NILAB MAJIDI
MARCH 2023
SELECTED WORKS | 2020-2022
This project prioritizes interaction and user experience through sensory engagement, using biophilic elements like green terraces and healing gardens. The design allows for flexibility in site navigation and new memories to be formed through environmental cognition. Atriums blur the boundaries between indoors and outdoors, activating dynamic perceptions of the built environment. The form accentuates existing views and emphasizes natural ventilation while creating a universal circulation for exploration and purposeful activation. Programs unique to downtown come together to ignite all the senses, increasing overall user wellbeing and creating spaces of wonder.
Roles
Drawings, Renderings, Concept Diagrams
Softwares Used
Revit, Lumion, Sketch Up, Rhino, Adobe Photoshop, Adobe Illustrator, Adobe InDesign
Cultivating connection and removing barriers to public access, this collage emphasizes the creation of a space that is active at all times. All five senses are utilized inactivating the space to create memorable user experience and aid in providing a strong identity for this area. Both visually and physically connecting to other hubs in the downtown area such as the waterfront, convention center, little Italy, and aslamp, a harmony is created between the existing architectural contexts. A balance is created between, commercial, residential, and government sectors to encourage positive social gatherings and healthy activities to strengthen the sense of community.
The lack of connectivity between parts of downtown creates a disconnection from the community and the main functional blocks or entities of a system. There is a lack of ease of access to public transportation and barriers to public access. This disrupts the circulation of connective function which is essential to capture the experience of moving our bodies around a building, three-dimensionally and through time. The exterior facade of some of the buildings lack, daylight, appearance and shading.
Outdoor Healing Garden
Outdoor Cinema & Recreation Area
Larger openings promote more interaction, longer user space occupation, and allows more curiosity to the user by giving them a range of areas to examine and notice what they have maybe not before. Frame views of the landscape and sky.
Smaller platforms and passageways are typically used for circulation with faster movement taking place. slower movement happens when the area is covered and users are given a stronger sense of protection from the elements
Bridge Gathering Area Level 8 South Portion
Longer passageways with large ceiling height promote stronger feelings of comfort, slower circulation, and feelings of familiarity
Customizable Study Space Level 5
Texture and rhythm on facades and interior walls generates interest, allows for more user presence, and facilitates slower navigation with users being more attentive to their surroundings.
Art School Circulation
Main Building
1. Slanted Column: 14x14x1/2
2. Secondary Column: 12x12x1/2
3. Cross Bracing: HSS Round Structural Tubing 6x0.500
4. Primary Beam: 21x111
5. Secondary Beam: W14x159
6. Primary Column: 14x14x1/2
7. Pile Cap-9 Pile: 150”x150”x40”
Bridge (Warren Truss 11 Panel Standard)
8. HSS Hollow Structural Section 12x12x1/4
9. Primary Beam: W21x111
10. Secondary Beam: W14x159
1. Building covers half of lot (150’ x 200’ x 250’).
2. Stepback of 25’ along C street, plus two asymmetric setbacks to create covered outdoor spaces and better ventilation.
3. Large ADA sloped floor to floor area created for circulation, with bridge on exterior.
4. Southwest corner delegated as slanted indoor garden and circulation area to minimize heat.
5. Slanted, tapering atrium created for access to greenspace and natural light/ventilation.
6. Smaller front bridge, wrapping around building to promote collaboration and interaction.
7. Overhangs added to south-facing bridge and upper facade for rhythm of angled forms.
8. Glass stairwell connects to community bridge for diverse circulation.
9. Overhangs on north facade for contrast and more square footage.
10. Slanted roof for direct sunlight and better drainage.
1. Building covers half lot (150’ x 200’ x 250’).
2.Stepbacks and asymmetrical setbacks create covered outdoor spaces and better ventilation.
3. Large sloped area for circulation, with bridge on exterior.
4. Slanted, tapering indoor garden and circulation area in southwest corner to minimize heat.
5. Slanted, tapering atrium for access to greenspace and natural light/ventilation.
6. Smaller front bridge for collaboration between structures.
7. Overhangs shield south-facing bridge and upper facade for rhythm of angled forms.
8. Glass stairwell area for diverse circulation and play of light/shadow.
9. Overhangs on north facade for contrast and more square footage. Inviting entrance.
10. Slanted roof for direct sunlight and better drainage.
Users enjoy having height over others. Users can be seen spending longer time alone at vantage points above a main gathering area or even sit and interact with their environment more when they can see from above
Smaller openings draw brief, specific user attention. These instances usually frame a view or particular point of interest and causes user to stay in a that spot for longer time or move on faster
Skylights at ground level promote higher levels of comfort, safety, and curiosity with more natural light and a way to judge the entire scale of the building they are navigating through
Density promotes feelings of comfort and familiarity
Longer passageways with lower than average ceilings promote faster circulation as users feel a sense of discomfort.
