks at officials and police and he describes series of crimes that stems from slum conditions, for example by describing the starving condition of the working kids to be questioned at the police office for stealing a half baked bread.. By looking at theses series of unjust crimes in unjust conditions, he questions the just and he is navigating on the line that defines morality, and differences and reasons, I would argue many studies that he does on crime conditions are very strategic to bring you to his determined point. He being from a wealthy family and being a bourgeoisie and facing the truth and allowing himself to be influenced by Marx, is what makes him important, it becomes critical to study him, because he describes Manchester in a descriptive way, even though he has tendencies to a particular vision. He explains lodging-houses for workers that could save a penny or so, so they can all sleep in dense conditions, for others they sleep on the streets, and they are homeless. As Manchester-Leeds railway creates a network, Manchester becomes a main city, and heels toward the Irish Sea replace their country villages with dense towns, Manchester and Lancashire became the attraction for English manufacturing and productions. He uses the term thermometer to describe how Manchester has become important for trade and business in England that the city is an instrument that resolves the resonations of the economy. Engels points at power loom, the fusion of man power with the machinery that gives birth to the cotton industry in 1844, as one of the most modern industries, these industries are mainly in the towns that encircle Manchester, and they are sustained by Manchester, theses fencing towns are filled with workers and minor tradesmen, in contrast to Manchester that becomes the place for major tradesmen, class and dealers. North-west of Manchester, Bolton besides the flow of goods and workers, we have the flow of dark water and the air so
dark all around the year, there is no purity in weather, as there is no purity in people, pollution of air and pollution of people, an uneasy condition that it feels like motion rather than stationary, It feels like Engels has to work hard to capture what he captures, I am talking about that moment of pause, like everyday things can become an important topic, Engels looks for every corner of England but he focuses on Manchester to develop his work, and he is all concerned, with things that are morphing and changing and making the condition of now, there are not very personal feelings about his descriptions, it is systematic and he continues like that. As I was getting used to his machinery/industrial vision, that he somehow sorts out the city based on regularity, and every time he meets irregular means a condition of past or old brick or slums, and every time is regular is the condition of lets say now, the production and today of England, train systems and etc. suddenly Engels contrasts the Stalybridge on Tame with the Elizabethan style and he contrasts Stalybridge again to the worker cottages, I think he has this play of regularity and irregularity and style and logics behind why theses systems are like that always in his mind and this time he sequences them and he finds irony, he somehow now categorizes, lets say style for bourgeoisie and irregularity for workers and regularity for operational systems to produce, and he maps them in the city, from his readings, he summarizes these to anomalies as characteristics of these cities around Manchester. Engels defines Manchester as a town of 400 000 people, fenced by the rivers and streams and in between are buildings, so basically geography, human beings and their constructions assembled to be the town of Manchester. He defines Manchester as bizarre but he is drawn into it, he describes within its unexpectedness how Manchester has been built in a way, so no one will face the workers, he sees the tactical decisions that isolate the working class and sections them so the middle class would have comfort. Engels reports a belt of worker’s quarters, that is one mile and half around the Manchester’s commercial district, and next to this belt the middle class lives in the regularly organized fashion, and the bourgeoisie in further distant areas, I immediately think about the relationship of site and architecture, and how site dictates how much of architecture, in this time and in this town to my opinion when you would have freedom that would be the distant faraway places, you would end up in styles and lets say Gothic like architecture, but when the condition had more constraints, it would be the work spaces and regularly organized middle class buildings and police systems, the architecture had to articulate more the condition of the present time, that can also be applied today in Los Angeles. Engels reads Manchester coincidental but at the same time, he reads it systematic, the forming force would be how powers between manufacturers and workers and middle class and owners could be bargained, and these voices somehow arrange themselves into a city, my take is also the immediate presence of the fear, how the smart bourgeoisie already fortressed themselves by the middle class and they somehow created the façade of streets that you would feel right
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about the city unless you would become Engels and dig the obvious problem. Furthermore he explains in detail about the old town Manchester, and he complains about irregularity and irrationality of it, but he also mentions water mills and I would wonder If there is a connection between these mills and these irregularities? I mean would these shapes were formed because of water flows or not? Engels furthermore continues to more organized cottages and describes their arrangements, because of methods of constructions that are the easiest and these arrangements of buildings are the most convenient to rent rather than comfort. These cottages are covered nicely with bricks from outside, but as you approach them you realize the thinness of the walls and the cloths of the workers, and the thin lines between you and them. As Reyner Banham describes Los Angeles as the city of immediate future, and he describes time in relationship to the mirror of the car, I conclude that both Los Angeles and Manchester are cities in change with the coordination of the growth of technology, they are both uncertain and disordered, and open to immigrants as the muscle to move these techno-cities forward to the future, I start by looking at Mike Davis, and examining Davis’s points first, and then comparing it to Manchester. I want to point at a comparison before I discuss Mike Davis, which I taught it could be very relevant, I translated one Rumi poem that says; “we are from placeless and we go placeless”, on the other hand Walter Benjamin’s explanations on nativity in the city and deep effects of the natives in the city defines the city, so everything that is superficial and nonnative belongs to the outsiders, so to him this idea of permanence and maturity of the city with people who stayed there defines the city and place, whereas Rumi accepts the nomadic way of life, and I also sense that temporal feeling in Los Angeles, as if there is a secret agreement on a temporal way of life, but on the other hand as the city becomes older it will go toward Benjamin’s definition, may be like San Francisco today there is stronger sense of consensus than Los Angeles, because of the fact that it was developed earlier. As I read Davis, Los Angeles is like the continuation of Manchester, or in better words is Manchester again but in a more advanced period, police will become more sophisticated, the importance of profit of housing starts to become more notable, Los Angeles is going to have a more complex urban configuration, but with the same disordered logic of Manchester. Los Angels 1914 population of 300 000 resembles a silenced Manchester with its railroads and guards and weak infrastructure that is going to be awaken to become today’s Los Angeles. From Bell X-1 rocket plane to the commuters, Los Angeles draws you into the future that has never seen before, a frontier city that has no obligation to the classical way of life or the technology will leave no room for nativity. I argue that always with the immediate growth of technology, there is always immediate protection or fantasizing of the better imagined or nostalgic past, that they are almost inseparable, as we saw in Manchester how simultaneously classical architecture was happening as the city was becoming modern.
