mark t nicol . graduate portfolio

design projects tribeca hotel and residences

completed fall 2010 . penn.design . m.arch I studio hina jamelle

cloud culture

completed august 2010 collaboration with david mulder

citicorp plaza

completed fall 2009 . pratt institute . m.arch I studio greg okshteyn

dumbo research incubator

completed spring 2010 . pratt institute . m.arch I studio carla leitao

research projects cellular networking

completed fall 2010 . penn.design . m.arch I critic jenny sabin

n-body problem

completed fall 2009 . pratt institute . m.arch I critic theo calvin

diffusion limited aggregation

completed spring 2010 . pratt institute . m.arch I critic carla leitao + mike szivos

mark t nicol . graduate portfolio

tribeca hotel + resid tribeca hotel + residences tribeca hotel + residences

tribeca hotel + residences

in the pursuit of novel and robust hybrid conditions, hotel functions are layered into a residential system. characteristics differentiating hotel and residential configurations have been identified and ideal units that embody these traits have been designed. these ideal units share the same topological definition, which allows for the creation of a gradient of change mediating the intensive differences between the programmatic extremes. this gradient of change allows for the exploration of the transitional space that lies between the extremes. the system that emerges is cellular by nature. this is disrupted by synergistic hospitality programs at various scales and intensities. the nature of these restaurant and bar spaces is driven by their location within the system. the final formation is a field of change, full of robust hybrid conditions with public program layered throughout resulting in a cohesive yet variegated landscape of experience.

completed fall 2010 . penn.design . m.arch I . studio hina jamelle

dences hotel residential public service

level 00

level 01

level 05

level 09

hospitality unit

typical hotel unit

compound residence

roof top grill restaurant

residence residence

restaurant restaurant

hotel unit hotel unit hotel unit hotel unit hotel unit hotel unit

private dinning restaurant

cloud cultureculture

cloud cloud culture

cloud culture

due to the proliferation of social networking sites such as facebook and twitter, there is an abundance of personal data stored in the digital cloud that is readily available to anyone or anything that seeks to access it. by constantly mining the digital cloud to extract the thoughts, identities and feelings of its inhabitants, cloud culture can become knowledgeable about its users and animate itself to reflect their collective sentiments. this yields a dynamic architectural space that provides an ever shifting palette of sensory experience. the result is a fluid relationship in which the users of the space and the space itself are suspended in a feedback loop, each influencing the mood of the other. cloud culture, therefore, is the dynamic manifestation of the connections and sentiments of the network of users within the space.

JedLab I’m at the w-burg wfront - you should be here! @magham73

imwitit check out photos of me backstage at the #poolparties hell yes http://twitpic.com/8uag4fg

funkdesign sunglasses on my face and beer in my hand. so excited to be at the #williamsburg #waterfront

zherman got and extra ticket for the #jellypoolparty. who wants to join me?

completed august 2010 . collaboration with david mulder

weekday configuration

festival configuration gps location . 40x 43’ 16.35” north 73x 57’ 41.59” west centrality

user makes on-site tweet/facebook status update

betweenness closeness authority

justin t tucker 997 friends sex . male birthday . march 11, 1982 sexuality . straight current city . brooklyn, ny music . animal collective, grizzly bear, neutral milk hotel, lcd soundsystem

cloud culture algorythm locates the user using the mobile device’s gps

algorythm searches for significant terms

algorythm cross references various social networking sites to adapt to user’s profile

user’s influence is weighted based on their degree of conectivity to others in the cloud culture network

looks like rain :(

new architectural manifestation provides sensory input for futrure tweets/updates

base8jjt 389 tweets name . justin j tucker location . brooklyn, ny web . http://base-8.net following . 348 followers . 434 gps location . 40° 43’ 17.48” north 73° 57’ 47.09” west centrality betweenness closeness authority

rebecca funk 789 friends sex . female birthday . may 15, 1984 current city . new york, ny religion . baptist profession . designer music . philip glass, kronos quartet, sharon jones, buena vista social club, funkdesign 389 tweets location . everywhere web . http://www.funkdesign.net following . 504 followers . 10,567 listed . 1,346

gps location . 40° 43’ 21.91” north 73° 57’ 46.70” west centrality betweenness closeness authority

ari paul 306 friends sex . male birthday . december 10, 1979 hometown . cape town, south africa political views . liberal interests . cheese music . jay z, naz, outcast, wu tang, tribe called quest, ghostface killa AriPaulG 500 tweets

architecture adapts to its occupants in real time, without the need for direct input

name . ari g paul location . new york, ny bio . Thinking how to make X better, aspiring explorer and now a tweeter following . 116

elevation 01

elevation 01

section 01

section 02

section 03

section 04

section 05

citicorp citicorp plaza

citicorp plaza

plaza plaza citicorp

this urban intervention at citicorp plaza seeks to capitalize on the successes of a rarely vibrant privately owned public space in the center of midtown manhattan. designed during the depths of the banking crisis this intervention sought to not only revitalize an urban space but to revitalize a corporate image. by layering various synergistic programs upon differing scales of banking programs distributed throughout the site complex programmatic conditions were created. these hybrid conditions yield new types of banking that are more open, more personal, and more transparent at a time when such traits were sorely lacking in banking. to reach this end an integrative design approach was employed. by marrying a richly complex aggregated system full of possibility with site constraints and program opportunities a truly unique solution was reached which is born of the dna of all three inputs.