Longer, brighter passageways facilitate slower, more observant navigation. These spaces promote pausing and interaction. Shading methods are also fundamental for the success of this.
-Landscaping
-Greenspaces
-Informal Learning Spaces
-Space Flexibility
-Visual Connections to Nature
-Blending Outdoor + Indoor
-Spaces for Exercise
Varied Size of Spaces
When people sit on the ground, they are comfortable in the space. Use materials that are conducive to this.
-Social Interaction
-Mental Health Practices
-Fresh Air
-Somatosensory Engagement
-Sensory Interaction
-Sense of Ownership of Space
-Adaptable Teaching Methods +
Larger openings spanning entirety of building up to sky break typical user sightlines while framing the sky uniquely. This promotes slower circulation and sparks user curiousity about their environment.
Keep human scale in mind
The Reticular Activation System (RAS) processes all incoming info into brain. Novelty and creativity is triggered through environmental shifts.
The Reticular Activation System (RAS) processes all incoming info into brain. Novelty and creativity is triggered through environmental shifts.
Warmer materials create more comfort than cooler typically. We can relate to materials that remind us of our own form
Pink has been shown to amplify emotions while things covered in green tend to be ignored more often. Blue leads to feelings of comfort
Placing emphasis on the senses to enhance user experience, this master plan focuses on creating spaces that are dynamic, active at all times, and memorable. This begins with formulating a harmony between the new and historic and removing barriers to public access to render these blocks inviting, pragmatic, and connected. Driving memory formation and sensory experience, neurons serve as a biological case study that has been analyzed to generate these new pathways throughout the Civic Center Site. These connections establish a hierarchy on-site both internally and externally and place the human at the center of the design in creating an experience that is unique and exciting every time.Just like neurons, the program is made adaptable in order to fit the ever-changing demands and accommodate for growth within the Civic Center. Reinvigorating the residential, commercial, private, public, and educational sectors encourages positive social gathering, collaboration, and connection to other hubs in the city such as the convention center, the waterfront, Gaslamp, Little Italy, and East Village to strengthen the community at large. Taking a phenomenological approach allows this architecture to cater directly to the inner child, creating spaces of wonder while redefining the role Civic Center plays in San Diego moving forward.
Masterplan
Proposed
Demolished Buildings
Existing Conditions
Site Activation
Existing + Proposed Bike Lanes
Seating/ Gathering Areas
Facade Changes
Drawings, Renderings, Concept Diagrams
Softwares Used
Rhino, Adobe Photoshop, Adobe Illustrator, Adobe InDesign
This design uses an open plan with a gable roof that suits the neighborhood, climate, and site conditions. Biophilic elements such as green walls, plants, and a grass paver system create visual comfort, improve air quality, and reduce energy costs. Large windows provide natural light and large overhangs offer shading and heating. Rainwater and greywater are used for irrigation. The design uses grid-tied solar photovoltaic panels and an electric “mini-split” heat pump for renewable energy. The dwellings will blend into the natural setting and provide visual, renewable energy, and user well-being resources
streetfront elevation scale: 1/4” = 1’-0”
rear structure floor 2
scale: 1/8" = 1'-0"
rear structure floor 1
scale: 1/8" = 1'-0"
rear structure front structure
studio unit
studio unit
first floor: 353 s.f.
2 bedroom unit
first floor: 369 s.f.
second floor: 743 s.f.
total: 1,112 s.f.
first floor: 353 s.f.
2 bedroom unit
first floor: 369 s.f.
second floor: 743 s.f.
total: 1,112 s.f.
front structure floor 2
scale: 1/8" = 1'-0"
front structure floor 1
scale: 1/8" = 1'-0"
Units designed to accomodate funcionality and comfort with an open floor plan, open to interpretation and use by occupants. Fully A.D.A. accessible studios with generous kitchen designs. Bedrooms in all units feature built in closet and storage space. Laundry room on site for use by all residents.
interior rendering all-electric kitchen plan
all-electric kitchen scale: 1/4” = 1’-0”
LAUNDRY- GREYWATER IRRIGATION
axonometric projection
LIVING GREEN WALL
PERMEABLE PAVER PARKING
NATIVE PLANTING
GARDENING
landscape plan
scale: 1/16” = 1’-0”
Learning should never be confined to a specific space. Instead, it should be a continuous, lifelong process that is embedded in every environment we encounter. Schools should be more than just a place for children to receive instruction. They should be a hub for exploration, play, and self-discovery, where students are empowered to learn in ways that feel natural and intuitive to them.By fostering a culture of exploration and curiosity, the aim is to help students develop a mindset that values learning as an essential component of daily life. This means creating spaces that encourage experimentation, curiosity, and discovery, and that allow children to move at their own pace, following their natural inclinations and interests. Ultimately, our goal is to help students become lifelong learners, equipped with the skills and mindset they need to succeed in an ever-changing world. We believe that by prioritizing play, exploration, and self-directed learning, we can create a more engaged, innovative, and connected generation of learners.