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If Manchester’s important hidden force was fear, Davis points at dream many times as the growing factor behind Los Angels, and If Manchester was more dependent on manufacturers and workers, Los Angeles would be more influenced by home owners/buyers and developers, although both manufacturers and immigrants and fear is present in Los Angles, but they demonstrate a more resolved equilibrium than Manchester, that I would think is because of advancement of the police and militarized systems that already exists, and also media that can show the consequences of the crimes to the masses. Engels describes English cities and he criticizes them with a point of view, as If time is linear, things are going to be different better or worse who knows, but as Davis describes Los Angeles’s time is not linear, it is so fast that is almost over, as If Los Angeles’s past is already exists in its future simultaneously, he starts by looking at Los Angeles in that sense, as If the consequence has already happened and he can photograph it, for example the General Assembly Hall/Hotel, Llano del Rio photograph. This 70 square miles city, that is the fastest grown metropolis known to the modern world, which has developed so rapidly in few decades has structure or logic way more complex than Manchester, If Engels captures logics of Manchester descriptively such as manufacturers, conditions of poor and workers and owners, bridges and architectural styles all in place, Davis looks at Los Angeles more critically rather than describing it, he is after the exact reasons behind the forces of the city, and he is more inside out rather than observing the city from outside. Los Angels home owners louder than the factories of Manchester, people assemble to form similar ethnicity and similar home values, that is their second wave of power after developers has left them, now this is their job to retain the home values, values can be effected by many things such as security, so more money means more security, more security means more ordered zones and distant from where workers live, this condition is identical to Manchester. As Davis describes the most important ‘social movement’ of this region was to protect their home values, one can conclude the importance of this matter as a community, that will effect the entire urbanism, or as Banham argues a post-urban condition, that will shape Los Angeles. In Los Angeles is more crisis of middle class and their adjustments to the real estate market and the economy, there are too much developments versus slowing down the developments and resisting the denser developments, as in Manchester is more crisis of workers and the pressure is on them and their spaces and their conditions, one can make this analogy that the tumor has moved from the low class in Manchester to the middle class in Los Angeles, not literally but I am coming to this point that in every city, there are a crucial group of people that carry the weight, and till they do that, others like investors or banks and developers keep their game going, once people start to work with the government to regulate theses growths, the tumor will be in some control and that’s what I think Benjamin Walter meant by being native, so you can be active about your environment, not like a foreigner, and in the case of Manchester seems like the workers are the ones that
keep this machine of Manchester moving and for them too, is the a matter of being native and If being the second generation, they would resist the pressure and the manufacturers must compensate for that, but real beauty of these cities is when they are flowing the fastest as Engels points out the uncertain condition and I want to add these two cities as unprecedented in the history, so the officials and the workers and owners, they are all looking for temporal solutions/benefits, till the city finds its destiny, but its that period of change that brought, Engels and Davis to these discussions, other wise discussing San Francisco today has no dynamic and uncertainty when the standards and regulatory systems such as environmentalism is strongly in place, so the condition is stable. Another important factor in Los Angles would be security, visible to invisible, printed to electric, there and not there, mixed with pretty plants, all working together for the price of home values, If historic cities had gates for wars, now the houses have gates for gangs, dead gated streets protected from the ones, who do not afford such gates, this is an unreal condition, but it is advertised globally as a happy place, young, inviting, energetic and not caring, come here, feed the hunger of this metropolis and you can make it too, be a dreamer, as dreams have no guarantees, this metropolis wakes up every few years to adjust itself and then it goes back to the experimental mode, till a problem appears again. If Manchester was not planed, Los Angels has lost its criteria to be planed, as If decision makers look at the accidents of Los Angels and they start to trim its branches, I often think of Los Angels as a monster infrastructure, that architecture really does not play a critical role, but it will in the future, this infrastructure can unfold itself to the world that has never being experienced before, and the fact that nativity is lost here is always allowance for experimentations, but the backlash is the pockets that start to reassemble themselves to the villages or the historic worlds, that have never been in any history books, as Davis starts the book with the excavation, I would wonder what would be the archeology of the places like the Grove? Fear became a dream, dream remembered the fear.
