Picnic - The BAC Journal

1 PI C C I N BAC

JOURNAL

Volume No.1; Issue No.1 FALL 2019

PICNIC The Boston Architectural College Journal

Credits FOUNDER & FACULTY EDITOR IN CHIEF Yoonjee Koh STUDENT EDITORS Alexandre Costa, BArch Marielle Frederick, BArch Stephen Hopkins, BArch Hamze Machmouchi, BArch Komila Rakhimova, BArch Yiran Shu, MArch With Contributions from Jana Belack, BAC Alumna Junko Yamamoto, BAC Alumna Alisha Pegan Published in 2019 by BACLogue All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, distributed or transmitted in any form or any means of electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise without the prior permission of the publishers.

The Publisher, BACLogue, and Editors are not held responsible for errors or any consequences arising from the use of information contained in this journal. The views and opinioins expressed do not necessarily reflect those of the Publisher or Editors.

ONLINE www.bacjournal.org instagram.com/bac_logue ISBN: 9781686396977

Message from the President

The famous short film Powers of Ten by Charles and Ray Eames opens with a scene from a picnic on the shore of Lake Michigan in Chicago with a young couple picnicking on an unfurled blanket, surrounded by a bounty of good life and a copy of the book The Voices of Time by J. T. Fraser.

The ability to picnic requires many systems to align, including political, economic, social, cultural, health, weather and gravitational systems on a planet hurling around in space 1404000 kilometers per hour. As the camera zooms out to 100 million light years, the viewer is awe-struck with wonder. In this vast universe of 14 billion years of age, the humans are miniscule specks and the earth is just a tiny dot. When the camera zooms into atomic scale of 0.00001 ĂĽngstrĂśms, we again wonder the mysterious nature of our universe at the quantum level. The picnic scene serves as a fundamental frame for our experience. Our experiential reality is defined at that scale and everything else is relative to that experience.

It makes me wonder what a precious moment in space, time and universe we occupy, and how precious life is to be able to wonder about the universe and about life itself. The picnic scene reminds us that we cannot take for granted the privileges accorded on us by the universe. I hope that our children and the generations of living beings to come will be able to enjoy a picnic.

The range of projects curated in this first volume of Picnic, the Boston Architectural College Journal chronicle the thoughtful voices of our time at the BAC, as we celebrate the 130th birthday of our institution, pondering the questions about life and living from the perspective of architecture, design and so much more.

Dr. Mahesh Daas, DPACSA President, The Boston Architectural College ACSA Distinguished Professor

BACLogue

is a culture of thinking & thought-making

Hello.

This first edition of the Boston Architectural College Journal comes after a long creative and collective process. This inaugural edition also arrives at an opportune time to celebrate the 130th anniversary of the college since its birth in 1889.

Developed by students on BACLogue, this journal aligns with several projects like the Conversation Series, Critical Platforms, and PostLoft to cultivate a culture of thinking and thought-making among emerging designers across various fields of study. A spectrum of participants, contributors, and collaborators - ranging in students, alumni, faculty, staff, and the encompassing design community - have been closely engaged in this process of intellectual production. The work compiled in this edition is by no extent a full coverage of the work emanating out of the BAC. It simply shows a selected few of our recent work, in hopes of sharing a slice of what the BAC produces.

It is our hope to generate throught-provoking inquiries and compelling work that empower the expansive terrain of learning.

So please join the conversation, send your thoughts and inquiries, and keep tuned for more.

Yoonjee Koh

Please send us your thoughts to bacjournal@the-bac.edu and check out www.bacjournal.org for more.

Contents

11

Cyclical Atmospheres

by Nicole Pearson, M.Arch Thesis

84

Youth in Motion

by Maria Martinez, BIA Thesis

22

The Harbor Baths

by Britt Ambruson, M.Arch Thesis

88

The Creatives Collective

by Madison Mitchell, BIA Thesis

28

Cooling Urban Heat Island

by Chien-Yu Lin, MLA Thesis

91

The Orpheum Theatre

by Kseniia Barvitskaya Lukina, MIA Thesis

32

Monday to Friday with Zoe Nemetz, MIA Practice Stantec Boston

94

Equity-Centered Design

by Tera L. William, MDes Thesis

34

CONVERSATION on Light and TIme

by Stephen Hopkins, B.Arch

96

Cape Cod to Needham Residence with Christian Boran, MLA Practice Michael Kim Associates

98

INTERVIEW on Architecture of Incarceration with Jana Belack, BAC Alumna

103

RETROSPECT on Conversation at the Loft

by Komila Rahkimova & Alex Costa, B.Archs

105

CONVERSATION on the Need for Dialogue

by Hamze Machmouchi, Komila Rahkimova, & Alex Costa, B.Archs

43

Urban Waterscapes

by Sacket B. Patel, MLA Thesis

48

Cabot Yard Heights

by Jonathan Cave, MLA Advanced Studio

52

Cider Brewery

by Albellys Manon, B.Arch Studio 2

56

Speed Shifts

by Grace Tsai Lehrbach, M.Arch Studio 3

110

Urban Forest School

by Seth Morrissey, M.Arch Studio 4

DUTCH Parallel Studio on Climate Resilience with Academie van Bouwkunst Amsterdam

114

Ways of Seeing

by Christian Borger, B.Arch Degree Project

PAKISTAN Partnership on Heritage and Conservation with National College of Arts

116

Embracing Architectural Inheritance

by Jacqueline Padilla-Perez, MDes Thesis

MEDELLIN Travel Studio on Urban Development with Universidad Pontificia Bolivariana

121

The Alliance Framework

by Margaret Ball, MDes Thesis

FONTAINEBLEAU TRAVEL FELLOWSHIP Interview with Ashlee Ortstadt, BArch

125

Preserving Historically Significant Trails

by Olivia Breytenbach, MDes Thesis

GATEWAY & EDCO on Land Art Installation in Ghana with Junko Yamamoto, BAC Alumna

128

GATEWAY Student Perspective from Cenxue Wang, M.Arch

63 69 76 77 78

6

79

Lyman Terrace Revitalization & Community Building with Ryan Hanslik, MArch Practice DHK Architects

81

INTERVIEW on Climate Resilience with Alisha Pegan

PICNIC an OPEN context This first edition covers a breadth of issues tied to the idea of a picnic. The extents outside of the perimeters of the picnic blanket often shapes the conversations that form along with sandwiches, a pair of sunglasses, and a good book. Various constituents are at play in this edition as in a picnic.

This edition seeks to understand the open context in which design happens at the Boston Architectural College. Covering student projects, institutional initiatives, collaborative efforts, research fellowships, lectures, and more, this edition opens up the question of context. What is the context in which design forms? How do we understand and shape our surrounding context?

From larger scales of living that encompass atmosphere and systems of living, to experiences and work in the field, topics addressed in this edition present diverse ways of understanding our surrounding context at the Boston Architectural College.

7

ATMOSPHERE

TEMP

TIME • WATER • TEMPERATURE • LIGHT • AMBIENCE There is a dimension of place which constitutes more than physical materials. Works presented in this chapter explore the idea of human presence through the medium of atmosphere. What does it mean to live in spaces of atmosphere? How are spatial experiences shaped through senses - of time, water, temperature, light, and ambience?

Architecture Thesis by Nicole Pearson Architecture Thesis by Britt Ambruson Landscape Architecture Thesis by Chien-Yu Lin Conversation by Stephen Hopkins & Christian Borger Practice with Zoe Nemetz, Stantec Boston

8

ARCHITECTURE THESIS

CYCLICAL ATMOSPHERES

Exploring Architecture As An Index Of Time

ATMOSPHERE

Interior Perspective

“The uniqueness of this special and beloved place mandates that we serve as responsible stewards and proactively plan for and protect its future”

- New Shoreham Comprehensive Plan 2016

NICOLE PEARSON M.ARCH, FALL 2017 This thesis project proposes a housing community on Block Island that seeks to harmonize the lifestyles of two groups: J1 Visa seasonal workers and island artists. By blending two marginalized groups together, a unique place is created that not only provides adequate housing, but also fosters relationships amongst residents, strengthens a connection to the island’s landscape, boosts local arts and culture, and augments a seasonal economy.

9

Diurnal

ATMOSPHERE

the passage of time in a day Pound Ridge House by Kieran Timberlake

Local Site

the passage of time on site Roden Crater by James Turrell

Linear

the passage of time in relation to the past Steven Holl Architects

Duration

the passage of time with an end in mind Building of an Igloo

Linear Time Linear time always situates itself relative to the past and future. Paths within the site act as orienting devices.

10

Seasonal

the passage of time in a year Hut on Sleds by Crosson Clarke Carnachan Architects

Perception

the passage of time and awareness of it MIT Infinite Corridor

Duration of Time Because artists would be rotating on a cycle, the cabins were conceived to be minimal, temporary living spaces.

Local Season Time

TEMP

Site Perspective

With such emphasis on land stewardship, residents of the island place sustainable practices that protect the island’s future. This project builds upon sustainable approaches towards daylighting, waste/recycle strategies.

The site is situated on an island high point in Block Island.

Currently, the island is an active gravel pit for local construction.

This project will propose a master plan to redevelop the land into a communal artist and seasonal worker community.

The island housing community will encompass cabins for accommondation of seasonal workers as well as artists. Each cabin functions to support the needs of workers and artists for sustainable living. The project also proposes an art gallery to show and display art.

11

LOW & FLAT protected

STEEP SLOPE radical transition

SHALLOW SLOPE gentle transition

HIGH & FLAT exposed

ATMOSPHERE

Landforms and Slopes

Welcome Center Observation Pavilion

Wetland Park Cafe/ Lounge Cycle Art Gallery Arts Center Remedial Pond Island Gallery

Entrance Site Plan Diagram

12

Gallery Area Site Plan Diagram

Private Lodging

Art Territories

Site Diagram Public Amenities

Mapping Experience Applying different time identities to different types of buildings brought an added layer of consolidation. Although there are many moments and paths, there is also a unified idea linking them all together.

ATMOSPHERE

It became clear that three main program categories - public, art, and private - needed something to distinguish themselves. This was achieved by differentiating massing and organizing an idea about time-based interaction amongst each zone.

Each map studies a path of circulation, a way of living, and the forms that house different programmatic spaces.

Extruded Site Axon

Seasonal Harmony

Welcome Center Art Cabins

In privatized areas, there is housing for the islands' seasonal workers as well as for artists.

These spaces are focused on the passage of time.

Worker Housing Observation Platform

Forest Park

Cabins Site Plan Diagram

13

cycle gallery path

cycle gallery

compressed time

island gallery

performing arts center

TEMP

remedial pond

Site perspective

This thesis is a series of passages and destinations that explore architecture as an index of time. The project seeks to provide a link between built environments, nature, and our understanding of the passage of time. Through research and testing of architectural ideas, Cyclical Atmospheres aims to heighten an awareness and understanding of time's passage by using architecture as a tool. Block Island, where the project is located, has a seasonally driven cyclical identity which initially inspired this investigation.

14

public amenities

diurnal time

Welcome Center

linear time

Observation Pavilion

art territories

climatic time

Cafe/Lounge

local site time

Cycle Gallery

luminous time

Main Gallery

private lodging

compressed time

Performing Arts

local site time

diurnal time

Worker Housing

Art Cabin

TEMP

Site perspective

This thesis can be summarized into a collection of curated, temporary experiences that exist together as a unified place.

The spaces within this place were conceptualized as a menas to take people through prescribed paths and orientation points for experiences that are always changing and/ or evolving.

It was the aim of this project to be a testing ground for ideas about how architecture and time can relate and interact with each other. Through many various programs, activities, paths, and landscape conditions, people would come to discover a new understanding of time.

15

Upper Mirror-sided vestibule Polycarbonate Facade Enclosure Upper floor. Art Studio approx. 500 sqf

Wood cabin structure Living space Lower mirror facade

ATMOSPHERE

Lower floor living space

Building Section

Walking through the forest during �all 16

Building Axon

Welcome Center at 8am

Studio Art Cabins

Welcome Center at 1pm

Welcome Center at 5pm

As a response to the cyclical nature of the island, the studio art cabins were designed to be minial for easy transitions in the year. There are also fitted with large operable doors in the studio area that can be opened up as a response to climate.

ATMOSPHERE

Daylight and Shadow studies

The studio art cabins are elevated so that each space can see and be seen from the other studios on site.

The lower level consists of the artist living quarters, which is sided with a mirror facade to tell the story of the site's ever-changing landscape.

Site perspective from entrance 17

TEMP

Site Strategy The gravel pit's existing landscape was a major driver behind the massing of built environments.

The architecture takes on curvilinear forms that wrap with existing topography. The spaces are oriented around major landscape environments and seek to exist together in harmony. Landscape, as well as architecture, was designed to be used as a tool to highlight the cyclical nature of time passing throughout the year.

18

TEMP

19

ARCHITECTURE THESIS

TEMP

THE HARBOR BATHS

Site Perspective

“To understand how to design for the symbiotic relationship and experience of water and architecture, it is first important to understand what components make up these various experiences."

BRITT AMBRUSON M.ARCH, FALL 2017 This thesis project designs with the water as an integral part of architectural experience, in order to create a connection to the waterfront, and heightened awareness of the constantly in-flux nature of the tides.

20

Listen ATMOSPHERE

Deadend

Frame

Reflect

Designing Experience The following abstract collages are tools for designing experience. They work with existing imagery of architecture and the ocean, light and shadow, to rapidly design experience. By using guidelines for experiencing water, they are mechanisms for quickly creating imagery that explore the experiential possibilities that can occur when architecture and water coexist.

21

ATMOSPHERE

See

Touch

Swim

Listen

Light/Water Wells Upper Pool

Lower Pool

People Move like Water There are two ways to guide circulation: by providing a path that dictates our movement and states, “walk here,” or providing an open space that much more discreetly says “you may walk here if you so choose.” The walkways leading up to the site are the former- they make up the perimeter of the protected bay and never cross the threshold where land meets water.

In order to facilitate interaction with water, visitors need to be attracted down from the elevated path and enticed to cross into the water. To do this, paths need to diffuse and allow for multiple routes moving downward - a ‘choose your own adventure.’ Circulation needs to have fluidity - a property that you would find in movement of water itself. This allows for the diagram of circulation to reveal itself as a series of densities, rather than paths. These densities are areas that might be more populated than others, or spaces that are constantly populated because they are constantly above water.

