Kristen Forward Selected Works 2016 - 2019

Kristen Forward 2016 - 2019

Portfolio

Academic and Professional Selected Works

Curriculum Vitae ACADEMIC PROFILE

PROFESSIONAL

AWARDS CONT’D

Mitacs Accelerate Scholar Intern July, 2018 - April, 2019 (Parttime) Dialog Design, Calgary, AB

Mitacs Accelerate Graduate Research Internship Program

Conducted research into sustainable solutions for Dialog projects while developing computational skills and expertise in areas relating to my thesis; co-developed an internal course on Circular Design

Queen Elizabeth II (Master’s) Scholarship

Research Assistant May, 2016 - Nov, 2019 The Laboratory for Integrative Design (LID), Calgary, AB

2017, GEC Awards

Co-designed small-scale community projects; helped facilitate annual Grasshopper workshops for new hires, developed concepts, diagrams and writing for competition proposals; coordinated fabrication schedules and outsourced labour

Cohos Evamy Travel Scholarship

DEGREES Master of Environmental Design - MEDes

2018-19 University of Calgary, Calgary, AB; Thesis Degree, fully funded by Mitacs Accelerate

Master of Architecture - MArch

2015-18 University of Calgary, Calgary, AB; Royal Canadian Architecture Institute of Canada Honour Roll

Bachelor of Commerce - BCom 2009-13 University of Victoria, Victoria, BC; Specialization in Finance

STUDIES ABROAD Master of Architecture Exchange

Fall 2017 University of Calgary’s Tokyo Study Abroad

Bachelor of Commerce Exchange Fall 2012 Universitat Mannheim, Germany

TEACHING ASSISTANCE Robotic Fabrication

Fall 2018, Summer 2019 School of Architecture, Planning and Landscape, University of Calgary

SPECIAL TOPICS Programming I

2018, ABB Robotics, Brampton, ON

Architectural Research Intern May-Aug, 2017 Dialog Design, Calgary, AB Provided design development support for weekly client meetings; restructured project research into a comprehensive document that featured commonalities between Dialog Projects and projects in the Laboratory for Integrative Design

AWARDS ACADIA 2019 Student Scholarship Award

Graphic Design I & II

2019, Association for Computer Aided Design in Architecture

3D Fabrication and Metal Casting

RAIC (Royal Architectural Institute of Canada) Student Medal for Academic Excellence

2014-15, Alberta College of Art and Design, Calgary, AB 2015, University of Calgary, Calgary, AB

2018, RAIC Architecture Canada

i

2018, Alberta and National Awards

2018, Queen Elizabeth Scholarship

Excellence in Comprehensive Design Murray W. Waterman Study Abroad Award 2017, EVDS Program Awards

2017, Cohos Evamy Partners

Norman Fleming Award

2016, Alberta Association of Architects

AGSS (Alberta Graduate Student Scholarship)

2016, ALIS Scholarships & Bursaries

President’s Scholarship

2013, University of Victoria Awards

INVITED LECTURES AND PRESENTATIONS 2019, University of Calgary, EVDS Research Conference Presentation: “Designing Out Waste” 2019, University of Calgary, Building Science II Lecture: “Circular Design in Architecture” 2019, Dialog Design, Calgary, AB Lecture: “Sustainability 2.0: Circular Design” 2019, University of Calgary, Circularity in Digital Design Exhibition Reception Lecture: “Contemporary Ornament for Circularity” 2019, ACADIA Conference, Austin, TX Presentation: “Waste Ornament”

Kristen Forward +1 (587) 581 4433 kristen@kristenforward.com; kristenforward.com

EXHIBITIONS AND INSTALLATIONS

TECHNICAL PROFICIENCY

Circularity in Digital Design

AutoCAD Level 1 & 2

Sept, 2019

Designing Out Waste Aug, 2019

Furbaniture Community Project 2017-2018

Sukkah No.5: Subject to Change

2015, Southern Alberta Institute of Technology

Revit Essentials

2015, Southern Alberta Institute of Technology

Adobe Creative Suite

2014, Alberta College of Art and Design

Sept, 2016

INVITED REVIEWS AND CRITIQUES

2D Graphics/Video

2018, Joshua Taron, Foundation Architecture Studio I - Mid Review

InDesign Illustrator Photoshop AutoCAD After Effects Premiere Pro

2018, Guy Gardner, Robotic Fabrication - Mid and Final Reviews

3D Modeling

University of Calgary, SAPL

2019, Joshua Taron, Senior Research Architecture Studio VI - Mid and Final Reviews 2019, Mauricio Soto Rubio, Architecture Studio II - Mid Review 2019, Guy Gardner, Robotic Fabrication - Mid and Final Reviews 2019, Yves Poitras, Architecture Studio III - Mid and Final Reviews

PUBLICATIONS Jensen, K. G., Taron, J., Forward, K., & Pattullo, H. (2019). Designing Out Waste: A Brief on Robotic Refabrication (1st ed.).

