Molly Sherman mewack@gmail.com 314∘482∘7840
81% of all farmworkers are FOREIGN-BORN
15%-20% of farms
80% of farmworkers must
SALIENDO
LACK TOILETS and drinking water for workers
LEAVE THEIR FAMILIES behind while they seek work
DE
MÉXICO
¡BIENVENIDO A LOS ESTADOS UNIDOS!
64%
of farmworkers
DO NOT GET HEALTHCARE
53% of farmworkers are UNDOCUMENTED immigrants
HEAT ILLNESS
Mobile Learning Environment
m =
f(x+ x) - f(x) x
can lead to:
temp. illness brain damage death
Ongoing
AVERAGE LIFE EXPECTANCY
more than 400,000 children work in american fields to harvest the food we all eat
49
Family, both nuclear and extended, is a primary value among the majority of farmworkers. Many of them are forced to leave their families behind when they come to work here. Each payday they send money back to their families. The money may go to wives and children, or it may be the children who are working here and sending money to their parents
Families often cannot afford childcare and so have no choice but to bring their children out into the fields
Objective:
Children who work as farm laborers do not have access to proper education
un
do imm cum igr ent ed an o EA ften ts th RN HA at re of l LF e sid en gal ts
POVERTY
Almost 40% of farm workers migrate and their children suffer the instability of a nomadic lifestyle, potentially working in multiple states in a given season and attending multiple schools each with a different curriculum and standards Migrant children
DROP OUT OF SCHOOL AT 4x the national rate
Unable to afford childcare,
farmworkers bring their children out into the fields
work in american fields
The risk of fatal injuries for children working in agriculture is 4 times that of other young workers Farmworkers labor in extreme temperatures and die from heat exposure at a rate 20 times that of other US
Strong faith is found both in terms of spirituality and ToClose create a stable and and empowering environment for the migrant farm worker community. Everyworkers. farm Heat illness can lead to temporary illness, to 14,000 children youth, ages learning 0–21, qualify organized religion. brain damage, and death for services through New York State Migrant provides a programs bus to transport the farm workers to and60% from the field each day. Increasing the services that the Education of adult farm workers are married. Two in five Farmworkers are provided with substandard housing farm workers are living away from their and sanitation facilities. As many as 15%-20% of farms bus provides is an affordable and sustainable way tomarried empower and educate the migrant worker community On average, children in agriculture work 30 hours a spouses while doing farm work; the same proportion lack toilets and drinking water for workers, even week, often migrating from may – november, making it consistently from farm-to-farm. are living away from their children while doing farm though they are required to provide them. Farms with exceedingly difficult to succeed in school
among ers is farmwork 2x that of workers in other ns occupatio
400,000 CHILDREN
According to the USDA, agriculture is the most hazardous occupation for child workers in the US
average grade level for all farmworkers:
7TH GRADE
children in agriculture work
30 HRS/WK
At 50.7%, Migrant children drop out of school at 4 times the national rate
m =
work. Most live in isolated labor camps provided by employers.
10 or fewer workers are not required to provide them at all.
Combined with separation from family and friends, work on isolated farms is a very real source of emotional pain for many workers. Camps are often located far from downtown areas with limited f(x+ x) - f(x) transportation available. Access to telephones for x personal calls is limited, and a costly luxury. Use of pay phones is subject to language barriers. Incoming calls are virtually out of the question
64% of farmworkers do not get healthcare because it is "too expensive Farmworkers are excluded from labor laws providing for: • disability insurance • a day of rest • overtime pay • collective bargaining
seatback can be attached to either side of bench or removed all together
seatback folds down to become a tabletop for the person sitting behind
bench seating for transportation below-seat shelf for personal item storage
seatback cushion f lips over and snaps into position under tabletop
void in seatback so one can sit with his legs under the table
Entire seat Flips over to become a table
tabletop extends allowing more people to use it at once
seat cushion detaches to be used as a mat for stretching
underside of bench seat becomes open shelving below the table
seats can stack onto one another to become shelving
shelves both provide extra storage and act as storage of the seats themselves - allowing for more open Floor space on the bus
Transportation Environment
Single Learning Environment
Multiple Learning Environments
Meeting Environment
A simple re-design of standard bus seating and small interventions for storage and sanitation, result in an adaptable environment that changes the function of the bus depending on the time of day. The driver is separated from the rest of the bus by pegboard storage. These pegboards become flat storage for chairbacks and seat cushions that aren’t in use. The whole bus becomes a potential learning environment with the addition of whiteboard walls that close off the space. Finally, access to a clean bathroom and two handwashing stations keeps the produce clean and the farmworkers healthy. Three sinks on the bus provide clean drinking water to help combat dehydration and heat stroke.