Light Wells

Perforated Concrete Facade

Lower Level Underground Pool

Bay

Upper Level Underground Pool

22

Guidelines for Experiencing Water To understand how to design for the symbiotic relationship and experience of water and architecture, it is first important to understand what components make up these various experiences.

‘Guidelines for Experiencing Water’ is just that, in that it dissects the intangible (experience), and establishes concrete adjacencies and relationship, in order to help describe the formula for creating an experiencing with water in a logical and tangible way. Broken down, there are three typical interactions: body, mass, and material.

High Tide

Winter Tide ATMOSPHERE

Low Tide Circulation Density

Building Section

23

ATMOSPHERE

UNDERGROUND LIGHT Located underground, the user feels the weight of being underground, contrasted by the uplift of open light wells that reflect water all around the space.

24

CASCADE Light wells interrupt the facade, allowing light and ocean water to become apart of the internal experience, separated by glass.

SUBMERGE The perforated walls sit at the end of the submerged plaza, allowing water and light into the space

Equilibrium To create a project that designs with water - not next to, not against, not on top of, it is crucial that the architecture and the water work in complete equilibrium.

From the exterior, the built form cannot overpower the existence of the water, and the architecture cannot be so insignificant that the water is the only thing there.

To work in complete equilibrium, they need to have an even presence. This even presence must exist on the exterior, prioritizing views that allow both to work in tandem, and also on the interior, in which the water is allowed to become a part of the built experience.

ATMOSPHERE

Heightened Experience Heightened experience on the site occurs when architecture is designed around the water to intentionally call out an interaction or experience between water, built form, and light. These experienced are designed with the intention that they can exist just fine separately, but when combined, they facilitate something special.

The box-like forms are intended to encapsulate these moments - to call out site-specific elements as special, and therefore become the framework for experiencing them. These site-specific moments range from being abstracted and intentionally inward, or they connect the visitor to a specific view.

25

LANDSCAPE ARCHITECTURE THESIS

COOLING URBAN HEAT ISLAND

ATMOSPHERE

Via Parametric Design

Site Perspective

CHIEN-YU LIN MLA, FALL 2018 As urban development grows without consideration of the effect it will have on environmental temperatures, UHI will exacerbate climate change, influence ecological systems and increase the mortality rates of vulnerable species and human beings. At present an efficient measurement or methodology for mitigating UHI via spatial design landscape architecture is needed to facilitate collaboration with other professions. If UHI typologies can be created through strategies developed using parametric design, then UHI can be ameliorated to improve the health of city dwellers and mitigate the impact of climate change.

26

ATMOSPHERE

Perspective of Green Corridor

Urban heat island (UHI), which is a phenomenon in an urban or metropolitan area that is significantly warmer than its surrounding rural areas, and which is most noticeable during summer or extreme seasons.

Furthermore, UHI has enhanced the mortality risk in urban areas due to the exposure to extreme temperature.

Among diverse factors influencing UHI, it is necessary to have a considerate process that help to analyze specific situations, and apply this to spatial design, including aspects of landscape architecture, urban design and

Through organizing the most effective material and infrastructure parameters, and by creating more efficient workflows via parametric design and algorithmic methodologies, landscape architects, spatial designers, urban designers and urban planners can utilize reliable values and processes to create appropriate combinations for both scientific and aesthetic conditions yielding significant landscape performance benefits in urban areas.

27

ATMOSPHERE

Site Plan

Site Elevation

Temperature Material Study

Site Plan

28

ATMOSPHERE

Perspective of Exterior Parking Lot in Pattern

The purpose of this research is to monitor digital modeling with the knowledge of Building Information Modeling (BIM) and the parameters supplied by various interdisciplinary professions to produce typologies and strategies for mitigating typical UHI derived from urban area scenarios.

Simultaneously, this proposal aims to develop a productive and efficient system from existing digital software and programs in order to create a comprehensive framework that permits landscape architects, architects, civil engineers, urban designers, urban planners, and allied professionals to more efficiently collaborate with resolving spatial and environmental dilemmas.

29

PRACTICE

MONDAY TO FRIDAY

ATMOSPHERE

Stantec Boston

Monday to Friday Apparel Diagram

ZOE NEMETZ MIA, FALL 2018 Design Coordinator at Stantec Boston Project: Stantec Tower E, Edmonton, Canada A collaborative space to bring together multiple Stantec offices, Tower E consists of 21 floors of office space, two amenity levels including boardrooms, collaborative spaces, touchdown points, reception, and coffee bars. For the amenity/community floors, our concept was based on the idea of fashion in the workplace: the cultural trend of Monday’s outfit appearing more polished for meetings with clients, whereby Friday’s office attire is generally more casual and relaxed. We developed multiple finish palettes to convey this concept atmospherically.

30

Building Section

ATMOSPHERE

"To create a visual connection of the weekday atmosphere, we developed a section drawing of the third and fourth floor spaces.

The fourth-floor entry, as the more refined and sophisticated Monday palette, transitions down the Wednesdayinspired staircase, to the third floor where a more casual, relaxed tone characterizes the space" Material Palette

31

N

CONVERSATIO

On Light and Time

Facade drape

32

Stephen Let’s start with an introduction.

Christian I’m from upstate New York. I’m a Bachelor of Architecture at the BAC, but I do a lot of other things besides architecture. I came to school to do architecture but then I realized it might be the only thing I don’t want to do .

Stephen Haha thats funny. I feel like going to architecture school allows you to see things in a specific lens and then those “micro-lenses” are really interesting things.

ATMOSPHERE

Christian I took a bunch of engineering classes in high school that were geared toward the tech and manufacturing side. I was lucky enough to grow up in a neighborhood that had good funding for public schools. So we had a really nice set up.

Stephen What was the first architectural scale project you’ve designed?

Light and shadow

Christian I built a trebuchet with some friends in middle school for a Renaissance Fair. We built it from stretch out of 2x4s. And it did work. We fixed it up after the class and we were firing lacrosse balls down our street. It was pretty sick actually. I always liked building stuff. That was more of my intro into architecture, rather then the spacial or ethereal qualities of it. I kind of like the idea of learning that later in life. I just got interested in art like year ago. I’ve been in school for seven years and in the time period I was studying architecture, building things, doing photography, etc but I think of the past two years. it’s all started to come together. I always liked art but I never really knew much about it and I never quite got what I thought I could get from it. But now I think I’m starting to be able to build all of these relationships.

Stephen Yeah it definitely shows in the work that I see from you. It doesn’t just come from one place. I comes from someone who sees things through a camera lens or from the lens of painter or sculptor.

33

ATMOSPHERE

Yeah thats the coolest part. I never think about it and then I’m look back at my work and I’m like, “Oh I can kind of see where some of these things are coming from.”

It’s weird to do stuff and then to learn about someone that did it 50 years earlier and they were thinking about it this way, and I’ve been thinking about it this way. But then there's some sort of relationship there.

That goes into something I realized maybe 3 months ago, and its don’t reinvent that wheel. Just don’t do it. It’s just going to be painful. The individualism that’s happening in design right now blows my mind. Like everyone is trying to do something so different and it’s just like everything has been done. But if you just do it again, it’s going to be different. I don’t know, that’s where I’m at right now. I’m not trying to do anything spectacular or new, I’m just trying to do it. I just want to do it the way that it works. That’s how photography is for me too. Like I love it because it’s whats in front of you and... that’s why I have a hard time with studio lighting and doing preconceived ideas. Like I’m not the type of person that has a crazy idea in my head that I need to construct. When I shoot it’s more of me walking around and seeing something that I could have never thought of but it’s about being able to see it, where it is and at that time and thinking, “That’s it.” I was never thinking about it, but it’s right there.

Stephen Yeah that’s interesting, the camera becomes a notation device, in the same way that you would sketch something. It’s like you’re just walking home and the concrete on the ground is cracked in an interesting way and the light is shining on it in just the perfect way, and in this moment everything is just perfect.

Christian Yeah and then it’s like a moment of realization about how I’ll make something else. So it all comes from somewhere I guess. Like nothing is objective.

Everything is relative to all of the other circumstances which is so crazy and overwhelming to think about.

Stephen Yeah it’s like if you feel architecture and you feel music, putting them together just creates a movie in your own mind.

Christian Yeah I love doing that. Like I went to the MFA the other day and I was listening to Yeezus and just looking at these paintings. And I was just thinking like some of these things in this museum have been around for thousands of years, and I’m just standing here in front of them listening to Kanye on an I-Pod.

34

Stephen Yeah for me it’s the same thing. Like the day I was in the Louvre listening to Watch the Throne.

Like I’m in an I.M. Pei building while looking at a Michelangelo, and listening to Kanye and Jay-Z all at once. It’s like in this moment, it’s all here.

That’s crazy, like we are the future, right now. To have contemporary music in a modern building with the insane past, literally the classics. Like the first people to do that, ever. And it’s there all in one moment.

Stephen What does light mean to you?

Somewhere between a memory and a dream...

ATMOSPHERE

Christian I think for me it’s more about time, because light and time are inseparable. I think a lot more about natural light. Like we’re on a rock in space spinning around a huge ball of fire, and from that we get consistency. Without the sun we would have no concept of time. For me that’s everything. It’s those little differences that you’ll feel in a space from watching one ray of light pass around a corner or a room. We often don’t notice it but that’s everything.

It makes spaces consistently change throughout the entire day. And even when it’s overcast it’s going to change that too. That allows me to think about how we’ve made time because of the sun. It’s like a big sun dial. It’s about the dynamics of life; movement and time. Like the other night I was walking down the sidewalk and it was rainy and when you’re moving you can watch the reflection of a street light move across the edge of a surface. Light isn’t everything. It’s important but it’s so visual when you try to think about the essence of spaces. For me it’s so ingrained with time.

Photography taught me about light. Photography is how I learned about light. And then again it’s so relative because I didn’t have any formal training in photography, which is probably one of the best things that’s ever happened to me in my life because I learned from scratch. That’s why I like it’s really interesting to be repetitive with photos; to see the conditions of light. You’ll see in spaces that constant change. I take the same photos of some of these houses around here.

I have maybe 40 or 50 images of the same things but on different days and you start to see the differences of light in the summer or winter or the morning and evening.

When I went out West, the sunlight there is so thick and heavy. It’s like you can swim in that light. It’s so warm and rich. When I went to Cuba, the sun is so strong in the afternoon. And that’s how they design their whole built environment. Everything is sun shaded for the

35

afternoon. But then when that sun goes down it just washes over those buildings. I could be infatuated with the conditions of light from our natural world forever.

Stephen Are there any architectural projects that you’ve made that were specifically about light?

Christian This project here was one of the first projects I did a ton of lighting studies for. It was supposed to be a nondenominational spiritual space. That one was from Spring 2014.

ATMOSPHERE

Stephen Have your ideas on light changed since then?

Christian Yeah for sure. I feel like I’ve become more excepting of the “normal” or mundane. I think back then I was really excited about these crazy experiences and weird textures, and environments coming together. And it was cool to explore, but now I feel like I’ve become more excepting of the “normal” or mundane. I think back then I was really excited about these crazy experiences and weird textures, and environments coming together. And it was cool to explore, but now I feel like if I walk by a crack in a building and there’s a nice beam of light coming up it, thats enough. It’s about the stuff you just walk by and see for three seconds and that was a cool part of your day and then you move on. I see more of that now.

It all goes back to time. It’s like these little pieces of time now that come together to make my day. It’s so simple. That’s kind of where I’m at right now.

Stephen Yeah it’s as if while you’re searching of these more extreme ideas, you overlook the things that are right in front of you. I also think light and music are very intertwined. When you listen to certain pieces of music you can feel and see light in a different way.

Christian I remember I was listening to Flashing Lights one time in the summer going over the Zakim Bridge.

It was a misty night and the sun roof was open and they had the Zakim lit with those blue lights.

Stephen Yeah it’s the same feeling you get when you step into a Cathedral or chapel. Like the feeling I got in Notre Dame was the same feeling I get listening to Kanye while walking home. It’s crazy to think that an artist can evoke that feeling strictly through sound.

We can press play and see and feel the world in an enhanced way.

Christian Yeah I remember I was listening to Mozart for awhile. There was this one week I was listening to 36

Routing

ATMOSPHERE

"...light and time are inseparable... we’re on a rock in space spinning around a huge ball of fire, and from that we get consistency...

That allows me to think about how we’ve made time because of the sun. It’s like a big sun dial. It’s about the dynamics of life; movement and time..."

Grafting

Mozart’s Requiem on repeat. I just remember walking across the Harvard Bridge at night and it was really windy and cold. And just seeing the city with the wind flying over the water, and it was shimmering. I was like, “Damn, I’m gonna cry right now.” That kind of music is crazy. There was a lot behind that music during that time period too. In terms of the religious dogma.

I’ve been playing piano for 16 years, and how that plays in is like first discipline. Learning classical piano is excruciatingly painful. You have to play one measure for like 40 minutes straight, or 20 notes for 40 minutes to just try and get it down. I had this really strict Russian piano teacher, she was all business (laughs).

I’ve been thinking about subtlety a lot these days.

37

38

TEMP

Subtlety in lighting conditions. It’s like the collection of all those well done subtle moments is what makes a piece so amazing to me. Like with the Eames, nothing was really extravagant, but it was all done really well.

Nothing was really overlooked because they enough time to make everything really good. It wasn’t a lot of parts but it was just enough. I think that;s what music is for me. It taught me how to play something quietly, or where to play something loud. And unless you record it, it’s gone afterwards. Music and light are so of the moment. Unless you take a picture of it, record it, or draw it, it’s gone. It all comes back to time.

Stephen Another thing that really interests me about your work is that a lot people find themselves fitting into a sort of zeitgeist or way of seeing, and then that becomes the only way for them. Like a lot of people identify with a specific art and design movement and then are dismissive about everything else. But when I’m your space and when I look at your work, the references come from many different styles and disciplines and ideologies.

ATMOSPHERE

Christian I always argue with myself about that. It comes down to how I approach everything. I’m never tied to an idea to the point where I wouldn’t give it up for something else. Like in studio, I can not sleep for like two days and work on this idea and bring it to a point where I feel okay about it, and then talk to someone and my mind will change and then I could careless about it. Because it happened, and I was in it, I lived the experience, and I don’t know if I learned anything from it or not but it’ll probably come back in the future. I try not to stay consciously tied to ideas.