Calgary. https://gxn.3xn.com/project/ designing-out-waste-publication Forward, K., Taron, J. (2019). Waste Ornament: Augmenting the Visual Potency of Sustainable Facade Designs. ACADIA 2019: Ubiquity and Autonomy, 90-98.

Rhino 3D Maya 3D Revit ZBrush Mudbox Blender

Rendering Mental Ray VRay Thea Keyshot Lumion

Computation/Robotics Grasshopper C# Robot Studio ABB TPU RoboDK

ii

Contents

#1.0

#1.1

Contemporary Ornament for Circularity

Designing Out Waste

MEDes Thesis Overview

MEDes Thesis Case Study

Spring 2018 - Fall 2019

Summer 2018

#3.0 pg. 37-42

#4.0

Sukkah No. 5:

Confluence

Laboratory for Integrative Design

MArch Comprehensive Studio

Summer 2016

Winter 2017

pg. 1-2

iii

pg. 3-10

pg. 43-50

#1.2 pg. 11-16

#1.3 pg. 17-24

#2.0

Penrose Panels

Cell Scales

Urbin Shinrin

MEDes Thesis Case Study

MEDes Thesis Case Study

MArch Tokyo Study Abroad

Summer 2019

Winter 2019

Fall 2017

#5.0

#6.0

#7.0

Omni

Refraction

Inter-Play

MArch Senior Research Studio

Somerville Block Week Seminar

MArch Design Theories Studio

Winter 2018

Winter 2018

Winter 2016

pg. 51-58

pg. 59-64

iv

pg. 25-36

pg. 65-70

#1.0

Contemporary Ornament for Circularity: Exploring Synergies Through Digital Design and Fabrication MEDes Thesis Overview Funding Agencies: Mitacs Accelerate, Dialog Design Supervisor: Joshua Taron Spring 2018 - Fall 2019 https://prism.ucalgary.ca/ handle/1880/111054 The Contemporary Ornament for Circularity thesis was developed throughout a 16 month Masters degree program in conjunction with Mitacs Accelerate - a scholarship program that enables students to gain part-time experience at a partnering industry firm while also pursuing research. I worked with Dialog Design in Calgary, AB to develop two case studies related to my thesis subject as well as research interests that were relevant to the firm. The first case study is known as Designing Out Waste, and the second is titled Cell Scales. At the end of the internship, another case study was performed Penrose Panels - which built upon the previous case studies.

The thesis is concerned with how contemporary design practices have enhanced the potential of architectural ornament to be innovative, beautiful,

Contemporary Ornament for Circularity Conceptual Map

and highly sustainable. Ornament is a critical and discursive topic in architecture that strives to participate in the expression of social values, hierarchies, and order.

These considerations have the potential to enhance a design’s contribution to subjective wellbeing and can be valuable to subjects that tend to focus less on aesthetics, such as the new theme in sustainability entitled “Circular Design.”

Circular Design goals aim to address the tremendous consumption of materials and energy present in the building industry by proposing the efficient management of both the energy embodied in building materials and the energy consumed in buildings during operation; although, circularity in design struggles to be widely adopted by the building industry largely due to its lack of

#1.0 Contemporary Ornament for Circularity

a social dimension. Furthermore, contemporary ornament’s close link to advancements in digital design and fabrication have brought a wave of new applications of architectural ornament along with capabilities for generating and producing building products that perform socially as well as work to overcome some of the inefficiencies and waste production currently present in traditional manufacturing methods.

The Contemporary Ornament for Circularity thesis has thus aimed to effectively intersect research into Circular Design, ornamentation, and digital design and fabrication, in order to ask why buildings that aspire to be environmentally sensitive and technically advanced can’t also operate through aesthetic and cultural dimensions.

