DESIGN PORTFOLIO
Throughout my undergraduate years studying at Kent State University, my understanding of the word “architecture” has changed more than once. Architecture is not merely the perfect mix of logic and creativity, as I had originally thought when entering into this major. It is no less than that, but it is also so much more. As time wore on and I was exposed to more and more facets of this practice, I discovered that architecture involves first and foremost a strong passion and purpose behind each of its designs. Without having something to stand for, a design means nothing and is not worth developing further. However, architecture is not just a design – for a design in and of itself cannot become reality by merely existing. Rather, logistics need to be figured out and much hard work needs to be done in order for a design to become a building. Without the details, even a good idea is only just an idea. But even with the strongest purpose behind its design and an ample supply of hard work to efficiently complete the structure, a piece of architecture is still only an empty building until one last element is added: people. A building cannot thrive without people to maintain, appreciate, and utilize it. The product of architecture is not a gorgeous building that has no feasible function – that would be a sculpture. Nor does architecture produce a building that’s main purpose is to be functionally used and minimalistically built. True architecture as I see it today is the art of designing a building that is beautiful to be seen, practical to be used and sustainably responsible to be long-appreciated by the people who inhabit it.
table of contents
FIRST YEAR | set of rules
SECOND YEAR | transitions filtration connectivity THIRD YEAR | therapeutics activation discovery FOURTH YEAR | restoration advancement
SET OF RULES Series of Spaces
Theoretical “Embedded Corner” First Year Design Studio Professor Charles Graves
OVERVIEW This design was a study on how to establish a set of rules. The primary objective behind this project was to create a complex composed of three forms linked together by gallery spaces. One form was to be solely influenced by the Raum Plan nature of the Villa Muller (Loos), the second was to draw upon the Plan Libre ideas present in Le Corbusier’s Villa Savoye, and the third form was to be completely unique, but still relatable to the other two studied styles. The most valuable lesson learned through this project: Establishing a set of rules is an essential first step for any design. No matter how abstract a design is, no portion of the project should ever be completely arbitrary. The following are three reasons why this is so: 1) A design established by clear rules can be easily read by viewers. When a design is too complex then it confuses rather than delights. 2) Any break from the established set of rules now becomes a unique accent. If everything is random then randomness itself has lost its individuality. 3) Totally random designs are nearly impossible to duplicate. This complicates matters in the design stage (when drawings and models cannot contradict), but it also makes things difficult if the design is ever intended to result in a fullscale form. Drawings need to be understandable and easily transferable into three dimensions. The rules that were set for this project can be summarized by this statement: 1-inch strips of paper, folded 45 or 90 degrees, with sticks connecting only between corners.
TRANSITIONS Apartment Building
Downtown Kent, Ohio Second Year Design Studio Professor Gregory Stroh
OVERVIEW This design was a study of transitions. The primary objective behind the project was to design an apartment building to serve as a transitional link between the city of Kent’s Downtown and The University of Kent’s campus. The most valuable lesson learned through this project: Transitions are essential in architecture in order to prevent abrupt and unsightly changes in form, texture, style, etc. Transitional elements often go unnoticed by the general public (as is their nature), but a lack of thoughtful transitioning can become a glaringly obvious eyesore on a building or in an interior space.
COLLECTIVE AND UNIT There were two separate pieces to this project: the collective building design and the individual apartment unit design. The whole building was developed first, then a standard unit was created based on the language of the building itself, and lastly a facade was developed. These three different stages all reflect the same ideas of transitioning between two spaces, experiences, moods or mediums.
TYPES OF TRANSITION This transitional theme was made manifest in a couple of very distinct ways throughout the project’s design. The two different areas of focus were: 1) experiential transition 2) visual and physical transition
ISSUE OF SCALE Because this apartment building needed to hold a certain number of units, at least a portion of the building had to be made four stories tall. This “billboard” facade holds the street edge, standing as tall as the surrounding structures. To prevent sidewalk pedestrians from being overwhelmed by the height, the facade is broken down into more human-sized elements.