They always come back if they really are supposed to.

That’s kind of why I don’t have a style. Because I really don’t care about that. I just do whatever i think is interesting in front of me. I definitely have opinions on things and I’m happy to argue with people. But I don’t have a manifesto. A lot of great artists have just had crazy ways of seeing the world and that was their life, but that’s just not where I’m at right now.

By Stephen Hopkins, BArch with Christian Borger, BArch

39

SYSTEMS OF LIVING HYDROLOGY • NETWORK • CYCLES • INFRASTRUCTURE CIRCULATION • PERCEPTION • INHERITANCE DOCUMENTATION • TOPOGRAPHY • REVITALIZATION RESILIENCE The environment constitutes bypassing systems that organizes structures and facilities. This chapter explores systems and standards across multiple scales of living. How do systems construct ecologies of living?

Landscape Architecture Thesis by Sacket B Patel Landscape Advanced Studio by Jonathan Cave Architecture Studio 2 by Albellys Manon Architecture Studio 3 by Grace Tsai Lehrbach Architecture Studio 4 by Seth Morrissey Architecture Degree Project by Christian Borger Design Studies Historic Preservation Thesis by Jacqueline Perez Design Studies Historic Preservation Thesis by Margaret Ball Design Studies Historic Preservation Thesis by Olivia Breytenbach Practice with Ryan Hanslik, DHK Architects Interview with Alisha Pegan on Climate Resilience

40

LANDSCAPE ARCHITECTURE THESIS

URBAN WATERSCAPES in the context of informal settlements

TEMP

Site Perspective

SACKET B PATEL MLA, FALL 2018 This thesis explores potential interventions involved in the spatial design of built and open spaces. It will focus on the disregarded and polluted edge conditions between water and land in the context of informal settlements for reshaping of the polluted waterscapes.

The study also explores urban waterscapes revitalization strategies as a catalyst for urban regeneration. This research study generates prototype of water-land-slum, which can be applied anywhere in disregarded water edge conditions in the world.

41

SYSTEMS OF LIVING

Re-mediate

Carve and Reshape

42

Recover

Production

Connect and Engage

Stiching in the City

Activate and Revive

Viewing public deck Informal recreational route Informal recreational field

Public park Agricultural field

No Water Level Semi-water intensive crops

Wetland edge Informal market

Carving four basins into the lake bed will reshape the lake into a resource for the city. Strategically designated low points will provide opportunities for multiple agricultural activities at different point of time. The new development will connect people from the city to the slums and mutually engage them in cultural, economic and ecological exchange. Thus, slums will no be left as the disconnected neighborhoods.

The ecological conditions over time will be improved through phytoremediation as well as the planting of flowers and crops. Economic conditions will also be improved through easy access to local

Water intensive crops Less water intensive crops Public parks

TEMP

Due to the marginalization of slum settlements as well as inadequate and unsafe living conditions; the ecological degradation of the lake is ongoing.

Seasonal changes in water levels can be utilized to create opportunities for changing land uses, remediation and multiple agricultural activities that will revive the slums and activate the surrounding neighborhood economically, ecologically and culturally.

Low Water Level

Fishing deck Premediation trees Water intensive crops Terraced agricultural field

Medium Water Level Public walkway

Informal community

Fishing deck

Sustainable Housing with Courtyard Spaces

Fishing activities Ecological revival

High Water Level

43

SYSTEMS OF LIVING

markets where crafts, flowers, food production, etc. can be bought and sold. Community gardens will further provide an access to the slums and an opportunity for integration.

44

The research approach adopted throughout the study uses mixed methods. The qualitative approach will be taken into consideration in the design of the public open spaces. This approach will also identify the spatial elements of landscape that city’s people may desire as vibrant place. That will help to determine the nature of the public open space in terms of landscape characteristics. The quantitative approach will be adopted in mapping the informal settlements and their cultural Urban Waterscapes in the context of informal settlements activities. It will also be useful to map changing water levels through the use of historical data, maps and photos of site which depicts various relation as well as complex conditions as the informal settlements skyline grows.

As the overcrowding and lack of housing appears mainly to be in developing and high density population countries/cities. The research will be focused around the informal settlement located on the urban waterscape in developing cities. Secondly, there will be mapping of living conditions, culture, livelihood activities, construction materials, traditions, water, sanitation etc. The research method then focuses on mapping other sources of pollution including industries, squatters/ slums, dump yard, organic matters and looking at the policies regulating those situations and modifying them. Furthermore, research method focuses on mapping water levels from the use of historical data, maps, site photos and formation of built environment that interact with changing and static water levels. It also looks at mapping of existing conditions and lack of public amenities.

Site Plan

SYSTEMS OF LIVING

45

LANDSCAPE ADVANCED STUDIO

SYSTEMS OF LIVING

CABOT YARD HEIGHTS

Site Analyses

JONATHAN CAVE MLA, FALL 2016 This proposal seeks to restore a lost condition of the Cabot Yard Heights. This project creates a pedestrian path and cultivates the human experience.

Cabot Yard Heights is connected by a dynamic ecological and park network that creates unique experiences for the visitor and resident. Parks of varying sizes and conditions create block identity within the site, while creating a broad network of systems.

It seeks to create a connection across the Bass River.

46

SYSTEMS OF LIVING

Volume and Vehicular passage

This diagram explores the relationship between the user and the cacophany of sound created by a high volume of vehicles. The sound of the vehicles is amplified by the retracting noise throughout the labyrinth of overpasses on I-93.

47

SYSTEMS OF LIVING 48

Programmatic Site Perspective

SYSTEMS OF LIVING

Site Perspective

49

ARCHITECTURE STUDIO 2

SYSTEMS OF LIVING

CIDER BREWERY

Site Perspective

ALBELLYS MANON B.ARCH, SPRING 2019 This project aims to create a place of relaxation for Mission Hill, Boston, MA. Creating a subtle but noticeable connection with existing buildings, this project shows the history of Mission Hill, which once housed orchards, breweries, and frams. This project seeks to invite collaboration by providing variety of uses and creating an inviting space for the public.

50

Cider Brewing Prcess Diagram

Harvest

Wash

Axonometric Diagram

TEMP

Sort

Fermentation & Settling (25 ft height)

Packaging

Section Drawing 51

SYSTEMS OF LIVING

Basement Floor Plan

First Floor Plan

Second Floor Plan

Plan Drawings

Massing

Stacking

Extrusion

Rotation

Pushed

Programmatic Volumes

Production Space

52

Consumption Space

Community Space

SYSTEMS OF LIVING

Perspective Drawings

Section Drawings

53

ARCHITECTURE STUDIO 3

SPEED SHIFTS

SYSTEMS OF LIVING

Bio-geological Design & Future of Transport

Site Perspective

GRACE TSAI LEHRBACH M.ARCH, SPRING 2017 In this studio, we were asked to consider autonomous car technology and its impact on building and infrastructure. At the same time, we were also asked to address challenges such as sealevel rise and designing for future resilience. I combined these two themes to form a question - Driverless cars are here. We are on the cusp of a new revolution in transportation. But how much will we really need them?

54

Site Plan

"Driverless cars are here. We are on the cusp of a new revolution in transportation. But how much will we really need them?"

55

Site analysis revealed a major flooding gateway located to the east of the site. The gateway leaves vast swathes of inland neighborhoods exposed to flooding risk at even a Category 1 storm. As the first line of defense for these neighborhoods beyond the site, I have propsed creating a sea wall to close the gateway. The sea wall will comprise of sections of actual wall, as well as a number of elevated parkland areas created above more flood tolerant programs such as parking lots.

Contextual Site Plan

In future scenarios where water exceeds the sea wall defenses, a network of canals, floodable roads and wetlands have been designed to absorb the impact of the storm and allow the water to naturally receed.

The canals allow for an additional means of water-based transportation during normal conditions. Under storm conditions, the transport capacity of the canal network would expand as that of the road network shrinks.

As part of my site design, I examined the existing watershed and found that polluting stormwater run-off as well as an existing combined sewer overflow create significant negative impact on water quality of the Mystic River. In response, I have designated several water-treatment facilities and constructed wetlands to deal directly with blackwater and greywater produced on site, as well as from surrounding neighborhoods during the non-freezing months of the year.

At the center and east of the site, existing stormwater drains are daylighted to create bioswales to treat the stormwater before it reaches the canal system and river.

The canals also provide a source of energy through the incorporation of several small tidal turbines. Limiting their maximum power to 20kW prevents harm to aquatic life. This sectional diagram through an artificial tidal pool shows how this system could work.

Proposed Hydrology Strategy 56

Existing Hydrology

Analysis: Storm Surge Inundation Zones Data Source: FEMA

Initial Development Strategy

Analysis: Flood Hazard & Future Sea Levels Data Source: FEMA 57

Designing for Resilience In the past, rivers gave birth to our cities by providing a source of water for food production and means of transporting goods. In the future, when sea waters rise, reclaiming these opportunities will be fundamental to the resiliency of our cities. In my site, water is used as a means for sustaining extensive pockets of urban agriculture, greenhouse, farming fish and oysters, as well as in programs such as the public bathhouse, aquatic center, laundries, and car wash.

SYSTEMS OF LIVING

As part of my approach to resilient design, I considered the impact of potential flooding on buildings and circulation. Analysis of existing site topology and FEMA storm surge flood hazard data reveal that flooding will not be entirely preventable under intense storm conditions. This flooding risk will only intensify in the future as sea levels rise as a result of global warming.

Proposed green space & paths, Concept Model

Public Board walk Wastewater Boat Entry Constructed Wetland Elevated Public Plaza Elevated public park Treatment Plant Canal Network Overflow Elevated Public Park aquatic center Sea wall Tidal Marsh Wetland Constructed Tidal Marsh Restoration Tidal Marsh Restoration Elevated public park Tidal Pool Restoration High-Speed Traffic Tunnel network outlet Wetland

58

Restaurant & Bar

Outdoor Pool

Theater/ Event Space

Public Bath House

Vehicle Ramp

Water Filtration Truck Delivery Zone

Rainwater Collection

Library

Water Filtration Laundromat

Building Section SYSTEMS OF LIVING

Elevate

Existing Building

Subtract

Interchange

Spatial Concept Diagrams

59

Outdoor Auditorium/ Public Park

Produce Market & Food Trucks

Museum

Site Section

Road Network

Canal

SYSTEMS OF LIVING

Canal

Rooftop Vegetable Gardens

Public Boardwalk

Site Section

60

20kw Turbine

Tidal Pool

Timed Release Gate

Canal Network

ARCHITECTURE STUDIO 4

URBAN FOREST SCHOOL

SYSTEMS OF LIVING

Perspective Site Render

SETH MORRISSEY M.ARCH, FALL 2017 The Urban Forest School, located in Cambridge, MA is a place of discovery and exploration. Each learning experience is catered to the individual student as the traversing park blurs public and private zones of circulation. There is no hard barrier separating classrooms as students are encouraged to pass through each space exploring and developing their motor skills. Each day the students start and end the day with their leaders reflecting on their progress and goals for the day.

61

SYSTEMS OF LIVING

Urban Forest School Concept Image

The Urban Forest Kindergarten is designed to help facilitate principles form the Forest School Teaching Philosophy.

The Forest School Pedagogy is a type of education in which students learn and develop by exploring on their own. These types of schools are typically set in a natural environment.

To apply this pedagogy to an urban environment, I distilled the concept into three different principles in which was used to develop my proposal. The idea was to create a space that is somewhat hidden and a place that one would have to discover.

Once inside, the students develop motor skills as they travel through the building.

Public Semi-Public Student

Perspective View from the Public Entry into the Building at the Lower Plaza

62

Entry & Separation Diagram

Exploring Height and Volume

Human Scale Comparison Study

Programmatic Study

A Space for Reflection

Individualized Unique Experience

SYSTEMS OF LIVING

Connecting to the Landscape

Framing Space Concept

Sectional Study

63

Program Programmatically, the building is influenced by the leader and student separation. The leader space and the reflective space are designed to have views into the classroom and exploration spaces. Similar in concept the public multipurpose space is sandwiched between the student program, allowing opportunities for multiple entries into the building, blurring the separation line between the student and the public.

Leader Space Reflective Space

Classroom Block

Playground

Public Multipurpose

Cafe & Admin

SYSTEMS OF LIVING

Program Diagram

Structural To create spaces that allow the students explore freely a structural steel and concrete floor are employed in the design. This system is applied throughout the building except at the rear ramp where load-bearing walls help support the sloped park. The frame differs at the playground level where the spaced expands to be a double height volume. Here a large truss is used to support the classroom floors above.

Typical Steel Frame

Offset Frames Large Truss for Double-height

Structural Diagram

64

Classrooms Inspired by the forest school’s principle of reflection, each classroom floor has central reflection space that the students can come together, reflect the lessons learned, and have small presentations.

Screen Facade Sketch

Incorporated in each classroom is a gentle slope that separates the student from the leader spaces. These spaces are divided by string partitions that allow students to enter in and out of the classrooms at multiple points. The partitions paired with the slope of the floors encourage the development of motor skills and exploration.

SYSTEMS OF LIVING

Perspective View of Classroom Floor

Classroom Model

Model View of the Reflection Space

65

SYSTEMS OF LIVING

Mechanical Mechanically, the building is designed to use a VAV(Variable Air Volume) system, which is characterized by a constant temperature of supply air and a control box that modulates the amount of air that serves each space.

Mechanical Section Diagram

HVAC Reflected Ceiling Plan

66

Rooftop Mechanical Layout

ARCHITECTURE DEGREE PROJECT

WAYS OF SEEING

CHRISTIAN BORGER B.ARCH, FALL 2018

SYSTEMS OF LIVING

The pedagogy of architecture relies on a constant balance, a constant conflict. The pragmatic framework from which we learn is a necessary component to understand history and see it as a place from which to draw inspiration and method. However, creative exploration must break this framework of pragmatism in order to allow for growth and progress of an individual, resulting in growth of the practice as a whole. These “ways of seeing” are a constant study and practice. To use the camera as a space and a device to understand environments. To use making as a learning tool to test concept against pragmatics.

Each new method provides new ways of seeing, and new ways of understanding, ultimately resulting in a cycle of exploration, testing, and analysis critical to the discourse of architecture.

