Graduate Portfolio II

SOPHY FELDMAN

GRADUATE PORTFOLIO

Work

PROJECTS

Erosion of land and canal as a means of accessibility M.ARCH Year 2 Spring Term, Pratt Institute 4-17

H20 Hysteria

Transforming an old warehouse into a unique oyster and algae farming facility M.ARCH Year 3 Fall Term, Pratt Institute 18-27

Synthetic Strata

Large scale synthetic land reclamation restoring the coast of Miami, FL. M.ARCH Year 3WW Spring Term, Pratt Institute 28-41

Lineation // Linerarization

The ever-expanding linear housing. M.ARCH Year 2 Fall Term, Pratt Institute 42-53

STUDIES Roughness

The exploration of robotic extrusion of an architectural detail. M.ARCH Year 2 Spring Term, Pratt Institute 54-59

Latent Space Object

A new kind of interiority and subsequent community fostering M.ARCH Year 1 Summer Term, Pratt Institute 60-63

WERC[anyon]

ARCH 704 DESIGN 4: INTEGRATED STUDIO SPRING 2023

CRITIC: ALEXANDRA BARKER

CO-PARTNER: ROWAN PRICE

New York generates 14 million tons of garbage per year, or 12,000 tons per day. Most is sent to landfills out of state. A 2009 study shows that burning waste is greener than landfills and generates more energy. Localizing waste management reduces pollution and cost from regional transportation networks as exemplified by WTE facilities in Long Island that serve local jurisdictions. Layering public programs on infrastructural programs increases awareness of waste issues, creates a public amenity, and anticipates the increased densification of the city, where scarcity of ground-level space will prompt public spaces to continue to stratify. This strategy has been employed in downtown Tokyo where a combined WTE and recreation center has managed to clean 99% of facility emissions.

A microcosm of local pedestrian (south) and industrial (north) activities at different scales. A return of the edge to the marsh to provide space for aquaculture, a return of the edge to give access (space) to humans, passing through and staying as a guest. We are carving the ground to create erosion of land and canal as a means of accessibility, extension of the green, and canyon within our two buildings. The overall concept is canyon; a building that is also a landscape, something you need to traverse at different speeds; the building itself is broken by the canyon into two programs, but they interweave at specific times to create moments of programmatic intersectionality

H20 Hysteria

ARCH 805 STORYBOARDING SPACE FALL 2023

CRITIC: ABIGAL COOVER

In the year 2000, an adaptive reuse project was initiated in Red Hook, with the aim of transforming an old warehouse into a unique oyster and algae farming facility. Additionally, the project features a courtyard water park that seamlessly integrates with the surrounding environment. The brilliance of this water park lay in its dual purpose: it not only provided recreational enjoyment for both children and adults but also played a vital role in supplying water to the park itself, using it as a power source. Ultimately, the project is all about creating a captivating visual spectacle and an ephemeral play space that would leave a lasting impression on visitors and residents alike.

This project serves a significant community-building function. Upon arrival, the water park greets guests with a vivid display of colors, effectively blurring the lines between signage and the water slides themselves. The visual spectacle of the water park is designed to be visible from a distance, piquing curiosity and enticing people to draw nearer to appreciate its clarity and artistry. One of the intriguing aspects of the project is its ability to generate a sense of ambiguity. It challenges perceptions by blurring the distinction between an amusement park and a water park, creating a distinctive landmark in the existing urban fabric of Red Hook. In fact, the water slides themselves doubled as eyecatching signage, making them an integral part of the park’s identity.

Synthetic Strata

ARCH 805 MIAMI MARINE SPRING 2024

CRITIC: JONAS COERSMEIER

CO-PARTNER: MATT HUCKENPOEHLER

We propose a mangrove nursery as the primary program of our site as with the current site conditions of this island already being occupied by mangroves it gives convenience to our program. In order to successfully regenerate mangroves muddy and clayey soil are used to fill the nursery bags. The soil is usually collected in the nearby creek and mud flats during low tide. The seeds are sown in nursery bags and transported to the nursery bed after germination. But the benefit to our project is that transportation will be cut out and all processes can occur on site. Propagules that are grown in the nursery usually have a better growth rate and a higher survival rate once they are planted in the wild. In addition to a nursery we also suggest that part of our proposal is dedicated to a seed vault. This will ensure that our supply of mangrove seedlings is never scarese and that in any event there will still be a plentiful supply to continue the cycle.

