Work Samples 2021

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Nomination - Donghia Foundation Interior Design Awards

Perfect World is a child care center in downtown Knoxville’s historic Daylight Building that aims to help downtown kids keep a connection with nature in an urban environment.

The center would serve those who live, work and visit downtown.

The concept of this project is “Perfect World”; meaning, it is an exploration of the perfect condition for children in the future— an environment which is clean, pure, safe, etc.

Simply put, Perfect World is an architectural metaphor that explores what a “perfect world” is. This metaphor manifests in the space through the contrasting ideas of refuge and hostile environment. The exterior represents direct exposure to the outside world, while the interior pods represent refuge, purity, and the future; and the space inbetween serves as a filter between the two. Strategies taken to fulfill this concept include: levels of purity, real nature vs. simulated nature, and the visual language of science fiction films.

PLAN PERSPECTIVE

PLANT GRID MODULES SIMULATED STAR LIGHTING THROUGH CEILING PANELS AND LED’S

GLASS BARRIER

CUBBY

BUILT IN TERRARIUMS

PROJECTION PLAY: FLOOR

INTERACTIVE LIGHT WALL

FEEDING TABLE

PROJECTION PLAY : WALL

SECTION PERSPECTIVE

BUILT-IN DESKS

CUSTOM LIGHT BOARDS/DOODLE DESKS

SOLITARY LOUNGE POD/GAMING SPACE

VIEW OF GRADE SCHOOL PERFECT WORLD

detail section perspective

life safety plan

ramp detail plan perspective

section perspective

reflected ceiling plan

CHECK IN DESK

SOLITARY NAP MODULES

rachel smith / 865.382.4052 / rachelsmith.interiorarch@gmail.com

PERFECT WORLD

rachel smith / 865.382.4052 / rachelsmith.interiorarch@gmail.com

NINETEEN NINETEEN 19/19 is a store-front installation located in Market Square in Knoxville, TN, that simultaneously seeks to bring awareness to the same police violence that occurs today, by comparing the injustices that occur one hundred years later. This is reflected in the symmetrical floor plan of the installation, creating two sides - 1919 and 2019. The interior is fully red with a mirrored ceiling to represent violence and cause disorientation, while also displaying graphically the stories of what happened in a silhouetted nature. Inbetween the two, much like an intermission, is a small space with singular glass hallways on each side, only wide enough for one to experience individually. At the end of the hall is an empty, inoccupiable room with the names of victims lit up on all sides of the walls. The simulation inside this space begins with the piercing sound of a gunshot, followed by a name blacking out, continuing until all of the names have gone out.

The same silhouetted graphic appears on the wall in the second space (2019), this time telling the story of Michael Brown and the Black Lives Matter movement. The space then becomes progressively dimmer, followed by the presence of a single mirror, forcing the occupants to view themselves before exiting the space.

physical model

name simulation area concept

EXHIBIT FEATURES

maurice mays graphic

mike brown graphic

mirror

1919 name simulation

2019 name simulation

10’

20’ 10’

name simulation past

100 year transition

present

1919

COAD X GENSLER: FUTURE CITIES STUDIO Publication by Gensler 2021: Urban Futures Gensler Research Award

Tau Sigma Delta Bronze Medal

As a shaping force of existing and future cities, Gensler is leveraging mobility through design to create multimodal, vibrant streets and new connections that support growth and sustainability. Beyond sustainability is the concept of resilience, a term that Gensler uses to recognize that design must continuously evolve, adapt to, and prepare for a changing world.

Throughout the semester, this studio teamed up with designers from Gensler to explore multimodal thinking, climate sensitivity, and the transformative impact of adaptive reuse in the urban environment. An accelerated rate of development has left our landscapes cluttered with remnants and fragments of our built environments. These traces of our use and occupancy sit idle in often contested states and places. The reactivation of such settings was the main focus of this studio and we gauged the synthesis and propagation of new strategies to revitalize decommissioned parts of our built environment. My team’s site was Michigan Central Station in Detroit, Michigan- AKA, ‘the landmark.’ The analysis of Detroit concluded the survival of the city was dependent on its relationship with the automobile industrywhat initially caused it to thrive, and has contributed to its rise and fall throughout time. This conclusion led to the intervention: a building that functions as an agricultural machine to promote industry and well-being for the city.

lighting sheath thermal barrier and provisional ecosystem bioreceptive concrete paneling steel reinforcement geotextile and plant catalyzer upward suspension growth medium, beyond permeable, water-receptive 3D print incubator hydroponic groth medium, vertical seed suspension hinge. point of rotation (initiated by harvest) mouth of modular incubator, pollinator drone access

elevation 01

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elevation 02

rachel smith / 865.382.4052 / rachelsmith.interiorarch@gmail.com

2019