The project is composed of three parts: Making Facility The building addresses the need for large scale making facilities and dedicated student workspaces and studios. A large basement makerspaces accompanied by a tower crane provide fabrication facilities for large scale projects. Four open floors of dedicated studio and critique rooms provide students with space in which to create and develop.

Viewing Device As a compliment to architecture’s pragmatism, a series of devices carve away at the building. These spaces serve a multitude of purposes, however each provides a unique perspective and understanding of the building, the site, or the city. These spaces prompt new ways of seeing, questioning, and reflection.

Carved Alley The site contains a network of rich interstitial spaces that are used by students and residents as paths and informal spaces to gather or find solitude. The building creates similar conditions by carving away at its framework, each condition reacting differently to the site’s characteristics.

67

SYSTEMS OF LIVING

Urban “by-products” A map of the intersitial space found behind the regular grid of city blocks in Boston’s Back Bay. These spaces were created out of urgency and necessity, providing rich spatial qualities, used by residents and students as a place to pass through, gather, or contemplate

Site within city, a by-product of its Context 68

Unrolled context

SYSTEMS TEMP OF LIVING

Unfolding/ Stitching Unraveling the neighboring block reveals the rich variety of spaces within the interconnected system.

Both paths and views are provided within, giving the experience of a familiar, but constantly chaning environment.

Stitched Views within Context 69

TEMP

Device within framework

Section through Site and Device

Device as Void 70

Device as Object

TEMP

Device for Viewing Device for Viewing

Device for Gathering Device for Gathering

71

POST TENSIONED 2-WAY

20’-0” O.C., TYP.

8’-0”

4’-0”

20’-0” O.C., TYP.

POST TENSIONED 2-WAY CONCRETE SLAB CONCRETE SLAB 18” CONCRETE COLUMN WITH COLUMN CAP,COLUMN TYP. 18” CONCRETE HVAC SUPPLY AND RETURNS DUCTS WITH COLUMN CAP, TYP. HVAC SUPPLY AND HANGING LIGHT FIXTURES RETURNS DUCTS INDUSTRIAL CENTER PIVOT WINDOW, HANGING 4’X 4’, TYP. LIGHT FIXTURES INDUSTRIAL CENTER PIVOT INDIVIDUAL STUDENT WORKSPACES, WINDOW, 4’X 4’, TYP. LEVEL 3 AND 5, TYP. INDIVIDUAL STUDENT KALWAL INSULATED CURTAINWALL WORKSPACES, LEVEL 3 AND 5, SYSTEM, PANEL SIZE 2’X4’ TYP. TYP. PANEL TYPES:OPAQUE, TRANSLUCENT,

GLAZED AS NOTED. KALWAL INSULATED MEZZANINE LEVEL MTL DECK ON MTL CURTAINWALL SYSTEM, FRAME WITH WHEELS PANEL SIZE 2’X4’ TYP. PANEL STANDARD 5’ STUDENT WORK DESK TYPES:OPAQUE, TRANSLUCENT, WITH LOCK CABINET, STOOL GLAZED AS NOTED. MEZZANINE RAILING MEZZANINE LEVEL MTL DECK ON MTL FRAME WITH WHEELS

8’-0”

STANDARD 5’ STUDENT MOVEABLE 8’X10’ PARTITION, WORK LEVELWITH 2 AND 4,LOCK TYP. CABINET, DESK STOOL MOVEABLE 8’X10’ PARTITION BEYOND,

LEVEL 2 AND 4,RAILING TYP. MEZZANINE

SYSTEMS OF LIVING

MOVEABLE 8’X10’ PARTITION, LEVEL 2 AND 4, TYP. MOVEABLE 8’X10’ PARTITION BEYOND,LEVEL 2 AND 4, TYP.

STEEL STAIR WITH STEELSTEEL TREAD, TREAD, TYP. STEEL STAIR WITH TYP.

8’-0”

4’-0”

20’-0” TYP.

8’-0”

BALCONY RAILING AND STAIR BALCONY RAILING AND STAIR REVIEW FLOORS BELOW TOTOREVIEW FLOORS BELOW

EXTERIOR COR-TEN CLADDING EXTERIOR COR-TEN CLADDING 24” CONCRETE COLUMN WITH

24” CONCRETE COLUMN WITH COLUMN CAP COLUMN CAP

Building Section through Studios

72

SYSTEMS OF LIVING View of the device from the top, with oculi to Boylston St and Fenway

73

HISTORIC PRESERVATION THESIS

EMBRACING ARCHITECTURAL INHERITANCE

SYSTEMS OF LIVING

JACQUELINE PADILLA-PEREZ MDES, SPRING 2017 This Capstone project is a response to major development in Sacramento, California. I wanted to produce something that would help to educate people about the importance of preserving the historic fabric that remains in the city. Based on John Ruskin’s philosophy of Architectural Inheritance, and the five goals of the 2013-2017 California Statewide Historic Preservation Plan, I have developed a framework that will aid the user in creating their own citizen’s guidebook for renovating historic homes in way that modernizes, but preserves integrity and inspires readers to embrace architectural inheritance.

Additionally, the framework was devised to be applicable to all historic house types in any city or state. The capstone not only includes the traditional methods of researching and writing about historic resources, it also integrates technology and design as a relevant way of disseminating the social, sustainable and economic values that a community gains though historic preservation. By educating all people about preservation using relevant and comprehensive tools we can inspire a new generation of individuals who will go on to become stewards of our historical and cultural resources.

Interior Render

74

HISTORIC PRESERVATION THESIS

THE ALLIANCE FRAMEWORK

SYSTEMS OF LIVING

MARGARET BALL MDES, SPRING 2017 The Alliance Framework makes it easier and more accessible for local organizations to create and share documentation concerning locally significant historic and cultural resources with the general public.

Traditional forms of documentation, such as historic texts, photographs and maps, are typically reserved in archives that are not easily accessible. This, in a way, restricts the public from connecting with the past. The Alliance Framework guides users through the creation of emerging forms of documentation, specifically three-dimensional photogrammetric models and computer aided line drawings, as a way of complementing traditional documentation sources.

Both forms of documentation are then formatted and organized for dissemination through an online exhibit powered by Omeka, an online digital archiving platform.

This interactive experience provides visitors with a more comprehensive understanding of the site they are researching in an easily accessible, engaging way.

By taking advantage of technological advancements, local cultural resources can be highlighted in the same way. Larger, more well-known state, heritage sites are, allowing them to be experienced regardless of location or physical access.

75

HISTORIC PRESERVATION THESIS

PRESERVING HISTORICALLY SIGNIFICANT TRAILS

SYSTEMS OF LIVING

OLIVIA BREYTENBACH MDES, SPRING 2018

76

1895 Image of Chilkoot Trail Source: National Park Service

In current preservation practice, there is little distinction between trails that were constructed for recreational purposes and those where the trail itself took part in an historic event, human cultures, and/ or local traditions (aka. “historically-significant trails�).

This thesis explores the ways in which trails imbued with historic significance differ from other types of trails, namely those purpose-built for recreational purposes, and addresses the gaps therein. Two main case study trails (the West Coast Trail on Vancouver Island, British Columbia and the Chilkoot Trail in Alaska and British Columbia) were selected to exemplify how a trail route itself can be historically-significant. The bulk of the project analyzes existing standards related to historically-significant trails using these case study trails as real-world examples. In evaluating current standards, differences between the preservation and maintenance of recreational trails and those with historic significance emerged. This information was combined with feedback from people who had hiked the case study trails and from trail professionals to result in a newly synthesized set of standards for the preservation and maintenance of historicallysignificant trails. The new standards address the unique needs of these trail resources as a type of evolutionary cultural landscape, one which must balance the natural evolution of the environment with the need to preserve cultural aspects of these places, including the trail routes themselves. In addition to the development of these standards, two draft educational documents were also created through this project, one each for trail professionals and trail users, to provide these audiences with up-to-date knowledge about the standards and historical narratives related to historically-significant trails.

PRACTICE

LYMAN TERRACE REVITALIZATION & COMMUNITY BUILDING

SYSTEMS OF LIVING

Transformed Lyman Terrace Community Building and street

RYAN HANSLIK M.ARCH, SPRING 2018 Lead Designer, DHK Architects, Holyoke, MA Built before World War II, Lyman Terrace is one of the America’s oldest forms of public housing. The community is located in downtown Holyoke, walking distance to the town’s health center, park, city hall, stores, restaurants, and transportation center. The original red-brick buildings were structurally sound; however, they lacked handicapped accessibility and were in varying levels of disrepair. Upon consideration of demolishing the development, Lyman Terrace residents and others protested with deep concerns that there would be inadequate measures taken to accommodate the people who would be displaced.

Partial Site Plan

77

SYSTEMS OF LIVING

Design for new Lyman Terrace Community Building

The Lyman Terrace Revitalization project has a construction cost of approximately $36-million and is funded through private and public financing, including Low Income Housing Tax Credits. Combining 1939 brick housing structures with new wood modular additions means the buildings become “hybrid� in their construction. Programmatically, the original and undersized kitchens and bathrooms were demolished to allow for more bedrooms and livable space. Updated kitchens and bathrooms were achieved through the modular unit additions.

Existing (pre-revitalization) path through courtyard

Crane hoisting second level modular unit

Modular addition placement

78

As part of the Lyman Terrace Revitalization project it was decided to raze two of the smallest buildings on the site in order to provide a community building that would serve as a central amenity and point of convergence in the community. As part of the overall affordable housing endeavor, financial implications needed to be seriously considered while striving for creating high quality design. This was achieved through careful space planning and an innovative approach to a traditional gable roof.

As lead designer, I coordinated with various disciplines on design and engineering. Two versions of the exterior wall were created: one typical condition and one recessed condition which has a desirable formal impact and also acts as sun shading. Brick is prominent in Holyoke, a city once known for its industry. Now the landscape is scattered with abandoned factory buildings. Utilizing resources that would otherwise be lost, the base façade of the Community Building reuses bricks taken from the two demolished buildings as a design gesture to the past and future of Holyoke.

INTERVIEW

Alisha Pegan

Alisha Pegan implements Climate Ready Boston initiatives and the Greenovate Leaders Program. Her work evolves around topics of heat preparedness, green infrastructure, and infrastructure coordination. Prior to joining the Climate Ready Boston team, she was at the Environment Department as a Renew Boston Fellow. In the semester of Fall 2018, Alisha served as a studio consultant for Architecture Studio 3 at the BAC, as part of a join effort with the Amsterdam Academy. This parallel studio investigated current and future trajectories on the East Boston waterfront.

Would you start by telling us a little bit about your initiatives advocating energy-efficient actions for Boston residents? What are your overall goals in this type of work?

Does the City compile these initiatives before implementing them?

Yes, various agencies within City Hall, as well as input from the State, to be like “This is what we are going to be working on for the next ten, twenty, thirty years. And this is our roadmap.” So there are some things that we need to do in these first four, five years, and others we say: “How are we going to deal with the next ten, fifteen years?”, and that is all laid out on the roadmap.

What are some initiatives that have been successful?

One thing that was called out was the coastal resiliency district solutions. After they did the whole city line plan report and vulnerability assessment, they have realized that we needed to go smaller, look at parcel by parcel,

SYSTEMS OF LIVING

Climate Ready Boston is an initiative within all of the city of Boston to develop resilient solutions and prepare our city for climate change. Boston residents are already affected by extreme heat, rain, snow, and flooding, and all these trends will likely continue. We also work closely with the Office of Resilience and Racial Equity, who do similar work, but in the lens of equity and racial justice. What we focus a lot about are the environmental components of that, and that relates a lot to the external conditional factors. We do our coastal resiliency district solutions, heat preparedness work with the Boston Public Health Commission, and we work with parks to create better open spaces. Our work falls the path right now in the Climate Ready Boston Report, which was released on December 2016, and there are about eleven major initiatives called out. Our work is trying to move those initiatives forward as much as possible.

what has been done, and what solutions are needed on a neighborhood scale. This is what these reports are for. They have identified five major waterfront neighborhoods: Charlestown, Dorchester, Downtown, East Boston, and South Boston.The idea is that once we have plans for all of those neighborhoods, then we have a more cohesive sense of what we need to do. We are currently halfway through, we did three out of the five neighborhoods, and Dorchester and Downtown are next. We should have that wrapped up within a year and a half, and after that we will prioritize on what projects should be implemented and how. In these reports we actually lay out when certain things need to be built and when, and how much money they cost. So once we have a full assessment of the waterfront neighborhoods, we will be able to put them all down on a list and say, “How are we going to do that, how are we going to implement this, how are we going to get funding?”

What is “resilience” for you?

Personally, I see it strongly through the racial equity lens.

I think that resilience means a lot of coming together and preparing beforehand, coming together when there is an event, coming together afterward to recover. Having more social cohesion means that every part of that process is easier. I think that Boston has a unique history — is rough, is really rough. Certain communities have just been totally cut out of so many different opportunities, and there is a lot of distrust and segregation. For me, is all by association. As a city employee, I won’t know who to reach out to unless they come to me, or I have heard of their name through someone else. It is all network based. And that scares me because I do not think that this is how it should be. I think that could be a better way to people that do not see themselves as “I am interested in resilience” but it affects them, they do not come to me. There isn’t currently an existent platform for me to engage with them on. And the same for so many other different intersections. I think there needs to be a lot of

79

"We can start building trust, and start addressing all of that hurt that happened, and then be able to be in a better place in order to address future threats..."

work to be done in that area. And figuring out how we can better work together, how to address those really intense topics. So we can start building trust, and start addressing all of that hurt that happened, and then be able to be in a better place in order to address future threats.

SYSTEMS OF LIVING

Are some of these projects and solutions physically built or integrated?

A lot of our projects are currently open-space focused.

Building park spaces that are affordable, more resilient, or protect the homes behind from getting flooded, those are the projects. For instance, Martin’s Park by the Fort Point Channel, currently under construction. What they are starting on is around the flood pathway, if you protect that area it could be a great park and it could also protect the homes behind you. It is currently being elevated to adjust that. The Greenway in East Boston is another great example: by putting the deployable flood wall, it also adds protection. Right now we are just addressing open-space areas. People can fix their homes, but then they are left out in little islands of protection, and we would like to make sure that we address the streets, the broader landscape, so citizens are able to go to each other, and to the grocery stores.

next step and how do you package it so that is feasible.

