Work Sample by Safa Mehrjui

Safa Mehrjui works

Since childhood the one thing that fascinated me more than any kind of math, science or art was architecture,especially due to its enormous impact on memory. Considering that most of the world now lives in urban areas, most memories then form in built space rather than nature. And as impressionable as we are, it’s inevitable that the spaces in which special memories form can impact the way we reminisce them. A grandmother’s cinnamon scented kitchen with its mild yellow incandescent lighting and flora covered tiles might alleviate a recollection of mom and dad fighting (or exacerbate it, depending on your taste). These spaces which we are conditioned to throughout our lives will eventually get subconsciously used by our minds to form our personal “tastes” and “characters”, ingraining Architecture into our entire being.

As an architect I want to create spaces that can mold good memories, make hardships easier to bear and reinsure their inhabitants that life can be good.

1997-2021 1997: Born in Tehran 2014: Moved to Lexington, MA 2015: Enrolled at Pratt Inst. (Graduated 2020)

2015-2021

CONTENTS

COMPETITIONS Grottole Playscape PRATT STUDIO PROJECTS Domus Populi (thesis) V-Paper Pavilion Extension to Dia Beacon Reinventing Traditional Forms of Structure Columbia Boathouse Dormitory in Dumbo Library in Chinatown Kindergarten in Staten Island Folly of light

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2007-2015 SKETCHES Illustrations Observations

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COMPETITION//Grottole Playscape

01-03/2021

Grottole Playscape* Competition entry for ‘Reuse the Fallen Church’

an an abandoned Chiesa, disconnected from its purpose and spiritual aura, revitalize itself not just as a communal space for locals and their guests but also function as a pivotal center for art in Basilicata (and beyond)? Our group took two polar approaches: one is creating a seating mechanism that can be arranged into several (and potentially infinite) art, stage, leisure, and retail programs. These elements are extremely flexible, designed to be deployed quickly and are constructed of light natural materials. The other is a static and permanent Bar that operates in harmony with the ever changing playscape supporting the multitude programs it can create. It acts as an armature for performance, including important stage infrastructure such as catwalks and copious surfaces for mounting lights, speakers, etc. The Bar reskins the church using its own Medieval Italian language. This language was reinterpreted to reflect modern material and equipment. A steel gable roof covers the entire nave, apse and dome, and gradually spills over the rest of the building to seal all openings.

*Designed with Emmet Sutton and Simon Galecki. All work shown is my own

COMPETITION//Grottole Playscape

GLASS+ METAL MESH ENVELOPE

GIFT SHOP

PROSCENIUM Typical theatre layout, all seats connect and form a unified slope facing the stage on the transept

Exploded axonometric section showing a proscenium configuration inside the church, catwalk and roof structure, and skin.

CATWALK+ROOF STRUCTURE

01-03/2021

CLUB Seating is pushed to front and back to open the nave as a dance floor

RUNWAY Seating arranged along walls to open a runway across the nave

ARENA Seating surrounds stage

MARKET Seating arranged as shopping booths and stalls

COMPETITION//Grottole Playscape

Top: Arena Bottom: Section through nave

01-03/2021

Top: Proscenium Bottom: Section through apse

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PRATT STUDIO//Domus Populi

Bird’s eye axon

01-04/2020

Domus Populi* Critics: M. Szivos, A. Coover and A. Simone

omus Populi explores a near-future scenario where architects operate as double agents, placating their client the state while designing architecture that serves the needs and desires of the citizens of New York City. Under the guise of serving the state’s interest in renovating a portion of the Civic Center complex, the double-agent architects in charge exploit the opportunity to pursue their vision of a more inclusive and equitable democracy. The architecture developed complies with public building safety codes and security measures; yet this is a divergent strategy. Ultimately, the architects

embed mechanisms that have the potential to support and amplify the political agency of the Domus Populi constituents. The architects first identify how civic buildings in democratic states engage with the public and then reconfigure various architectural features, modifying programmatic adjacencies and relationships. For example, spaces such as assembly halls are positioned next to public viewing areas or made accessible from exterior, public sidewalks.

*Designed with studio partner Daniel Infante. All work shown is my own.