EXPERIENTIAL TRANSITION As a person walks around this street corner, they experience the transition from main Downtown into a more residential zone. This building design helps to smooth that transition by dropping a whole story in height as it wraps the corner. The side facade is also more permeable than the impenetrable front wall facade, inviting visitors into a private back garden.
second floor
first floor
section cut PHYSICAL TRANSITION On a smaller scale, visual and physical transitions were created within each apartment unit. The above diagrams illustrate the privacy (yellow) of the upstairs level and the community (orange) of the downstairs. A transitional screen (right) develops alongside a person as he walks up into the more private second floor. Transitions were also created downstairs in the form of material and height changes (below).
FILTRATION Warehouse
Downtown Kent, Ohio Second Year Design Studio Professor Gregory Stroh
OVERVIEW This design was a study of filtration. The primary objective behind the project was to design a warehouse and education center that embodied the process of filtration (to reflect the food filtering process that takes place within the building). The most valuable lesson learned through this project: The ability to design a natural filtration system (for the people moving through the designed space) is a useful skill worth mastering. It is especially helpful to be able to direct traffic toward entrances and passageways so that visitors are not forced to wander to find their own way.
MODELS This project developed almost entirely three dimensionally, through models rather than drawings. Because of this, it was vital to work through a vast array of preliminary models in order to track progress. Pictured above are examples of three different model types that were utilized: a facade study, a stick diagram and a massing model. These models helped the project to develop in three dimensions from the very beginning, preventing the design from falling into a simple “floor plate� building where the levels are merely stacked one right on top of the other. The final model - pictured in the images to the right - was essential in the development of the final facade design. The translucent glazing allows natural light to filter into the interiors without fully exposing their contents. The wide mullions cast interesting shadows while also giving the surfaces a sense of scale.
DIAGRAMS The five diagrams below (all showing the first floor plan), as well as the section diagram to the right, help to explain how the filtering process takes place throughout the site. The different colors in the section drawing portray different programmatic spaces. This diagram shows that the people from the general public (pink) are never filtered into the more private program spaces which are located higher up. The following are descriptions for each one of the five plan diagrams: 1) This floor plan shows which spaces are used by employees (green and black) and which are used by the public (pink). 2) In this drawing, public spaces are shaded yellow and private spaces are orange.
program categories
public & private
funneling process
filtering process
resulting density 3) This diagram depicts how the angled walls serve to funnel people into (green arrows) and out of (purple arrows) the different outdoor spaces. 4) Once the general funnelling has occurred, different garden patches serve to break up the big zones into smaller pathways that guide walkers to different destinations. This filters people onto the path that leads to their specific destination, preventing them from colliding with another person who is destined for a different location. 5) The end result of this filtration process is a clear and guided path for each individual who visits the site. Since two people might at once be traveling to the same location, density can occur. The most concentrated areas are near the entrances, causing people to slow down upon approach in order for others to enter and exit safely.
CONNECTIVITY Cultural Rec Center
Cleveland Heights, Ohio Second Year Design Studio Professor Joseph Ferut
OVERVIEW This design was a study of connectivity. The primary objective behind this project was to develop a design for a cultural and recreational center in Cleveland Heights that fit in with the existing architecture and provided the community with a safe place where they would feel welcome. The most valuable lesson learned through this project: As long as purpose and intentionality lie behind every design move when developing a building, no space will be wasted and an intriguing (but meaningful) form will be the inevitable result.
PROGRAM The program for this design was mostly predetermined, and it involved both exercising facilities as well as a cultural lounge. Within the building of this design are the following spaces: a culture lounge, offices, event space, squash courts, a fitness zone, a private lounge, changing and restrooms, yoga lounges, an elevated running track, a pool area, and ice and fire pools. The exterior program includes an outdoor pool, a sauna, enclosed massage rooms, an indoor/ outdoor gallery, grassy park spaces, and an outdoor theatre. Along the eastern facade there exists a long cultural mural broken up into different panels. This art wall is intended to be a collaborative work involving members of the community so that they have even more reason to call this rec center their own. On the other side of the building, a terraced gallery follows along the stairway. Here even more cultural artwork can be displayed, and changed out regularly.