The Flows Envisioned by the Circular Economy for the Biosphere and Technosphere ( Reinterpretation of Original Diagrams by the Ellen MacArthur Foundation)

The Flow of Materials in the Linear Economy vs Circular Economy (Reinterpretation of Original Diagrams by the Ellen MacArthur Foundation)

The Total Life Cycle of Energy Used by a Building

2

#1.1 Designing Out Waste:

A Brief on Robotic Refabrication MEDes Thesis Case Study Dialog Design Funding Agencies: Mitacs Accelerate, Dialog Design, FP Innovations Team: Hayden Pattullo, GXN Supervisors: Joshua Taron, Kasper Guldager Jensen Summer 2018 - Spring 2019 https://gxn.3xn.com/project/ designing-out-waste-publication

Designing Out Waste (2019) is the first thesis case study project undertaken with Dialog Design. The project was instigated by a collaboration with GXN Innovation, 3XN’s green research branch, and aimed to explore possibilities in transforming and upcycling material banks from Dialog’s current projects through the principles of the circular economy, prefabricated architecture, and digital fabrication. Designing Out Waste critically investigates the issue of construction and demolition (C&D) waste by turning it into a driver for façade textures through the concept of robotically refabricating waste materials into high performance architectural screens. The project’s research was performed, exhibited, and presented to Calgary’s building industry in the summer of 2018, after which its contents were documented in a publication that is available for purchase. #1.1 Designing Out Waste

4

Percentage of Building Material Waste in All of Calgary (Jensen et al., 2019)

Total Office Space Vacancy Rate in Calgary’s Downtown in Spring, 2018 (Jensen et al., 2019)

Material Diversion Rates for the MacKimmie Tower Renovation (Jensen et al., 2019)

Digitally-Modeled LCA Data Comparing the Potential Energy Consumption and Pollution Between a Full Rebuild (Light Red) and Partial Rebuild (Dark Red) of the Britannia Building (Jensen et al., 2019)

#1.1 Designing Out Waste

Process of Demounting, Refabricating, and Installing Robotically Upcycled Façade (Jensen et al., 2019)

Research Concept In January 2018, around one quarter of Calgary’s office towers were vacant due to a recent recession and many architecturally outdated buildings (Jensen et al., 2019, p.

9). In response to this crisis, the Designing Out Waste project team sought to explore how design might enable new market value alternatives that mitigate energy waste, spatial waste, and material waste in a case study building in downtown Calgary – the Britannia Building. The building has been experiencing energy waste in operational inefficiencies as well

as in embodied energy waste. To determine these values, a Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) was used to compare the environmental impact of demolishing the vacant office building in a traditional sense to the option of reskinning the building using upcycled concrete panels from Dialog Design’s MacKimmie Office Tower Renovation. The LCA simulations indicated an average decrease of 17% in energetic waste and pollution when compared to a full demolition and rebuild (Jensen et al., 2019, p. 35).

Given the low energy requirements and high degree of flexibility

6

that robotics offer, the Designing Out Waste project proposed a transformation process afforded by a hypothetical robotic refabrication facility, which scans waste materials for impurities, cuts and mills new geometries, embeds fasteners, and prepares the material for use in the Britannia Building.

TRANSFORMATION FACILITY 1. Panel Arrival 2. Panel Assessment 3. Panel Milling 4. Offcut Sorting 5. Attachment Installation 6. Panel Treatment 7. Panel Installation 8. Concrete Recycling The Proposed Robotic Refabrication Facility (Jensen et al., 2019)

#1.1 Designing Out Waste

Processes of Scanning Waste Materials, Cutting and Milling New Geometries, Embedding Fasteners, and Crushing and Recycling Leftover Materials (Jensen et al., 2019)

Robotic Refabrication The refabrication strategy sought to increase the use-value of the MacKimmie Tower’s concrete panels by integrating digital analysis tools that helped determine performance requirements for the transformed panels. In the proposed process, 3D

scanning is employed to perform structural assessments to decrease any uncertainty around reusing the concrete while also informing areas that act as parameters in the new design. The original concrete panels in this instance consisted of a 6� x 6� rebar grid and various fasteners, which resulted in a design 8

response that involved placing highfrequency apertures in between the rebar, while avoiding any existing attachment areas.

Various Parametric Outputs of New Facade Patterns for the Britannia Building Based on the Upcycled Concrete Panel Geometry (Jensen et al., 2019)

Designing Out Waste Publication The results from the project were documented in the 2019 Designing Out Waste publication with lead authors Kasper Guldager Jensen and

Prof. Joshua Taron, and co-author Hayden Pattullo. The publication involved structuring the research into three chapters to tell the story of Urban Waste, Circular Design, and Robotic Refabrication. As a #1.1 Designing Out Waste

means to validate the research further, three interviews with key stakeholders in Calgary’s building industry were documented and included in the publication.

Pages From the 2019 Designing Out Waste Publication

10

#1.2 Cell Scales

MEDes Thesis Case Study Dialog Design Funding Agencies: Mitacs Accelerate, Dialog Design Supervisors: Matthew Parker, Janice Lieb Spring 2019

Cell Scales is the second case study for the Contemporary Ornament for Circularity thesis performed with Dialog Design during the Mitacs Accelerate internship. In the project, ornament is applied as frit patterning to a high-performance building envelope to reduce operational energy consumption for a large pathology lab in Edmonton, Alberta.