PRATT STUDIO//Domus Populi The project comprises both plaza and building. It operates as a thickened surface with program embedded into a hillscape that rises to engage with existing buildings. To explain how the surface of the plaza would behave and begin to sectionalize, we designed a kit of moments that describe how buildings could be embedded in the ground. Since the project exists mostly in plan, oblique sections drawn directly on top of the plan became the

main mode of designing and representing the project. The clients will be presented with a set of oblique sections. However, this decision was made to distract them from spaces deeper within the section which are covered by plaza tiles. By Drawing in perspective, a communication mechanism is set within the office whereby what gets designed in the depths of the perspective is counter or in addition to what the oblique communicates.

01-04/2020

Top: Two oblique sections through the main buildings (2nd District and NY supreme court) Bottom: Two perspective sections of critical moments within the oblique sections

PRATT STUDIO//Domus Populi

Left: Diagrammatic site plan models investigating a razzle dazzle plaza Plexi, PLA and paper Right: Evolution of plan

Sectional kit of moments

01-04/2020

Vertical circulation (fire exits and elevators)

Ground level openings

Program

Hidden/Cloaked openings

Ground level tiles

Final plan

PRATT STUDIO//V-paper Pavilion

urved creases have been studied extensively only since the 1970s, beginning with Mathematician David A. Hoffman. Inspired by the works of Jean Prouvé and Under the guidance of Duks Koschitz, PhD, our team of studio students designed and constructed a 12’ span made entirely out of curvilinearly creased V-paper, rivets and bolts. A curved crease can offer more structural stiffness than a straight one, granted that the folded surface can be held in place. Rather than rely on fasteners or secondary structures, the span is comprised of surfaces that fold into enclosed volumes, similar to boxed beams. With the help of internal stiffening surfaces akin to airplane wing ribs, the span holds up against torsion and shear. V-Paper, or Vulcanized fiber, is a special industrial paper historically used for gaskets and washers. The process of production involves immersing thick sheets of cotton paper in a Zinc-Chloride bath and hot pressing them. Its rigidity and stiffness are comparable to acrylic and similar plastics, but it can be cut relatively easily like paper, making it an ideal sheet material for a student-built pavilion.

*Designed and built by a team of 12 students, including myself, Eva Bjako, Joshua Cooper, Maria Fernanda, Mia Hong, Will Huang, Suzy Jeon, Angie Kim, SoYeon Lee, Yuanming Ma, Mingyang Sun and Taline Tenguerian

05-08/2019

V-Paper Pavilion* Critic: Duks Koschitz

PRATT STUDIO//V-paper Pavilion

Aggregated component

The construction process involved milling the crease patterns off the sheets of V-paper, seaming together sheets to create larger surfaces, folding and riveting each individual part and finally bolting the parts together to form the spans.

PRATT STUDIO//Extension to DIA Beacon

Section through artist pod

01-04/2019

Extension to Dia Beacon Critic: Mark Rakatansky

ia as an art foundation has been a frontier expanding organization. Architecturally, on the other hand, their museum in the old Nabisco factory in Beacon, NY, is a programatically safe, white museum. This extension addresses the foundation’s lack of artist residency programs and ties it directly with the museum. The backyard of the museum covers an area almost as large as the indoor footprint. Continuing the factory language of the former Cookie box plant, various studio and workshop spaces are created along the two banks of the field. These areas offer specific working spaces for painting, sculpting of various material, filmmaking, performance art, theatre and writing. Additional general studio spaces cover the remainder of the site, for multidisciplinary creatives and artists spanning disparate fields. Raised above the grounded structure are hovering pods that house the artists in residence. Cutting through the middle of these big banks is a narrow passageway which shoots out of the end of the museum: a hallway-gallery that peaks into these studios and shows art not as final product but as time in passing (but only if the artists wish).

PRATT STUDIO//Extension to DIA Beacon The tectonics of the structure was derived from two works of sculpture by John Chamberlain: His Foam Couch, which inspired the base and its intermingling of private and public thresholds. Meanwhile, the housing units and their criss-crossed structure were inspired by Chamberlian’s Crumpled Car series, signifying a sense of unity out of chaos and nonsense.