Bibliography, City of Quartz by Mike Davis, pages 1-15, pages 151221, pages 221-250. Los Angeles; the architecture of four ecologies by Reyner Banham The condition of the working class in England by Friedrich Engels, pages 69-120. Divane Shams by Rumi.
Engels: Life is brutal and we must change. Davis: Life is unfair, sophisticated and entangled with the economy. Engels: We shall revolt. Davis: We is sleeping. Engels: The future will change the world. Davis: I have seen the future past. You are annoying Engels, you must go back to your time. In this time people don’t care anymore, the only reality is the fake reality, not even pain is real anymore, real is awkward. Banham: Future past makes no sense; we should be discussing the immediate future of Los Angeles. Benjamin: We must stay long enough to become natives. Rumi: You all stand on one foundation. Benjamin: Who is this Rumi guy? Engels: I didn’t invite him! Davis: I have heard about him in Westwood. Banham: me too.
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RECORDING STUDIO { Studio 3A at Sciarc}
Instructor: Deborah Richmond Student: Sepa Sama
program: recording studios The program was composed of series of three recording studios, office, music store, gallery and café. The site was located in Silver lake, Los Angeles, where many creative people live and work. I began by organizing the program based on street noise and vibrations, and the goal was to create gathering spaces between the building and the street. One of the things I enjoyed about this project was the simple deformations of the volume and how their breaks where based on the program differentiations.
location: silverlake, los angeles, usa area: 18,000 sqft. year: 2004
Installation based on music
simple deformations
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{ process}
Below are series of models to investigate form and organizations that can work best for recording studios, and above is the final decision as the recording studios seat back in the larger volumes amd more busy programs seat in front adjusant to street.
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{ site}
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Control Plan scale : 1 ” = 20’ - 0”
Roof Plan scale : 1 ” = 20’ - 0” academic 2007
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First Floor Plan scale : 1 ” = 20’ - 0” academic 2007
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Site Plan scale : 1 ” = 27’ - 0”
Control Drawing scale : 1 ” = 20’ - 0”
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Section BB’ scale : 1 ” = 20’ - 0”
Detail scale : 1 ” = 5’ - 0”
Detail Drawing scale : 1 ” = 3’ - 0”
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Detail scale : 1 ” = 4’ - 0”
Detail scale : 1 ” = 3.5’ - 0”
Detail scale : 1 ” = 3’ - 0”
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Wall Section scale : 1 ” = 10’ - 0”
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ROSE BOWL STADIUM { Studio 3B at Sciarc}
Instructor: Elena Manferdini Collaboration: Christian Altamirano Sepa Sama
program: stadium
In order to design a stadium, the studio started by looking at sports and their dynamic nature, our team chose tennis and we made diagrams that inspired us to initiate the design, the site for this stadium is very free in comparison to a stadium in an urban setting, therefore the goal was to make shaded spaces outside of the stadium for existing markets and outdoor activities. We experimented with parametric design and we made series of iterations and chose the one that could work best with the program as well as having aesthetic qualities both when you are inside and outside.
location: pasadena, california, usa area: 8,000,000 sqft. year: 2005
Early sketch in order to study how can the structure coalesce with the environment
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{ site}
Rose Bowl academic 2007
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Examining sport shoes
Designing a shoe in order to exercise structural geometries
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Study model
Physical Model, stadium was designed by going back and forth between physical and digital models
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Altering the digital design with parametric digital tools
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{ site}
Site Plan scale : 1 / 256”= 1’ - 0”
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Section AA’ scale : 1 / 1024” = 1’ - 0”
Elevation BB’ scale : 1 / 1024” = 1’ - 0”
Elevation CC’ scale : 1 / 1024” = 1’ - 0”
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Floor Plan scale : 1 / 512” = 1’ - 0”
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ALAMEDA PROJECT { Studio 4A at Sciarc}
Instructor: Dwayne Oyler Collaboration: Omar Santillan Sepa Sama
loom as the concept of the factory
program: tire reusing factory Place of production as an apparatus that restructures the city to an urban ecosystem chain. Existing urban environment operates through constant consumption of the natural resources to product and waste. A place of production can bring the opportunity for the urban environment to function as a chain ecosystem; meaning that product and waste can be recycled in the production system, instead of natural resources. Thus, the city itself becomes spectrum of material/product sources. As the city continually is in need of conversion of raw materials to products in order to operate, the consumption of the existing products as raw material can decrease the intake of raw material from natural resources. Therefore, the city finds an opportunity to reconstruct an ecosystem that becomes independent of natural environment, as we reexamine the city. In order to reconstruct the urban environment to an efficient ecosystem, we start by working on tires as an example due to its large volume consumption, as one person in advanced countries discards one tire per year, the project’s goal is to innovate and manufacture module oriented surfaces that can be used in many areas such as industrial curtains and rethinking boundaries. The place of production itself should interact with the city, and we believe that by making the production/recycling process visible, can make people self conscious toward participating in the project’s goal.
location: los angeles, california, usa area: 200,000 sqft. year: 2006
{ case}
The site was selected around the freeway to display the process of reusing tires.
