Portfolio Niccolò Benghi
PERSONAL INFORMATION Address 122 Windsor Place Brooklyn, NY, 11215 Cellphone +1 610 400 5991 Email + Skype niccolo.benghi@gmail.com
*The material and images shown in this document were personally created by the author from 2009 to present.
CREATIVE DESIGN + SUSTAINABILITY Graduated with a Master of Environmental Building Design (MEBD) degree from the School of Design at University of Pennsylvania, Niccolo is an architect with a focus on sustainable design and high performance building construction. Throughout his studies and work experience, Niccolò developed an enduring passion for environmental care and conservation, promoting green building standards and passive design strategies in every project he has been involved. He is a proactive hardworking person, with vast capabilities for problem solving and a solid orientation towards design and communication skills. Niccolò has proven to perform very well under pressure, showing leadership abilities in teamwork situations, handling multiple tasks, and proving great adaptability to any industry’s environment and efforts, to develop my business skills and pro-actively address the responsibilities and duties associated with entrepreneurship.
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ACHIEVEMENTS & ADWARDS > March 2016, publication of the research “The Varieties of Building E[m]ergy Intensity”, authors: Braham, Benghi; > October 2014, 3rd Price with the project “Requalification of Piazza IV Novembre and Piazza Venezia, Taglio di Po”; > December 2013, Runner-Up EUROPAN 12 with the project “Chute” for the Ciney, Belgium; > July 2013, architecture professional license (Italy); > June 2013, 1st Price “Franco Tinti” from INUIstituto Nazionale Urbanistica; > December 2012, LEED AP BD+C from USGBC; > September 2012, 3rd Price with the project “New functional spaces supporting Mesola CityCentre”;
LANGUAGE SKILLS > English, full professional proficiency, IELTS test score 7.5/9 (March 2014); > Italian, native language; > French, elementary proficiency;
SOFTWARE SKILLS Environmental Analysis Tools excellent knowledge of Ladybug+Honeybee for Grasshopper good knowledge of Design Builder, Ecotect basic knowledge of Ansys Fluent Adobe Creative Suite excellent knowledge of Photoshop, InDesign, Illustrator 2D Drafting and BIM excellent knowledge of AutoCAD, Nemetschek AllPlan good knowledge of Revit, Sketch UP 3D Modelling and Rendering good knowledge of Rhinoceros+3D, Grasshopper, Cinema 4D Windows 10 good knowledge of Excel, Word, Power Point Mac iOS X good knowledge of Numbers, Pages, Keynote
EDUCATION & TRAINING August 2015 - May 2016
University of Pennsylvania Master of Environmental Building Design (MEBD) GPA: 3.80 > Research Assistant at T.C. Chan Center for Building and Energy Studies > Student Ambassador at School of Design September 2006 - March 2012
Department of Architecture Master of Architecture (M.Arch.) (5-year professional degree program) “Biagio Rossetti” University of Final Grade: 107/110 Ferrara Final Thesis Project: Imola Autodrome, Territorial strategies and urban redevelopment in the “MotorValley” September 2001 - July 2006
Liceo Rambaldi Valeriani, Imola Scientific Diploma (BO) Final Grade: 90/100
WORK EXPERIENCE September 2012 - Present
Jr Project Manager LEED consultancy on projects located in the United States, Mexico, Italy and SINERGI U.A.E. Integrated Building Sciences, LLC Independent management of LEED documentation process and effective Jackson, MS, United States sustainable design strategies development Participation and execution of LEED meetings and sustainable design charrettes Business meeting interpreter to foster Commissioning Process activities Successfully increased design team members and clients knowledge of LEED best practices by ongoing education and assistance September 2013 - July 2015
Self-employed Architect Design and construction management of a 800 square foot home renovation project in Imola, Bologna Preliminary design of a 4 unit residential building in the Imola countryside Architectural surveys of earthquake effected areas around Modena (Italy) Excellent achievements both in architecture and urban design competitions February 2013 - July 2013
Intern Personally involved in: design development and documentation process of a Dante O. Benini & Partners public tender for a 240-unit residential complex in Milan (Italy); architecture Milano, Italy competition for Unicredit Pavillon in Milan (Italy); Nef competition in Istanbul (Turkey); AutoCAD drafting Rendering and photo editing Model making Design development
Spring 2016 BIOCLIMATIC HYBRIDS The project begins with the challenge of reusing and restoring an existing, vacant brownfield site located on the fringe between Seattle’s industrial district to the south and the heart of the city to the north. Positioned in Elliott Bay, the site demands a delicate articulation between the distinct urban fabric along the shore and the increased environmental exposure toward the water. The project aims to yield to the forces present on the site, namely the exposure of wind and sun on the south edge of the site, while also taking advantage of these forces as well. The presence of annual cloud cover also allows for a freedom in plan regarding daylighting access, something the project aims to benefit from as well. The 120,000sf mixed use building adds 65,000sf additional program to accommodate the larger site, such as facilities to take advantage of the nearby busy ferry terminal, as well as bike and outdoor recreational facilities to respond to the burgeoning urban density that places 101 Alaskan Way at its core.