01-04/2019

Oblique section showing artist-museum relationship. Painters/Printmakers are Yellow Sculptors/3D artists are Red Architects/Designers are Blue Musicians are Green Writers are Beige Filmmakers are Pink Theatre/Performance artists are Purple

PRATT STUDIO//Extension to DIA Beacon

01-04/2019

Left: Sculpture studio (top) and museum extension (bottom) Right: Section through Amphitheater and Painting/Print making Studios

PRATT STUDIO//Reinventing Traditional Forms of Structure

08-12/2018

Reinventing Traditional Forms of Structure Critic: Mark Parsons

In a series of experiments

traditional forms of structure such as vaults and domes were re-imagined using vacuum forming plastic against springs used as arches. The goal was to test whether these forms will retain any structural or spatial qualities from their traditional counterpart. Each experiment was inspired by traditional vaults and domes from Roman, Sassanid and Medieval Persian architecture. The spatial construction lines of each was then translated into arches that could be made of bent springs that were screwed into a wooden board to resist the vacuum force, along with some steel wire parts for extra detail. The plastic thickened around the steel spirals of the springs and created a robust structural surface, but conversely thinned out in the middle surfaces, mimicking the material proportions of traditional vaulted structures.

The form’s curvature however, is not only inverted, but folded and bulged in certain places due to the springs’ shape and orientation. Eventually the aims of the project were expanded to embrace such unexpected folds and their relationship with the dome or vault they attached to became a factor for production itself.

PRATT STUDIO//Reinventing Traditional Forms of Structure

Talar, version I 28

Talar, version II

08-12/2018

Improvised vault

Karbandi (Dome base vault) 29

PRATT STUDIO//Reinventing Traditional Forms of Structure

Entrance gate partitioning (Muqarnas)

08-12/2018

Examples of Persian dome construction

PRATT STUDIO//Columbia Boathouse

North East elevation

01-04/2018

Columbia University Boathouse*

Critic: Zehra Kuz

boathouse for Columbia university not only houses their varsity rowing team, but also a public rowing center and sport facility. To connect all this with nearby Inwood Hill park, which threads into the southern portion of the site, a pathway dedicated to passers-by and park goers slithers through the body of the program and reveals some of the interior.

This path, which consists primarily of bridges, tucks between different layers of programs for separate occupants and connects them via openings and gaps. The facility includes two storage sheds (one for the team, the other for public use) a full gym, lockers, showers, classrooms and office spaces for the coach and staff.

The entire program is spread on top of the two sheds which hold up these bulks with timber columns. The boat rests are also held by these columns.

*Designed with studio partner Gabriella Selvaggio. All work shown is my own.

PRATT STUDIO//Columbia Boathouse

01-04/2018 First floor

Second floor

Third floor

Above: Varsity team entrance Bellow: Main entrance Right: Plan sequence

PRATT STUDIO//Dormitory in Dumbo North elevation, made with Rhino and Photoshop

Unrolled North and East elevations

08-12/2017

Dormitory in Dumbo* Critic: Donald Cromley

dormitory for a Catholic college comprises of two souls: old and new. A giant Baker house inspired staircase stitches them together as it leads up to a small chapel on the top floor. Old is a renovation and extension of an existing landmark building on the site: the former headquarters of the Brooklyn City Railroad Company. Its two street facing facades are kept intact and new walls of identical brick construction extend from beneath the surface of these facades, stretching the building to the edges of the site. This building, which will be called “North”, houses upperclassmen and offers big rooms with high ceilings and a kitchen in each dorm. The grand stair is attached to the outside of the courtyard-facing wall to take less space inside. New is a modular concrete structure laid on a 45° tilted grid. This offers rooms a better view of the surrounding area which is boasting with interesting sights, such as the bridge or the Manhattan skyline, and more privacy from tall office towers nearby. The rooms in this building, which will be called “South” are much smaller and house freshmen.

*Designed with studio partner Ana Vesho. All work shown is my own.

PRATT STUDIO//Dormitory in Dumbo

Unrolled section following the staircase as it meanders through the two buildings and their courtyard

08-12/2017

PRATT STUDIO//Dormitory in Dumbo

08-12/2017

The north building’s facade is a continuation of 8 Old Fulton street’s brick wall. A similar construction technique and brick laying pattern (Flemish) is used in this new wall. Instead of lining the newly built wall with the landmark’s facade, it is placed roughly 4 feet behind its 19th century counterpart, creating long loggias along the new facade. These loggias rest on steel brackets which also hold up the framework for a curtain wall that encloses

them. This allows the brick wall’s openings to be truly open. Their only covering is wooden shutters for shading and privacy. In winter the glass enclosure helps gather heat by trapping sunlight, while in the summer windows open to let out excess heat. The main reasons for the loggias is the spectacular scenery that surrounds the north facade, namely Brooklyn bridge, East river and the lower Manhattan skyline, and to create a semipublic space of communion for upperclassmen.