Advanced countries discard same number of tires as their population each year; therefore, Los Angeles, discards over ten million tires anually. The aim of the factory was to figure out a way to reuse disposed tires.
story Film: Charlie and the Chocolate Factory was an opportunity to see the potential of a factory as an interesting place.
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The site is located in the industrial corridor east of downtown Los Angeles. This would be an ideal site for a factory that transforms large amount of material.
drop
storage
sorting
breakdown
Based on our research, we differentiated the program into four major zones.
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{ process}
We tried to shape the linear process of the factory to our site. Simultaneously keeping the loom concept and the program zones.
new product display exhibition /education
office engineering
support
SPACE OF PRODUCTION machinery material transition from waste to reuseable
matemMATERIAL TRANSFORMATION
n production
storage collection
PROGRAM AND SITE STRATEGY
material breakdown n
production
new product assambly llyy
Physical models of the factory as a loom.
storage/collrction
sorting
dropoff
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b
truck parking
SORTING
BREAKDOWN
D
Check-in Office
Loading and Unloading Area
Material Sorting and Storage
STORAGE
OFFICE / MANAGEMENT
Material Assembly
OFFICE / MANAGEMENT
a
Mateo ST. Visitors and Staff Entrance
Visitors and Staff Parking
Olympic Blvd.
Roof Plan scale : 1 / 64 ”= 1’ - 0”
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The factory converts tires to elastic raw materials, the entire process is displaced and exposed as in loom, also for such factory most of the process can take place outdoors.
c
b
a
Structure and Program diagram scale : NTS
drop
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storage
sorting
breakdown
pick up
education visitor
Section AA’ scale : 1 / 128” = 1’ - 0”
office management
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Elevation BB ’ scale : 1 / 128” = 1’ - 0” academic 2006
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Elevation CC ’ scale : 1 / 128’= 1’ - 0”
Elevation DD ’ scale : 1 / 128’= 1’ - 0”
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Program Axonometric scale : NTS
Section Detail scale : 1 / 64’= 1’ - 0”
a
b
Sectional Detail scale : 1 / 8” = 1’ - 0”
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Elevation Render
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RUMI’S HOUSE { Independent Thesis at Sciarc}
Advisors: Michael Rotondi and Chris Genik Thesis Prep Advisors: Dr. Dora Epstein Jones Dwayne Oyler Rob Ley Student: Sepa Sama
Facade of Pier 26 under the Bay Bridge, San Francisco, CA
program: cultural center This was my last project at Sciarc, and the independent thesis formed upon a conversation with Chris Genik, I shared with him series of books and material that I wanted to write about, summer 2008 I lived in San Francisco next to the site and I came once a week to meet with my advisors, the main subject of the thesis is Diaspora, and Rumi’s Diaspora particularly as a model for the program of cultural center, I also looked at other body of research that would form my architecture such as historic Persian gardens, Isfehan’s Naghshe Jahan square. The columns in the project were inspired by Rumi’s dance forming a context as a forest that buildings are hidden within it.
location: soma, san francisco, usa area: 227,250 sqft. year: 2008
film
art
city people gardens thoughts
story
site
academic 2008
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people: From left to right: Azar Nafisi, Edward Said
gardens: From left to right: 1. Le Ricolais's automorphic tube structure 2. Flux room Installation; Graz Austria 2002 3. Qasr-e Qajar, artist unknown and undated 4. Bagh-e Dowlatabad, Yazd.
books: From left to right: 1. Reading Lolita in Tehran (Azar Nafisi) 2. Traveler letters by Olivier 3. Orientalism (Edward Said) 4. Time Magazine (America an Illustrated Modern History).
story Author: Samad Behrangi, “The Little Black Fish”
academic 2008
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{ case}
city From left to right 1. Bagh-e Dowlatabad Yazd tower 2. Islamic Architecture 3. Aerial photo Chehel-Sotun_Isfahan 4, 5. Islamic Architecture
art / film From left to right 1. Painting of Steve McCurry’s “Afghan Girl” potography 2. Shaadi Yousefian 3. Marjane Satrapi (Persepolis movie) 4. Mohammad Ehsani (Tabriz, Images from the forgotten world) 5. Tarsem Singh (The Fall movie)
historic art From left to right 1. Miniature map Matraqchi (1537-1538 A.D.) 2. Khavarnameh of Ibn Husayn 3. Nest Osouli Farah 4. Thousand Flowers Tapestry 5, 6, 7. Seven Poets Analogy
academic 2008
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{ process}
Formal studies: The challenge was to embed a garden and to form a context embracing programs.