As the thermal performance of a building’s envelope is suggested to be the primary contributor to a building’s operational energy use and corresponding Greenhouse Gas emissions, it was crucial to facilitate a frit design that maximized its potential to mitigate solar gain, while also allowing for views and daylighting to enhance occupant wellbeing. Another requirement in the project brief was the incorporation of contextual patterning to speak to the culture of the lab. Thus, the frit patterning needed to take into consideration many layers of performance and programmatic data in order to effectively respond to shading, privacy, lighting, and social requirements of the building.

#1.2 Cell Scales

12

Unrolled Elevations Showing Macro Scale Frit Pattern Iterations

Pattern Development The concept for Cell Scales was facilitated by the lab’s key programmatic function as a pathology lab, which would mainly deal with studying and diagnosing diseases by examining biopsy

samples and other bodily artifacts.

Raw pathology imagery was altered in Photoshop before being translated into a Grasshopper definition that output various abstractions of the original imagery using values obtained from an Image Sampler component. The definition was

Various Image Sample Pattern Iterations Using Pathology Imagery

#1.2 Cell Scales

developed to allow parameters and gradated image maps to manipulate the frit cells in order to achieve the coverage percentage requirements within each glazing elevation.

Abstracted Pathology Imagery using Image Sampler Values

Example Layers for Frit Aesthetics and Performance

14

SW Office Corner of Pathology Lab with Frit Patterning

Scaled Performance

Cell Scales demonstrates the advantages that digital techniques afford designers in achieving mass customization for surface ornament.

The project was developed to leverage the advancements in digital printing technologies in the resolution of frit patterning as well as leverage parametric techniques for the creation of an adaptive design tool. As a result, a high degree of variability in the frit patterns could be proposed without complicating fabrication and installation. Even down to the micro scale, each frit cell was uniquely designed to resemble the undulating shapes of real magnified cells.

Furthermore, the Grasshopper definition that drove the patterns was packaged into a design tool for Dialog to use to alter coverage percentages, frit sizes and shapes, and image inputs with relative ease in the case that the project requirements would change after the internship concluded.

80%

20%

Unrolled Building Elevations - Iteration 3 Pattern and Coverage Percentages

#1.2 Cell Scales

20% Coverage

60% Coverage

80% Coverage

Micro Scale of Cell Image Abstractions with Varying Coverage Percentages

16

#1.3

Penrose Panels MEDes Thesis Case Study Supervisor: Joshua Taron Summer 2019 https://www.kristenforward. com/penrose-panels

Penrose Panels is the last case study that was performed as part of the Contemporary Ornament for Circularity thesis. The project investigates the fabrication of bespoke concrete cast panels using reusable sand moulds to reduce waste during manufacturing.

The project’s procedure entailed abstracting imagery using Penrose fractal subdivisions from which toolpathing sequences were created and executed in sand using various end effectors held by a robotic arm.

The loose sand was hardcoated with latex spray, then cast in concrete to produce the panels, after which the moulds could be deconstructed and reused to produce more panels. The exploration aimed to demonstrate how variable products can achieve circular design goals of low embodied energy as well as layer additional complexity to heighten a design’s aesthetic performance.

#1.2 Penrose Panels

18

Image Abstracted Using Penrose Fractal Subdivision

Penrose Fractal Pattern The Penrose Panels project explores the use of naturalizing aesthetics through the instrumentalization of the Penrose (1974) fractal pattern as well as through the pattern’s

indeterminate expression through sand formations. The project was developed to heighten the visual potency of some of the aesthetics that were initially pursued in the Cell Scales case study, while connecting those aesthetics to a material #1.2 Penrose Panels

strategy that embodies a low amount of energy. Fractal patterns are argued to be aesthetically preferred by most people as they relate closely to dimensions found in nature and they can help provide visual coherence to effectively allow

Penrose Fractal Subdivision Initial Pattern Studies

a viewer to comprehend details in the context of a whole. With this consideration, an image from the Cell Scales project was abstracted using the Penrose pattern and the

pattern’s operations of symmetry were leveraged to create two rhombic figures to represent repeating panel shapes.

Robotic Fabrication Process of Reusing Mould Materials

Demoulding Process to Reuse Sand and Moulds

20

Toolpath Development The process for fabricating the Penrose Panels involved developing toolpaths for a robotic arm to execute in loose sand using a variety of 3D printed or laser cut tools held by an adaptive Robotiq gripper.

This process aimed to leverage the sand’s inclination to fall into peaks and valleys around the tools being pushed through it, resulting in an indeterminate and natural aesthetic.