Right: Detail section through North facade Top: Courtyard view from South hallway Bottom: North facade loggia view

PRATT STUDIO//Library in Chinatown

01-04/2017

Library in Chinatown Critic: Gregory Merryweather

fortified archive in Chinatown also houses a public library, allowing a traditionally austere building to invite the street and sidewalk inside. The archive is structured this way to function as extra storage space for New York city’s numerous museums and libraries. But doing this in such a busy area of the city inevitably invites curiosity. Everyday the prominent enclave boasts with life as tourists, locals and heaps of New Yorkers from around the city walk its streets. The archive would have to be very protective and tight, almost like the Verizon tower nearby. A duality between a part of the city opening up to the community and typical overprotective, special-accessonly architecture emerges. To hold the archives a spiraling steel skeleton made up of different vierendeel trusses spans between a robust concrete core and a thick wall. The inside of the skeleton is inaccessible to public, has no windows and offers protection for the archived objects. The insides of the core holds a fire stair, bathrooms and service programs. Within the negative space leftover by this structure lies a public library. Its space is an open continuous void covered with glass curtain walls along the southern facade. Stepping platforms offer seating while larger flat floors house reading halls and stacks that hold copies of the rare books.

Right: Structure model, chipboard and foam core Left: Elevation from Chrystie street

PRATT STUDIO//Library in Chinatown

In certain places the reading surface folds and cuts into the archive, revealing small portions of the mysterious, dark storage facility. The essence of this library is revealed in these moments, where anyone and everyone can glimpse into an otherwise off-limits area.

Above: Reading area Collage Right: 1/4 scale model of 35’x50’x35’ corner chunk, Wood and museum board

01-04/2017

PRATT STUDIO//Library in Chinatown

Left: Sections Right: Plans of 3rd and 4th floors (Reading and Archive, respectively)

01-04/2017

PRATT STUDIO//Kindergarten in Staten Island

Entrance and raised multi-use space, Graphite on A2 bristol board

08-12/2016

Kindergarten in Staten island Critic: Scott Ruff

The strategy for this kinder-

garten was to hide it in the ground as much as possible, except for the main entrance which has a spanned portion holding a large playspace. This part was raised above street level to frame the Manhattan skyline, as it’s clearly visible from this area of Northern Staten island.

PRATT STUDIO//Kindergarten in Staten Island

1/16 scale process models

The roofs of the classes embedded in this slopped landscape create more outdoor play pace. These spaces connect together via a public stair on the edge of the building while a parallel stair in the interior connects the classes.

1/8 scale final model, basswood, MDF and chipboard

08-12/2016

-3 Classroom

-2 Classroom

-1 Administrative

+1 Multi-use play space

PRATT STUDIO//Folly of Light

Experimental drawing, White ink on photocopy

08-12/2015

Folly of Light Critic: Florencia Vetcher

In this geometric exploration

of light, several light-encasing prismatic shapes collide into another, lean against each other and use their relationships to keep the structural balance of the whole. But they only come to full fruition with the passage of time and the direction of sunlight. Each prism faces an acute angle of sunlight and at a specific moment allows it to pass through perfectly with no obstruction. Azimuths and altitudes of different arbitrary times specified the creation and adjustment of these shapes so that each one could inform a date and time in history to occupants underneath.

PRATT STUDIO//Folly of Light

Series 1: A 2D square is divided and translated into a cube Graphite on vellum, wood

Series 2: Extruded triangles and parallelograms intersecting in different ways inside a cube Graphite and ink on vellum

08-12/2015

Left: Series 2 Process model Chip board and foam core Right: Series 1 Process model Wood, chip board and foam core

Final Folly model (hybrid of two series) in 1/8 scale, Museum board and wood

SKETCHES Observations on life Illustrator, 2015

2013-2015 Ink and graphite Illustrations 2013-14

SKETCHES Live observations

Drawings of Parisian Neoclassical Icons, 2007

2007