indoor & outdoor
topography
program masses
edge & entry
east elevation
north elevation
STUDY MODELS There were multiple different iterations for this site and building design. The images above show two of the preliminary models that held true to the final design. The two models are at the same, small scale while the model to the right was built much larger to hold more detail.
perspective drawing of northeast corner
connectivity
lighting
CONNECTIVITY The whole design for this cultural rec center revolves around the idea of connectivity. The following are a couple of ways that this idea was approached: 1) visual connectivity - Visitors who ascend the outdoor gallery immediately feel connected with the place since they can see directly into the yoga lounges, fitness zone, pool areas and exterior park spaces. 2) circulatory connectivity - The circulation pattern of this center follows the natural topography of the site, moving up on the outside and then looping back down inside. 3) physical connectivity - A clear, physical way that connectivity is seen on the site is in the water feature that can be seen or heard from anywhere outside.
perspective drawing of fountain park (looking southeast)
THERAPEUTICS BlackAcre Farm
Peninsula, Ohio Third Year Design Studio Professor Charles Graves
OVERVIEW This design was a study of therapeutics. The primary objective behind the project was to use the concept of a therapeutic garden to create a site plan for this educational farm in Peninsula. Then, at a smaller scale, the same therapeutic garden ideas were to be the driving force behind the renovation of a historical barn on site. The most valuable lesson learned through this project: Building renovations allow for the opportunity to learn from and then celebrate an existing piece of architecture. Almost every old building was the result of a well thought-out design at some point in the past, and more often than not the structure was beautiful at the peak of its life. Such buildings deserve thoughtful renovation, which can serve to highlight the old beauties of the structure while at the same time making it something practical to be used in today’s world.
INTERIOR PROGRAM BlackAcre Farm consists of one main building (the historical barn) with many sub-structures scattered along a single path that winds through the rest of the site. The primary building is used as an education center where different farming techniques can be taught and learned. On the ground floor are: a room for harvesting and canning classes; seed, root and other food storage rooms; restrooms; and a gallery displaying the site’s history through art. The second floor has a visitors’ center, a lecture room, restrooms and offices. On the third floor there is a demo kitchen, a dining area, a gift shop and a deck garden overlooking the whole site.
perspective drawing of welcome patio
first floor plan
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second floor plan
EXTERIOR PROGRAM There are ten different types of program scattered throughout the site of BlackAcre Farm, four of which include buildings. The different elements of the outdoor program include the following: 1) one therapeutic garden 2) two outdoor classrooms - linked by a trellis-covered pathway 3) one greenhouse (top image) 4) one workshop (bottom image on the left half) 5) one goat barn (bottom image on longitudinal the right half) 6) one welcome patio at the entrance to the education center, connecting the old barn to the parking lot 7) three orchards - in the first grow large trees, in the next are medium fruit trees, and in the third grow a variety of different dwarf trees 8) five urban gardens - to demonstrate how to grow a garden on a very limited plot of ground or against a house (middle image) 9) several public garden plots to be used by members of the community to grow and tend their own crops on a piece of the farm’s land 10) one on-site parking lot
section (looking west)
transverse section (looking north)
perspective drawing of barn addition
third floor plan
ACTIVATION
Gastronomy Center Florence, Italy Third Year Design Studio Professor Paola Giaconia
OVERVIEW This design was a study of activation. The primary objective behind the project was to enliven an area in Florence by establishing a gastronomy center and public square in a currently empty piazza. The most valuable lesson learned through this project: Architecture has the unique power to transform a space in an enduring way that no temporary event can. Before it was decided that a gastronomy center should fill the plaza, Piazza Annigoni housed a couple of different events throughout the year, each of which brought a significant number of Florentines into the otherwise empty lot. However, after each affair ended the plaza would be deserted once more until the next special occasion. Constructing a permanent facility on a site attracts perpetual activity, which is a more stable solution than a stream of stand-alone events.
DESIGN GOALS The goals of this design for Piazza Annigoni were as follows: 1) evoke visual interest that diverts people from the existing flow of traffic, placing them directly into this piazza 2) fulfill that piqued interest with the engaging program that is now contained on the site This first goal was realized through various building elements such as a cantilevered dining area and wisteria-covered trellises at both entrances into the plaza. The second aim was met in the form of outdoor food-tasting zones, playful park areas, culinary gardens and more.
