Mary-Margaret Stokes 2023 Portfolio

MARY-MARGARET STOKES

Portfolio | 2023

3 RIVERS ENGAGEMENT CENTER

Clemson University | Synthesis Studio | Spring 2020

Professor: Julie Wilkerson

Partners: April Simms, Lauren Davis, & Hannah Smith

The Three Rivers Engagement Center creates a blend between the ecosystem of the Congaree River and the urban context of West Columbia and Columbia, South Carolina. Our project leverages design strategies that preserve the natural elements on the site and encourages the public to appreciate existing water and land conditions. West Columbia emerges from the sloped landscape and locates public space relative to the urban context. Columbia merges with the undeveloped forest to preserve its beauty and locates public space relative to the natural context.

TREC brings the two cities together by offering spaces to engage in education based programs centered around culture and recreation, which were chosen by community surveys. Materials sourced in the building further connect TREC to the site and provide an educational aspect. A complex wall assembly is created layering reclaimed wood, recycled aluminum, polycarbonate panels, and fly ash concrete. TREC creates moments to be part of the urban context and the natural ecosystem simultaneously.

Designing as a team of four, we worked collaboratively to develop a cohesive concept and master plan for the two sites. I coordinated the digital and physical models for the project and produced the floor plans and renderings for the Columbia side. For my Structures II class, I worked individually to produce an exploded axonometric structural diagram and load tracing analysis of the building on the Columbia site.

WEST COLUMBIA

West Columbia | Connected to the urban context

classroom

classroom

Columbia | Lower Floor Plan

Columbia | Community Pool entry pedestrian bridge fitness studio observation deck pool courtyard

UNEARTHED

Clemson University | Urban Contexts Studio | Fall 2018

Professor: Julie Wilkerson

Partner: Lauren Davis

The concept behind this co-working building evolved from a theory that as the bedrock of New York gets closer to the surface the buildings can be built taller, making Manhattan a diagram of its geological condition. The building represents this idea through the horizontal grain of the “plinth” that pushes up the vertical grain of the “monolith.” The plinth builds up to the monolith with terraces that open and connect the building directly to the High Line and form a dialog between the public spaces.

My partner and I worked collaboratively to design this project through iterations of form and detail. I produced the floor plans and renderings of the building and led the production of the physical models.

The High Line

Twisting Towers

Whitney Museum

Site

Chelsea Market

CHELSEA

MANHATTAN

Hudson Yards

Final Model

Our design gives a significant amount of space back to the High Line and the public; therefore, we increased our height 3 stories past the zoning regulation.

Final Concept

Screen Development

Building Mass

Zoning Box

5th Floor Terrace

COALESCE

Clemson University | Barcelona Studio | Spring 2019

Professor: Miguel Roland

Partner: Robbie Level (Landscape Architecture)

The Sagrada Familia is Barcelona’s greatest treasure, and it brings millions of tourists every year. This creates a very crowded environment in an already dense city. Our museum addresses this problem by creating a pause in the circulation of the larger context and allowing for a place of rest and reflection. Both the site and the museum embrace the Sagrada Familia and all of its visitors. As a team of one architecture and one landscape architecture student, we merged the two professions to create cohesive landscape and architectural forms that speak the same language.

La Sagrada Familia Site

Roof Unrolled Walls:

Minor Structure

Major Structure

Ground Floor

BelowGround Floor

WHERE EARTH MEETS SKY

Clemson University | Foundations I Studio | Fall 2017

Professor: Rob Silance

This mountaintop viewing platform is formed by a boolean operation in which four blocks entangle and subtract from each other while maintaining each of their shapes. The monolithic form seemingly defies gravity and provides a sectional connection that allows people to experience different points of the site at different elevations.

OCTOPUS PANTS

Clemson University | Fluid Studio | Senior Year, Fall 2019

Professor: Joseph Choma

Partner: April Simms

This studio focused on researching fabric formworks for concrete by applying tailoring techniques used in fashion. First, as a team of eight our studio experimented with different variations of sewing and manipulating fabric to produce concrete tiles and columns. Then, we split into pairs and applied some of the techniques developed to a scaled model of a building for SCAD’s fashion school.