As a result of the indeterminacy of the material, the project took on a morphogenetic process in which the material characteristics dictated the scale of the Penrose subdivisions, as well as the toolpath angles, depths, and speed.

Toolpaths to Form Sand for Prototypical Panel System

Toolpaths to Form Sand for Two Panels

#1.2 Penrose Panels

Universal Robotic Arm With RobotiQ Gripper Producing Sand Patterns

Penrose Panel Sand Mould

Latex Spraying for Hard Coat

Lasercut Jig for Lining up Bolts Cast into Concrete Panel

Latex Removal

Production Process

latex was sprayed on the moulds to provide a hard coat for casting concrete. The panel system also utilized the common angle found at the intersection of the panels to define a standardized connection plate. Jigs were created from this geometry to define where to embed fasteners into the concrete during the casting process.

Using the two rhomboid shapes that the Penrose pattern is based upon, two shapes of modularized moulds were created to hold loose sand and come apart with ease in order to be reused in the production process. After the robotic arm drew unique patterns in the loose sand,

22

Panels Mounted to Wall

Variation and Standardization The Penrose Panels project moves past explorations into various patterns and material expressions to make a case for mass customization.

To achieve this, different layers of the panels and process were standardized, such as the shape of the panels and subsequent modular moulds, and the connection pieces used to join the panels.

These aspects were standardized to better enable the panels to be mass produced, while the robotic toolpathing added a layer of flexibility and customizability to the resulting aesthetics of the panels.

No two panels were the same since the initial image used to dictate the pattern spanned across 11 panels.

Standardized Joint Connection Pieces

#1.2 Penrose Panels

Variable Aesthetics of Penrose Panels

24

#2.0

Urbin Shinrin MArch Tokyo Study Abroad Team: Sean Doherty Instructor: Dr. Brian Sinclair Fall 2017

Tokyo’s urban environment features very busy and fast-paced lifestyles, while finding opportunities to connect to nature are rare.

Furthermore, Tokyo’s streetscapes have been undergoing functional transformations with the presence of new technologies, as well as shifts in personal living patterns.

The need to design adaptable, and practical solutions to the changing axiomatic needs of the city, while also creating positive, healthy, and sustainable urban environments, has become increasingly important.

Based upon the Japanese trend entitled, “Shinrin-yoku,” (forest bathing), Urbin Shinrin is a project that re-imagines the infrastructural space of Tokyo’s streets as a platform for dynamic urban interventions.

The project offers deployable wooden structures that host planting armatures so that a street can instantly become an urban forest, offering a destination or a fleeting experience of natural elements in the middle of the dense urban grid.

#2.0 Urbin Shinrin

26

Component 1 Plan 1m

2m

1m

Component 1 Axonometric 1m

Component 2 Plan

2m

2m

Component 2 Axonometric 1m

2m

Aggregation Axonometric 0m

1m

2m

#2.0 Urbin Shinrin

Component 3 Plan 1m

2m

Component 3 Axonometric 1m

2m

Component Aggregation 0m

20 m

40 m

Concept Development Life in urban settings often occurs in between buildings where opportunities exist to be with others in a relaxed and undemanding way.

In freeing up these spaces, more of Tokyo’s public space can be offered

as a shared platform upon which citizens co-habit. The Urbin Shinrin project was imaged in Shinjuku’s core business district as a single case study, though the project’s flexibility allows its components to be deployed in many different areas and even in different cities.

28

Shinjuku 3 Chome Site Plan 0m

5m

10m

Project Facilitation Comprised of a lightweight and limited number of parts, the project can be easily set up and taken down and also features a transformable structural and spatial

logic that was conceived to allow for a systematic approach to design.

Urbin Shinrin is facilitated through connections with various community members, which form a social collective that defines the project’s configuration, provides #2.0 Urbin Shinrin

planting input, as well as aids in the assembly and disassembly of the temporary installation.

Canopy

84 16 43

Platform

90

55

4 Stair System

Kit of Parts

Modular Structure System

Foundation

Universal Connection Degrees of Freedom

Urbin Shinrin Module Exploded Axonometric

Removable Planting Insert

1

2

3

4

Permeable Irrigation Piping Water Retention Fabric Soil Substrate Wire Grate

5

Kit of Parts Assembly Sequence

Modular System Irrigation Detail

30

View From In Between Urbin Shinrin Components

#2.0 Urbin Shinrin

Street Implementation - In Between During its implementation on the street, the Urbin Shinrin project acts as a catalyst for social interaction and provides a natural contrast to the existing built infrastructure. The space in between the components 32

offers a sense of place for people to socialize in or provide a moment of rest before a journey home.