It is this constant conversation about scope. “We need to protect this neighborhood. But really this is a regional problem. But really this is a State problem.” Almost in every conversation we are fluxing in between so many different scales, and figuring out how we can address that is very challenging. That is something that different cities have struggled with, especially for hostility collaboration. When do you stop? And how do you start?

And when you scope it, people say: “You left us out!” “I am so sorry! You are so so important, we recognize that!”

We just needed to get the ball rolling, start somewhere.

Where we are right now is building momentum from years of work. And there are less major questions, more questions are being answered, more people are getting more work around it. It starts to feel more manageable when you think about scope and scale, you start to get more answers.

What advice would you give to newly emerging design professionals, when it comes to fostering this transition? More specifically, do you envision resilience as being a ‘choice’ or an ‘imperative’?

I think that doing nothing is irresponsible. But it should be given us a set of choices, because I do not think a ‘one size fits all’ solution will work. I think it is what are those cost-feasible things people could do, in all different scales. We should do something about it.

There are so many things we have to do, and we are most of the time not sure on how to do it. What is the

80

Interviewed by Alexandre Costa & Yiran Shu BAC Arch students

EXPERIENCE PEOPLE • COLLECTIVE • INTERACTION • COMMUNITY PRACTICE • SOCIETY • INCLUSION • DIALOGUE This chapter explores the human experience. From material touch to cognitive thought, the human experience encompasses both physical and intellectual discoveries. Works in this chapter uncover questions of - How does a person experience space? How does one learn to design?

What agency does design carry to establish societal impact?

Interior Architecture Thesis by Maria Martinez Interior Architecture Thesis by Madison Mitchell Interior Architecture Thesis by Kseniia Barvitskaya Lukina Design Studies in Human Health Thesis by Tera L. William Practice with Christian Boran, Michael Kim Associates Interview with Jana Belack Retrospect on Conversation at the Loft Conversation with students on Dialogue

81

INTERIOR ARCHITECTURE THESIS

EXPERIENCE

YOUTH IN MOTION

Climbing Wall Perspective

MARIA MARTINEZ BIA, FALL 2017 Youth In Motion is a design specifically targeted to youth with user experience in mind. Each spaces is designed to foster peer empowerment and community building. This is a center that empowers and helps its users exercise their physical, emotional and intellectual well- being.

82

EXPERIENCE

This project is designed to suport active growth through boundary-pushing experiences. Users can develop decision-making and emotional regulation skills that support a successful and smooth transition throughout high school in order to become active citizens.

2nd Floor Key Plan

Cardio Room Elevation 83

EXPERIENCE

Section

1st Floor Key Plan

Chandeliers

Plank Linoleum

Plank Cork Flooring 84

Lounge Perspective

Interval Training Studio Elevation

Integrated surround sound and light therapy technology helps enhance experience throughout training sessions.

EXPERIENCE

Amber Light: Warm Color Tone helps raise the heart rate and body temperature. Used for high intensity interval training and cardio sessions Interval Training Studio with Amber Light

Cool Light: Cool off, stretch and relaxation. Helps bring heart rate down

Interval Training Studio with Cool Light 85

INTERIOR ARCHITECTURE THESIS

EXPERIENCE

THE CREATIVES COLLECTIVE

Artist in Residence Gallery

MADISON MITCHELL BIA, FALL 2017 The Creatives Collective at the Alexandra allows post graduate art students to explore a collaborative living and working environment that invites the public to observe and understand the importance of young creative minds. The Arts is a vital component of a society’s identity and culture. It helps improve academic performance, strengthen the economy, and promote prosperity within a community.

86

EXPERIENCE

Massachusetts Ave Elevation

Wall Finishes

87

EXPERIENCE

Study Lounge

Gallery Lounge

Gallery Reception

Furniture & Finishes

88

INTERIOR ARCHITECTURE THESIS

THE ORPHEUM THEATRE Entrance Zone Renovation

EXPERIENCE

Perspective Site Render

KSENIIA LUKINA BARVITSKAYA MIA, FALL 2018 The entrance is a transitional zone between exterior and interior, that plays a significant role in human perception of architecture and shapes mental image of the space.

This project intends to reconnect the Orpheum theater to Boston venue net, reinforce the connection of theater with the city, extend it deeper to the block and further to the interior. It is not only the connection of external and internal: it is a connection of past and future, people and place, art and community. The aim is not just to bring Orpheum back to the theater district in citizens’ minds, but to create an artistic hub and social living room, based on more than

89

EXPERIENCE

150 years history of the venue. To succeed in this, the placemaking approach with the focus on music and art community will be used. The unique identity of the space in combination with human-centered design will make the Hamilton Place a new sight of the city and bring the former popularity of the Orpheum back.

Color Palette

Materials & Finishes

Camelia by Jouin Manku Studio

Alain Ducasse au Plaza Athenee

Sean Connolly at Dubai Opera

Furnishing

Velo Chair

90

Axolotol Doors

Marble Top

Madison Accent, Arctic Blue

Nero White Marble Accent Table

Yongjia Sales Center

Foyer Chandelier

Hotel Bayerischerhof

Longitudinal Section Hamilton Place & the Orpheum Theater

EXPERIENCE

Mezzanine Level

Orchestra Level 91

HUMAN HEALTH THESIS

EQUITY-CENTERED DESIGN in Tacoma's Hilltop

EXPERIENCE

Tera L. Williams MDes Human Health, Fall 2018 Traditional revitalization looks at the existing population as a contaminant with their removal as the solution to the problem. If instead of remediating poverty and trauma through displacement, we bioremediated it by working together to heal and build healthy communities, the whole county would be better for it. The path to healing in Hilltop has to involve working communally to undo the impacts of generations of trauma on the land and its people in order to move towards spatial justice.

The populations of neighborhoods in need of revitalization are already vulnerable. Hilltop has the lowest life expectancy in the county; on paper, revitalizing Hilltop with no regard for the existing population would increase the health of the zip code, but in reality that would just disperse a vulnerable population. It looks like a positive impact, but the actual people have just been moved instead of helped. Community needs to be framed as a place to feel safe and grow together.

Equitable revitalization should be a means of building communal wealth and assets for the traditionally marginalized populations in the neighborhood, leading to a longer life expectancy.

The background of the city dictates that local government will have to work to gain community trust. The Tacoma Dome, an emblem of home for many, actually initially displaced a traditionally Black neighborhood around 1980 with many of those people relocating to Hilltop (Hartman, 2018) . Displacement within Tacoma is not a new development. Some of the homes taken from people by the Crack House Task Force in the 1980’s are likely even now still on the city’s list of derelict properties.

The systems designed to protect society at large do not always work for Black communities (Martin, 2018a).

Moving forward, the community needs to take ownership

92

of development and cultivate their own revitalization process. Part of that involves reframing the community outreach process as the actual design process. ECCD makes the community the designers. While it is often necessary to report back to firms, the community should have a seat at the table for the entire design process. The work can only be as equitable as the people at the table.

If design thinking is reframed as a process to cultivate community healing through design rather than a means of turning space into a commodity, Hilltop will be able to bioremediate and flourish.

"Understanding that communities interact and the built environment in ways should be a vital revitalization process..."

different interpret different part of

In Tupac’s posthumously released spoken word album, The Rose That Grew from Concrete, he states that, “you wouldn't ask why the rose that grew from the concrete had damaged petals. On the contrary, we would all celebrate its tenacity. We would all love its will to reach the sun. Well, we are the rose, this is the concrete, and these are my damaged petals. Don't ask me why, thank God nigga, ask me how” (Serpick, 2000; Shakur & Giovanni, 2000) . Tupac was referring to his own tenacity in rising above his situation, but what if we did ask Hilltop how? Just listening to the way that this community has worked to survive would likely inspire a different kind of design. Understanding that different communities interact and interpret the built environment in different ways should be a vital part of revitalization process.

Moving forward in Hilltop will require Towey’s “centrification” and it will also need to lead to the regulation of new projects in Hilltop. Figuring out how to best utilize the currently available organizational capacity to start the process of protecting Hilltop’s landscape from erasure and its people from displacement is especially vital with the Link Light Rail coming in 2022.

Foundationally, Housing Hilltop spells out what the community needs and what needs to be done, but the how and who of the work needs to be further developed. On a small scale, the Fabitat community engagement model being utilized by Tacoma Housing Authority can create equitable change. The model is currently limited to those who want to engage in equitable development and even then, they will not likely be aware of the creative equitable development model if they are coming from outside of the current Hilltop conversation. The EcoDistricts model looks very promising for Hilltop. The model can overlap or encompass any other designation Hilltop could potentially pursue, such as the state’s Creative District Designation. EcoDistricts are flexible in their application because every neighborhood is going to need different things. Their three imperatives are equity, resilience, and climate protection. The Central Area Collaborative (CAC), a group seeking EcoDistrict

designation in Seattle’s Central District, a traditionally Black neighborhood, added the additional imperatives of economic development and culture to their EcoDistrict plan. The hope is to be sensitive to the needs of the remaining population with further development (Cole & Garnett, 2018) . The EcoDistrict framework provides the foundation for Hilltop to develop preventative measures and economic growth goals for the neighborhood together. That would mean looking at the city’s sustainability and equity goals, comparing those goals to the work community organizations are already doing, and then working with them to develop specific equity, sustainability, resiliency, economic growth, and cultural vitality goals for Hilltop with the community that align with the existing work.

Moving forward, there are a lot of potential applications for more equitable design throughout Tacoma.

Moving away from the model where we champion the construction of a Starbucks on a corner previously occupied by a taco truck or are satisfied with a kiosk instead of a library will bring revitalization efforts in Tacoma to an upholding of community over commodity.

Continuing to call upon and adequately compensate the creative community engagement specialists for other projects throughout the city and involving them in the design process will bridge gaps in communication between community, government, and developers. A lot of Tacoma south of Division is disenfranchised, working class, and has lost faith that the city cares about them.

EXPERIENCE

If gentrification is a revitalization model, then fixing its impacts without creating an alternative model of revitalization and taking control of the process is nothing more than a bandaid. While William Towey’s centrification approach looks at working together to mitigate the impacts of gentrification, my approach is more in line with creating an entirely separate alternative model to revitalization. The ideological difference is small but important. My model fleshes out the “shared narrative of inclusion” mentioned in Towey’s model using Ganz’ Public Narrative process and his suggestions for change are overall in line with mine. It comes back Christopher Paul Jordan’s interview on the types of work people are doing. It is fine to work from the inside, work from the outside, or to burn it all down. All that matters is that we are cooperating as a community and working toward a revolutionarily equitable revitalization process.

It is fine to disagree about the methods because having differing opinions at the table is what makes the process equitable.

Using the Equity-Centered Community Design model and creative engagement throughout the city could cultivate real results. Ultimately within this work keeping an open mind about the how and why of equitable revitalization in Tacoma and going where the work took me was my greatest asset. Being from Tacoma gave me a firm understanding of the community’s sentiments on why things happen, how things happen, and how powerless that makes you feel. This process required for me to let go of my preconceived notions on how and why things happen, but retain my feelings on how powerless the process leaves us and utilize those feelings as motivation for uncovering the truth.

93

PRACTICE

EXPERIENCE

CAPE COD TO NEEDHAM RESIDENCE

CHRISTIAN BORAN BLA, SPRING 2018 Design Associate, Michael Kim Associates, MA Since my days as a freelance landscaper doing modest design build projects, I have worked my way up from an entry-level trainee to a skilled designer excelling within multiple design firms.

Upon entering my first position at McDougal Architects, I put my AutoCAD skills to good use. Correcting red lines became the day-to-day, while I acclimated to the office.

During this time, I learned how to professionally draft, which helped me understand how to develop a project from field measurements to a stamped construction document set ready for permitting. Because of the office’s intense attention to detail and professional nature, the drafting practices I acquired there are still what I work from to this day. As time went by, I grew increasingly ready to work from schematic design to the completion of projects, so I moved on to Stefanov Architects to gain this experience.

94

Landscape work

Finding the right fit in the right firm was a process that took some time, something I was too naĂŻve to anticipate.

The few months that I was not working in a professional design firm, I spent landscaping. Reverting to my roots as a landscaper allowed me to pursue a design build projects at my own pace. Applying what I learned in both school and work, I approached these projects more professionally than I would have before my time at the Boston Architectural College.

After months of job searching and sending out portfolios, I landed my current position at Michael Kim Associates, a medium-sized, award-winning, residential and commercial design firm in the heart of Brookline Village.

Michael is a real mentor. He immediately pushed me out

"Since I joined the firm over two years ago, I have overseen twelve projects from start to finish, and at present, I am working on four more that will soon go into the construction phase. With projects spanning from Massachusetts to Florida to California, I am energized by leading the design process and all that this experience entails. I learn something new every day, and for the time being, I have found my niche."

EXPERIENCE

Transitioning into Stefanov Architects was a growing process. Being a Revit firm, I had to relearn the software I had been taught and mostly forgotten years earlier. Within time, I immersed myself in the software just in time to begin a major project involving the design of a six-unit housing development in Hyde Park. Intense sessions of schematic diagramming led to finalized schemes that would allow for providing the Boston Redevelopment Authority (now the Boston Planning and Development Agency) with sufficient material to convey the design intent. Site design became a major component of successfully activating the development, while also responsibly addressing water run-off, privacy, and grading. Many trips to the BRA and the Massachusetts Architectural Access Board, gave me insight into the process of bringing projects from start to finish. With this increased level of responsibility, I grappled with advanced coordination of zoning and code requirements. As projects evolved from measurements to reviewed boards, I faced intense scrutiny regarding code compliance and adhering to zoning regulations.

When several of my projects were put on hold, my time at Stefanov Architects became more limited. On top of this, I needed to curb my insatiable appetite to work on projects that I would predominately manage and lead.

I began my search for a new firm that would offer this experience. This search demonstrated to be more difficult than I initially thought it would be.

of the nest and had me running my very first start-tofinish project. Since I joined the firm over two years ago, I have overseen twelve projects from start to finish, and at present, I am working on four more that will soon go into the construction phase. With projects spanning from Massachusetts to Florida to California, I am energized by leading the design process and all that this experience entails. I learn something new every day, and for the time being, I have found my niche.