completed fall 2009 . pratt institute . m.arch I . studio greg okshteyn

hybrid program

program

banking eating media

circulation

mezzanine lexington ave

lobby plaza

structure

composit

free

flex

bundle

fray

stacks

through

enclosure system

unit sections 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8

1a

2a

3a

4a

5a

6a

7a

1b

2b

3b

4b

5b

6b

7b

1c

2c

3c

4c

5c

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

system sections 1

2

3

system sections

1

2

3

dumbo research incubator dumbo research incubator umbo research incubator dumbo research incubator

situated in the shadow of the manhattan bridge in brooklyn’s dynamic dumbo, a neighborhood with a rich industrial past and now a center for the arts, this business incubator seeks to draw on the neighborhoods past, present and future. community outreach programs are layered with research incubation to create robust hybrid conditions. starter incubator space, researching advanced materials related to water, is provided looking out over the east river towards manhattan. additional research pods can be plugged into the system as required by research teams. these pods can engage with the river directly by floating on its surface or indirectly by siphoning research samples. as the lines of research grow and branch outwards, connections are made with related research teams creating a novel way for collaboration to manifest itself in the physical form of the building.

completed spring 2010 . pratt institute . m.arch I . studio carla leitao

year 00

year 01

year 02

year 03

sky telecom output room

advertising

tech support light production space / labs storage space restrooms office space kitchen resource library

private

mechanical room loading trash

kitchen

executive director assistant director office manager tech support

program

reception

restrooms

auditorium resource library gallery meeting rooms remediation

river

protective shell

semi-permeable membrane closure seals

connection rings

tubes

pod anatomy

pod types

public

cellular networking cellular networking

cellular networking cellular networking in a native environment cells gain stability from tensile forces which are exerted on them by the extracellular matrix and are expressed through their cytoskeleton. when stressed these tensile connections transmit contextual information throughout the cell and in so doing drive cell behavior. if there is a shift in the extracellular matrix those forces are distributed through the integrin receptors to the cytoskeleton. the resulting realignment of the actin network within the cell’s cytoplasm triggers a response from the cell.

therefore, information about connectivity can drive the condition of the cell, prompting it to respond by either growing, differentiating, moving, or dying. just as chemical gradients in the environment stimulate behavior, so too can gradients in the organization of the extracellular matrix. the interrelationship between gradients of chemoattractants and the composition of the extracellular matrix can inform the design of nonlinear systems which have a similar dynamic relationship to their environment. gradients of contextual triggers will spark local reactions which will reverberate through the tensile network. this research and simulation is the beginning of a framework for considering dynamically reactive building systems.

initial matrix completed fall 2010 . penn.design . m.arch I . critic jenny sabin

chemoattractants

cells in matrix

matrix with attraction

deformed matrix

n-body problem n-b od y pro ble m n-body problem

n-body problem

through sequential and continuous interactions built upon simple rules, complex form can emerge without the addition of outside input. an understanding of these principles of emergent design allow for a new type of creativity enhanced by the utilization of a fluid process and involving time as an integral and constructive tool. forces build upon themselves sequentially, yielding complex solutions which would be impossible to conceive by conventional means. because of the dynamic nature of this process a finished end is not the objective. rather a continuously fluctuating landscape of solutions is generated resulting from bodies constantly shaping the behavior of one another while shaping the space that they occupy. by recognizing the innately imbued potential for dynamism of matter, designers can employ time and force as constructive instruments to generate form. doing so will impregnate design with a performative potential and a heightened relevance which is a direct consequence of the manner of production.

completed fall 2009 . pratt institute + individual research . m.arch I . critic theo calvin

usion limited aggregation diffusion limited aggregation diffusion limited aggregation diffusion limited aggregation

beyond their beauty, delicacy and ephemerality, snowflakes are powerful tools for understanding matter’s capacity for self-organization. it is because of this that we recognize them as having an almost life-like quality. additionally, just as with any manner of life, the environment in which they emerge leaves a trace on the final form of the flake. so, we can read in a snowflake the story of its emergence, and in so doing understand the ways in which various factors like temperature and humidity affect its growth. this research was conducted as a means to understand how buildings, business and cities might grow. if the variables of temperature and humidity are parallels for economic barometers, we can use snowflakes as a model to study how the growth of cities and regions might fluctuate over time. in boom time, skyscrapers shoot up like crystals and suburbs reach out like dendrites - in leaner times cites recalcify and buildings becoming less flamboyant. on a building scale, a structure could be designed such that it would grow along with demand in an organic manner, leaving the history of its growth as a legible trace on its final form.

pure dla

dla diagram

structured dla

low humidity

medium humidity

completed spring 2009 . pratt institute . m.arch I . critic carla leitao + mike szivos

high humidity