Spring 2016 | Instructors: William W. Braham, Brian Phillips, Mostapha Sadeghipour | Design: Niccolò Benghi, Evan OskierkoJeznacki
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1 Greenhouse Kiosk 2 Lobby 3 Retail 4 Director and Staff 5 Open Office 6 Side Atrium 7 Classroom 8 Meeting Room 9 Kindergarden 10 Auditorium 11 Canoe/Kayak Rental
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Plans | MEBD Final Studio Project
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1 Lobby 2 Retail 3 Research Offices 4 Toilets 5 Trash 6 Files, Servers and Copiers 7 Conference Room 8 Offices 9 Break Room and Kitchen 10 Bridge 11 Auditorium
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1 Living Room 2 Kitchen 3 Bathroom 4 Toilet 5 Light Well 6 Bedroom 7 Studio 8 Balcony 9 Courtyard 10 Stair
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Heat Stratification Above Residential Units for Reheat
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Glulam Diagrid Secondary Structure
Anodized Aluminum Exterior Cladding
Heavy Timber Truss Primary Structure Covered Outdoor Terrace
Airflow Regulating Curtains
ETFE Panels Interior Wooden Atrium Cladding
Covered Outdoor Terrace
Pier Slab Cooling (during summer)
Slab Buffer Heating (during winter)
Environmental Section Details | MEBD Final Studio Project
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Force Flow
The Kink
Bread Loaf
The Wing
The Switcher
Thermostat
Design Narrative | MEBD Final Studio Project
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Fall 2015 ENVIRONMENTAL STUDIES With the renewed urgency of environmental issues— from global climate change to resource shortages and “net zero” design—architects are faced with demands for new kinds of services that require a new kind of professional. LEED accreditation is only a start, helping designers utilize existing technologies, but a wider range of skills is required to achieve real innovation and to meet the needs of clients in this rapidly changing field. The challenge to architects is to operate at scales greater and smaller than that of the building, requiring the understanding of the chemistry of materials as well as consideration of the impact of whole populations of buildings on their local, regional, and global ecosystems. New skills and knowledge required for environmental design must be integrated into the practice of architecture: > building performance simulation; > Spatial Daylight Autonomy (sDA) assessment and glare control; > CFD simulation;
Fall 2015 | Instructors: William W. Braham, Brian Phillips, Mostapha Sadeghipour | Design: Niccolò Benghi, Evan OskierkoJeznacki
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Mechanical Spaces 5% glazing
3rd f 2n loor df 1st loor flo or
Mid-rise Apartments 1F_30% glazing 2F_20% glazing 3F_10% glazing Atrium 30% glazing
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Open Office Spaces 1F_40% glazing 2F_30% glazing
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Indoor Microclimate | MEBD Final Studio Project
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Break Room 20% glazing
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1-opening South plan 2-meter height
Fully Enclosed plan 7-meter height
Wind Velocity Exploration | MEBD Final Studio Project
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50% coverage of the roof by horizontal louvers
Solar Radiation Analysis for Louvers Design | MEBD Advanced Enclosures: Tectonics, Techniques, and Materials
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haring
Fall 2015 to Spring 2016 Many of the showed data come from official company reports and financial filings.