Three types of columns in four positions forming a complex context .
academic 2008
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Early models; initially the garden was centralized but later it got incorporated with a ramp along the programs.
academic 2008
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{ site}
First sketch of the site.
academic 2008
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Roof Plan scale 1:1500 academic 2008
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Bay Bridge Axonometric scale NTS
BB’
AA’
Floor Plan 02 scale 1:1500 academic 2008
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Axonometric AA’ scale NTS
Section AA’ scale 1:1500
academic 2008
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Axonometric wo/forest scale NTS
Axonometric BB’ scale NTS
Section BB’ scale 1:1500
academic 2007
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Axonometric w/forest scale NTS
Transversal Elevation scale 1:1500
Longitudinal Elevation scale 1:1500
academic 2007
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Rumi’s House
Garden
Circulation
Program buildings
Platform
Dancing columns
Piles
academic 2007
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Section BB’ Enlarged scale 1:500
academic 2007
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academic 2007
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There were roads high in the mountains, exceptionally high, there were roads between, San Francisco and Iran without any lands. There was a building part in San Francisco, part in my childhood, sun from Middle Ages. This was a passage to the closed doors. They had changed things I had never seen before, they had reformed them, The music was in the car and in the building, I am not sure If there was a car. But my mind could see the entire place in color, exceptional colors, and it could hear the music and it could read its poetry without thinking about something else, and it believed what it was hearing without knowing; he is the creator of his own dream.
academic 2007
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DIGITAL EXPERIMENTATIONS { Independent work}
Designer: Sepa Sama
This is a body of work that stemmed from the curiosity of computation as a design tool, some of the works in this chapter are pure digital experimentations for their own sake and some are formal studies for competitions and design projects, this is a body of work I would like to perfect as a visualization and design method.
year: 1999-2009
Formal studies for Green Stop Design Competition for Caltrans
independent 2008
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independent 2008
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Monument of Time for Moscow competition
Kiosk for MIT’s Just Jerusalem 2050 Competition
independent 2008
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Ground Zero Monument
eVolo arch competition, Tokyo submission
independent 2008
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eVolo arch competition, Tehran submission
independent 2008
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SAN DIEGO ART SHOW { Independent work}
Gallery: Derissi Art Gallery Artist: Sepa Sama
title: abstract painting
There was a summer and I needed an escape, I bought paint, canvas and steal rods, I beat the paint with the steal rods on canvas, and I painted near 200 paintings, I learnt to control the paint and remain open to new possibilities, Later some of them were showed in Derissi Art Gallery and reviews were published in La Jolla Village News.
location: la jolla, ca , usa year: 2005
independent 2005
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ARQUITECTUM { Urban competition; Bridge museum }
Collaboration: Alexander Peña de Leon Brigid McManama Sepa Sama
program: bridge and museums of past and future Where do we begin when we consider a form so fraught with metaphor as the bridge? How do we build in a city that is imagined by the world as the model of timeless perfection, where modern life is often obscured by marvel and romance? This bridge proposal seeks to suspend those prevailing discourses in order to create a moment of reflection, a moment to reflect upon, and also fulfill, Venice's spectrum of potential: past, present, and future. This program addresses the role of new technologies in (re)structuring social dynamics, and in particular, the ways in which our responses to the simultaneous interactions of both existing and emerging conditions of connection/division shape the life of the city and its architecture. These transformations, therefore, require evolving structures that emphasize the modes of connectivity and symbiotic interaction within this new urban paradigm. This program is organized by the opportunities for democratic development by reflecting upon the flows of people, objects and processes within the complex amalgam of the past, present and future of this locale.
location: venice, italy year: 2006
Early sketch
{ site }
The first bridge to encounter as you would enter the city from the river.
{ competition submittal }
independent 2006
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Existing bridge
The goal was to create a play of two museums twisting around each other forming a bridge while the form has an intense expression of intervals of lights and shadows.
independent 2006
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Top view
independent 2006
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SCHENGEN SCULPTURE { Design Competition for Artistic Installation Malta International Airport } Team: Graham Thiel Sepa Sama
The concept for the Schengen Sculpture is the “Freedom of Movement” where in movement is not only representative of the of the passengers, goods, and services traveling in and out of Malta International Airport, the forms within the sculpture move effortlessly through space guided solely by their interrelating paths, coming together in ways similar to that of the various cultures that have lead to the fusion of present day Malta. The purpose of the Schengen Sculpture is to formally illustrate the paths of these cultures; their movement in time and in relationship to each other. The uniform material of the sculpture represents the fusing of all cultures when they intersect in time and how their relationships form apart and come together. Consideration is given to design the elements of the sculpture at a human scale with tangible elements extruding from the central form so that passengers may walk up to and around the sculpture to best trace its paths with their own eyes and hands. The Schengen Sculpture is unique in its creation. Using the leading edge of computer aided design and manufacturing technologies, the Schengen Sculpture achieves forms unparalleled by the human hand. Developed solely within a 3D modeling environment, the sculpture is formed in such a way that all visible paths are continuous, converging, and complex; further illustrating the movement of cultures. The computer aided design process of the sculpture model is one of strength and accuracy, resulting in the most expressive of complex forms and precise intersection. When and where changes are necessary the model may be effortlessly altered in general form, scale, and material thickness. The Schengen Sculpture will be produced from solid aluminum with the assistance of a series of CNC Milling Machines. The CNC Milling process makes the production of complex 3D structures possible, reducing the number of additional machining steps and lessening the amount of production time. With this process, the 3D model may be taken directly from design to manufacturing without the need of producing drafted paper drawings. Initial scaled models will be produced through a 3D printing process during which the physical elements of the model are built in layers. The full scale version of the Schengen Sculpture is a self supported structure with actual dimensions of 3.7m long, 1.7m wide, and 2.5m high. The sculpture will rest within the proposed space on three points and hand finished by the sculptors to a mirror shine.