View From On Top of Urbin Shinrin Components

#2.0 Urbin Shinrin

Street Implementation - Above The project’s platform system intends to raise users above the street level onto a meandering pathway to offer an even more serene environment as compared to the movement present at the busy street level.

34

A

A

A

Longitudinal Section 0m

1m

2m

Initial Component Formation The Urbin Shinrin components were initially developed to feature an undulating contoured system that could aggregate to transform Tokyo

Festival/Market Programme

street life. Rather than three sizes of components with a standardized kit of parts, this system relied on a single component that could aggregate to host various events such as markets, food services,

Food Truck Programme

#2.0 Urbin Shinrin

and concerts. In order to ensure the project would be lightweight and easily deployable, this system was broken up and restructured to inform the final components of the project.

Concert Programme

36

#3.0

Sukkah No. 5: Subject to Change

Laboratory for Integrative Design Funding Agencies: Beth Tzedec Congregation, SSHRC Team: Braden Horner Supervisor: Joshua Taron Summer 2016 https://integrativedesign. org/2016/12/14/sukkahno-5-subject-to-change/

Sukkah No. 5 is an 8’ x 8’ x 8’ digitally fabricated pavilion created for Calgary’s Beth Tzedec Congregation in celebration of the Jewish holiday of Sukkot. The pavilion is the fifth in a series of five sukkahs designed by researchers at the Laboratory for Integrative Design (LID). For the fifth and last sukkah, the three Hebrew characters for ‘sukkah’ were projected onto each set of parallel planes of the sukkah, which, when modeled in three dimensions, formed a space for social gathering.

This sukkah was designed to sit in any one of three positions, thus allowing for different orientations from year to year. Its lightweight structure enabled easy transportation and assembly, which required a team of 4-5 people.

With that same group, assembly or disassembly could be achieved in about 20 minutes without the need for skilled labor.

#3.0 Sukkah No. 5

38

#3.0 Sukkah No. 5

Massing/Symbolism

Multi-Directionality / Non-Directionality

Spatial Habitation

Symbolism Embedded in Massing Elevations

Multi-Directional Massing

Sukkah Mass Split in 7 Parts

40

Flip Milled Sukkah Part

Installation of Unique Jointing System

Urethane Coated Parts

together using access pockets cut into each part. The final product was constructed of urethane-coated EPS foam chunks that were flipmilled on a CNC bed.

The divertible concepts and digital fabrication techniques entailed in this sukkah project acted as

catalysts for further avenues of research, as the LID still utilizes Sukkah No. 5 as precedent for continuing projects.

Sukkah No. 5 Unique Joint Detail

Fabrication Techniques Detailed prototyping was undertaken in order to ensure joint stability between different pieces. The final joint design consisted of wooden inserts connected to laser-cut aluminum faces that were bolted

#3.0 Sukkah No. 5

Sukkah No. 5 Parts Waiting for Installation at Beth Tzedec Congregation

First Test of Sukkah No. 5 Part-to-Part Connections

42

#4.0

Confluence MArch Comprehensive Studio Team: Jordan Hart Instructor: Dr. Brian Sinclair Winter 2017

Confluence was developed during a comprehensive architecture studio that asked students to design and detail an Indigenous cultural centre located on the historic Fort Calgary site at the confluence of the Bow and Elbow rivers. The team consistently met with Indigenous leaders from all around Alberta throughout the project term to gather information on what was most important to their Indigenous communities.

Confluence was inspired by the aspect of Storytelling present in Indigenous culture, as well as the nature of the Bow and Elbow rivers merging at the Fort Calgary site. Thus, the project aimed to tell the story of separate entities or individuals coming together to create a stronger whole, or strengthened community.

#4.0 Confluence

44

BOW RIVER

ELBOW RIVER

Site Plan 0m

10m

20m

A

A

B

B

A

B

Basement Plan 0m

10m

A

B

Main Floor Plan 20m

0m

10m

B

B

Second Floor Plan 20m

#4.0 Confluence

0m

10m

20m

A

Building Section 0m

B

5m

10m

Building Section 0m

5m

10m

Project Formation The building’s form was influenced by analyzing the flows of the Bow and Elbow rivers to speculate on how they might carve away at volumetric 46

space. The traditional healing spaces were embedded into the ground while the more public spaces were risen above the ground, ultimately forming a cantilever pointing toward the confluence of the rivers.

