NICO FORLENZA SELECTED WORKS VO LU M E I 2014-2015
Hello, my name is Nico Forlenza and I am graduating from Auburn University with degrees in architecture and interior architecture. I have a variety of interests across the ďŹ elds of architecture and design including interiors, architectural graphics, and branding; all of which I look at for inspiration in my architectural work. This book is hopefully the ďŹ rst of many installments over my lifetime and is a reection of some of the work I have completed in my last year at school. Thank you again for your time and consideration,
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URBAN STUDIO LOFTS conversion of unused studio space in an old building into live-work lofts in downtown Birmingham, AL
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DAVIS ELEMENTARY redesign of a covered walkway and interior courtyard of a midcentury grade school in Montgomery, AL
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THESIS WORK studio thesis work concerning the translation of layering techniques originating from 2D image editing software into the 3D realm
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PERSONAL WORKS compilation of some personal and professional works done outside of studio including digital renderings and a Kickstarter campaign
davis elementary renovation of a midcentury school courtyard Location: Montgomery, AL The interior courtyard in Davis Elementary is currently Scale: 19,500 sf a pleasant, but heavily underutilized space. Renovation Year: 2014 to this area will strengthen the low and foot-traic through the space, while creating more usable areas to maximize the potential of the courtyard.
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Strengthen the North-South axis of the building with new covered walkways and outdoor seating spaces. Open up the courtyard entrances with large windows to create more transparency and visual connections along the axis.
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Connect the cafetorium to exterior with a new outdoor seating patio and double doors lowing out into the space.
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Depress the central area to create a large, deined public zone and add cement pavers to direct low into the space. Additional trees will be planted to shade southern light Connect the classrooms to the courtyard with exterior patios to promote use of the courtyard for potential outdoor teaching opportunities.
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Cut into the existing building to create a larger, shaded exit to the play ields while reinforcing the NorthSouth axis. playing ields
Strengthen Flow & Connect Spaces
The renovation will open up the school along the north-south axis physically and visually. This will provide a more seamless transition from the parking lot, through the classrooms, to the courtyard, and out to the play ields. The changes to the rest of the courtyard provide more useful spaces than what currently exist while promoting outdoor activity.
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exible program divisions
The new design of the courtyard divides the space into various areas of activity. The main walkway acts as an artery for circulation lanked on either side with spaces to relax, read, or a place to chat and eat lunch. The courtyard and north entrance can be closed o from the rest of the school after hours to host community events. The wood paneled wall and the steel overhang in the middle of the walkway create a new lateral axis of symmetry to the lower, depressed area, providing a potential stage area for these events. (above) north-south section elevation through the courtyard during school hours (right) diagram deining school-time circulation and resting areas
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(above) east-west section elevation showing how the walkway and depressed space can double as a stage (right) diagram deining the areas of the school which can be used for community activities after school
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framed views and light
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The covered walkway frames views through the space while also iltering light into various pockets of the courtyard. This creates a sequence of highly contrasted birghtness while progressing through the walkway. The images starting from the left of the page display this sequence starting from the south entrance of the courtyard continuing north.
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davis elementary
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urban studio lofts renovation of unused studio space into urban live-work lofts Birmingham, AL The move of the Auburn University Urban Studio to its 9,600sf new location in a vacant building in the heart of downtown 2014 Birmingham, provides Auburn with a unique opportunity to bring in outside revenue for the College of Architecture. With the Urban Studio itself going to occupy the ground loor of the building, the 2nd and 3rd loors are open to be renovated into lofts in a prime location within the city for the university to lease out.
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48% businesses restaurants entertainment nearby lofts urban studio lofts TYPE BY NUMBER 1/4 mile radius (5 min walk)
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exible programing
Urban Studio’s property lies within the heart of downtown Birmingham. The site contains a large variety of surrounding infrastructure which is vital to sustaining the lofts as well as creating a draw to both live and work in the area. The lofts take advantage of the dual nature of this interest and are designed around this idea making them available as lexible live-work units. The loor plans of the individual units are ixed around a central plumbing core leaving the rest of the loft open to various furniture layouts based on the needs of either a residential or commercial user.
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living space sleeping space working space plumbing core
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3rd Ave N 2ND/3RD FLOOR PLAN
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LOFT 1 LOFT 2 LOFT 3 MECHANICAL STORAGE
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partition usage
Each loft contains a sliding partion and folding partion that can be used to divide the spaces to better it certain program requirements. These partitions can be easily adjusted, moved, or stored away in order to quickly adapt to user needs.
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Potential Layouts
RESIDENTIAL (bottom) sliding and folding partitions are moved or stored away to provide the maximum amount of open space
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OFFICE (top) sliding and folding partitions are used in conjunction to form a more private lobby entry
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(above) Various layouts of the entry to the loft utilizing diferent conigurations of the folding and sliding partitions including an open concept dining-kitchen area and a formal oice entry
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The Human Scale
The truss holding up the sliding partition and the walls around the core, which do not extend fully to the ceiling, are used to conceptually lower the height of the space to a more pleasant scale while still allowing for high ceilings. The half-wall separating the bedroom and the living room creates more cozy living and sleeping areas while still allowing natural light to permeate throughout the entirety of the space.