year: 2006
{ competition submittal }
From left to right: Center view and inside of the sculpture.
independent 2006
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Second Prize, Artistic Installation at Malta International Airport, Signed contract for implementation.
independent 2006
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independent 2006
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FLIGHT 93 { National Memorial}
Team: Yasaman Barmaki Bahram Ghadiri Sepa Sama
Crash Site
I placed this competition with Bahram Ghadiri and Yasaman Barmaki, both philosophy graduates and we started learning about the flight 93, and trying to come up with the best possible concept, we worked with pipes as the formal and spatial expression of people telling the story in the field.
location: stoystown, pa, usa area: 2,200 acres year: 2005
The main pipe as the body of the airplane, and the forty pipes as the expression of the story.
3 - state of shock
4 - consciousness
2 - one flight
5 - becoming unattached
Listen to the story told by the reed , listen to the symphony orchestrated by 40 individuals, passengers and crew, who came from different backgrounds and agendas but managed to unite together to change the history of the nation. As you enter this solemn and tranquil landscape you begin to experience 40 individual pipes with the name and itinerary of each individual engraved on each unique pipe. Together these 40 pipes form the reed organ -- carrying the voice of these unforgettable people and the events of September 11, 2001. These pipes are sustainable in this rural landscape and will stay alive to commemorate these ordinary people who acted so extraordinarily. As you experience each pipe differently -- you will enter a pipe much like the body of the airplane that brought these 40 individuals together. When you exit this pipe a moving ramp will transport you to the next pipe/stage creating a moment of uncertainty about what to expect next. In this next stage, the state of shock, it is evident that the reed has been disrupted, the harmony is chaotic, the orchestra is reforming. Thus the ramp takes the visitor to the next stage where the individuals are realizing the plane has been hijacked and redirected. Courageously seeking more information, the senses have become vigilant.
1- forty individuals
6 - unity
9 - museum
7 - crash site
8 - revival
A collective consciousness is beginning to form -- we are all going to die -- this plane is not going to San Francisco -- this plane is part of a terrorist act! Entering the next stage requires decision making with very little verbal communication exchanged -- a collective decision is made thwarting the planned attack -redirecting the plane to this tranquil landscape, thus it is important to preserve the history of this solemn site. As the visitor enters the next pipe -- a visible deformation takes place -The 40 pipes are morphing, becoming unattached from who they were when they boarded the plane, their life is no longer theirs. By the next stage the pipes have completely morphed to form a unity: one organ, orchestrating as an instrument of solidarity and patriotism. The beauty of this landscape is emphasized through each transition from stage to stage, elucidating the conscious decision of 40 individuals to act as one and this landscape as their final resting place. Overall this memorial will take you through 9 stages, starting with 40 diverse pipes/reeds constructed in the memory of 40 extraordinary individuals unfolding their stories leading to the crash site and ending with a Museum containing archives of the events of September 11, 2001. independent 2005
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why not a simple day in the city of shades why not all shadows and all light why not thinking together over nothing why not survive why not along the river you across why not this place in dark why not this tree as the whole planet why not green in fall why not dreamings with corws
independent 2008
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momentary and freedom in the cage of skulls close your eyes I can’t go forward if I cant go back my mind flies back my body drags as far as a gas station no more candies give me a will a quest a glory a death a cause
in this corner belong
it has to be seen to the eyes full of senses that cries all the nostalgia
“I like it – thanks. Try to illustrate it. Some 3 second sketches”. -Michael Rotondi
independent 2008
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HOUSE 1 { 1st Design Studio at Melli University }
Instructor: Dr. Parviz Vaziri Farahani Student: Sepa Sama
program: residential house
This was my first design studio at Shahid Beheshti University, and it was the first time I designed a whole project ever, the experience of how I had to manage all the architectural elements together was new to me, I had to design so many times to reach the House I wanted to work as the floors drop on the topography but the roof is one continuous tilted surface. And spaces have to become more intimate from the library to the children rooms facing east.