Exterior Entrance Under Cantilever

Procession to Healing Space Beside Atrium

#4.0 Confluence

SKYLIGHT

TPO ROOFING

COMPOSITE WOOD SIDING

CLEAR GLAZING

ANODIZED ALUMINUM SUN SHADE

ANODIZED ALUMINUM LIGHT SHELF

STEEL ROOF BEAMS

STEEL PERIMETER BEAMS

WOOD COLUMNS

Building Construction MAIN FLOOR

The columns of the building were designed to be made of wood while the beams and trusses would be made from steel. This system was used to limit the amount of interruptions in the building envelope, thus allowing for more connection between exterior and interior and ultimately inviting individuals to enter the premise. The enclosure assembly was detailed to host an exterior insulation rain screen system composed of horizontal composite wood panels on vertical steel channels.

PARKADE BEAMS

PARKADE COLUMNS

PARKADE SLAB

Exploded Axonometric of Building Material Systems and Construction

48

1:1000 Site Model

1:200 Massing Model

1:100 Cantilever Detail Model

#4.0 Confluence

1:100 Final Model

Confluence Models Throughout the semester, a series of models were fabricated out of wooden materials to help explain the

building’s spatial relationships and construction. Each model brought a different level of information to describe the project, with the final model showcasing the most detail.

Detail Shots of 1:100 Final Model

50

#5.0 Omni

MArch Senior Research Studio Instructor: Matthew Parker Winter 2018 https://youtu.be/3sJ7iRMkdS8

Omni was developed during a research studio focused on the ability of machine vision to manipulate and reanimate architecture’s image. Architecture has an intimate relationship with devices that mediate our visual experiences and thus has the power to distort or destabilize our perceptions of the built environment. Omni asks the question of how architectural imaging and forms make use of projections to depict and produce formal attributes by taking a deep look into immersive 360 degree visualizations. The logic behind 360 projections was harnessed to abstract and manipulate 2D projections as well as 3D forms to explore different spatial qualities and textural aesthetics.

The project’s main focus was on the recalibration of 360 degree videos and images, though a short exercise was undertaken in a matter of weeks to develop architectural form that exposes the new dimensions of perception discovered through the machine vision investigation.

#5.0 Omni

52

Virtual and Physical Worlds Interlaced

Raw Multi-Angle Content Capture

Spherical Projection

Equirectangular Projection

Imagery Inversion

Dynamic Adaptive Streaming Over HTTP (DASH)

Capture - Stitch - Play: 360 Degree Footage Conversion Sequence

Capture, Stitch, Play In the contemporary world the interlacing of virtual and physical is becoming the new normal.

To live within multiple linked infrastructures allows us to inhabit multiple scales of force, time and social organization. The advent of virtual reality or 360 degree

environments epitomizes this aspect as it offers participants an omnipresence in virtual world while still existing in physical space.

As a means of investigating these virtual environments, a 360 degree camera was used to capture footage that would then be parametrically manipulated to augment the process for creating 360 degree

#5.0 Omni

footage. The typical process follows the Capture, Stitch, Play sequence, which converts individual files into a single, seamless panoramic known as an “equirectangular projection� then wrapped around a sphere to create an omni-directional image to be played on a platform that supports 360 degree content. This process was high-jacked during the

projection process by altering the color content in various areas of the equirectangular projection in order to determine areas for vectors to push and pull the spherical geometry. The warped images revealed abstracted depictions of built forms and surrounding space, asking their viewers for a reevaluation of their sense of perception.

Iterations of Parametric Spherical Warping

54

Equirectangular Projections of Warped 360 Degree Imagery

#5.0 Omni

56

Omni-Formation The imagery from the spherical warping studies was mined to capture instances of 2 dimensional patterns that could be utilized for 3 dimensional projections in the creation of architectural form.

The final study resulted in the production of an urban room in the middle of the city that hosts a data centre within its walls. The structure aims to connect the city by offering a beautified void while also hosting digital infrastructure that is typically located far from city centers, asking how we might co-occupy space with each other and with technology. #5.0 Omni

360 Degree View From Inside Omni

https://youtu.be/5R-Kv21bL1g

Textural Projections Inside Omni

Inside Omni’s Urban Room

58

#6.0 Refraction:

Traversing Thoreau’s Cove at Walden Pond Somerville Block Week Seminar Team: Michael Defina, Alex Wilton Instructor: Grace La Winter 2018 The School of Architecture, Planning and Landscape hosts three intensive one-week block courses per year in order to allow students the opportunity to work with prominent practitioners and architects from around the world.

The Somerville Visiting Lectureship is one of these three, and in January of 2019, it was hosted by Grace La of LA DALLMAN Architects.