15.8% of minutes spent on the internet
EMERGY STUDIES Facebook
sharing
Internet
1 hour and 40 minutes on social networks (28% of online activities)
Websites
6 hours online (daily avarage)
10 million sites contain Facebook like or share button
42% male users
9.40E+20 Sej FACEBOOK
71% of online US adults
15.8% of minutes spent on the internet Facebook
Internet
1 hour and 40 minutes on social networks (28% of online activities)
Websites
2.36E+19 Sej NETWORK
6 hours online (daily avarage)
10 million sites contain Facebook like or share button
2.78E+11 Sej DEVICES
water FB’s total water usage was 200,000,000 gallons in 2014
news/updates
coal
curiosity
Products
34% of FB energy consumption
casting
Food
nuclear
boredom
63% users consider FB a source of news 1.5 billion searches per day 1 trillion page views per month
Users worldwide
chatting 45 billion messages sent per day average friends per user
23% of FB energy consumption
communicate
Goods
nat. gas
sharing
15% of FB energy consumption
Devices
popularity
renew. 20% of FB energy consumption
Industry
power
Satellites
1.13 trillion of likes since its launch 4.5 billion likes per day
Friends
Groups
Like e-shop
100,000 new friend requests per minute
images/videos
jobs
FB owns 3 DCs and leases additional server space in at least 9 more DCs
ads
$3.2 billion in advertising on FB in 2014, 80% of FB’s revenes
1.55 billion users
Other facilities
events in 20 minutes 1,484,000 event invites are posted
Internet
Without a doubt, Social media has become a big part of our daily lives. With each passing day, it grows larger in the number of users, information to share, and inevitably, the energy required to power it. The research focused on Facebook (FB) to gather the necessary information regarding energy use, user behavioral patterns, and other necessary information worldwide to calculateUsersE[m]ergy values of annual Facebook and users activities.
news/updates
boredom
hobbies
stored data: 300 petabytes = 300,000 TB
Social Networks
casting
economy
it is estimated that Facebook helped creating 4.5 million of jobs in 2014
Companies
Office space
curiosity
The reported global economic impact of Facebook in 2014 was $227 billion, 1.35 % of US GDP
user info
400 million photos uploaded per day 8 billion views per day by 500 million users
Supportive Tech and infrastructure Data Servers
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posting 4.5 billion likes per day 4,166,667 posts per day
63% users consider FB a source of news 1.5 billion searches per day 1 trillion page views per month
chatting 45 billion messages sent per day
average friends per user
communicate
sharing
popularity
posting 4.5 billion likes per day 4,166,667 posts per day
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The study conducted demonstrated that the total The reported global economic emergy used by devices for Facebook is estimated impact of Facebook in 2014 was Groups Like Friends $227 billion, 1.35 % of US GDP at 2.78E+11 Sej, a very small portion of e-shopthe whole Facebook annual activity. The total emergy consumption for 2014 is estimated at 9.63E+20 Sej. user info 1.13 trillion of likes since its launch 4.5 billion likes per day
100,000 new friend requests per minute
images/videos 400 million photos uploaded per day 8 billion views per day by 500 million users
Fall 2015 | Facebook Annual E[m]ergy Accounting | MEBD jobs Ecology, Technology, and Design ads Companies $3.2 billion in advertising on FB in 2014, 80% of FB’s revenes
1.55 billion users
hobbies
stored data: 300 petabytes = 300,000 TB
events
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Social Networks
economy
it is estimated that Facebook helped creating 4.5 million of jobs in 2014
in 20 minutes 1,484,000 event invites are posted
NATURAL GAS
COAL
DIESLE
The City City Site Envelope
THE GRID Thermal Mass
SUN
Occupant Comfort
Back up Generator LANDSCAPE
CO2
YEAR ROUND Hot Water Heater
Plumbing
PV PANEL
Appliances
WIND
Electronics Furnace
Lighting
WELL
WINTER
Heating Condenser
SUMMER
RAIN
Cooling Window WASTE WATER
RUNOFF
GREY WATER SYSTEM
WASTE HEAT
One of the enduring problems of environmental building design is the determination of meaningful norms or points of comparison for evaluation. Building energy use is typically normalized to floor area and compared to buildings of similar types of use in similar climates. This provides a valuable tool for analyzing building operation, but reveals little about building construction and completely obscures the effects of building size or location. Using the techniques of e[m]ergy synthesis exposes the full environmental costs and interconnections of buildings and provides a more comprehensive basis for evaluation. Throughout the course of the academic year I collaborated in the careful drafting of both data, texts, and diagrams for Prof. William Braham’s investigation of the total amount of E[m]ergy involved in 18 different residential buildings. Fall 2015 - Spring 2016 | Braham - Benghi | The Varieties of Building E[m]ergy
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DETAILS & ANALYTIQUE The analytique is no mere representation of a building; rather it presents a building through its details and it gives insight into the detail as generator. The analytique is intended to present multiple scales side by side in an overall composition. ‘The Tell-theTale Detail� by Marco Frascari was considered as a point of departure for their explorations.
