Pathway to Architecture I consider myself a poor man’s architect, because my goal as a designer is to produce affordable housing for people who are not able to acquire a home. In addition, this drive came from the desire of improving the living qualities of people back in my country, Haiti. In 2010 an earthquake strikes the country which turned everything upside-down, my family than made the decision to move to Miami. Before coming to the united states, my perception of the U.S was that it was right under heaven where, the city lights were always on, and happiness never turns off. When I moved to the U.S, my first experience was contrary to my previous perception. I stayed with my uncle, me, my mom and my brother lived in one room. My mom struggled to find a job, indeed this U.S was different from the U.S that we always believed, my mom always said, “kote sa, se nage pou soti wi.” She was saying, in this place you must swim to get out. God pulled us through and overtime, we got accustomed to the culture, me and my brother started acting and got familiar with the arts in Miami. Through acting, I was able to connect to people and tell meaningful stories. God is doing an extraordinary work by introducing me to new and more amazing people (community) that can help me navigate through this walk called life. Through this story I find joy, drive and a constant desire to not only build but to connect. To me the beauty about design is that there’s not a right way to design, everyone has their one way of telling their own stories.
TYPOGRAPHY LETTER
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1 THE BAY VILLAGES
Table of Contents
AFRICAN CELEBRATION
6 OASIS TOWER
5 BASQUIAT HOUSE
4 CAMERA DOOR
3 2
5
The Bay Villages
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INTRO AND PROCESS
What makes a village?
A place of Celebration,Service, & Security celebration: through Food, music and dancing. Service: being the master builders of our own space. Security: persevering our cultural identity and wealth.
“Sankofa� going back to our roots in order to move forward.
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Privat e & Pu b lic
Ped est rian D en sit y
1.Analyzing Creek
the site and
Hig h
Public
M edium
Privat e
Low
Veg et at ion
2.Connecting
main entrance to the tree
3.Creating the residential
4.Connecting
the tree to garden and cultural hub
villages
Arr
5.Allocating for residential views and sun direction Ang elou Villag e
Green Roof
Coog ler Villag e
Am enit ies Huey Villag e
Park ing M ac D re Hub
Ped est rian D en sit y
Privat e & Pu b lic
Hig h
Public
M edium
Privat e
Low
Veg et at ion
Arroyo Viejo Creek Arroyo Garden
Cost Est im at e
D ellum s Villag e
Cost Est im at e
Huey Villag e: $6,756,250
Commercial: $5,772,775
Coog ler Villag e: $13, 712, 250
Mac Dre Hub: $5,170,000
Ang elou Villag e: $14 ,14 7, 0 0 0
Retail: $28,200,000
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Mood
DR AWINGS AND NET ZERO
Cro Ven Thr Scr
Site Plan 200m
Site Analysis
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Passive air solutions, green sto
oss nt ilat ion roug h reen
Rainfall Collect ion Throug h Plant ers
Village Cisterns 150 ,0 0 0 Gallon
60 % 30 %
Recycled
10 %
Plant s
Grey W at er
ormwater initiatives including cistern.
Sect ion 1 11
DR AWINGS AND NET ZERO PT 2 We also were able to achieve net-zero in through the facade the design, building orientation, solar panels. The facade enables the wind to go through the residential rooms. The facade is made out of terracotta, because of this material choice, our building became lighter and air moves freely through the rooms inside the residential spaces. The building orientation enabled us to place wind turbines at the most important places to collect the wind and create energy. The wind comes from SW so we decided to create space between the buildings so that wind could flow. We were able to create energy through the multiple solar panels that we place on the rooftops. NW Elevation
Vert ical W ind Turbine
Black box
Paveg en M ass t im ber Concret e Support s
M ak er Spaces Office Suit es Am enit ies 3 Bedroom 2 Bedroom 1 Bedroom
Am Trak St at ion
Section of Angelou Village and Mac Dre Hub Different programmatic spaces for the rooms and sustainable features.
Sect ion 2
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NE Elevation
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LEED POINTS
Green Roof Veg et at ion
Building Syst em
Grow in g Su b st rat e Filt er Sh eet D rain ag e Layer Prot ect ion M at
Lig ht ing Sensors
D im m ed Lig ht ing
Shading D evices
Envelope
Solar W ind
Solar Panel
Root Barrier W at erp roofin g Layer
Solar Panels
Roof D eck
Building EUI
Section of Dellums Village and Mac Dre Hub showing sustainable features.
Sect ion 3 13
COMMERCIAL AND OAKCOIN
Facade perspective of the Hood Market
“If you build it for us, we will come” -Elijah F. Oakland Native
Section of Street and sidewalk in relation to the Hood market and its community food trucks
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The community currency enables the residence to work on-site and in return, they receive coins which they can use in other businesses around the site. Jobs on-site include, maintenance, security, gardening, and sanitation. Residents can also receive coins through cycling, recycling, and lowering electricity usage. Through these sustainable and community connecting initiatives, residences can decrease their rent by 50%. Our goal was to incorporate the community into our design so we created Oakcoin. Oakcoin is achieved through the support of local businesses, and the provisions for small businesses within Bay Village. Oakcoin includes two parts; community currency and sustainable currency. Community currency caters to homeless, unemployed, ex-convict while connecting to businesses around the site. In addition, sustainable currency challenges residents to live a more sustainable life by lowering their carbon footprint through energy saving.
