Okazaki Portfolio January 2017 by Matthew Okazaki

M AT T H E W O K A Z A K I M A S T E R I N A R C H I T E C T U R E I C A N D I D AT E

JANUARY 2017

ACADEMIC THERE AND BACK AGAIN

L O S T I N T R A N S L AT I O N

OH! INVERTED WORLD

THE CONSEQUENCE OF LANDINGS

NESTED COLLECTIONS

EVERY BUILDING ON THE STRIP

BEAUTIFUL, BANAL

F I LT E R I N G T H E E D G E

MONUMENTS AND PHANTOMS

THERE AND BACK AGAIN MAPPING DENSITY TO ARCHITECTURE I N T E N S I V E PA R A M E T E R Fal l 2014 - Co re I (Ins t r uct or : Ki el M oe)

M AT E R I A L D E N S I T Y / POROSITY

The project focuses on the relationship of form, matter, and energy in both abstract and actual ways through a study of the intensive and extensive properties of architecture. What is at stake in this project is a question of causality. Architects both suggest order as well as amplify the orders suggested by matter/energy in the formation of buildings. This recursive causality is the focus of this project

To elaborate this question of causality in architecture, the project considers both the extensive and intensive properties of architecture. An intensive property is one that does not depend on the system size or the amount of material in the system, like temperature or density. An extensive property, such as mass or volume, changes when the size of the system

S TAT E 1

The density map of State 1 uses a basic nine-square grid system as a precedent, and is divided into four main levels. Each level maintains its own unique density map.

changes. The fundamental aim of considering the intensive and extensive properties of architecture is the development of an agenda for matter, energy and form; a way of thinking thermodynamically about architecture and architecturally about thermodynamics.

Initially, a geometric armature was provided to develop two base states depicting an intensive property. In this project, the material density of concrete -- and its reciprocal property of material aeration -- was chosen. From there, an extensive translation was developed. This tectonic translation was then mapped back onto the initial intensive states to produce the final forms. After this, circulation and program were given

S TAT E 2

freedom to push back against this system, which added another layer of development onto the original intensive property map.

State 2 was derived using a given geometric armature, and manipulating the State 1 map through this armature. This map is comprised of two levels, and the striation of material density no longer runs along the same axis as the overal density form.

S TAT E 1 . 1

S TAT E 2 . 1

S TAT E 1 . 2

S TAT E 1 . 3

S TAT E 2 . 2

S TAT E 1 . 4

E X T E N S I V E T R A N S L AT I O N A R C H / V A U LT E D A R C H Higher density materials have more resistance to applied stress, and can span longer distances between structural support, or load per unit area. Therefore, it can be said that there exists a reciprocal relationship between density and structural support; i.e. areas of lower material density have higher structural intensity, or necessity. As a result, the arch and vaulted arch were chosen as an extensive translation of this change in material density.

M AT E R I A L D E N S I T Y STRUCTURAL INTENSITY

A catalog was developed to reflect this change in material density, ranging from a span of 0’ - 50’ to a height of 0’ - 18’. When combined with adjacent arches, a system of vaulted arches emerged, some of which can be seen below.

V A U LT C ATA L O G V E N T I L AT I O N / THERMAL BUFFER

CORRIDOR

A R C H T Y P E : V E N T I L AT I O N / T H E R M A L B U F F E R

OPEN PLAN 1

OPEN PLAN 2

V E R T I C A L PA S S A G E

ARCH TYPE: OPEN PLAN 1

M A P P I N G B A C K T H E T R A N S L AT I O N Using the catalog of arches, the extensive translation was mapped back onto the original intensive density maps of State 1 and State 2. Using a 5’-0” x 5’-0” grid system, arches were manually laid out, with corresponding vaults spanning among these arches. These extensive translations, while manual, were the result of a rigorous interpretation of the density maps, and their success is evident through the likeness of the floor plans to the original density maps.

While less integral to the objective and investigation of the project, program and circulation were considered, and circulation was necessary to navigate in the vertical direction. Despite a minimal use of vertical facades, natural partitions, corridors, and ventilation channels emerged due to the wide variety of arch and vaulted arch types. Vaults spanning between 3’-0” and 50’-0” with a height between 9’-0” and 18’-0” were considered to serve as circulation and could house major programmatic elements, whereas smaller spaces could serve as ventilation channels, or host building infrastructure. Additionally, as an initial condition, each building required two separate circulations systems: one public and one private. The public circulation is evident -- a tunnel-like passageway that spans between two arches on different floors. The private circulation is hidden, carved out of the areas where there is the highest structural intensity, i.e. the poche spaces shown in plan.