Museo Castelvecchio - Carlo Scarpa | MEBD Advanced Enclosures: Tectonics, Techniques, and Materials
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Course Work Samples | MEBD Advanced Enclosures: Tectonics, Techniques, and Materials
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Summer 2015 UPSIDE TOWN | EUROPAN 13 The proposed study area of Saint-Brieuc Municipality raises the question of the separation between the city centre and the Légué area, one elevated on the top the other lying along the valley. The distance that separates the two pieces of Saint Brieuc is both horizontal and vertical. Also, the centre is deeply connoted by human activities with no pauses or wide open spaces, while the Légué lacks in functions and landmarks. The distance is also a space, a physical location whose extension can be filled out with opportunities. In this regard, a street or a bicycle way is expected to exploit its hosting capacity to develop social features and connectivity functions. According to a new definition of the relationship between town and nature “Upside Town” aims to propel the union of the two parts by implanting the best features of each in the other.
Fall 2014 | Design Team: Niccolò Benghi | Elena Dorato | Martina Massari
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Regional Masterplan | EUROPAN 13 - Saint Brieuc
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Fall 2014 TAGLIO DI PO | 3RD PRIZE The church square and the fountain are generating elements and points of connection for the new square, a long pedestrian strip connecting the war memorial to the place of worship. This creates a single coherent system in which each hubs develops its own particular role within the urban space.
Fall 2014 | Design Team: Niccolò Benghi | Elena Dorato | Martina Massari
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Course Work Samples | MEBD Advanced Enclosures: Tectonics, Techniques, and Materials
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Spring 2014 THE SPACE INSIDE | FAVENTIA ARCHITECTURE COMPETITION “The Space Inside” stresses the idea of an “inner space” thereby apparently closed, delimited, confined. The three courts are immediately recognizable. each of them encompassed in a geometrically continuous perimeter. The project draws a deep transformation of the edges of the site, of the boundaries that encompass the spaces of the contest. The concept aims to redefine the idea of perimeter, from the mere functional aspect of boundary to an higher abstraction of “living” space. The parking represents the main feature of the project, addressing an essential need of this strategic area of the Faenza city center. The new building hosts a sports center with a 7 players soccer field, a gym and modern rooms at disposal of the city. To extend the day-cycle of the building, we included a restaurant with a bar on the ground level, and a preferential panoramic position in the head of the building above the main entrance.
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Concept and View | Faventia Architecture Competition
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Fall 2013 EUROPAN 12 | RUNNER UP The project “Chute” for the city of Ciney aims at becoming a new pole for services and residential housin. By developing a range of in-line accommodations and block houses we created two type of spaces at different levels: one that allows access to the accommodations and the parking area, which can be turned into playground; the other in a light vacuum sloping down to the river. These slopes work as water retainers in case of flooding and as green spaces for sport and leisure, responding to matters such as resiliency and adaptability. The materials used, bricks and steel coatings, refer to the Belgian figurative tradition, so as to obtain a project where people can easily identify. For the buildings nearby the railway, we opted for Corten steel panels which recall a more industrial environment, such as that of the railways.
EUROPAN 12 Runner-Up | Design Team: Niccolò Benghi | Benedetta Costa | Paolo De Nardi | Sara Pezzutti | Mattia Valenti
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Masterplan and Landscape Section | EUROPAN 12 Runner-Up
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EUROPAN 12 | DON BENITO The careful observation of local architectural features brings to a project suggesting a local style, up-to-date with present technologies. The project is formed by a concrete porticoed vaulted base, covered (lined) with local stone (granite), topped by a vertical listel oak structure. The stone base hovers conference rooms, a small theater and a great part of the market, paradigm of adaptable space. During daytime it will be used for the sale of local handcraft and local food products, during night-time it will turn into a meeting place. Conference rooms are projected so to be used apart for small conferences or joined when more room is required.