Design of solar panel awnings is based on the topography of the farm’s fields. Not only do the awnings capture energy from the sun and power 16 laptops, they also increase the usable square footage of the bus by 350%. The awnings maximize seating in the shade and lower the tempature inside the bus up to 20°. 30’
20’
Torrey Farms, Elba, NY
Torrey Farms, Elba, NY
Virtual Shopping in the Real World April 2012
Objective:
To select an internet-based retail company and translate their website into a brick-and-mortar store. A thorough investigation of the brand and the way the website works should generate a design that reflects the brand as a complete spacial, temporal environments. The final design should be a hybrid between a traditional shopping experience and the individualized experience that technology affords the customer.
My design translates the website’s style quiz into a spatial flow-chart. Each customer takes their own path through the store and ultimately ends up in one of the three different showrooms. When a customer shows interest in an article of clothing, a video is projected onto the showroom’s wall that depicts how to wear that item. The experience combines the quick filtering technology of the internet with the tactile experience of traditional shopping.
PRATT LIBRARY: Academic Lounge March 2012
Objective:
To reimagine the underused Pratt Library. The current library, built in 1896, is now a patchwork of additons and renovations. We were tasked with repurposing the space in a way that facilitates varying activities and draws a broader range of students to the library. We were also asked to rethink the study spaces to support a variety of study habits and to consider both communal and individual activity.
2nd Floor Plan
1st Floor Plan
My design juxtaposes the traditional, classical architecture of the Pratt Library with a modern, rectilinear intervention. I delegated different programs to various floors, depending on whether they are individual or social activities. I developed a furniture system that can be composed in a variety of ways to house different program. The furniture pieces are compositions of planes and voids that, when read against the white of the existing structure, become sculptural. The entire intervention, including integrated lighting, floats in the space, leaving the existing library untouched.
Furniture Design: 32 Sq Ft Chair December 2012
Objective:
To design and CNC fabricate a chair from a sheet of 4’ x 8’ plywood. We were to design a piece that was enhanced by the use of technology. Our designs developed through 3”=1’-0” scale chipboard models that we made with the lasercutter. The lasercutter gave us the ability to test the precision of the CNC machine on a smaller scale so we could tweak our designs.
The design decisions I made, such as the number of stretchers I used and where they terminated, were dictated by the limited amount of available material. Additionally, in my attempt to get the most out of the allowed material, I designed a footsool that can be stored within the chair when not in use. The chair I ended up with wasn’t necessarily what I set out to design but was, instead, the result of my investigation of the technology.
=
PARALLEL ADVERTISING AGENCY
branding, advertising & business consultanting - creating brands, business models and ad campaigns that align their client with consumer tastes and current trends
December 2011
e direction, equidistant at all points, and never converging
Objective:
To design a two story office space in Midtown’s Pepsi Co. Building for a newly formed advertising, branding and strategy agency. The agency was comprised of 3 founding partners and 45 employees. Team thinking, communication and collaborative participation with clients and among employees was critical to the company. We were asked to plan for flexibility of workspaces, the need for community as well as privacy, and public spaces that reflect the identity and work ethos of the company.