REFLECTED CEILING PLAN - THIRD FLOOR 1/48” = 1’0”

SECTION 1/48” = 1’0”

PLAN - THIRD FLOOR 1/48” = 1’0”

REFLECTED CEILING PLAN - GROUND FLOOR 1/48” = 1’0”

SECTION 1/48” = 1’0”

PLAN - GROUND FLOOR 1/48” = 1’0”

L O S T I N T R A N S L AT I O N THE HIDDEN ROOM

Harvard Gradua t e School of D es i gn Fal l 2014 - Co re I (Ins t r uct or : Ki el M oe)

The project involves designing a group of five rooms, one of which seems to be hidden from the other four. The hypothesis of concealment requires consideration of the relationship between the visual, experiential, and conceptual bases of architecture. In this project, the hypothesis of concealment deals with the duality of room and corridor. Four rooms, visible from the exterior, are internally connected

MODULE

D O U B L I N G & L AT E R A L T R A N S L AT I O N

ROOM + CORRIDOR

X : 2 ’ - 0 ” ; Y: 5 ’ - 0 ”

by linked corridors. After visiting all four rooms through a specific sequence, one realizes that he has already visited the hidden room, hiding in plain sight as another corridor.

SECTION A - CORRIDOR CUT 1/32” = 1’-0”

PLAN 1

R O TAT I O N A L T R A N S L AT I O N

C O R R I D O R C I R C U L AT I O N

C O M PA R T I T I O N D I A G R A M

X : 5 ° ; Y: 8 °

OH! INVERTED WORLD A N AT H L E T I C C O N D I T I O N I N G C E N T E R

Harvard Gradua t e School of D es i gn W in ter 2015 - Core II (Ins t r uct or : G r a ce L a )

The program imagines the development of a hypothetical Neighborhood Olympic Conditioning Center (NOCC). As opposed to an official (and exclusive) Olympic Training Center, the NOCC serves as an ancillary conditioning ground for some events, as well as a recreation / exercise facility for the community. Galvanized by the range of summer sporting events, the NOCC introduces and encourages users to exercise through Olympic sport. It provides a location for the serious (and not so serious), neighborhood athletes to condition and explore potential, and to expose them to altogether new sports.

The NOCC contains a heterogeneous mix of program with characteristics approaching extremes (i.e. dark spaces and light spaces, large span and short span, wet and dry, public and private, etc). As such, the athletic center typologically embraces an indeterminate organizational strategy and imparts no obvious hierarchical clarity. Also, by its very nature, the building program suggests deep awareness of the physical condition of the body. For example, the occupant is exposed to a gradient of sensory experience from hot to cool, wet to dry, pleasure to pain, light to dark, open to closed, big to small, etc. The inherent physicality of the program also heightens kinesthetic awareness of physical and spatial thresholds, as well as social awareness of collective and individual spaces. In this sense, the building is simultaneously a physical mediator and social condenser.

In this project, the concept was to invert the typical relationship between spectator and athlete. Traditionally, athletes are on display at the end of a lengthy training process. Here, the goal was to display the practice and training process itself, and in particular, the particular techniques that go into each individual sport. In this scenario, the spectator is allowed a view into the deeper mechanics of the sport and the athlete, such as the body twisting before the dive, the aiming of the arrow, and the footwork of the tennis players, while the end result -- the splash, the bullseye, the match point -- are hidden from sight.

PLANS 1/64” = 1’0”

1 . A R C H E R Y, G Y M , T A B L E T E N N I S 2 . TA E K W O N D O , D I V I N G , H A N D B A L L 3. DIVING, HANDBALL, CAFE

SECTION 1 1/64” = 1’0”

TRANSVERSE SECTION 1 P O O L / A R C H E R Y L A N E S / TA E K W O N D O R I N G

TRANSVERSE SECTION 1 D I V I N G P L AT F O R M / A R C H E R Y L A N E S / S Q U A S H C O U R T

THE CONSEQUENCE OF LANDINGS S Q U A R E S TA I R V. P E N TA G O N A L S TA I R

Fal l 2014 - Co re I (Ins t r uct or : Ki el M oe)

The project deals with the relationship between the plan of rooms, an enveloping façade, and the interior circulation of a building. The configuration of just these three elements proves to have significant consequences for the composition of the building as a whole. In this sense, the project is designed to require the negotiation and resolution of tension between dueling organizational forms and systems.

In order to exercise the tensions inherent to the relationship between the plan, the enveloping façade and the internal circulation, the project was provided with three initial conditions and constraints: a maximum area requirement, an unrolled façade of fixed length that must be folded or curved to produce a closed figure in plan, and a staircase(s).

The subject of the inquiry is a dormitory. The maximum total building area is limited to approximately 68,000 square feet. The required perimeter is 960 feet long, 54 feet tall, and is composed of a regular pattern of windows spaced 6’ on center. The length, height and proportion of the overall façade and windows were ordered to be maintained. The building is composed of single rooms and double rooms, and every bedroom must have access to natural light.

For this design, the driving element of the building was the primary circulation system, composed of a double helix staircase, with one being a square staircase, and the other in a pentagonal form. One staircase provided access to the private programs of the building, the dorm rooms, while the other provided access to the public programs, which were the common rooms and event spaces. Access to both programs are available only on the ground floor and roof. The nature of the circulation systems provides variety both in section and in plan, and

D U A L C I R C U L AT I O N S Y S T E M S

the building’s floors shift laterally and longitudinally according to the staircase landings.

P E N TA G O N A L : C O M M O N R O O M S SQUARE: STUDENT DORMITORIES

The main axis is in alignment with the dormitory staircase, or the square staircase. The staircase that provides access to the common rooms and event spaces produces several sub-axes, which are in alignment with the pentagonal staircase in plan. Below, the juxtaposition of these two programmatic axes can be seen both in the form and material of the dormitory.