95

INTERVIEW

Jana Belack Jana Belack is a BAC alumna, who earned both her Bachelor’s in Design Studies degree in Sustainable Design and a Master’s Degree in Architecture. Her interest in the design of prisons stated with her Masters thesis, A Women’s Prison: Communities for Incarceration. In the Fall semester of 2018, Jana gave a lecture on “Design and Punishment: the Architecture of Incarceration” as part of the BAC’s Student Lecture Series.

EXPERIENCE

Could you tell us about your research? How has it developed since receiving the 2018 Ames Scholarship?

Through the Ames Scholarship I continued my thesis, in which it was about women’s prisons. With this opportunity, I was able to visit the prisons, some of them were precedent studies of mine during my thesis research. But I was defining what a successful prison looked like, and those occurred in Scandinavia. With the Ames Scholarship I started to look at and visit what are known to be “successful” prisons, with success being defined by low recidivism rates and repeat offender rates.

The countries of Scandinavia have very low recidivism rates. Typically when someone there goes to prison they do not go back, they are rehabilitated through their experience at that prison. But those countries really put a lot of time and effort into the person. So I have found through that research that we all think here architecture can solve every problem, but it can’t. So it is more how you treat each other and how you address people’s problems and their needs more than architecture, although the architecture helps. Their goal is to create normative environments, something similar to what you would live in when you are not in prison. Apartment style, homey looking places, you don’t wear a uniform so you are you are less institutionalized... In the United States, you go to prison, you wear a uniform, you stay in a cell very unwelcoming, you are treated like a number; but there you are treated like a human. It is mostly how you are treated, but the design of the building helps, is supportive. Since Scandinavia, I also went to Canada, and Canada has similar goals, but their prisons are actually designed closer to that of the United States. It is really interesting the middle ground between the United States and Scandinavia.

How did that affect your work? All those findings, ideas and thoughts that you uncovered?

Yes! Of course. Not my professional work because— well, a little bit—I have not been able to execute any of the ideas that I have had or the findings that I have

96

discovered while in Scandinavia. But it definitely changed my view, even from the first day that I was there. It was so overwhelming because being from here, the United States, I have grown up with this ‘idea’ of what prisoners are and how they are treated, and that is purely from the media.

I visited a friend in a prison a long time ago and I never went back because of how the space made me feel. So I went to Scandinavia with those preconceived notions that that is what a prison is, but I also knew that they were better. I guess I did not fully grasp it until I got there. I went into two prisons, and I went with this list of questions, like, “I am gonna ask the inmates various questions.” I threw the list away on the first day because none of them were even relevant to their situation. It was so overwhelmingly—I don’t even know what the word is... I basically had to start over again once I got there and started talking to people. I am sitting across from this woman looking at my list of questions to ask them and thought to myself: “I can’t even ask you these questions!” She was like: “What are you talking about!?— They are not isolated!” Nothing was relevant.

Speaking with especially wardens was the most helpful for me because for the people in prison this isn’t new to them, to me this was exceptionally like: “Great! This is great!” And they were like: “No! I am in prison! This is not great!” I got two different sides, talking to inmates versus the warden. The inmates were like: “Yeah I’m doing this, I am improving my life so that I can get out of here and never come back”. Simple. But the wardens were more experimental, which is great, we do not do that here. They were experimenting with putting genders together, men and women in one prison like a community. It did not work and they explained why, I had never thought about these things. There was one prison, Suomenlinna Prison in Finland, where they put men and women together, and they said immediately it did not work. To me, I was like: “Yeah! In the United States that would never work!” Why? Because of relationships, sex, and everything…” But she was like: “No, that’s not why.”

It was because women stopped focusing on themselves

EXPERIENCE

Helsinki Maximum Security Prison, Finland

"Architecture needs to be the instrument for teaching innates how to live a better life - rehabilitation."

and started focusing on taking care of the men: cooking them food, doing their laundry… It wasn’t focusing on rehabilitating themselves, it doesn’t have anything to do with sex or relationships. It was very interesting to hear those things. In terms of what a prison can be, I went to Halden Prison in Norway, a maximum-security prison. There are murderers, rapists, but if you treat them with respect, they treat you with respect, that’s what the guards told me, that is what the inmates told me. This is how you treat each other, if you are treated like an animal you react like one, you react like an angry one. So it totally changed my perception of prisons; it was already going that way but to actually be there and experience it, is a totally different thing. You can read about these buildings, but until you walk through them and talk to people, and really feel the space, you have no idea.

It seems that imprisonment back in the day was a means of briefly storing someone before actually executing the punishment. It was like a dungeon, where inmates were put in a dungeon for a couple of days before the execution.

Or the corporal punishment. It is like warehousing a human until you give the full sentence.

Yes. Prisons today seem to be places for punishment.

What do you think is the role of architecture in this context?

It should not be the punishment. Here in the States we treat it as punishment, and that is how society sees inmates. They need to be punished, but in reality they do not, they need to be helped. I have read a lot of memoirs

97

EXPERIENCE

Rodjan Fangelse Open Prison in Mariestad, Sweden

of inmates, mostly women because that was my study at first, but men as well. They are not purely just bad people. Rather than architecture being the punishment, architecture needs to be the instrument for teaching them how to live a better life - rehabilitation. But when you say “rehabilitation” people tend to say: “Oh, drug addicts need to not do drugs, people who are mentally ill need to fix that”, but the main thing that really needs to happen is that they need to be set on the right path.

A lot of inmates in this country come from impoverished neighborhoods where this is like a cycle, their dad was in prison, their uncles are in prison, their mom, their grandmothers... It is just the cycle, they think: “I am going to be in prison someday”, it is so commonplace for their lives. But we need to break that, we need to say: “No! This is what you need to do to get a job, to pay your bills, to live in an apartment successfully, to cook your own food, to do your own laundry…” For a lot of people, I hate saying ‘set them straight’, you need to give them the skills to survive, and that is not just with work and therapy. These are life lessons. I went to a women’s prison in Canada and there was only one of them in each province.

I went to the one in Ontario, and they were telling me that women’s prisons are all multi-level because there is only one in each province, and they were saying that

98

there is a center in this prison complex providing “life skills.” Some women come, and they do not even know how to shower properly, these are things that need to be taught sometimes. I understand it is probably weird for the United States to understand that, to comprehend.

People do not know basic things as how to manage a bank account, or cook their own food, go to the grocery store... But when we put them in prisons here in the United States we are not helping them, we are making it worse. We are making all those decisions for them, we are not letting them pick what food they want, we are not letting them cook, we are not letting them pay bills, we take away all their responsibilities. For so many reasons the prisons here are worst, but we are making the core problems that happen and most of these people in prison are making that worse.

We do not even push this idea of responsibility— Completely take them away! When they do not know responsibility in the first place, and we are isolating them from family and friends, which will help them on the outside because now they do not know responsibility, they have nobody to help them. How are they going to survive? They will probably gonna go rob somebody.

And come back to prison. Because they do not know what else to do.

Suomenlinna Open Prison in Helsinki, Finland

We do not let them have any freedom because that is their punishment, that is how we operate, we basically only want to control them. A little bit of history of prisons, at least with women’s prisons: women’s prisons used to be like farms where there would be a headmistress. This woman who would teach them how to be more ladylike, this was back in the day. Women were thrown in prison for being drunk or silly things, or their husbands would want to put them away. There were no fences in prisons, there was just this idea that the women needed to be there, just put them to “set their life on track.” That is what they were doing, but from there it progressively got more and more closed.

At Niantic Prison in Connecticut, for instance, nobody ever escaped that prison. But because “What if? What if someone escapes?” now there is a fence. It was a lot to keep in line with the men’s prisons because these things were happening there but not wit the women’s. But just to keep up and be like, “Well, now this is a prison, this is what you are supposed to do because ‘what if?’”. And then it became more and more close to where we are now, where they are so closed, even minimum security

prisons are extremely closed. You can’t leave, you can’t go to work. And then you just walk out the door, how is that helping you? People in a minimum-security prison could be in there for drugs, they are locked up for drug addiction? I mean, minimum crimes. We have maximum sentences for minimum crimes, drug crimes. We have very long sentences here in the States. Other countries do not that, at least the ones I have explored so far.

EXPERIENCE

Why do you think that happens? You were mentioning that this is a cultural thing, that it is a social understanding of things. Why do you think that happens in prisons?

Do you think that—that is something that I have learned when I came to the United States as well—the fact that the prisons are privatized, that eventually plays a big role of how they are also set up?

I do not think if the privatization really has any effect on them. I think that those are not good, I read that some private prisons were closing, they are kind of being phased out in some areas because it is basically a for-profit business, it is a business. The government is paying someone who owns a prison to keep people in there, which results in corrupt practices just to fill the prisons. Private prisons, though, operate at the bare minimum of requirements, at least State and Federal, they have a little bit more funding. So there might be a little bit above the minimum requirements for private prisons, only have to be at the minimum. They are at the minimum of life quality, it is terrible.

99

"We as architects want to design pleasant environments, and this is a total environment, you know. You have to figure out how to create within one environment all of the mental stimulation that you and I get throughout our daily lives... how do you design this one space to support a human life 24/7 for years."

EXPERIENCE

Do you think that that could be a reason why there is a recidivism? The fact that it wants to fill itself, it makes sure that people come back?

Oh, yes! There have been so many stories in the news of judges being found guilty of sentencing adults and juveniles. That is a sad story, because once you are in the juvenile system the odds of you being in prison multiple times in your life are extremely high. There have been so many cases where judges are just, you know, the owner of this prison over here is bribing the judge to be like: “Keep my prison full! Let’s big private!” I wouldn’t say it is the biggest part, but it is a big part.

So based on all these things that you know, what is the “ideal” world that you see? Would prisons exist in your ideal world or not?

It has to. It has to be there to keep order in some sense.

There are serial murderers, there are people like that, and there will be. Nothing that no great prison design is going to fix. There will always be those people, it is just how do we deal with them. But those are also not the people that I am focusing on for my research. I am focusing on people who will be out of prison; there are murderers and people that will be in prison for life, and some people that should be. I am focusing on those who will be out and how they act in society after prison.

But no, I do not think prisons are unnecessary, it is just how we design them, how we treat them, that makes a big difference. I think prisons should be designed like Scandinavia: very normative lifestyle, you live on the outside but in this contained environment, with the connection to the outside. You should not be isolated.

And then expected to go back into society.

to see other—and all of the students came in with this preconceived notion of what prisons are in the United States, because that is what we see, that is the common idea with our society. “These people did wrong, they should be punished”, prisons are out of sight, out of mind, you do not think about them, because you will never go there. But now seeing them open up to why we are studying this it is really beautiful.

Do you think that we should start thinking more about prisons as part of our architectural education?

Yes! Because it is the total environment. We as architects want to design pleasant environments, and this is a total environment, you know. You have to figure out how to create within one environment all of the mental stimulation that you and I get throughout our daily lives across multiple buildings. So to me, it is incredibly interesting how you have to do that, and basically how to recreate all of that in one building. And even if it is not recreating that, how do you design this one space to support a human life 24/7 for years. It is the total environment, so taking it does not have to just be about prisons, but you learned so much from doing that... you think about things more. You think about: “Well, if I am in this prison and it has all these things, imagine what I am designing is a school, or a hospital, or my house!”, it leads into so many other spheres. So if you teach or take a studio about prisons you are not taking information just about prisons, you are taking environmental psychology.

You are teaching this class now about designing and thinking about prisons. Are your thoughts changing with input from other people?

I do not know if it is changing, but it is incredibly inspiring 100

Interviewed by Komila Rakhimova, BAC B.Arch student

RETROSPECT

CONVERSATION AT THE LOFT Retrospect on Gender & Inclusion April, 2018 with BAC Women’s Group & Rahel Shawl, Founder of Raas Architects, Ethiopia

Discussions set up grounds for imperative issues to be both articulated and culminated into individual forms of thinking and action-taking. The implementation of an inclusive culture revolves around an assurance that beauty is not only manifested by virtue of disparate voices being heard, but also in view of such beliefs and feelings being universally understood. Similarly to other fields of study, architecture possesses its own distinct jargons that convey uniquely architectural ideologies.

Consequently, what does it mean to collectively engage

in this cultural standard? How can one genuinely do it? Why is it important to recognize diversity in design environments? As a small and high-spirited institution, these exceptional mementos are the reason why one would be interested in taking part in the design community.

Each installment commonly lasts one hour, fifty of these minutes fluidly evolving in organic dialogue—yet with such an enthusiastic and participatory audience, the third installment officially came to an end nearly two hours after the established time frame. As the guard proceeded to close the building’s premises, emotions had permeated the room, and both men and women felt incredibly connected as a result of a thin, affectionate layer on the atmosphere. Notwithstanding, the conversation did continued. I could hear them on staircases, at the Loft, in the classrooms; fostering a sense of community, solidifying connections. Beyond the surface level discussions on gender and equality, the third installment has taught me the utter importance of being vulnerable—love, the sense of belonging, trust, and creativity (to name a few) are all dependent on one’s (in)ability to lean into the unknown.

EXPERIENCE

It is Friday evening, strangers swiftly glance at each other. Growing up in Tajikistan—a country where action is demanded in pursuance of preserving all of the advances gained by women under the Soviet system, ultimately influences my personal expectations of how the conversation could take shape. As the audience deliberates on their individual understandings and preconceptions on gender and inclusion, I’ve persisted to simply absorb each word, detail, smile, or facial expression. From intimate friends to adjunct faculty who exceptionally framed my idiosyncratic experiences at the BAC, this family table is replete with role-models whom I deeply admire and look up to in my arduous journey.

Fluid and charged with emotions, an air of openness and vulnerability allows all participants, both men and women, to be enfolded within the discourse.

Written by Komila Rahkimova Edited by Alexandre Costa

"Why is it important to recognize diversity in design environments? As a small and high-spirited institution, these exceptional mementos are the reason why one would be interested in taking part in the design community..."

Conversations at the Loft invites faculty, staff, alumni, and any person interested in participating in critical conversation on topics that surround the design environment. Announcements for the Conversation are posted on Instagram @ baclogue as well as posters at 320 Newbury st and 951 Boylston st, Boston, MA. 101

EXPERIENCE

Posters for Conversation at the Loft Designed by Alexandre Costa

102

CONVERSATION

On the Need for Dialogue Students created their own publication frameworks as part of the Critical Discourse I course offered in the Spring semester of 2018. Ideas on curation, audience, and dialogue were explored.