location: imaginary site area: 4300 sqft. year: 2001
academic 2001
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{ site}
Section AA’ academic 2001
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scale 1:200
212
213 m
210
211
209
AA’ 207
208 Kitchen
Library Bar Entrance
CC’
CC’
Guest / Dining
BB’
BB’
Family Room
206 205 204 Balcony
Pool
AA’
205
Floor Plan scale 1:200
academic 2001
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Axo section BB’ scale: NTS
Section BB’ scale 1:200
academic 2001
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Section CC’ scale 1:200
Axo section CC’ scale: NTS
Section CC’ scale 1:200
Axo section CC’ scale: NTS
academic 2001
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JODAT PROJECT {2nd Design Studio at Melli University }
Instructor:Mohammad Reza Jodat Student: Sepa Sama
program: cultural center
Cultural center was designed for Second design studio at Shahid Beheshti University, the building has two major programs, theatre and cinema, and the play of theses two programs is resolved in a way to generate secondary programs such as offices, café, storage and etc. I was also trying to be consistent with my first design studio in terms of working with bold surfaces and designing a functional plan.
location: imaginary site area: 35,000 sqft. year: 2002
Main entrance looking towards cafe and cinema.
academic 2002
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{ process}
From top to bottom 1. Render view 2.Study models
cafe
BB’
lobby
theatre
cinema office AA’
First floor plan scale 1:800
BB’ lounge
lobby
theatre
cinema main entrance AA’
academic 2002
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Ground floor plan scale 1:800
theatre
backstage orchestra
Section BB’ scale 1:400
cinema
Section AA’ scale 1:400
From left to right 1. Interior view of the cinema 2.Exterior view of the main entrance. academic 2002
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JODAT ART & LIGHT { Initial part of the design studio 2 }
Instructor: Mohammad Reza Jodat Student: Sepa Sama
120 x 120 x 2 cm MDF has been drilled over 5000 times (3mm10mm holes), its been installed at the end of the school’s corridor which gets its light through west (Tehran). Every step you take this piece of wood changes by responding to the LIGHT, from far its absolute light and no material any more.
year: 2001
academic 2001
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FELIX CANDELA METAL MODEL { Seminar at Melli University }
Instructor: Dr. Parviz Vaziri Farahani Team: Kaveh Rashidzadeh Behnam Jafarian Shahab Ahmadi Ehsan Bazafkan Sepa Sama
The structure of the C andela’s prominant church was built in a metal model in order to understand how the structure worked and how he was able to make open spaces efficiently for programs such as sports , religious places.
year: 2002 Parroquia de San José Obrero by Félix Candela and Enrique de la Mora.
academic 2002
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PAINTING Artist: Sepa Sama
This painting was made by painting shades of grays, black and white on the canvas and then making bands of them by cutting them out, last process was to nail the bands on the framed black background, what I learned on this work was how it engages your body and you experience it, sense of motion within a confined frame.
year: 1999
independent 1999
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GRANITE SCULPTURE
Artist: Sepa Sama
In industrial neighborhoods of south of Tehran, I tried to learn as much as possible about the factories and I often ask for their waste to make things, this sculpture was made from the junk yard of a granite factory, This was a period that one could trace this balance of geometry and organic patterns in my work.
year: 2000
independent 2000
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TEHRAN, CONSTRUCTION, MAKING DESIGN OPOURTUNITIES
Opportunist: Sepa Sama
Tehran looking south, contemplating design opportunities
As I was studying in Tehran, I worked independently and tried to find opportunities to design and learn. And usually I put together small teams based on the project. 1- Granite table made from industrial waste. 2- Designing a trash can model / system. 3- Designing interiors of northern Tehran apartments. 4- Designing a wall for 800 unit project. 5- Designing 50,000 square meter multifunctional towers for Parsa Construction Company. 6- Assisting Bahram Shirdel in research and presentation of 16,000 unit housing in south of Tehran.
year: 1999-2003
1
2
3 4
5
6
independent 2003
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JEWELRY DESIGN {Independent work }
Designer: Sepa Sama
I made series of very simple jewelries from platinum, I enjoyed drawing a very basic geometries and working with a craftsmen and a sales person. I thought there are many ways that I could apply my design skills in the city of Tehran.
year: 2001
independent 2001
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HAFEZ PROJECT { Independent and profesional work} Team: Ata Tara Sepa Sama
program: 5 unit apartments I designed this project it with my partner/classmate Ata Tara, and we designed the entire project and we supervised the construction, I learnt a lot from this project, because the process of design and it’s coordination with construction became demystified to me, We experimented with exterior shading which was not used in the neighborhood and we worked with window manufacturer to have a series of different windows, the plan also is based on Iranian family customs and their importance of serving a guest simultaneously with having a private family space.
Site in Tehran
location: Tehran, Near Mellat park. area: 22,000 sqft. year: 2003
Looking north-east from the site.
independent 2003
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The challenge for this plan was to make it both private for the family and welcoming and spatious for the guests. In Iranian culture, a place for guests is one of the most important parts of the living.
bedroom
bedroom
bedroom
bedroom
private living room
kitchen
foyer
guest room dinning room
independent 2003
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FloorPlan scale 1:400
Furnished Floor Plan scale 1:400
Detail 01 scale 1:40
Detail 03 scale 1:40
Detail 02 scale 1:40
Elevation with exterior shades scale 1:400
independent 2003
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Detail 05 scale 1:40
Detail 06 scale 1:40
Floor Plan 02
Foundation Plan scale 1:800
independent 2003
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Column Plan scale 1:800
Type Beam Plan scale 1:800
independent 2003
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sepa sama PROFILE
EDUCATION
Creative Designer with international experience in design, construction observation, and urbanism. Awarded second prize for artistic installation in international airport; participated in numerous design competitions, including digital design. Research-oriented; interested in both practice and academic career. Offer diversity and unique perspective for classroom discussions.