SECTION A 1/16” = 1’0” DORMITORY FLOOR SHIFTS (CENTERED ON LANDING)

SECTION B 1/48” = 1’0”

PLAN 1 1/48” = 1’0”

NESTED COLLECTIONS EMBEDDING AND CONNECTING RARITIES

W in ter 2015 - Core II (Ins t r uct or : G r a ce L a )

The project involves the creation of a rare books library sited within a park. Located along the cultural corridor of the Fenway, Emerald Necklace designed by Fredrick Law Olmsted, the project consolidates Boston’s Museum of Fine Arts Library into a single building. The site is flanked by the fluvial system of the Muddy River, which was historically marsh land and which currently, supports nascent urban wild life and a sensitive hydrological condition. As such, the sites invite active critique regarding the relationship between building and landscape, challenging notions of interiority and exteriority, and the potential for vibrant, reciprocal, sectional relationships.

The site also prompts questions about the architect’s responsibilities of building within natural conditions and how to foster a productive tension that mediates between the bucolic landscape as civic surface, and the building as object. With this in mind, the aim of the project is to explore the notion of a “performative container” that responds to the geomorphology of the land, while simultaneously leveraging the interplay of program and site.

Here, the library attempts to achieve three effects: reconnect major pedestrian arteries from one end of the park to the other, maintain lateral fluidity of the parks landscape, and protect the rare books library from the environment -- primarily light, temperature, and humidity -- within a larger container. The challenge in this project was to manage and negotiate all of these challenges, despite their seemingly contradictory goals and aspirations.

BRIDGING THE GAP RECONNECTING THE U R B A N FA B R I C T H R O U G H A N E L E VAT E D A N D P R O G R A M M E D W A L K W AY

FLOOR 1

FLOOR 2

FLOOR 3

M A I N L I B R A R Y A N D T H E AT E R

P E D E S T R I A N W A L K W AY

RARE BOOKS LIBRARY

TRANSVERSE SECTION A

TRANSVERSE SECTION B

1’ - 0” = 1/16”

LONG SECTION 1’ - 0” = 1/32”

TRANSVERSE SECTION C

TRANSVERSE SECTION D

1’ - 0” = 1/16”

EVERY BUILDING ON THE STRIP EXPLORING NEIGHBORHOOD CONDITIONS

Fal l 2014 - Co re I (Ins t r uct or : Ki el M oe)

The typical relationship between a site and a building is assumed to work one way: the site precedes the building. As such, the architect responds to the site and typically assumes control of the building only. In this project, the site is not a fixed and stable precondition, but rather determined by the architecture at the scale of the building, resulting in a larger field condition at the urban scale. E L E V AT I O N - I N I T I A L H O U S I N G PA I R

The initial conditions provided in the project are a pair of houses,

1/32” = 1’-0”

three stories tall with an independent housing unit on each floor. When house contains a deck on the second floor, accesible only by that corresponding housing unit.

The project begins with the manipulation of the relationship between this pair of houses. Here, a single bathroom window serves as the catalyst for designing the larger urban pattern that contains the two baseline houses. The reprecussions of this manipulation allow for a condition in which a more typical urban field condition transitions into a more typical suburban pattern.

To think architecturally is to understand the relationship between site and building. The objective of this project is to develop the two simultaneously, producing discernable architectural and urban relationships that are calibrated, interdependent, inextricable, and irreducible.

G R O U N D P L A N - I N I T I A L H O U S I N G PA I R 1/32” = 1’-0”

PA R A M E T R I C L O O P : S H I F T I N G T H E W I N D O W The large-scale field condition is derived from a parametric loop based on the alignment and manipulation of the windows of one of the housing units. The loop begins with the shift of a first floor window -- a bathroom window in alignment with and mirroring a first floor window of the other building. This window shifts along the wall until it becomes in alignment with another window, which is defined as Disruptive Condition I. Now, both windows are associated with bathrooms in each house, and necessitate a building shift in the first house. This shift simultaneously results in a manipulation of stoop and foyer of the second building, providing a new relationship between the two houses. The original window continues to move down along the facade of the building until it reaches Disruptive Condition 2. Here, the windows are associated with more public programs, and neccessitate a different type of building shift. In this scenario, the windows are still allowed to remain in alignment, but the two buildings repel and move away from each other. At this point, the first building is moved back so that it is in alignment with the second building, and the parametric loop repeats, but on the second floor. The same loop repeats on the third floor, after which it restarts on the first floor. Additionally, other windows in the first building also move along the facades as a result of the initial window shift.

N E W S H A R E D S PA C E S As a result of the parametric loop, new relationships between building units arise. As the field condition shifts from an urban pattern to a more typical suburban one, the initial building pair (1 with 2) dissolves, and a new pair (2 with 3) becomes the standard. Along with this new pairing, a gradient of building condition subsets

emerges as well.