Why were you interested in partaking in the effort of - making publication frameworks, presenting to an audience beyond the scope of the class, generating wider dialogue?

There is a need for people to know more about the BAC. There is more to the BAC than practice. Of course, practice is an essential component, but the real aspect of the BAC is not exposed enough. And besides the architectural community in Boston, little of the public knows about the BAC. For me, for example, I’ve been in firms and I’ve seen how things are built. I feel comfortable starting my own projects, and I am very adaptable as a person. And the BAC has taught me this. You have to search and create your own zones of learning.

And the publication is an opportunity to promote an image, that our school offers many different explorations as design thinkers and doers. Here, there are multiple ways to engage in learning, through practical application grounded upon deep thinking rooted in theory. And from that literal practice, something sparks that we are able to deliver both sides of the study. This publication is an opportunity to re-think about how we learn.

Komila Rakhimova The importance of a platform where thoughts are collected and stored for reference is undeniably powerful. That is inaccessible before information becomes public. It sparks improvement in skill. I think I became more aware of the quality of my work when I would see or share with my peers.

To me publication is a connecting link that creates

How was the process of creating an iterative publication?

Exciting moments that drove the process of making?

Challenges that could be further taken as lessons?

Hamze Machmouchi I think that was the most interesting process. You’re learning how to get to know a person.

Everyone here is so secretive about their project. Each time I sit at someone’s desk and ask “what are you working on?” they respond “oh, it’s nothing” and I think ‘what, no talk to me, what is happening here?’ And I think it’s mostly due to confidence and the fact that you don’t feel comfortable sharing the work. You’re just exposed to someone older than you, and it is intimidating. I also was like this in the beginning. But I changed later on because I felt that I could learn from people who had been here longer. So for me the first thing that I had to learn in asking questions was how to make them comfortable.

For me, it went beyond architecture. A conversation that made them comfortable enough for them to respond in a passionate manner. So the one that I chose was, “What work have you done since being at the BAC? What has helped you along the process?” It could be anything that best explained that person’s transition from early stages of learning to more advanced stages. It was great; I got many beautiful approaches to ways of working.

EXPERIENCE

Hamze Machmouchi In the past three years at the school, I was not really involved in curricular activities. So in joining on this effort and conversation, it provided an opportunity for me to get to know other students better, not just my surroundings. That was my first motivation- to get to know the work of the BAC. I have a strong belief that there are interesting projects and theories happening in people’s work here, and I was curious to see more.

synergy between separated entities. We started having discussions, conversations leading to a newly uncovered shift in viewing architecture and beyond. We work collectively. So why not have a platform that exposes work and naturally creates a collective culture.

When I was looking through people’s work, I was very excited by a couple of things. So remember my publication framework was about the conscious and unconscious ways of working? I’ve seen so many works that indirectly relate to another. For example, a student shared her photographs that she made in Hong Kong, and she also shared her BAC work that she was most comfortable sharing with me. And when I saw it, I saw a parallel. The way that she was describing her project was very similar

103

EXPERIENCE

Komila Rakhimova presents her work to Len Charney, Dean of Practice, and Victoria Hallinan, former Director of Liberal Studies

"Our school offers many different venues of exploration for design thinkers and doers. Here, there are multiple ways to engage in learning - through practical application grounded upon deep thinking rooted in theory. And from that literal practice, something sparks - that we are able to deliver both sides of the study. This publication is an opportunity to re-think about how we learn."

- Hamze Machmouchi, BArch

104

"A place, a platform, and mindset where individuals can share, inspire and get inspired by work produced by others."

- Alexandre Costa, BArch

to the way that she perceived space and photography. The fact that I was able to correlate this and notice this was a special moment. And I think that was one of the most exciting moments that I had while at school.

Alexandre Costa This publication endeavor pushes you outside of your limits as a member of the student body.

In the curation process, for instance, one is required to be in touch with students in order to collect materials and/or to simply explain the essence of this effort - as simple as it sounds, some students have difficulty grasping the broad spectrum of possibilities given by the publication, mostly due to the fact that it was never implemented beforehand.

Therefore, one of the biggest challenges was to engage the body of students into a cohesive dialogue that spans throughout all disciplines. Only through this synergy, one is capable of fully understanding the inherent importance of vulnerability, intercommunication, and a culture of sharing. Conversation Series, born out of the Critical Discourse I course in Spring 2018, provided an informal platform that allows students to discuss contents relevant to not only architecture, but also design as a whole.

An exciting moment that highly influenced the process of making was the opportunity to create deeper and stronger bonds with the community of students and faculty. The class’s weekly reading assignments also instigated thought and investigation that went beyond the boundaries of a

How do you imagine this effort to impact the body of students, faculty, and communities encompassing the College or the wider Boston network?

Alexandre Costa I’ll speak from a personal perspective.

During my first six semesters or so at the BAC I hadn’t yet have the opportunity to engage more deeply with my peer classmates or the community as a whole. Classes as Architecture Studio 3 taught me the importance of giving and receiving constructive feedback, also making me realize that I’m learning as much from my classmates as from my instructor when taking a course. The energy, excitement, and cross-pollination that happened in class made me understand not only who I am as a young professional, but also why I love and want to pursue architecture as a career. I’ve always wondered if that opportunity could be given to all students at the BAC. A place, a platform, and mindset where individuals can share, inspire and get inspired by work produced by others.

After a couple of years at the BAC, you inevitably feel a strong sense of community, belonging, and acceptance through diversification. Sadly, the vast majority of these members are not provided with a space where they can leave their ‘marks’, and some members are simply buried into graveyards of obliteration, not leaving a legacy or any traces behind.

EXPERIENCE

Also, new ways to address the public - the fact that there was an augmented reality component to the publication, and the fact that it could go beyond just the physical and become virtual was also a very exciting moment for me in creating my publication. There is a silent conversation between the reader and the author of the work, but the author is not there. So all that is left is the interpretation.

For my project, this is where AR technology comes in to present a wide dimension in order to understand the work more closely. I like to investigate all sorts of design, and think that books could go further beyond the physical.

print publication. From concepts of the auratic aspects of a work of art, the notion of authorship, the repercussions of mass-production in the Industrial Revolution, to architecture in itself as a medium for propaganda, students had the opportunity to dive into topics and methods that expand beyond the world of design.

Hamze Machmouchi I wanted to start, and of course all of us in this class, wanted to start dialogue. I think this is very important. And this is why I joined in this effort. For us to publish our own work, there is a possibility of the majority of the students to get their work out and seen by a wider community. And this is what the BAC had been

105

lacking thus far. Design is so vast. I want all students to know that Architecture is not just about making buildings.

And this publication is one way to see all the different explorations underway beyond the architectural realm, and perhaps even develop something that would take architecture further in the future. There needs to be a way to encourage people to try things and to share what they’ve done.

EXPERIENCE

The BAC was founded by people who were first of all not just technicians or practitioners, but they were thinking how to make this profession better. And that is why we

had so many great individuals pass through the School like Gropius, Buckminister Fuller, Bjarke Ingles, Snohetta.. All these people came in! And that is because they thought that the School needs to address the dialogue with students. If the students are fed about Architecture in a static manner, they are never going to learn about how to expand their learning in other things. It is important to learn how to make a building. But the design process involves so much more than that. All students here are curious people. They are fascinated by things that each of us are making. You are an idea generator. Ideas come by association. This publication could be the spark.

Hamze presents his work to Victoria Hallinan, former Director of Liberal Studies

"Architecture is not just about making buildings. This publication is one way to see all the different explorations underway, and perhaps even develop something that would take architecture further in the future. There needs to be way to encourage people to try things and to share what they’ve done."

- Hamze Machmouchi, BArch

106

IN THE FIELD TRAVEL • PARTNERSHIP • FELLOWSHIP • PRACTICE FACULTY • BEYOND THE BAC

TEMP

Let's take a look at what happens beyond the walls of the classroom.

Here we uncover institutional partnerships, travel studios and fellowships, as well as work in the field.

Dutch Parallel Studio with Academie van Bouwkunst Pakistan Partnership with National College of Arts Medellin Travel Studio with Universidad Pontificia Bolivariana Fontainebleau Travel Fellowship with Ashlee Ortstadt Gateway & EDCO Grant Recipient Junko Yamamoto on Ghana Installation Gateway Student perspective by Cenxue Wang

107

DUTCH PARALLEL STUDIO

With Academie van Bouwkunst on Climate Resilience

IN THE FIELD

In the Fall semesters of 2018 and 2019, the BAC and Academie van Bouwkunst Amsterdam ran parallel studios that focus on Climate Resilience. Faculty and students in Architecture and Landscape Architecture collaborated with each other to discuss the meaning of climate change and our role as designers to build resiliency.

From Amsterdam, Pieter Jannink and Txell Blanco, instructors at the Amsterdam Academie, and Billy Nolan, researcher and faculty member at the Netherlands Architecture Institute Rotterdam arrived in Boston in the Fall semester of 2018 to collaborate with BAC students and faculty members Arlen Stawasz and Tyler Hinckley, resiliency strategist and project architects at Perkins + Will Boston. The team worked with the Rockefeller Academies National Disaster Resilience Toolkit to understand chronic stressors of the Boston Metro Region. The workshop was also partnered with Neighborhood of Affordable Housing (NOAH) of East Boston for an enriching dialogue on risk, community needs, and future possibilities.

"In order to understand nature and climate change, we must design and build for it."

- Arlen Stawasz,

BAC Alumnus & Studio Faculty

In the Fall semester of 2019, nine BAC students traveled to Amsterdam with their instructors Arlen and Tyler to investigate vulnerable sites in Amsterdam. The week-long trip was met with climate experts as well as students from the Amsterdam Academie to brainstorm and think through design solutions that address the rapidly changing current climate. Upon their return, students will work towards designing projects that provide innovative strategies for a cimately sustainable future.

The BAC and the Amsterdam Acadmie share a long history, with a partnership that began over 50 years and ago and continues to thrive today. This institutional exchange provides an opportune moment to open up dialogue to shape the futures of Boston and Amsterdam.

Travel and programming of this parallel studio was generously supported by the Dutch Culture USA from the Kingdom of Netherlands, Perkins + Will, and BAC Alumni Donations.

108

BAC students in studio session

IN THE FIELD

Fall 2018 Resiliency Design Workshop

Fall 2018 Resiliency Design Workshop with Amsterdam instructor Pieter Jannink, BAC instructors Arlen Stawasz and Tyler Hinckley with students at Perkins + Will, Boston, MA 109

IN THE FIELD

BAC students present projects at Academie van Bouwkunst, Fall 2019

BAC students in Amsterdam, Fall 2019 110

IN THE FIELD

BAC students go on boat tour to Marker Wadden Island with Rik de Visser, Fall 2019

"Stepping off the boat onto the dock of the Marker Wadden Island in the Netherlands was a surreal experience. The sublime was compounded with the presence of the creator of the built island. We were able to walk and talk with Rik de Visser on the importance of ecology and the creation of space for wildlife in a highly built world. The future of landscape architecture is in the reclamation of space for natural systems to thrive. The islands begin the important process of healing in a world where overuse has scared the landscape" - Heather Edin BAC team at Maeslantkeringweg, storm surge barrier of Delta Works, Fall 2019 111

PAKISTAN PARTNERSHIP

With National College of Arts On Heritage and Conservation

IN THE FIELD

The BAC-National College of Arts (NCA) partnership began in 2013, when the BAC received its first State Department grant in Pakistan.

Over the past four years, NCA has sent 26 students and faculty to the BAC to learn about the school's historic preservation curriculum. BAC faculty and staff have also traveled to Pakistan to conduct workshops for NCA students and faculty, as well as for students and faculty of other universities and institutions of higher education in Pakistan. The BAC faculty trained NCA faculty in technical documentation techniques, materials conservation, and course development. NCA recently created a bachelor's degree in cultural studies and will utilize the BAC expertise to help develop courses for the program.

NCA faculty and students took online BAC courses in historic preservation and themes in architectural theory relating to contemporary architecture and public housing, as well as the use of heritage-related digital documentation programs. NCA faculty and advanced students participated in short workshops at the Boston campus and in Pakistan to build technical skills in laser scanning, photogrammetry, and materials conservation. Pakistani participants attended the 2018 National Trust for Historic Preservation conference in San Francisco, and also traveled to New Mexico to study interpretation techniques at multicultural living heritage sites. NCA, like the BAC, has a mission to ensure gender parity and diversity in its student body and to recruits students from all over Pakistan. NCA Lahore began as an institution dedicated to preserving and teaching specialized local artistic methods and traditions, and has grown to include the country's leading programs in fine arts, architecture, film and television, textile design, product design, multimedia arts, and cultural studies.

Street view of the Walled City of Lahore

112

IN THE FIELD

Spring 2019 Materials Conservation Workshop led by Rebekah Krieger. Lime Mortrar demonstration given by Kyle Bernard, BAC Alumnus

113

MEDELLIN TRAVEL STUDIO

With Universidad Pontificia Bolivariana on Urban Development

IN THE FIELD

This studio immersed students into several crosscontextual issues presented in Medellín, Colombia, as a center and model of urban renewal and social mobility affecting global urban development today. The intensive workshop was an international study abroad and collaboration with design students from the School of Architecture and Design, Universidad Pontificia Bolivariana.

Through the emergence and re-programming of certain cultural public spaces, the City of Medellín has undertaken measureable revitalization efforts to address the limitations of its socio-economic systems. Numerous innovative and modern civic plazas, public parks, and transit systems have been developed and introduced, opening up the city to make it more inviting and lifegiving. An unusual transformation of the city’s physical resources, infrastructure and functions, has derived in not only meaningful physical forms and spaces, but also of an enlightenment of cultural systems giving way to a valuable model of social urbanism.

The intent of the studio collaboration was to expand the BAC’s landscape architecture and architecture students’ understanding of global conditions and contexts, including natural, constructed, social, and economic criteria affecting urban design, housing typologies, and sustainable applications today.

During the intensive workshop and trip to Medellin, students gathered analysis data and site recognizance for a specified location in Medellin. This work became a part of a final product of the studio, which the students created in digital and hard copy for publication to document their study and international collaboration.