PRECEDENT STUDIES Two different booklets were created as precedent studies for this project. The first book (two pages shown above) was created by a team of three design students, and it contains a thorough site analysis for Piazza Annigoni. Four focuses were studied in depth: location in the city, site characteristics, views to and from the piazza, and surrounding textures (refer to icons on previous page). The second book (two pages pictured below) is a compilation of twelve buildings or plazas that inspired the design for this new gastronomy center in Florence. These two book studies not only helped to shape the design of the project, but they also helped to present and explain the design to the clients in Florence.
third floor plan
second floor plan
EXTERIOR PROGRAM There are four different ground textures in the piazza (diagrammed above): 1) white - stone pavers for playing on 2) green - grassy park and food gardens 3) dark brown - cement for tasting areas 4) light brown - lighter stone pavers denoting outdoor circulation
INTERIOR PROGRAM The interior program of this gastronomy center can be split into three categories (diagrammed above): 1) green - culinary school 1) blue - Florentine restaurant (access) 3) light brown - community spaces (cafe and bar, bookstore, auditorium)
first floor plan
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MATERIALITY A large part of the design for this gastronomy center lies in the materials that were selected for the building. The image below shows an initial process sketch proposing locations and options for different materials, but the final chosen materials are as follows: 1) brown brick - This color and texture relates directly to the surrounding building materials; browns, yellows and reds surround the plaza as bricks, plaster and clay roof tiles. Punched windows were added to imitate Florentine style. 2) rough wooden trellises - Wisteria trellises are a common sight in Florence, but a purple plant in the city center will stand out enough to catch a passer-by’s attention.
transverse section (looking west)
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3) colored and etched glass - These openable wall systems enclose the restaurant dining areas and the cafe, allowing for views in and out to be relatively uninterrupted. The etched pattern as well as the slight color tints provide protection from the sun and privacy from groundlevel onlookers. Blue glazing visually establishes where the restaurant is in the building; redorange glass surrounds the bar and imitates the hues of a sunset; green glazing faces the garden spaces.
longitudinal section looking north)
DISCOVERY
piazza santissima annunciata
Hand-Drawn Sketches Florence, Italy Third Year Sketching and Drawing Professor Sylvie Duvernoy
OVERVIEW These sketches were, collectively, a study of discovery. The primary objective behind this project was to learn how to identify and discover architectural details through the art of sketching. The most valuable lesson learned through this project: Many aspects of an architectural space that are very commonly overlooked can be discovered through visual observation and hand-sketching. Since the act of sketching involves paying very close attention to detail, more facts can be learned about a space (regarding structure, proportionality, style, size, shape, etc.) in two hours of sketching than could be verbally taught in the same amount of time in a classroom.
palazzo pitti
PERSONAL REFLECTION The beauty of hand-sketching is that no two drawings are ever exactly the same. Since every person is uniquely different, and individuals change moment by moment, no two sketches can be drawn by the “same person;� so every sketch is also individually unique. For example, two architects can enter the Piazza della Signoria, sit shoulder to shoulder on the steps of the Loggia dei Lanzi, both observe the same corner of the Palazzo Vecchio, and come up with two very accurate sketches which look nothing alike. Along with sketching comes the freedom for personal interpretation not just strict reproduction of detail so drawings have the ability to convey atmosphere and mood in ways that flawless pictures cannot. A sketch is able to recreate a scene with more accuracy than can a photograph since the feeling of that particular moment in time can also be captured and recorded in the image.
RESTORATION
Community/Education Hub Downtown Sandusky, Ohio Fourth Year Design Studio Professor Charles Harker
OVERVIEW This design was a study of restoration. The primary objective behind the project was to comprehensively consider the climate, context and community of the site in Sandusky in order to create a program and design for three existing buildings that was both environmentally sustainable and culturally sensitive. The most valuable lesson learned through this project: Working with an existing structure - as opposed to constructing an entirely new building is simultaneously more restricting and more liberating. The existing walls and historical facades limit certain design options, but the established parameters also tend to bring about more creative problem-solving that ultimately results in a very unique building design.