SUBSET 1

AUXILIARY WINDOW SHIFT DIAGRAM The diagram illustrates the pattern of movement of the auxiliary windows of the first building, which move as a result of the single window that faces the second building. These windows spiral along the facade and move upwards towards the third floor. The final building condition in the

SUBSET 2

parametric loop results in a completely windowless entrance facade of the first building. Below, the penultimate condition in the parametric loop can be seen.

SUBSET 3

The topography follows a sinusoidal pattern, which begin at grade level, and where the second

SUBSET 4

floor deck serves as a peak datum point. When necessary, entrances to the buildings are dug out of the topography, creating another level of variance in the field condition.

BEAUTIFUL, BANAL A HOTEL TOWER IN SINGAPORE

Harvard Gradua t e School of D es i gn Fal l 2015 - Co re III (Ins t r uct or : B et h W hi t t a k e r )

The project is a large scale multi-program hotel, a 350,000 SF mixed-use high density urban building, containing a gallery, a performance space and theater, multiple greenhouses of local flora, and a hotel. The project aims to integrate the various programs within a high-density structure in downtown Singapore to both capitalize on their synergistic potential, and highlight the particularities of their specific content and context, through a contemporary proposal that can achieve a new synthetic whole.

The proposed project focuses on adjacencies of program, material, and form to investigate and produce positive or effective

experiential,

mechanical,

thermodynamic,

and

economical exchanges. In particular, the project focuses on the juxtaposition of what will be called the beautiful and the banal. More specifically, they are elements and programs associated with pleasure and water placed against the highly efficient and functional tectonic aspects typically associated with the tower building Embrace the Vestibule! typology in a city like Singapore.

And now come with me, for I have kept you too long from your gondola: come with me, on an autumnal morning, through the dark gates of Padua, and let us take the broad road leading towards the East. To achieve and facilitate these exchanges, the relationship - John Ruskin, The Stones of Venice Volume I, Chapter XXX â&#x20AC;&#x201C; The Vestibule, p. 344

between inside and outside will be utilized and explored through the space between programs, which are designated as gap spaces. These strategies can be material, circulatory, and formal. ADJACENCIES

VERTICAL GAP VARIANCE

HORIZONTAL GAP VARIANCE

A-B-A

INDIVIDUAL A

B-A

B A

B-A-B

GROUP

Through a juxtaposition of the beautiful and the banal, and through the facilitation of the air and space in and between these two -- the gap spaces -- the project allows for interesting and advantageous exchanges, which can be economical, thermodynamic, and even sensorial and experiential, in nature.

THE TOWER AS A VESTIBULE

Singapore is a city in a rainforest; it is a place where the tropics meet the urban landscape. It is a hub of business and economy, of pleasure and entertainment, a vibrant city filled with towering skyscrapers. Outside it is hot, rainy, and constantly humid. Inside these buildings, it is cool and dry, the air-conditioning systems operating tirelessly around the clock. Here in the towers of downtown Singapore, there exists a harsh boundary, a clear dividing line between what is out and what is in.

TYPICAL VESTIBULE

F L AT T E N E D V E S T I B U L E

But what if, rather than try in vain to keep the outside from coming in, we embraced it? What if we had more acceptance and tolerance for the surrounding climate itself? What if we slowed and stretched and elongated and blurred this boundary between inside and outside? A common application of this notion is the vestibule. Typically, the vestibule is viewed as an airlock, devoid of program. Perhaps, there is a way to utilize the conceptual intention of the vestibule -- a climate mitigator -- and extend its architectural and programmatic capabilities. An art gallery placed right next to a pool provides visitors from each unique program to engage with the other. For the bathers, the viewing of art now becomes available to them; for the gallery visitors, it is the bathers themselves that are put on display, injecting an element of play and informality into a typically quiet and often stuffy environment. Hotel bathrooms and showers are adjacent to the public gardens, separated only by panes of glass. Of course, there is an element of voyeurism at play; however, there are more important and resourceful exchanges taking place. Waste from these bathrooms becomes compost and sustenance for the plant life, and water vapors and condensation from the showers provide a suitable environment for the garden to exist. The hotel pool sits above and adjacent to the buildingâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s main mechanical system. This allows for economic and energy efficiencies, as the thermal exchange between pool and mechanical acts as a stabilizing system, simultaneously heating the pool and cooling the machinery.

P R O G R A M M AT I C A D J A C E N C I E S A N D E F F I C I E N C I E S

From left to right: Thermal Baths / Art Gallery; Pool / Mechanical Systems; Shower / Garden; Bathroom / Garden

SECTION AND TRANSVERSE SECTION 1’ - 0” = 1/64”

FLOOR 3 - 36’

FLOOR 4 - 48’

T H E R M A L B AT H S / P O O L S

LOBBY / GALLERY / SAUNA

NESTED PROGRAMS

In a climate like Singapore, the nesting of programs becomes a critical strategy for energy conservation and regulation. For example, the hotel rooms are nested within several programs of varying degrees of interiority. The interior hallway is in actuality an exterior; if one were to walk down a hallway and then turn a corner, the user would understand this condition, as he would be suddenly thrust into an open-air garden. In fact, most of the exterior partitions separate the outside from an interior outside. The “true” interior spaces, or rather, the spaces that are mechanically cooled are nested within these interior outsides. This provides a type of weather barrier at a larger scale, as well as a minimization of spaces that might actually require mechanically controlled cooling systems.