This document served as a learning resource for future urban design and planning efforts across geographies and cultures. This document also presented the BAC’s School of Landscape Architecture’s urban and social focus and its relevance to the design of sustainable and livable environments, as particularly related to public housing and public urban spaces.

114

Las Escaleras, Communa 13, Medellin, Mexico, 2016

BAC students with Medellin community leader, Hernan, 2017 IN THE FIELD

BAC and Universidad Pontificia Bolivariana students and faculty, La Ladera, 2016

115

IN THE FIELD

Transportation Master Plan: Overall

Transportation Master Plan: Node Condition 10

11

Transportation Master Plan Node Condition by Thomas Klein, 2015 116

IN THE FIELD

Map of Medellin, by Chien-Yu Lin, 2017

"Medellín, Colombia’s second largest city, lies high in the Andes mountains at a base elevation of 1444 meters above sea level. Medellín is housed in the Valle de Aburrá, a narrow cut through the Eastern Cordilleras, with the Medellín river defining its central axis... The mountains are Medellín, and Medellín is the mountains."

- Daniela Coray, BAC Alumna & Interim Coordinator, BAC School of Landscape Architecture Site Analyses, by Chien-Yu Lin 117

Experimental Structure Stormwater Management Planting

Terraced Entrance to Park Quebrada Santa Elena Pedestrian Lokout Terraced Entrance to Park Flexible Plaza Parque Boston Reforestation Zone Parque Simon Dueque Retention Zone Plaza de las Palabras

IN THE FIELD

Pablo Tobon Theater Plazaoleta Pablo Tobon Street Trees to mitigate pollution

Daylit Creek Along Avenida La Playa

Site Master Plan by Daniela Coray's, 2018

Mangifera indica Achistus arborescens

Alchorrea costaricensis

Berm New Pocket Park Permeable Flexible Museum of Plaza Planted Creek for Apartment Existing Paving Creek Road Memory Residents Permeable Terrace Flood Edge Retention Paving Terraces

Section through Experimental Structure by Daniela Coray, 2018 118

Triplaris americana

Planted Terracing

Zygia longifolia

Lawn Terracing

Existing Road

New Street Trees Coccoloba acuminata, Licania tomentosa, & Spondias purpurea

FONTAINEBLEAU TRAVEL FELLOWSHIP

INTERVIEW with Ashlee Orstadt Ashlee Ortstadt, B.Arch received the 2019 Fontainebleau Travel Fellowship. In this interview, we cover her experience at the Fontaineblau School of Music and Fine Arts in the summer of 2019.

IN THE FIELD

Studio Review, Fontainebleau, France

How was your experience at Fontainebleau?

I arrived to Paris three days before Fontainebleau started, and we stayed in city the for five days before we went to Fontainebleau. Fontainebleau was a four week program, during which we had projects each week. And then after that, we traveled the countryside of France. I stayed a few more days before I came back.

In the first week, we walked around the whole city of Paris. I counted our steps one day, and we had walked 30,000 steps! It was insane. It was pretty tough. A lot of us were dragging our feet along the way. Part of Fontainebleau was understanding the country and how people live.

We also sketched a lot. It actually reminded me a lot of Citylab! Our instructor would tell us "keep sketching, keep sketching" and our arms would hurt! And you know, some of us complained about it. And this was the week before studio started in Fontainebleau, so they really wanted us to observe and sketch as much as possible.

What was a highlight of Fontainebleau?

Sigh..

You can pick more than one highlight Yea, I think each week had its highlight. We had this huge canvas, and the task was to treat it as skin. The theme was biomimicry. It initally started with creating these imprints by finding objects in the forest and making whatever we want out of it. This thing encapsulated another thing. This is a very hard inner piece, and it is encased by this very soft thing. So the assignment was to sketch it, analyze it, and to zoom all the way in to really understand what this thing is about. And we looked at the structure and understand how the skin peels away and the details of a very small found object. It was super fun!

Then we took that concept and find a similar method of understanding the castle that we asked to work with. I was interested in the servants' quarters, where secret 119

passage ways had little bells attached to the ceiling to call the servants. It was kind of crazy and so obscure! So I was trying to conceptually link these two things that were not meant to be seen.

This was another project that we were asked to work together. We heavily debated on how we were going to work with this gigantic roll of canvas and present it. There were a lot of us, and the instructors weren't telling us what to do with it. So there were four groups, and we decided to section off different pieces of it and tackle them that way. So you can see how different each pieces were. It was fun to see how everyone had different ideas and approaches to it!

All of us carried this from the chapelle to the residence, so crossing the street was a lot of fun! It was pretty great.

IN THE FIELD

How was that dynamic? Of living and working with people from all over the world in Fontainebleau?

Group project, Fontainebleau, France

"In the first week, we walked around the whole city of Paris. I counted our steps one day, and we had walked 30,000 steps! It was insane.

It was pretty tough. A lot of us were dragging our feet along the way.

Part of Fontainebleau was understanding the country and how people live."

It was amazing.. There was a lot of wine. And it was really really fun. The week that we were in Paris, we would bring a bottle of wine and crackers and we would just sit around the Seine River every night. It was really good to just talk and meet people from all different walks of life and languages. We still message each other! And so everyone's invites each other over to their town too.

The studio space was so nice too. It was so messy and eclectic, but it worked out so well.

Cast shells from Fontainebleau, France 120

How does it feel to come back to the BAC after Fontainebleau?

I think coming back to Boston felt like the Matrix, because it just didn't feel very real. I had never left the States before Fontainebleau.

For studio this semester, I am designing a performance space, and I find myself really holding onto what I've learned. Another one of my favorite experiences was at this concert at the Trinity Chapel. This was where most of the concerts were held. We all sat down, and the music started playing but we didn't know where it was coming from. Typically there is a piano in the center, but there was nothing. There was music playing though. So for two miniutes, I was so disoriented and confused of where this music was coming from. And I realized that's the point! You're supposed to just listen to the music. We are so fixated on seeing exactly where things are coming from.

The music was coming out from one of the balconies.

It was kind of comical, because during intermissions you could hear them changing and the piano moving around, and I don't know if it was intensional, but it was super funny. And then at the end, you see this cute french guy with a bow tie, big glasses and he waves over the balcony and bows afterward. That experience was super cool.

They kept challenging how we thought about things.

I've never really been in to classical concerts. And now, when I come back to Boston, I recognize there's the Symphony Orchestra right over there. I've lived over there for a while too. I cannot unlearn all the things that I experienced. So now I'm trying to think about how I can implement my performance space for my studio project and challenge the idea of - what if you don't see the performer?

IN THE FIELD

"They kept challenging how we think about things... I cannot unlearn all the things that I experienced.

So now I'm trying to think about how I can implement my performance space for my studio project and challenge the idea of - what if you don't see the performer?"

Fontainebleau studio space, France

Interviewed by Yoonjee Koh 121

IN THE FIELD

" ... the botanist that was leading the exercise told them not to say anything but to just experience the space with each other in silence.

So we were just walking silently for a whole hour. We were just observing."

So one day, I had woken up late for one of the exercises.

They told me they were in the English Garden, and so I went to go find them. And when I did I was wondering what was going on? Because they were all walking together but silently so it kind of looked like they were in a cult! I was very confused. I guess the idea was that there was this botanist that was leading the exercise told them not to say anything but to just experience the space with each other in silence. So we were just walking silently for a whole hour. We were just observing.

But then my friend Elona from Russia, she started to analyze how the people were moving and she compared us to ducks. So it was very interesting. 'Should we go this way?' or 'should I stray too far?' It was a very bizarre thing to see everyone walking around silently moving around. But really, she was looking at people's movements.

Sketch Exercise in Paris, France

122

GATEWAY & EDCO GRANT

JUNKO YAMAMOTO Junko Yamamoto is a BAC alumna and current instructor in the School of Architecture and Practice Department. In this interview, we cover her currently ongoing work in Ghana, organized by the NKA Foundation, driven through Gateway, and generously supported by the BAC EDCO Grant.

IN THE FIELD

Structural Reinforcing bars in position, facing Korase Village Center

This project started out by winning the 2017 Land Art Competition. How was that process?

Right, we won the competition. Two of my friends and I participated in this competition when we were students at the Harvard GSD. But the competition does not give you financial support to build the project, we needed to find fundings. We were given information to realise the project only if we find funding, that was another big challenge. We need people anyway to construct, to run the project, so I incorporated this Gateway project at the BAC, so it could work out. This organization does a series of competitions... This competition is not an architectural one, since it’s a landmark, sort of between art and architecture, larger structure outdoor.

It’s a space-making project. Other competitions have more to do with buildings. For example, school

buildings etc. Those teams who won the competition who have the fund came to Ghana, and they build with local people. When we were their, another team who won the competition, it was a classroom building, so it was really helpful for us because they have set up tools, they know where to get materials, they know how things work in the village.

You didn’t know in the first place there was this team.

We didn’t know. It was so funny that when we got to that village, it was just the time that the village had this ancestral ceremony, and we had no idea about it. The very first day we expected that we could immediately start working but of course we follow the custom, but we didn’t know anything about it, and the first day was happened to be Sunday, and on Sunday nobody

123

IN THE FIELD

Junko painting with local village resident, Yosif

is working. That was the ceremony day, the local coordinator I have been working with, he wasn’t there because it was Sunday. So we were left alone, in the village, with the chief and sub chief in the traditional robe. We had no idea of what to do. We were invited to a shrine in a palace, we participated their prayer, which was interesting to observe. But this was a really remote area, those people in the traditional robe, they were praying in their local language, we didn’t know what they were saying.

that we landed there. The coordinator, Frank, was the only one that I had been working with. I never got in touch with its founder. Frank started a new foundation in the new village they started to transforming buildings... and we came join the project. So it’s a new start in a way... the meaning of being there, and being part of the transformation of this rural village. They have rich natural resources that they can export to European countries.

They don’t have vocational opportunities, women don’t have jobs.

Were there any support from the Competition sponsor?

Who were the workers?

The competition was organised by NKA foundation (https:// www.nkafoundation.org/). The foundation is based in the US, the local coordinator who works for NKA foundation in Ghana, and coordinated all the projects in Ghana. But the founder of NKA never operate in Ghana, so there some struggle between the people and the organiser, then it developed into some more serious political issue, that’s why this local coordinator started a foundation more for the community, not for the benefit of its founder. It was an interesting timing

124

I didn’t know who was going to be available in the first place. Frank hired several people from the village, one carpenter... They were quick learners, nobody had experiences. They just learn by doing.

And, we paid them. Not through the foundation. That was part of the project issue. A lot of parts were not expected, we didn’t know the benchmark. I don’t know how much we need them. It ended up that we need them everyday. We started the project digging the ground. We thought we could dig three holes in one day

but it took three full days. We couldn’t foresee those things, we couldn’t plan beforehand. In a way it makes more sense. I can show you the final product. Maybe it would be helpful to see the fundraising that describe the project. (https://www.gofundme.com/help-junko-buildin-ghana) So it is the final product. Two student came back to Boston a few days before me. We finished the construction of the wall, but painting was left. So I stayed there and did the painting.

We worked together. For example, digging the hole, the locals were more skilled than us. They were strong and quicker than us. A lot of physical labour. We couldn’t compete with them.(laugh) They were so much efficient in a way. They were entering the rain season.

Most of the materials were local. I ordered through Frank, and he coordinated with the suppliers. So the materials would be there when we arrived. We don’t have time to wait for the materials, so that was crucial. We ordered 2 by 4. That set the schedule of the construction details.

We didn’t know exactly what we can get from the local.

It arrived not actually 2 by 4, some 2 by 4 and half, some 2 by 5 etc. The dimensions were very standard.

The woodshop was really useful. The wood was not the final product. It’s just part of the construction. So it didn’t matter that much. It was funny when we enter the ceremony, we were new and didn’t want to offend anything, so we remained quiet. But they said ‘photo photo’, so we started taking this video. That was funny.

Yeah the first challenge was we didn’t know about this site before. It’s after we arrived and met the chief, then we knew that, ok this is the site. So at that time we started to think what makes the most sense in regard of the orientation, our project is going to relate to the building surrounding it.

IN THE FIELD

So there was the chief’s grandson, who was a brisket worker. He is a farmer, carpenter. The youngest was the sharpest worker. Five...there was another person. Those two are students. That was my TA, former colleague.

Initial I was planning to do a workshop with the local school, but the funding didn’t work out. But I was still in touch with the person in the art department, he was the supporter for art project in this village. Frank was in charge of all projects, but more in charge with the building project.

Did you use local materials?

Interviewed by Yiran Shu, BAC M.Arch student

Foundation wall re-poured after formwork repair and reinforcement 125

GATEWAY

STUDENT PERSPECTIVE, Cenxue Wang How did you join this particular Gateway project at the BAC? I thought it would be refreshing since it was based in a cultural background different from China and the US, and I might have an absolutely different experience. If we build it in person, we will have deep understanding to this process.

IN THE FIELD

How was this experience in shaping your education?

Personally, I found that in reality, there would always be solutions for difficulties that weren’t expected. Building this small project from digging the earth to warping it up, I got to know how things actually worked. It lived up to my expectation, and there were surprises. In the early stage, our first goal- digging a grand hole on the site, took us three days, not one day as we thought (since there were stones under the ground). We were concerned that we did not have enough time, but the local workers were so proactive in both their attitude and behavior, and other locals were happy to help too. With their help, we finished the work right before the deadline.

Cenxue constructing timber frame with locals

How was your collaboration with Junko and other team members? With the local workers?

Our leader Junko arranged everything. We did not need to worry about anything else except our own pieces of work. We got along very well. Every evening when we got back to our place Junko would and arrange the work for the next day, so we were clear of where we were.

The locals were also very proactive and smart. With the help of the local manager Frank, the carpenters and blacksmiths we hired were very professional. They would do things that’s helpful to our projects even it was out of their work scope. I would say not just four of us were in the team, the works are part of our team too.

It was also their project. In addition, they were ordinary peasants, and they were not rich. Many of them did not have smart-phones. They were not well-educated, but their professional skills, intelligence, can-do attitude and proactive attitude were absolutely impressive.

Placement of reinforced bar assembly with locals 126

Interviewed by Yiran Shu, BAC M.Arch student

TEMP

Volume No.1; Issue No.1 FALL 2019

1 PI C C I N BAC

JOURNAL