DESIGN GOALS The goals of this design for the Sandusky site were as follows: 1) emphasize and celebrate the diversity that is already prevalent throughout the Downtown area 2) encourage education and create an environment where knowledge can be gained through inexpensive learning opportunities 3) establish a strong sense of community among Sandusky’s residents 4) exemplify what an environmentally-conscious building is so as to become a model for the rest of the city
PROGRAM The four design goals were realized through three basic program pieces: 1) public community center 2) affordable book and media exchange 3) elective educational facility
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COMMUNITY CENTER On the first floor of the community center is a cafe where Sandusky locals can interact with visiting tourists. The balcony storey of the cafe has a small bar as well as a performance stage for live (local or touring) bands, poetry readings, and other small shows. The third level is composed of four rooms that can be reserved by community members for private events, providing for excellent views of Downtown Sandusky and the Sandusky Bay.
second floor plan
BOOK AND MEDIA EXCHANGE The first two floors of this building make up the Book and Media Exchange - a place where people can come to sell their used books, CDs and DVDs as well as browse and buy from the store’s collection of secondhand items at exceptionally low prices. Also on the second floor is an educational greenroof garden overlooking the Bay. The third storey loft is a reading lounge, which is open to the public whenever the shop is open.
third floor plan
EDUCATIONAL FACILITY The first floor of this building is public access and is used for small, stand-alone classes offered on a large variety of interesting topics. The other two storeys of this building provide housing for four individuals who can intern for the Sandusky Community Center for a summer or a semester, working primarily in the education facility - recruiting speakers and coming up with new and interesting learning topics to be taught to the community.
first floor plan
NEW FACADE DESIGNS 1) highlight the sustainable features of the project - The curves serve to A series of graceful curves frame the roof drain/rain chain/water fountain features of the community center, as well as the sustainable roof garden on the back determines two of the facades of the community center as well as of the bookstore. the back facade of the bookstore. In most cases, the curves consist 2) attract people to the center of Downtown Sandusky - At night, colored light can be seen (even by those who are out on the water in boats) of areas where the brick has been punched out of the wall and has through the curves that have been punched out of the wall; this building could become a well-known beacon and a point of interest in been replaced with colored glass block; where the curve passes over the downtown area. a glazed area, the line turns into a mullion; and on the back of the 3) visually transition from old to new - The facades facing Water Street are historically relevant and have therefore not been altered from their bookstore, the curve is continued through space as a trellis on which original state. The new Shoreline-facing facades include more modern grows Virginia Creeper from building features (such as glazed curtain walls that let in northern light). The curves on the facades show, almost diagrammatically, the the roof garden. These designed transition between old and new as one walks around the building. curves are intended to:
RAINWATER COLLECTION/DISPLAY The community center building gathers and makes use of rainwater in a playful and public way. Rain runs down the slopes of the roof and drains out of two openings in the parapet - one facing Shoreline Drive and the other facing the fountain plaza. The water pours through each opening and then follows the lines of various rain chains that have been fixed from the parapet of the building to a fountain basin forty feet below the roof level. One of these fountain features is fixed to each of the two facade walls, and they are both unique pieces of art. During rainy weather, these fountains are bubbling with activity and can become a source of interest within the community.
longitudinal section (looking north)
west elevation
transverse (looking east)
north elevation
NATURAL LIGHTING Wherever possible, opportunities to let in natural light were fully exploited in this building. Tall south-facing windows, ribbon glazing and full curtain wall systems facing north and west, and a large, north-facing skylight (topping a three-storey atrium) were all designed to bring in as much pleasant daylight as possible. The interior rendering of the cafe on the previous page depicts how illuminated the space would be with hardly any artificial lighting to accompany the natural sunlight.
RAINWATER COLLECTION/REUSE Within the third building of this project (which contains apartments and the educational facility), there is a system built into the structure which allows for rainwater reuse. Any rain that falls on the roof of this building flows into a roof drain which initially filters the water and then leads to three different water storage units, one on each level of the building. These cisterns further filter the rainwater so that it is suitable to be used in the toilets within the facility. This reuse of water allows for the building to produce most of its greywater on site rather than obtaining it entirely from an outside source. This system also helps to limit the amount of water run-off the building produces during rainy weather.