N E S T E D C I R C U L AT I O N

NESTED PROGRAMS

P R O G R A M M AT I C A N D E G R E S S

HOTEL ROOM AND GARDEN

FLOOR 7 - 80’

FLOOR 14 - 196’

T H E AT E R

HOTEL LOBBY / POOL

HOTEL / GARDEN 8 AM

HOTEL / GARDEN 11 PM

FLOOR 20 - 300’

FLOOR 24 - 360’

R E S TA U R A N T / C O N F E R E N C E R O O M S

HOTEL ROOMS / GARDEN

FLOOR 25 - 376â&#x20AC;&#x2122;

FLOOR 40 - 512â&#x20AC;&#x2122;

HOTEL ROOMS

HOTEL SUITES / SKY LOBBY

M AT E R I A L I T Y A N D L I G H T

The materiality of the facade and building as a whole were carefully considered to explore the relationship between outside and in. Whereas form can explore the hard-line binary, materiality begins to allow for a more subtle reading. Here, ideas and definitions of inside and outside might change based on time of day and effects of light and shadow. To achieve this effect, a translucent stone -- similar to the Yale Beinecke Library -- was chosen as a curtain wall facade for the tower. During the day, the stone serves as a shading system and cooling skin for the building, yet still allows diffuse light to enter the rooms. From the outside, the cladding would appear opaque, providing a relatively clear reading of solid and void. However, at night, the reading would change. Interior lighting would highligt and brighten the translucent stone, giving off a much greater sense of transparency, further blurring the notion of interior and exteriority. The goal is to question the delineation between inside and out through formal means, but also through other strategies.

It is the material: the translucent stone that both blocks and transmits the light. It is the program: the pool that cools the mechanical system. It is the circulation: the long and winding path that transitions one from a hot space to a cool one. It is the inhabitable: the air between the baths and the gallery. It is the mechanical: the pipes that carry waste and water to feed the gardens.

It is whatever that slows and blends, and yet helps define, a juxtaposition of things. It is a flattening of space, time, program. It is the boundary condition, but it is not a definitive line; it seeps and bleeds from one side to the other.

F I LT E R I N G T H E E D G E

N E S T E D S C A L E S O F C O M M U N I T Y S PA C E

T H E D W E L L I N G A S A N U R B A N F I LT E R

LONG BUILDING PRECEDENTS

Spring 2016 - Core IV (Ins t r uct or : Ca r l es M u ro ) Project done i n col l a bor a t i on wi t h A l eks i s B e r t o n i a n d Re k h a Au g u s t e - N e l s o n

This project investigates the spatial organization of the city and its effects on its social fabric. When working in the city, the designer has to address a number of different and often contradictory factors. All these factors are many a time at odds with one another, and one of the tasks of the designer is to set priorities and preferences in a continuous

THE URBAN / SITE

process of negotiation. It could be argued that the design process is always a form of negotiation, but the very understanding of the city as a complex system with many interrelated variables calls for a form of design that takes negotiation at its core. The notion of negotiation â&#x20AC;&#x201C;as a process by virtue of which a solution between opposing sides or interests can be reachedâ&#x20AC;&#x201C; is manifested in this project through three main strategies:

1. THE BUILDING AS A FILTER that facilitates and operates at the edges of existing, and often seemingly opposed, site conditions. It is at these edges that the city proves to be most dynamic, and this plan attempts to negotiate, accommodate, protect, and celebreate these types of intensities. The building responds to different conditions by expanding, contracting, and even disappearing in regions of the city.

2. NESTED SCALES OF COMMUNITY SPACE at the urban, building, and unit level. A city requires community spaces

THE COMMUNITY / BUILDING

of all varieties -- public, semi-public, semi-private, and private -- at all scales. This project attempts to, through the first strategy of the building as filter, create a wide array of community spaces at three broad scales: the urban or the site, the community or the building, and the neighborhood or the unit.

3. THE REDEVELOPMENT OF THE LONG BUILDING TYPOLOGY. The architectural type known as the long building is now synonomous with the notion of social housing, and while has been heavily criticized for its shortcomings, still has much to offer in the way of community space, programmatic organization, and a way of life in the city. This project seeks to learn from the past mistakes of the modern era through a redevelopment of the long building typology. THE NEIGHBOR / UNIT

BOUNDARIES VERSUS BORDERS EXPLORING DIFFERENT EDGE CONDITIONS OF THE SITE

E X PA N D : E X I S T I N G R E S I D E N TA L N E I G H B O R H O O D T O C O M M U N I T Y H A R B O R

C O N T R A C T: P U B L I C B E A C H T O I N D U S T R I A L P O R T O F B O S T O N

R E N D E R I N G D O N E I N C O L L A B O R AT I O N W I T H A L E K S I S B E R T O N I

T H E B U I L D I N G A S F I LT E R A M E M B R A N E T H AT T H I C K E N S A N D T H I N S T O P R O V I D E A VA R I E T Y O F C O M M U N I T Y S PA C E S

2a.