Bachelor of Architecture, 2008 Southern California Institute of Architecture, Los Angeles, California 88 Units in Architecture and Urbanism, 2003 Shahid Beheshti (Melli) University, Tehran, Iran
EXPERIENCE Construction
Awards
Other Competitions
Certificate by Sue Roaf, International Ecohouse Student Design Competition, 2004 Second Prize, Artistic Installation at Malta International Airport, 2006: designed rotating sculpture representing different cultures in Europe using airplane materials. Signed contract for implementation.
Mashhad Mixed-Use Towers Competition, Iran, 2003: designed towers for busy site; ensured all city codes and ordinances were satisfied. Flight 93 National Memorial Design, Pennsylvania, 2005 Green Stop Design Competition for CALTRANS, California, 2006 eVolo Arch Competitions Tehran 2006, Tokyo 2006, Los Angeles 2007: created digital designs for site-specific mixed-use towers. Bridge Museum Competition, Venice, Italy, 2006 MIT’s Just Jerusalem 2050 Competition, Boston, 2007
Designs (Outside Academic/ Professional Work)
Supervised field operations for 9000-unit housing project, Tehran, 1998 – 1999. Oversaw construction of 800-unit Sohanak high-rise project, Tehran, 2001 – 2003. Also co-designed fencing wall, lobby, and interiors. Designed building and supervised construction of 22,000 square foot Hafez building, Tehran, 2002. Supervised field operations for 30,000 square foot medical office building, Glendale, CA, 2007. Documented activity.
Designed lobby for 100-unit Shiraz apartments, Tehran, 1998. Redesigned Tehran’s trash can and recommended trash collection system that would shift burden from city to building owners, 2000. Created eight granite tables from factory waste, Tehran, 1999 – 2001. Designed and produced six pieces of platinum jewelry for sale, 2002.
Research
Inves gated Tehran housing for Bahram Shirdel and Partners, 2000. Conducted feasibility study of 16,000 unit housing, Chahar Soffeh, Tehran, 2001. Surveyed and documented historic caravanserai near Yazd, Iran, 2002. Researched Moqarnas in 1000 years, Marcelo Spina, Gradient Tectonics, 2007. Programmed Cultural Center for Nazli Mohajer as part of undergraduate thesis, San Francisco, 2008. Studied caravanserai and commerce, RoTo V cal Studio, 2008. Researched six million square foot n to Ibn a mall, including environmental issues, urban aspects, malls, and retail opera ons for RoTo Architects, 2008. Inves gated history of San Fernando Valley for Michael Rotondi’s lecture, 2008. Conducted Feasibility Study for Diaspora Center in American Culture, Glendale, CA, 2009.
Art and Poetry
Series of approximately 200 digital prints, 2004 – 2008 7 installa ons, 1999 – 2008 11 sculptures, 1999 – 2008 Series of approximately 70 poems wr n in exile, 2005 – 2009 Series of approximately 100 abstract pain ngs, 2002 – 2004
Teaching Assistantships
Mar n Paull, Structures 1 and 2, graduate level, 2005 Dr. Tulay Atak, Cultural Studies, Form and Geopoli cs, 2008; History of Architecture 3 and l Studies, 2007 Introduc on to Michael Rotondi, V cal Studio, 2007
Jury
Invited Cri c at Cal Poly Pomona, 3rd Year Architectural Reviews, 2008
WORK HISTORY
Researcher/Designer, RoTo Architects, Los Angeles, 2007 – 2008 Founder, abSenTEM Architects, San Francisco, 2005 – 2007 Co-founder, Ariane Art Gallery, Tehran, 2000 – 2003 Researcher/Designer, Bahram Shirdel and Partners, Tehran, 2002 Founder, Sepahram and Partners, Tehran, 1999 – 2003 Assistant Project Manager, Razi Project, Tehran, 1998 – 1999
PUBLICATIONS
“Survey of Historical Caravansary near Yazd,” SBU’s Ganjnameh Publica on Reviews for Pain ng Exhibi on, La Jolla Village News, 2005 Design submission of Arquitectum’s Venice, Senses Magazine, Issue 2, Vol 2, 2007 (Bridge Museum) Entry of Malta Intern onal Airport’s Ar s c Installa on, The Sunday Times, 2006
EXHIBITIONS
Abstract Paintings, Derissi Gallery, La Jolla, CA, 2005 Digital prints, Beyond Persia, San Francisco, 2006 Coexistence Installation, Beyond Persia, San Francisco, 2007
CONTACT
2976 South Robertson Boulevard, Los Angeles, California 90034 310-842-4888 sepasama@gmail.com Former Name Sepehram Ghadiri Khamjani