Grace came to the faculty with a 3-day challenge that required students to design and communicate a small bathhouse located on Walden Pond. It was requested that the project take inspiration from the philosopher and poet, Henry David Thoreau, as he was famously known for spending much of his time at Walden Pond to bring himself into a peaceful and meditative state of mind. To fulfill this request, Refraction was developed to offer a variety of social and meditative experiences by traversing Thoreau’s Cove on Walden Pond as an extension of the surrounding trails while breaking away from the bustling tourism the park is known for today.

#6.0 Refraction

60

View of Refraction from Thoreau’s Cabin Across the Pond

Concept and Massing Sketches

#6.0 Refraction

BATHING POOL

PRIVATE LOUNGE PRIVATE LOUNGE

PRIVATE LOUNGE

PRIVATE LOUNGE

PRIVATE LOUNGE

PRIVATE LOUNGE

ENTRY PRIVATE LOUNGE

CHANGE ROOM

Bathhouse Plan 0m

1m

2m

3D Printed Model of Refraction

Project Development The team developed the project’s form in just two days using quick sketches and simple massing iterations in Rhino 3D. The third and final day consisted of detailing the 3D model to capture renders, output a 3D model, and develop complete plans of the bathhouse.

Each team member contributed

evenly to the project’s development - my role involved sketching, 3D modeling, and rendering the final visualizations.

The main intention of the project was to accentuate public and private relationships of patrons visiting the celebrated destination, allowing them to experience Walden Pond through new perspectives.

One may walk along the pond path,

62

or diverge onto the bridge, where an open plaza utilizes the natural aperture of the cove to frame and reach towards Thoreau’s cabin across the pond.

View From Inside the Bathhouse

#6.0 Refraction

Bathhouse Apertures The procession of the project continues toward the bathhouse below, within which various abrasions draw light in or focus views to the surrounding natural landscape. Once inside the pool area, the experience of cleansing is accentuated by the flickering light from the plaza above, animating the interior, while a physical reconnection of water into the pond is defined by a horizontal puncture through the bridge’s envelope.

64

#7.0 Inter-Play

MArch Design Theories Studio Instructor: Vera Parlac Fall 2016

Inter-Play was developed during a theoretical architecture studio that examined significant contemporary developments in architectural discourse. The studio introduced students to the critical themes of formation, communication, and production in order to challenge complex problems that define the discipline of architecture.

Inter-play looked at how the use of high-end animation and modeling software has transformed our understandings of structure vs. skin and has, in turn, focused more attention on the process of skin or shell structures in architectural formation.

These explorations moved between physical and digital space to tease out methods for understanding multi-directional movement in the production of a single surface condition that acts as floors, walls, and ceilings. Through these studies, Inter-Play aimed at pushing the boundaries of what we perceive as architectural space, and suggested new ways of thinking about design techniques and modes of representation in architecture.

#7.0 Inter-Play

66

Membrane Structure

Cell, Closed Space

Cell Connection

Membrane Gateway

Material Studies with Stretched Latex

Formation Studies

Inter-Play was initiated by material studies involving liquid latex to discover how membrane materials might create efficient means of

Level 0

inhabitation and circulation. The latex was stretched apart between two acrylic sheets and analyzed to understand how the fluid material forms closed spaces and gateways.

This study was replicated in Maya 3D

Level 1

using a process that involved NURBS surface subdivision and bridging methods to create unique circulatory conditions and also create porous conditions on the outer surface.

Level 2

NURBS Surface Fluid Circulation

#7.0 Inter-Play

3D Plaster Printed Formal Studies

68

Level 12

Level 11

Level 10

Level 9 NTS Level 9

Level 8

Level 7

Level 6

Level 5 Level 6 NTS

Level 4

Level 3

Level 2

Level 1

Level 0 Level 0 West Section NTS

NTS

Inter-Play Section and Plans

#7.0 Inter-Play

Deconstructed 3D Plaster Printed Model

Digital Morphogenesis Programmatic references dictated the general size and location of closed cellular space, though the digital modeling process didn’t always allocate space in a predictable way. This resulted in a high level of formal malleability at the digital level, enabling fluid formal qualities to define the project’s aesthetic. At many points during the project’s development, the formal system was physically output using 3D plaster printing since plaster printing doesn’t require support structures during production.

Through these procedures, InterPlay began to reveal the true nature of its exploration into digital 3D Plaster Printed Section Model

70

morphogenesis – a form generation technique that results in shapes that remain elusive to construction and material logics. Inter-play thus became about showcasing how these techniques have become more ubiquitous in architectural discourse through pushing the project’s representational qualities and postdesign optimization.

Inter-Play resulted in raising critical questions about the use of morphogenetic processes in design formation that aren’t purely digital, thus helping to define the start of my research interest in examining relationships between digital design techniques, production technologies, and material system performance.