BUILDING PLAN LOW DENSITY UNITS

B O U N D A R I E S A N D B O R D E R S T H AT E X PA N D A N D CONTRACT ACCORDING TO EXISTING URBAN CONDITIONS

BUILDING SECTION A A D J A C E N T T O E X I S T I N G R E S I D E N T I A L FA B R I C

BUILDING SECTION B ADJACENT TO EAST FIRST STREET

1 . C O U R T YA R D S

3 . W A L K W AY P U N C H - O U T

2a. PORCHES AND STOOPS (SINGLE UNIT)

4. CONNECTED BALCONY

2b. PORCHES AND STOOPS (SHARED UNIT)

5 . P R I VAT E B A L C O N Y

2b.

BUILDING PLAN HIGH DENSITY UNITS

BUILDING SECTION C ADJACENT TO PORT OF BOSTON

BUILDING SECTION D A D J A C E N T T O W AT E R F R O N T

THICKENING THE CORRIDOR D E V E L O P I N G Z O N E S O F P R I VAT E , S E M I - P R I VAT E , A N D P U B L I C C O M M U N I T Y S PA C E S AT T H E U N I T S C A L E

A . P R I VAT E B A L C O N Y B . E X PA N D E D W A L K W AY ( P O R C H + S T R E E T ) C . E L E VAT E D W A L K W AY ( S T R E E T S I N T H E S K Y )

M O D E L S D O N E I N C O L L A B O R AT I O N W I T H A L E K S I S B E R T O N I A N D R E K H A A U G U S T E - N E L S O N

MONUMENTS AND PHANTOMS R E T H I N K I N G T H E A R T S PA C E I N L O S A N G E L E S

Fal l 2016 - Op t i on St ud i o (Ins t r uct or : Chr i s t & G a n t e n b e i n )

Through the use of two main typological elements -- the scaffold and the museum, and through the specific lens of the work by the artist Wilhelm Sasnal, the project offers a new form of art space in the city of Los Angeles. More specifically, it uses the structural and conceptual qualities of the scaffold to provide a critique, and ultimately, transformation of the formal and social understandings of Karl Friedrich Schinkelâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Altes Museum in Berlin.

The project is situated in Surfridge, California, a once vibrant neighborhood community off the coast of the Pacific Ocean, where all that remains are the streets, sidewalks, and lampposts of a town since forcibly vacated, abandoned, and demolished because of the growing needs of the Los Angeles International Airport.

It is here that this temporary, open-air structure -- this new art space -- hopes to provide a new means of both displaying and viewing art for the citizens and artists of the city.

THE ARTIST

THE TYPOLOGY

WILLHELM SASNAL

SCAFFOLDING

THE SITE SURFRIDGE, CALIFORNIA

SITE PLAN 1:2000

PLAN C AT W A L K G A L L E R Y

TRANSVERSE SECTION 1:2000

SECTION 1:2000

PLAN C AT W A L K G A L L E R Y

PLAN ROOF GALLERY

PROFESSIONAL LODHA TOWER

LMCC ARTIST RESIDENCY

T H E N AT U R E C O N S E R VA N C Y

G O L D E N G AT E U N I V E R S I T Y

T H E H E A LT H Y H O U S E

A BETTER MARKET STREET

S T R E E T- L E V E L F A C A D E HOTEL TOWER IN INDIA

Pei Cobb Fre ed a nd Pa r t ner s Su mmer 2015 (A rchi t ect ur a l Int er n)

Street-level facade for a hotel tower in India. The facade

comprised

several

hundred

unique

metal

panels wrapping around the base of the hotel tower, up to four stories tall. Tasks included creating the manufacturing specification sheets for each individual panel as well as installation guidelines, and assembling and preparing the final schematic design drawing set.

SECTION B - ROOM CUT 1/32” = 1’-0”

LMCC ARTIST RESIDENCY TENANT IMPROVEMENT ON GOVERNORâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;S ISLAND, NY

Pei Cobb Fre ed a nd Pa r t ner s Su mmer 2015 (A rchi t ect ur a l Int er n)

Worked on the Conceptual and Schematic Development for a tenant improvement and renovation of an artist residency in a historical landmark building on Governorâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Island, New York. Tasks included site visit and verification, plan and section as-built drawings, initial phases of programming and planning with client, detailing and specifying proposed new construction of elevator and central staircase.

T H E N AT U R E C O N S E R V A N C Y 2013 - 2014 TENANT IMPROVEMENT

M KTHINK Project Role - D es i gn St r a t egi s t

Located in San Francisco’s Financial District, The Nature Conservancy was looking to revamp a dated, cramped, and underutilized office environment with an eye toward enhancing their company culture and physically representing their mission of conservation and appreciation for nature.

