POR TFO L I O
Lauren McLean Syracuse University School of Architecture
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PROJECTS SELF-IMAGING & RESURFACING
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THE COMEBACK
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ALEXANDRA ROAD ESTATE ANALYSIS
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UNCOMFORTABLY ABROAD
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DSM
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SELF IMAGING AND RESURFACING THE MEANS OF COUNTER CAPITALISM FALL 2020
An autonomous economic system of production, belonging to the Mattapan Community, counters market capitalism with entrepreneurial spirit and civic demonstration. The proposal aims to allow people to determine how they interact and respond to the barriers and oppositions around them. Through participatory interfaces and urban resurfacing, Mattapan retains its culture while envisioning a new self-image. The business incubator consists of collaborative spaces where individuals can develop essential skills to gain equitable opportunities to work for their own benefit. Taking advantage of the opportunities that the spaces provide, allows for the individual to attain economic autonomy and mobility. The architecture is a series of programmatic ribbons that striate perpendicular to the Fairmount Commuter Rail. The formal language was chosen to maintain the relationship between interactive vertical surfaces and civic ground as a means of continuous urban surfacing. The urban surface of the street and sidewalk bleeds into the civic space of the project, allowing the existing identities and new interventions to interact. The interactive facade allows individuals to directly partake in the changes that take place, programmatically and spatially. This flexibility allows the residents of Mattapan to be the narrators of their own stories.The community can use art, engagement, and production as a way to celebrate and display its identity and culture.
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GROUND PLAN
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PLAN & SERIAL SECTIONS
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ZOOMED IN SECTIONS
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PERSPECTIVES
(PHOTOSHOP)
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SECTIONS & ZOOMED IN PLANS
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THE COMEBACK SPRING 2021
As a community that has been subjected to all kinds of hardships due to a long history trailing back to the cotton economy, Clarksdale residents don’t have as many options and resources available to them to allow them certain luxuries or to think outside the scope of their city. Our site strategy uses our vectors as theoretical tethers from our site to other sites people in the community are connected to. These sites are the schools as well as the supermarket/ department store, which many say is the “hang out”. These tethers literally draw people in to utilize the resources that will be available to them here and creates a connection between our site and the other areas. The program of our community center is themed around Health Accessibility, which is about bringing access to resources that are currently limited. The programs utilize the fertile land of the Delta with a farm and greenhouse, a basketball court with adjoining recreational spaces, a walk-in free clinic for health concerns, and multiple communal spaces for satisfying the smaller programmatic aspects. Each of these have their own, more specific, programmatic spaces that add to the impact of the overall program. Through conversation with members of the community, Clarksdale has the potential for more, but businesses, programs, and people are constantly moving elsewhere. The purpose of the community center is to create a new resource that allows Clarksdale the comeback that it so rightly deserves. It’s meant to give the people of Clarksdale the opportunity to do something more with the cards they’ve been dealt. If not more, just for it to act as a safe space for the community to be enriched and engaged with one another.
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PERSPECTIVES
(PHOTOSHOP)
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1/64” Scale - Plan
GROUND FLOOR PLAN
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1/64” Scale - Plan
SITE PLAN
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SECTIONS
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AXONOMETRIC & PERSPECTIVE
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DIGITAL STORYTELLING (VISUAL)
We can all understand that life is not always fair, and Clarksdale is no stranger to a few disadvantages. A bit of information we learned from the Clarksdale community is that making that hour and a half drive to Memphis for groceries was a relatively common thing. This has to do with the fact that Clarksdale and the surrounding cities are food deserts and don’t have access to fresh and healthy foods. Within the actual site exists a history of bias, discrimination, and mistrust when it comes to the healthcare system and the black community. This set the backstory for our short film. The camera follows Michael Sims, a Clarksdale resident who has had to make some personal sacrifices to help with his mother’s health. His biggest regret was not having the time to play basketball like he used to. The film shows Michael consistently making this trip to get groceries for his mother as well as his early encounters with the site. The visual narrative is a story of passion and how the wellness center allows for it to be brought back into Michael’s life.
Video made using Twinmotion, Unreal Engine, & After Effects Link to full YouTube video:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9SiOnTdP_GQ
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SEMESTER STUDY ABROAD: LONDON, UK FALL 2021
This drawing is the product of the research and analyzation of the mid rise London housing project Alexandra Road Estate in Camden. The drawing is composed of overlayed 2D drawings including section, elevation, and sectional axon.
ALEXANDRA ROAD ESTATE Architect: Neave Brown Location: Camden, London, UK Style: Brutalist Project Years: 1972-1978
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UNCOMFORTABLY ABROAD
This study abroad archetype is a multistory stepped tower. The main structural system consists of a series of floors slabs that are supported by the cores and trusses structurally. The archetype is meant to be visually transparent and is reflected through the material choice of glass and thin trusses and cords. The cores are the most important aspect of the archetype. They are not only a container for the circulation and utilities of the building but also a starting point and a hub the interior programmatic spaces. Only the two tallest cores house circulation. There are three main terraces in the archetype, one of which is the ground floor. These terraces are the hub for each area of the study abroad and also help organize the areas of the building vertically. The idea of an uncomfortable study abroad institute doesn’t sound very appealing but the title comes from the inherent uncomfortability of being studying abroad and how that can be for some people. This proposal embraces this uncomfortability and uses it to foster communities in aesthetically cold looking spaces
STRUCTURAL AXONOMETRIC & PERSPECTIVEW
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GROUND FLOOR PLAN
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TERRACE & DORMITORY PLANS
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SECTIONS
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DSM
DRONE SPORTS MODE SPRING 2022 (in progress)
There is a huge presence of unmanned aircraft system (drone) programs and facilities all across Central New York, however, there is hyper-presence here in Syracuse especially in the education and commercial sector. This industry is known for its current and future prosperity and is a way to bring life and economic stability back into the Syracuse area. As a way of introducing something new and different to the industry in Syracuse, our proposal centers around one facility with multiple drone related programs within it, including drone racing circuits, a drone hall, specialized research labs, a drone testing cage, and drone habitats. The architecture of the project is centered around 4 elements on the interior, cage, the spiral staircase and two cores. The organizations and circulation stem elements creating an ellipse shape which became the form of the massing. The the drones created the logic for the drone circuits which envelope the building as openness of the interior spaces.
the testing from these freeness of well as the
The steel structure of the project is oriented radially around the cage and the staircase. The addition of two separate cores in the project created enough loading elements to allow for an open space with no column interruptions. The cage and the circuits use stainless steel mesh as a material for its thin and porous traits. All other elements use reinforced concrete for added stability. All of these material decisions were made to ensure that the innovation of technology occurring within the building extends beyond the boundaries of the enclosure and reaches the community of Syracuse.
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SECTIONS
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thank you. Lauren McLean 917.902.6790 lamclean@syr.edu
link to online portfolio at: https://lamclean.myportfolio.com/
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