A key to successful coastal development is to utilize the marine environment to the benefit of the project. It is relevant to establish the marine forces, such as waves and tides, as a way to maintain high quality development including artificial beaches, lagoons, wetlands and mangrove forests instead of seeing these forces as something to protect against during extreme events. Coastal environments are transient, continually reshaped by the natural forces of waves, tides, surges, erosion and deposition. To be sustainable, coastal developments must be designed and implemented with a clear understanding and respect for local natural processes. Working with nature-based solutions in addition to conventional approaches based on a thorough understanding and detailed analysis of the various processes and phenomena is key in providing optimal solutions to complex problems.

Lineation // Linearization

ARCH 703

INTERIORITIES & CONTEXTS FALL 2022

CRITIC: JONAS COERSMEIER

CO-PARTNER: GEORGIOS PISSIANDIS

The tectonic ground intensifies and is derived from existing projection lines radiating from the Farragut’s unique shape as a new tower begins to spread throughout the housing complex into the urban ground. To give credit to the existing but to spread uncovered geometries not only in the landscape but throughout the housing as well, by satisfying the verticality and horizontality of Downtown Brooklyn. The various depths of this ground will result in a blurred line between building, ground, and the subterranean in a microscale, while in a macroscale blurring the line between old and new. Accounting for density we are saturated the x and y axis and are being forced to utilize the z axis. Our design reimagines the meaning of a ground plane by not only having the physical ground be the basis for our project but now using the existing building of farragut as a footprint for new growth.

These gestures begin to extrude out and emphasize how these arms may continue forever in response to mass housing. This allowed for the spaces in between to support locally within each tower to allow for courtyard conditions to support each building. In investigating high density housing the LoLux Care proposes an integrated housing community that serves foster children, children that await to be placed in foster care, and young adults who have experienced foster care in the past. It supports alternative intergenerational models of housing and living, including grand families, and considers the special needs of older caregivers. A model in which we can accompany our design to allow for new generations and promote a sense of community within the ever-expanding linear housing.

Roughness

ARCH 704 DESIGN 4: INTEGRATED STUDIO SPRING 2023

CRITIC: POYAO SHIH

This course investigated design through fabrication tools and processes. I was tasked with creating and building an architectural element in large scale to explore the intersection between materials and details, in my case a column capital. My column was integrated with robotic research on 3D clay extrusion and slicing. This project began with the analysis of sectional qualities that could be derived from extruding and closing parts up in height to then further going back to the design and strategically slicing to reveal certain moments and qualities of the design. In the end this column is made of modules to help aid in the fabrication process and allow for mass production at a repetitive feasible scale without failure. Once the five modules are finished with their extrusion process, which each baseline extrusion is the same to further the production level, they will each undergo their own slicing processes.

The design of itself of this project I wanted to focus of bringing a light quality to something that is inherently heavy and structural. I aimed to do this by emphasizing the carved fluted language that exist in each module. I hoped that this carved nature would also help to feel as if the columns are diversified if they are at seen from different perspectives.

Latent Space Object

ARCH 648D ALTERED ESTATES: SPECULATIONS SUMMER 2022

CRITIC: DAVID ERDMAN, HART MARLOW, JEFFERY ANDERSON

CO-PARTNER:

ROWAN PRICE

Among the top 15 most rapidly densifying cities, Singapore can be considered an acute urban archipelago. We have chosen to look more closely at the density that exists in this specific city. Singapore’s current population is 5.7 million over 280 square miles. So what happens as cities densify in the 21st century? In building upward, and engaging the z, the existing begins to act as another kind of ground from which spaces are excavated. In the context of this course we have become familiar with these qualities as Latent Space Objects, or highly interiorized vertical spaces, a concept we also have referred to as “interiority”. We found these to be prevalent across Singaporean architecture, specifically in HDB public housing. Space Objects occur naturally with the help of architectural decisions and the existing environment surrounding. For example, Vertical pressurization is an existing typology for housing, but we found the frequency of this precise subtraction to be characteristic of Latent Space Objects native to Singapore.

We propose an intervention which establishes a destination on top of the existing, triggering a capillary action that moves people upwards to both private spaces and public flex spaces. This is considered a new ground level, the entry of which is no longer at grade, but rather at ground. Amongst the upward movement we have designated two paths, one that is an express entry to the sky lobby and one that is a slower paced path to the public space. This allows for a new kind of interiority and subsequent community fostering that is bolstered and maintained by the flexibility of the proposed addition. Ultimately, we have built upon concepts that already exist in Singapore, and used them to perpetuate the narrative of figure and ground to include proactive design for density