As a result of this quantitative and qualitative analysis, MKThink proposed a radical cultural shift. What if, instead of fixed, assigned office spaces, TNC adopted a ‘hoteling’ protocol by which employees could reserve desk space day-to-day? In flattening the hierarchy of the workstations and eliminating private offices, the space was reorganized to encourage more efficient overall utilization. With enhanced linear circulation, the space was rezoned into five discrete areas based on sound level (from noisy to whisper quiet). To mirror this rezoning, a color palette derived from the very ecosystems and environments that TNC serves was applied throughout to visually differentiate the floor plate’s discrete work environments. Now, employees individually reserve a desk in one of the five zones on a daily or weekly basis. A personal rolling file cabinet to store belongings and paperwork can be easily taken with them to their desk and docked in a central location when not in use.

A variety of furniture was specified, ranging from standing desks to tiered seating for enhanced teleconferencing sessions. Using local and sustainable materials, including a reclaimed old-growth redwood, were used to create custom features including a full-height planter wall, a topographic ceiling installation, reclaimed wood benches and counters, and a 100% wool reception desk.

ENTRY / RECEPTION

Previously spread across one and a half floors, MKThink began the project by undertaking a utilization and occupancy analysis to better understand how the space functioned on a daily basis. Through in-person ethnographic observation, and by studying aggregate data from unique carded door entries, our team ascertained that even at peak times, only 80% of the offices’ 107 desk spaces were in use. Widespread telecommuting and the closed-off nature of private offices discouraged interaction between employees and inhibited views to the outside.

Overall, the cultural evolution has been dramatic. By eliminating unused space and consolidating onto one floor plate, the organization is able to save upwards of $270,000 a year in operational expenditures on the lease alone. Additionally, with enhanced linear circulation, the space was rezoned into five discrete areas based on sound level.

Aggregated data from unique carded door entries collected over several month periods showed that even at peak times, only 80% of the officesâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; 107 desk spaces were in use.

The engagement process revealed that employees lacked space for private conversation and collaboration amongst teams; the design team thus outfitted each zone with a series of spaces for collaboration, from small workstations for 1-2 employees, to larger 8 person teleconferencing spaces, to more traditional board rooms for groups of 20.

OPEN COMMON AREA

TRAINING SESSION ROOM

O P E N W O R K S TAT I O N S

G O L D E N G AT E U N I V E R S I T Y 2011 - PRESENT |

CLASSROOM IMPROVEMENT

MKTHINK P R O J E C T R O L E - D E S I G N S T R AT E G I S T

In the late 1990â&#x20AC;&#x2122;s, Golden Gate University began the process of establishing a multi-year institutional master plan. Having completed the first phases, MKThink was brought on in 2011 to realign the master planning effort to the universityâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s current needs and goals. The analysis included an investigation of potential program and space deficiencies, opportunities, and infrastructure concerns.

MKThink began with an extensive data collection of facility, user, and room scheduling information. This dataset served as the baseline for a rigorous facility and programmatic needs analysis. Additional data was gathered by conducting on-site investigations, running several university-wide surveys, and holding weekly discussions with a selected group of staff and faculty. With a detailed understanding of the existing conditions of Golden Gate University, both building and program inefficiencies and opportunities emerged.

The study uncovered significant latencies in utilization, which were determined to be driven primarily by non-standardized class times and discrepancies between class size projections and actual enrollment numbers. The facilities were optimized to best fit the courses and enrollment data, and a recommendation was made to decrease classroom space by 14,427 square feet. Along with the physical right-sizing of classrooms, a set of classroom design guidelines were developed through an intensive stakeholder engagement process to develop the layout, program, furniture, and utilities of each classroom.

FLEXIBLE SEMINAR ROOM

PLANS - NEW CLASSROOM WING

LECTURE CLASSROOM / FLEXIBLE TRIAL COURTROOM

CLASSROOM DESIGN GUIDELINES

T H E H E A LT H Y H O U S E L O U I S V I L L E , K Y R E V I TA L I Z AT I O N S T R AT E G Y MKTHINK D I S T R I C T I N F O R M AT I O N

P R O J E C T R O L E - D E S I G N S T R AT E G I S T

In 2012, 9% of the 3,900 single-family homes in the Portland District of Louisville were vacant or abandoned, including over 100 shotgun houses. Today, many of these homes are in disrepair, yet the city has expressed interest in stabilizing and marketing existing vacant structures for future use rather than demolishing them. Furthermore, the city has promoted the “development of context-sensitive mixed-use projects at strategic sites within the neighborhood to serve as the catalyst for the revitalization of surrounding districts.” At the same time, Louisville has committed to increase the overall health quality of its citizens through a “health-in-all-policies” approach. In February 2014, the city released the Healthy Louisville 2020 Initiative to define and establish specific goals towards creating an overall healthier community. H E A LT H Y H O U S E M O D U L E S

What if the Healthy House is a set of components that hijacks the existing infrastructure of 100 abandoned shotgun houses in the neighborhood, creating a network of live/work community centers that targets a broader definition of community health in terms of housing, health servies, transportation, education, crime, and economics? The Healthy House will embed itself within the pre-existing shotgun housing development system, and will primarily serve the residents of the Portland District community. Each single-lot module will address a particular issue relating to community health.

As a larger network, the Healthy House will act as nodes that “promote the development of significant, context-sensitive mixed-use projects at strategic sites within the neighborhood to serve as the catalyst for the revitalization of surrounding districts,” and by doing so, improve the overall community health of the Portland District.