EUROPAN 12 | Design Team: Niccolò Benghi | Benedetta Costa | Paolo De Nardi | Sara Pezzutti | Mattia Valenti
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Regional Masterplan | EUROPAN 12 Don Benito
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Bird’s Eye View | EUROPAN 12 Don Benito
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Atmospheres | EUROPAN 12 Don Benito
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Spring 2012 “FRANCO TINTI” THESIS COMPETITION | 1ST PRIZE “Imola Autodrome. Territorial strategies and urban regeneration in the Motorvalley landscape “ addresses the issue of the regenaration of extremely uncommon infrastructure as that of a racetrack laid on the edge of the city, developing a cultural and territorial reconnection of the urban park, the river and the city, reaching important and original project outcomes. The project aims at three different scales of action: > the racetrack and Imola, to bond the gap between the city and its infrastructure; > the racetrack in the Motorvalley, to enhance its image and prestige within the regional network; > the racetrack for the environment, to give new value to the surrounding farmland and to appreciate the excellence of local goods;
Academic Works - Final Thesis | Instructors: Romeo Farinella | Gabriele Lelli | Design Team: Niccolò Benghi | Michele Giordani
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Regional Hub
Brownfield Restoration
Racetrack Historic Sites
O2 O2
10-18
O2 14-22 8-24
8-13
O2
10-18 24/24 h
O2
Conntectivity Focal Points
O2
Park Amplification
10-18
24/7 Development
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Cyclable Pathways
Habitat Protection
Waterways Requalification
Bio Connectivity
Goal and Action Diagrams | Academic Works - Final Thesis
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Green Enhancement
New Urban Park Conncection Hubs | Academic Works - Final Thesis
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ZOOM 2
View and Longitudinal Sections | Academic Works - Final Thesis
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Spring 2011 NEW HOUSING | ACADEMIC WORKS - 5TH YEAR The workshop aims to encourage graduating students to reflect on the urgency of urban regeneration. The continuing economic crisis, characterized by a drastic reduction of leverage in support of the investment property and the symmetric contraction in spending, creates the conditions for a complete enhancement of existing assets. The failure of the metropolitan policy, discriminating the offer of settlement in inverse ratio to the quality of services in the area, has generated a return flow to the cities, organized in networks with high accessibility that escape prior planning. The widespread sensitivity to the reduction of consumption requires new approaches to the built environment in order to maximize the energy efficiency in the medium-long term. The studio project is intendend to to deal with the different degrees and levels of the urban transformation in emerging suburbs.
New Courtyard View | Academic Works - 5th Year
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Plan - First Floor | Academic Works - 5th Year
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Spring 2011 THE “SPACE OF LIGHT” DESIGN | 5TH YEAR Today Architecture as the “art of the visible”, now simulacrum of itself and orphan of a real grip on the physical environment, must be addressed in its existential, material, technological, linguistic and symbolic components. The project explores the contribution and the adaptation to the achievements of science and art in alignment with the aspirations of “urban-man “, aimed to restore a more direct relationship with the world around him.
New Courtyard View | Academic Works - 5th Year
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Main Plan and Section | Academic Works - 5th Year
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Fall 2010 ARCH & TECH | 4TH YEAR The object of the Architecture and Technology Studio II was to guide students along a path of analysis of the tools the architect manages and controls throughout all the stages of the construction process, and deepen in to the continuity and consistency between architectural and technical choices. The feasibility of the proposed architecture is one of the main goals of the Laboratory along with the solution of the complexity and coordination of skills and disciplines that characterize the construction process: from design intent to completion of the work. In this sense the Lab sets itself the task to reconstruct the multiplicity of roles and areas of responsibility of the architect profession within a unified framework that taking into account the constraints and the real degree of complexity of the construction process.
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LCA2_une petite maison studenti: Niccolò Benghi_Alessandro Pracucci
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Technical Plan | Academic Works - 4th Year
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SKETCHES & HANDRAWINGS It always comes a time where an illustrator has to take decisions, push the tip of his pen on the paper and dirty up the white space in front of him. If it is a complicated line he is facing, he will feel kind of stuck, afraid of ruin his work, and he will start thinking about that next line over and over. That is where he will get to understand that the sign he is adding to his drawing it is like a leap into the void. There is no way back. In my experience I got to understand that drawing was a training for real life, where you can prepare your choices, arrange your next move, pay the more attention you can on every detail, wait for the best opportunity, but in the end there will come a time where you have to jump, and try something you cannot fully foresee.
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Portraits | Grayscale Handrawings 41