ADVANCEMENT Community Park
Downtown Sandusky, Ohio Fourth Year Design Studio Professor Charles Harker
OVERVIEW This design was a study of advancement. The primary objective behind the project was to reimagine and transform the adaptive reuse design into something new. The context of the new site was studied in order to appropriately adapt the previously determined program within a building that remains both environmentally sustainable and culturally sensitive. The most valuable lesson learned through this project: It is not exceptionally difficult to create a green building as long as sustainability has been established as a main priority from the very genesis of its design. For example, attempting to integrate a greywater reuse system into a building after most of the structure has been designed can be a crippling frustration; however, if the system has been intended to be a part of the project from day one then it could end up shaping the entire roof design, thus becoming the catalyst for a brilliant design move rather than becoming an inconvenient hindrance. DESIGN GOALS The goals of this design for the Sandusky site were as follows: 1) create an open community area where people can go at any time during the day, in every season 2) collect a large variety of people at any given time, allowing for the educational opportunities that will inevitably occur as a result of these cross-cultural encounters 3) cause a piqued interest in sustainable building practices by standing as an environmentallyconscious design example in Sandusky’s city center
PHYSICAL MODEL In order to more accurately convey the full building design to the clients in Sandusky, a to-scale model was constructed at 1� = 30’. A great amount of detail was included in this model to create a more realistic depiction of the site as well as how sun and shadows affect both exterior and interior spaces. A portion of each roof was left off of the model so that the cut-away section would reveal the interior layouts of the two different types of apartment units. Additionally, the entire southern roof system can lift off the model, exposing the first floor of the two-storey unit. To-scale foliage was implemented in order to give a clear picture of how the trees shade the site.
second floor plan
first floor plan
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third floor plan
fourth floor plan
RESPONSE TO SOUND AND SEASON Since this new community park is located immediately adjacent to the delivery service areas for the buildings behind its site, the problem of potential sound disturbances had to be addressed in the early stages of the park’s design. To serve as a sound barrier between the parkdwellers and the delivery trucks, a median full of dense greenery was established between the sites. Half of the trees planted along the median are deciduous, and they provide protection from the harsh southern sunlight that is prevalent during the summer season. When this extreme solar exposure is absent during the winter months, sunlight is free to filter through the trees’ barren branches into the park and into the building’s interiors.
SOLAR ORIENTATION AND PROGRAM PLACEMENT This building is oriented so that its entrance is on the shady side, facing north - an unavoidable predicament since the site lies on the southern side of a very main street. However, the low surrounding buildings behind the site provided the perfect opportunity to create a very well lit and well solar-heated pocket park. The double-skin NanaWall is facing south as well, using this solar-aware technology to its maximum potential. The classrooms and restaurant, as well as both of the housing types on the upper two storeys, also receive a considerable amount of bright south light as a result of conscious window placement.
RAINWATER COLLECTION AND REUSE The single roof that spans over the four residential family units along the back of the building slopes toward the middle spine of the structure. Along this spine, between the sloping roofs of the two different residential unit types, sit six large rain barrels. The rainwater that drains off the back roof pours either down the slope of one of the stairwell roofs or else directly into one of the six rain barrels. The rainwater collected in these cisterns is then reused as greywater for the toilets throughout the rest of the building. The slope on the front four residential units (the single-person dwellings) also directs rainwater to be reused; first, the planted greenroof utilizes some of the water itself, then it pours any excess water into another group of small greenroofs as means of watering those plants.
RESPONSE TO WIND While an open tunnel cutting through the entire ground floor of a building is a rather intriguing idea for a primary design element, there were some initial concerns about whether a double-height to single-height gallery passing straight through the first floor might not turn into a highly undesirable wind tunnel. In effort to address this concern, the double-height space on the northern end of the passageway was more than halfway closed off with a glazed curtain wall to keep the high winds from whipping through the space. In order to protect against lower gusts, small trees and some ground vegetation was placed in front of the entrance into the underpass.