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RESIDENTIAL AND AMENITIES St udio 350 sq ft . (20 Un it s) 5
1 Bed 550 sq ft . (92 Un it s) 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6.
Kit ch en / D in in g Livin g Bed room St orag e Bat h room Balcon y
2 1 5 5 4 3
3
2
2 1
6
Studio
Carshow Parking
6 1 Bedroom
Mural facing NW facade
In the first floor is where we have dedicated parking where we have redefined how parking is supposed to be utilized, where we have grafitti murals and cars shows where people can come and enjoy. Carshow Parking
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Two bedroom render
Second Floor Amenities perspective
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CULTUR AL HUB AND CREEK
The cultural hub is a place of festivities, it is whatever the audience wants it to be. Above there is a gallery space that spans across the cultural hub and the residential village. In addition, one of our goals was to restore the creek that is on our site and create a landscape that would enable the visitors and residents to experience the creek.
Creek and Walkway perspective Culture Hub Space
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The Typography Study
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CONCEPT
The Typography Study was originated from a charcoal drawing of the letter M. The next step was to create a three-dimension model of the letter. Throughout the process, the shape became the foundation for the sketches and the models. One of the goals was to see M form the multiple sides and through different triangle like volumes.
1.
2.
3.
4.
Number 1 is the M sketch and the other sketch is experimenting using geometry to create an abstract drawings of the letter M. Exploring 3 dimensional forms based on the sketches and exploring more triangular forms to represent the letter M
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Throughout more of the process models, although the shapes and volumes changed and evolved, the essence of the letter M can still be seen throughout the models as seen in the two following diagrams.
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The Camera Door
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INTRO AND FINAL MODEL
The goal of this project was to create an unconventional door that would provide a great experience for the user. Due to my interest in photography and cameras, I chose a camera to be my inspiration for this door project. The “camera door� replicates the function and the experience of using a camera through the use of light and shape. As the individual pulls the handle, the door opens up into a circle, which replicates the lens of a camera. The tilted windows replicates the rolling shutter effect which is when object are slanted in videos due the speed of the camera, such as in a fast moving vehicle.
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PROCES AND EXPLANATION
The beginning of the project first consisted of experimenting with numerous little models. The goal was to play around with movement of different parts and planes.
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The Basquiat House
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PROCESS
The jean Michel Basquiat house is an artist studio home on a billboard located in Hialeah, Miami Florida. The house is for Jean Michel Basquiat, an artist who was born in the 60s, rose to fame in the beginning of the 80s but unfortunately died in 1988.
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The diagram above collage is about his life, being raised in New York and having experienced homelessness. I also showed some of his art in the diagram but deconstructed. This came from the perception of how his life was never stable even though he had much success in his art.
The second bottom piece is an art piece inspired by Basquiat using the diagram and using Basquiat’s technique. I used multiple colored pastel chalks and drew over the diagram to emphasize the parts of Basquiat’s life that was more important, such as his homelessness and his artist style.
When designing the studio, I wanted to use Basquiat’s extreme use of color for the coloring of the home. I also wanted to use the concept of extrusion throughout the building, this was inspired from the visually strong artistic style of Basquiat as it seems as if his art is jumping at you due to his strong use of colors and shapes. I expanded this concept in the skylight above the bedroom and the all glass transition space with the red wall.
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DRAWINGS
34 Section C
The two figures in the longitudinal section shows Basquiat as a child and when he became famous as an artist. I wanted to expand on Basquiat’s transition from being a young ambitious child to a successful superstar artist (his dream), which led him to take drugs and eventually dying of drug overdose.
35 Section B
Section A
The Oasis Tower
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SITE ANALYSIS AND SITE DIAGRAMS
The Oasis Tower is located in 123rd Marietta Street across the Olympic park. The high rise includes a restaurant, an interactive water management room, a park, office and residential spaces. The Oasis tower strives to represent sustainability, containing green walls from organic concrete to trees on balconies blocking the sun light. The Oasis tower also has a great water management system, recycling 100% of its water on site using its green roof. This water management achievement also happened through xeriscape plants, which uses less water than regular plants. The interactive management room serves as an informing space to learn to better manage our water in the city of Atlanta. In addition, the inspiration of the Oasis tower stems from the flow of water, bridging the gap from the Olympic fountain to our site. The flow of water can also be seen through the building’s elevation through its curvature and its landscaping. Being in the center of Atlanta, the oasis tower serves as a multiuse building, providing office spaces, residential homes learning interaction and a park where families could enjoy.
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As I analyzed the site, I realized that Atlanta had a big water circulation issue. This is due to the granite layer that is found under the city which comes from the granite rock called stone mountain This layer makes water less circulatory underground. The second issue is that the water reservoirs are too far away. Allatoona is 30 miles and Lake Lanier is 36 miles. Many states such as Georgia, Mississippi and Florida are also fighting for the Chattahoochee river. To minimize the issue, the city built a quarry 2 miles from the city, the size of three Mercedes Benz stadiums. Knowing this information about the site’s water issues, it became a priority of mine to make the water use of the building recyclable.
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SUSTAINABILITY AND PROGRAM
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RENDERS
Building Site Plan
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African Celebration
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INTRO AND PROCESS
The Celebration Project is a space where people come together and find their roots in Africa through food and music. This project is located north of Accra Ghana, and we welcome everyone of the diaspora. We have great food and music for you to enjoy in this time of returning to your roots in Africa.
One of the reasons this project was given is from the “Year of Return� that happened last year in Ghana. It is an event where many individuals of African descent go back to Ghana as a celebration of culture. My most important goal for this project was to portray the African culture. In addition to portratying African culture, the use of bamboo in my structures was inspired by African architect Francis Kere and the market area was inspired by flea markets (ti mache) in Africa and in Haiti. The tradition of Homowo started with a period of hunger leading to famine due to failure of the seasonal rains needed by crops in the Greater Accra Region. When the rains returned to normal, the Ga people celebrated by creating the Homowo festival, hence its name and meaning. Cowbell instrument is used and festivals and other events.
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DR AWINGS
Unit Facade
A
Section A
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Structure
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52
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