M A P O F P R O P O S E D H E A LT H Y H O U S E S I T E S

PROPOSED SITES [economics] [transportation] [education] [safety] [health services]

VA C A N T S H O T G U N S D E D I C AT E D B I K E L A N E S B I K E - F R I E N D LY R O A D S CIVIC INDUSTRIAL

SCHOOLS COMMERCIAL

3 4 1 0 RU D D AVE [ ECO N O M I C ] GROCERY CO-OP There is a noticeable lack of amenities and services in the area surrounding 3410 Rudd Ave. A grocery co-op would not only give residents healthy food options but also job opportunities. There is an incentive to keep Portland residents in Portland by providing local employment; in 2008, 3,516 people worked in Portland but only 9% of these people also lived in the neighborhood. These actions will help foster community engagement and investment in Portland, which are essential to revitalizing the economic health of the neighborhood.

2 9 1 1 B A N K S T REET [ T RA N S P O R TAT I O N ] BIKE RENTAL / SHOP The location of 2911 Bank Street on a bike friendly road makes this an ideal site for a bike rental/shop location. Bank St also connects to a series of streets that lead directly to the Louisville Riverwalk, a dedicated pedestrian/bike path that provides access to the Louisville Waterfront Park, an 85-acre park located on the water that wraps around much of the city.

1 9 1 0 P O R T LA N D AVE [ ED U CAT I O N ] FARM-TO-KITCHEN A major commercial district is located a block to the west of 1910 Portland, where healthy food options are scarce â&#x20AC;&#x201C; McDonaldâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s , Subway, and other fast food chain restaurants tend to be the norm. By establishing a farm-to-kitchen location on this site, residents in this corner of Portland will not only have much healthier food options, they will have an opportunity to learn about and participate in the food production for their neighborhood.

2 8 1 0 D U N CA N AVE [ S A F ET Y ] CAFE / MUSIC VENUE Although 2810 Duncan Ave is only 8 minutes away from a Louisville Police sub station, the proximity of the site to a cemetery and an elementary school sets up an interesting situation where there is lower residential density but a heightened need for street presence. As a result, 2810 Duncan Ave is an ideal location to create a cafe/music venue. A cafe by day and music venue by night, the proposed program will encourage residents to linger and serve as watchful eyes both day and night.

1839 BANK ST [ HEA LT H S ER VI CES ] EDUCATIONAL CLINIC 1839 Bank St will build off of the farm-tokitchen site at nearby 1910 Portland by providing educational health services. This location will functional mainly as an educational clinic for preventative care, as well as a basic health provider.

A BETTER MARKET STREET 2 0 1 3 - U R B A N R E V I TA L I Z AT I O N S T R AT E G Y MKTHINK PROJECT ROLE : DESIGN CO-LEAD

A collaborative project with the San Francisco Planning Department to analyze specific datasets, including crime statistics; pedestrian, bicycle, and public transportation data; and sales and revenue information. Through a rigorous analysis of these datasets, it was proposed that an understanding of the relationship between these datasets would help inform smarter planning decisions at an urban scale. A framework for analysis was developed with the Planning Department where the data was broken down and investigated at specific units of analysis, including the block, intersection, and block face. It was proposed that environmental, cultural, and economic data would then be layered on top of this â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;assetâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; database in the hope of understanding multi-variable relationships at the scale of a segment of downtown San Francisco called Market Street Corridor.

Phase I consisted of the development of this framework, along with the analysis of pedestrian utilization along a test site, which was a segment of the Market Street Corridor called Yerba Buena Lane. Phase II, the analysis of other transit data along this test site, Phase III, the overlay and analysis of crime and sales data on this utilization data, and Phase IV, the analysis of this information at the larger scale of Market Street Corridor are currently in development.

F R A M E W O R K F O R A N A LY S I S

A P P L I C AT I O N : M A R K E T S T R E E T C O R R I D O R

UNIT TYPE A: MARKET STREET CORRIDOR

UNIT TYPE B: NEIGHBORHOOD ZONE

TYPE C1: STREET

TYPE C2: BLOCK

TYPE C3: INTERSECTION

T Y P E C 4 : PA R C E L

TEST SITE: YERBA BUENA LANE

To prototype this initiative, MKThink was given a test site by the San Francisco Planning Department. On the site was a recently developed installation by the Exploratorium as part of a city initiative called the Living Innovation Program (LIZ), which seeked to “create a flexible framework that harnesses the city’s creativity by using City-owned assets, such as public spaces, and partnerships with leading organizations as catalysts for exploration, innovation, and play.” (liz.innovatesf.com) MKThink deployed sensor devices around the LIZ to investigate pedestrian use patterns in and around the site in order to understand the installation’s impact on the urban environment and the interactions between urban inhabitants. The test site is located in a heavy urban region along Market Street. It is close to a variety of transportation stops, as well as a variety of civic hubs, destinations, and amenities. Wireless sensor devices were installed on one parcel along the sidewalks of Market Street to track real-time occupant utilization. A better understanding of use patterns in this parcel can help provide insight into this parcel, which will act as a control for other areas along the corridor.

A N A LY S I S O F F I N D I N G S