Fabric formwork minimizes cost and waste of formwork and allows for unique opportunities in construction. My partner and I wanted to push this by casting both the roof and columns in one piece. This resulted in a fabric formwork consisting of 40 columns sewed together resembling “octopus pants.” By creating slender, twisting columns we also pushed the contradiction of the soft texture created by the fabric with the hard concrete itself.

My partner and I worked together to develop the concept and design of our final model. We shared the labor of sewing the fabric, building the wood frame, and pouring the concrete. I hand-sewed the section while she sewed the plan. I also creating the axonometric diagrams while she created the final sewing pattern.

Hand-Sewn Section

Hand-Sewn Plan

Try

1:

We first tried to simply stitch varied, sock-like columns together in a random way to see if the cast would be possible. It was successful in form but not in detail.

Try

2:

We then remade our formwork with the columns stitched together according to a string grid that also supported the roof. These columns had open bottoms that were stretched and attached to a flat base.

Trial & Error : use fabric formwork to cast concrete roof and columns in one piece.

Wood Frame on Base + String + Fabric

Wood Frame on Base + String + Fabric + Concrete

The wood frame was built to support the fabric formwork for the middle section of the model. The frame was modified with a 2x4 and reused to support formworks for the other two sections.

Paracord string was attached tightly to the frame to add support while the concrete cured and outline the column grid.

The fabric was placed over the rope, and the edges were nailed to the top of the frame.

The bottoms of the columns were stretched down and nailed to the plywood base. The spiral string hand-sewn around each column was pulled tight and tied off.

Wooden dowels were used to push the concrete down into each column and left there to provide structural reinforcement.

After the concrete was poured and cured, the frame, rope, and fabric were removed. The 3 sections were fit together to create the final model.

https://youtu.be/-AGr6I0jYy4

Wood Frame + String

+ Fabric

+ Concrete

Sew line A to A, B to B, etc.

Hand sew continuous stitch along diagonal

Previously sewn line

2. Draw diagonal line across pieces. Sew continuous straight stitch, on diagonal line, across all pieces. Note: Diagonal line can be angled according to desired effect.

Draw diagonal line across pieces. Sew continuous straight stitch, on diagonal line, across all pieces. Note: Diagonal line can be angled according to desired effect.

The final model was built at 1/2” = 1’ and weighs 1,200 lbs.

1.

1.

2.

3.

BATS & BOATS

The University of Texas at Austin | Vertical Studio | Fall 2022

Professor: Francisco Gomes

Project Location: Austin, TX

This 5 week project focused on a site adjacent to the Tom Miller Dam below Lake Austin. The program required a space for kayaks and a space for bats. Three user groups were defined: bats, boats, and people. The dam creates a natural linear grain that the project emphasizes through the linear adjacency of user groups. The bats, boats, and people each inhabit linear volumes. The existing edge of the lower lake is cut back and the upper lake is channeled onto the site to create access to both levels. The bat roosts which sit in the water are monumental in scale to match the character of the dam, but from the riverwalk the volumes are more human-scale. The site is accessed via the riverwalk which connects to the city on an urban scale.

PROFESSIONAL WORK

West Columbia Public Park Support Facility

December 2021

As an intern architect at JCS, I’ve worked as a team member on a range of project types and sizes. While I’ve gained valuable experience producing renderings, schematic drawings, and construction documents for a large performing arts center, I’ve also had the opportunity to lead the design and project management for a smaller support facility in West Columbia.

This project has allowed me to understand the full role of an architect at a smaller scale. I’ve dealt with the business side of establishing the project, the communication of the design with the client, and the coordination of the engineers. I have also produced the construction documents in their entirety and learned how to draw every detail necessary for the project to be built.

Jumper Carter Sease Architects | Columbia, SC