(below) Section through the living and sleeping areas
height at which the truss sits and core walls terminate closet
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(above) Diagrams showing the proportions of the spaces within the loft. The gray represents the width of the room and the orange the length.
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(above) Rendered perspective and elevations showing how the half wall and truss begin to afect the scale of the spaces
Seamless Transitioning
The plan of the lofts allow them to be converted between both oice and residential spaces with only a simple change in furniture. The photos above show the main space of the loft being switched from a residential space into an oice environment in this manner.
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thesis work translating layering relationships from the 2D realm into the third dimension Powerful 2D editing software, like Photoshop, allow for the creation of post-processed double-exposure images by combining multiple layers of separate images together to create one inal, unique picture. This inal image is representative of the individual layers that compose it in the way the layers interact and are ordered around one another. The relationships between the individual 2D layers are typically studied in the two dimensional realm toward the creation of a inal two dimensional image. However, the same relationships can be translated into a three dimensional realm where the layers hold planar qualities and are used to divide, control, and create physical space.
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2D Layering Study
In order to understand the eects of layering images in the 2D realm, a photographic study was done to try and unlock how certain relationships between separate layers can create a unique, overall eect when combined together. Above are two separate images of a road in the landscape; one is in the foreground of the image, the other is in the background. When these two images are layered on top of one another and combined, they create a third image of a road that runs through the entirety of the image and beyond. This extends the perceived realm of the inal image from more limiting layers of base images that it comprise it, while still being aware of the existence of the original layers.
AB (below) Diagram displaying how the image layering is achieved
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(above) Final picture composed of images A and B that now show two parts of roads layered and combined, to form one seemingly continuous road
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thesis work
(right) diagrammatic image of the inal picture isolating the road to better highlight how they seem to connect together from the foreground through the background.
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3D Translation
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The creation of a social house and spa in downtown Montgomery is used as a vehicle to test the translation of layering relationships from 2D into 3D. Instead of layers of images, layers of three dimensional planes of varying material are laid sequentially throughout the entirety of the building. These planes combine in one’s visual ield as they move through the building and simultaneously divide spaces physically while connecting others visually through varying degrees of transparency and similarities and construction and material pallet. Though the planes do not completely enclose spaces, they do begin to suggest them, creating a hierarchy of areas throughout the building that also connects some of the exterior with the interior.
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(above) Diagram showing where the layers of planes fall within the plan as well as how one’s visual ield is afected by them. The shift in color represents a shift in visual items seen due to the transparency of the plane afecting it; a more gradual shift in color represents a more transparent plane that allows one to pick up visual information beyond, while an abrupt color shift represents an opaque boundary. From this, spaces that are visually connected, although physically separated, are revealed as indicated by the white dashed lines. thesis work
(above) Exploded axons of some of the planes that run throughout the building. They embody the idea of layering themselves as they are composed of layers of varying materials and transparencies.
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Layer Intersection
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On the exterior of the building the planes, rather than running primarily parallel to each other, begin to intersect one another. This creates interesting, more private nooks of interior and exterior space that are surrounded by a diverse combination of material palette coming together simultaneously. This collision of layers is visually stimulating while at the same time controlling the views in and out of the building.
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(below) Axon of where these nooks occur on the side of the front builiding
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thesis work
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personal work selection of projects and professional work done outside of studio
painting of the head of one of the panther statues located outside of Bank of America Stadium in uptown Charlotte, NC
spray paint art
Some of the artwork I do in my personal time comes from a process that i have created. It involves making an image using a small pallet of colors on photoshop and then creating a series of stencils to transfer that image onto canvas using spray paint. This process allows me to paint highly intricate and complex patterns that would be nearly impossible to do with traditional painting techniques.
(above) painting of Jordan-Hare Stadium, home of the Auburn Tigers (right) close-up showing just a few of the nearly 8000 small polygonal shapes the overall image is comprised of
architectural visualization
I work with advanced 3D modeling and editing software in conjunction with photoshop to create photorealistic interior and exterior renderings. Some of these renderings were done for a development irm to help sell future-built condo units as well as used in presentations to rezone land for apartments to be built.
(above) interior rendering done using a rendering engine called cycles.
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(left) a series of interior renderings used for the promotion of new apartments that are currently being built in Dallas.
personal work
(above) a rendered plan of potential residential and shopping units used as a tool in a presentation to rezone the block for this type of construction.
kickstarter campaign
I developed a campaign through kickstarter, a crowd-funding website, to gain funds to buy an old ambulance and lip it into a tailgating vehicle. This process involved creating a marketing and inancial model as well as developing branding and creating rewards to send to people as an incentive to donate.
(above) inal rendering on what the vehicle would look like after completion.
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personal work
(above & left) pictures of a few various rewards created for donating as wells as an image of one of the custom logos created for branding purposes.