WINDOW TREATMENT/SCREENING TO COME DOWN FROM CEILING BANDS? NEGATIVE SPACE = OPPORTUNITY FOR CIRCULATION
POTENTIAL FOR CASUAL MEETING SPACES IN NEGATIVE SPACE PANELS ILLUMINATED FROM ABOVE WITH HIDDEN FLUORESCENTS ENCLAVE BAND
PANELS suspended from ceiling at different heights
VIEW THE CEILING PLANES AT DIFFERENT HEIGHTS FROM THE EXTERIOR
RECESSED DOWNLIGHTS on the underside of panels Sloped Wall to allow for some leaning
Angled lip to conceal lights, suspension hardware and dust
12th Floor Plan
12th Floor Reflected Ceiling Plan
11th Floor Plan
11th Floor Reflected Ceiling Plan
Thinner profile elongated angle
Partitions to provide some privacy Laptop tables on swivel arms HeightAdjustable Armrests
Thin Gap in flooring between bands - thin strip of lighting? - inlaid material? - change in flooring?
The design for my advertising agency is centered around the concept of banding. This simple organizational system works in tandem with the inherent grid structure of the Pepsi Co. Building. The dropped ceiling bands divide the space below programmatically. Ceiling heights, color and light help to differentiate these spaces. In an effort to highlight the bands, I designed one that spans two floors, connecting the penthouse terrace with the reception area. This band is occupable on both levels: housing the waiting room on the stairs and the screening room on its ceiling plane.
VITRA DESIGN MUSEUM May 2011
TICKETING: General Admission Seniors (65+) Students
ANNI ALBERS: Weaving at the Bauhaus
$12 $9 $8
on view until September 4, 2011
MUSEUM HOURS: Tues - Thurs 10 AM - 6 PM Fri 10 AM - 9 PM Sat - Sun 9 AM - 7 PM
GEORGE NELSON: Architect, Writer, Designer, Teacher September 12 - December 18 2011
Temporary Exhibition Gift Shop Museum Cafe Collection
1 1 1.5 2
JEAN PROUVE: The poetics of the technical object January 2, 2012 - April 4, 2012
Objective:
To design the lobby, gift shop, cafe, temporary exhibition space and admin offices for the Vitra Design Museum. We were assigned designers to research and garner inspiration from for the design of the museum. Additionally, we were tasked with designing a temporary exhibition of their work. The designers I focused on were Josef and Anni Albers. On top of focusing on the Albers, we were also asked to consider the branding of Vitra.
The design for my Vitra Design Museum was inspired by the geometry of Josef Alber’s artwork. I interpreted his repeated use of overlapping squares by creating spaces that intersect in place. In order to achieve a dynamic space with these overlapping volumes, I raised the exhibition gallery onto a four foot platform and designed a ramp access that becomes the focal point of the museum. I placed the cafe on the mezzanine level in a volume that hovers above the lobby. This square volume punches through the shell of the original building and sits above the sidewalk, creating an outdoor gathering space and giving the Vitra Design Museum a distinct presence from the street.
1st Floor Plan
Mezzanine Floor Plan
INTEGRATIVE HEALTH CENTER March 2011
Objective:
To design an Integrative Health Center located in the heart of Manhattan. The space is meant to be a place of therapy and healing for the sick as well as a place of therapy and healing for the sick as well as a place that promotes wellness for people without illness. The program includes a reception/lobby area, an organic cafe, locker rooms, therapy and administrative offices, and yoga, massage therapy, acupuncture and meditation rooms.
The concept for my integrative health center is about slowly revealing the space to the client. I strategically use the corridors to create deliberate lines of sight. Throughout the space, the human body is silouhetted which offers the client glimpses of a space and its use before he has reached it. This effect is created through the use of light, shadow and materials of varying opacity.
Furniture Design: Zombie Chair October 2012
Objective:
To resurrect an old chair through structural rehabilitation and purpose. Through assigning a new task or activity to the furniture, we were to dramatically alter the formal attitude of the original chair. My design attempts to tackle one of my worst habits: piling clothes on my bedroom chair, thus leaving it impossible for anyone to actually sit down. I redesigned the original chair to become a clothes rack that raises the mess above eye level and frees up the seat. I continued the formal language of the original in an attempt to blur the line between old and new. However, the exaggerated verticality of the new chair suggests it doesn’t take itself too seriously.
Problem
Solution
WATERCOLORS Summer 2011