PORTFOLIO 2013

PORTFOLIO

February 2014

ÂŤPREFAB

not just for houses and adventurous clients anymore

see page 6

the lost city museum pavilion see page 14

A How-To Guide for the Well-Rounded Architect see page 26

STEPHANIE CASS

the

architect

of

this

portfolio 1

see pages 1 - 32

“For me, I am driven by two main philosophies:

FIND ME

I DO

Old-Fashioned: +001 (760) 617-0332 scass.feini@gmail.com In-the-Cloud: Stephanie Cass TheStephanieCass (issuu portfolio) stephniecass.wix.com/portfolio --TheWeeklySteph.blogspot.com society6.com/zFeini (products) zhang_feini

你好!

My name is Stephanie Cass (Chinese: Zhang FeiNi), a masters and doctoral candidate in the Global Track •China Focus (GT3) program at the University of Hawaii at Manoa.

My purpose in pursuing this degree has been, on the surface, to fulfill the necessaries in order to attain licensure, since I do intend to someday become independent and open my own firm. Deeper down, however, is my desire to reconnect to the Chinese half of me and hopefully become a leader in bridging between China as it is now and China at its full potential. Over the years I have proven capable of pragmatic decision making, but at heart I know I am still an idealist and a dreamer.

2

In addition to occasional family visits to China, I have also spent a summer working in one of the country’s largest firms ECADI (Eastern China Architecture & Design Institute). I was placed in the newly founded Green Department, meant to bring together the firm’s architects and engineers under the goal of achieving sustainability in future designs.

After graduating from UNLV in 2012 with a BS in Architecture, I took a year off from academics. I spent the beginning of summer volunteering with CCSD (Clark County School District) assisting in preparations for a massive renovation of several schools. This led into a full time position with Pugsley. Simpson. Coulter. Architects where I worked as an all-around assistant on current projects as well as helping to restructure their proposal management system.

Architecture Graphic Design Marketing/Business Development Conservation

know more today about the world than I knew yesterday...

My experiences in the professional realm as well as several other team-oriented projects in school, including the 2014 UNLV Solar Decathlon, have helped me nourish my communication skills and cooperation in a team environment.

The following portfolio contains a curated selection of work from my past 5 years of design, from academic to professional to personal creations. I sincerely hope you enjoy it! p.s. If you would like further information on projects, myself or an original copy, please do not hesitate to contact me. I look forward to hearing from you!

CONTENTS Curriculum Vitae: How seeing the world shaped my architectural process.

06

04 Learning About Learning: A Conversation with Stephanie Cass

The Weekly Steph: Sharpening the Mind to Humble It

14

The Lost City Museum Pavilion: Pavilion to Celebrate the Nature and Culture of the Desert

18

12

Other Things I Do: Curated Non-Architectural Works

How to Capture Smell in a Box: ... and 11 Other Critical Skills for the Aspiring Architect

30

26 References

3

2004

Tokyo

Honolulu* 2005

California Coast Roadtrip St Thomas

Sevilla Tangier

2013

2006

Beijing* Mongolia** Shanghai*

Honolulu* Internship**

2014

UHM ARCC Student Volunteer Tongji

2015

Adopt-A-Highway Community Cleanup 2007

2016

Shanghai Wuxi Rome New York Venice East Coast Irsina Roadtrip London

2008

2009

Shanghai Suzhou Nanjing Beijing Xi’an

UNLV

2010

2017

AAoR

2018

2019

Help Build Hope Haiti 2011

2012

Midwest Roadtrip 4

Rome Prize**

2013

City Impact Center Afterschool Volunteer

2020

2021

*part of the GT3 program **hoped for

2013-2016 Arch D University of Hawaii at Manoa GPA 3.86 (as of Fall 2013) 2014-2015 M Arch Tongji University, Shanghai, China GPA NA (anticipated) 2008-2012 BS Arch University of Nevada Las Vegas GPA 3.28

Technical: MODELLING Revit • CAD • Maya • Sketchup • Layout • Rhinoceros • Grasshopper • Kangaroo• Multiframe Structural Analysis RENDERING Kerkythea • 360 Rendering • V-Ray SUSTAINABILITY Climate Consultant 4 • Heed 4 • Passivehaus (Worksheets) • LEED (Worksheets) • LBC (Worksheets) • Vasari • Ecotect Analysis GRAPHIC DESIGN Photoshop • Illustrator • Indesign • Acrobat OTHER Premiere • Dreamweaver Language: English – Native Speaking Skills: Cultivated And Professional Writing: Professional, Creative Mandarin – College Basic Conversation Good Character Handwriting Spanish – Highschool Informal Conversation Italian – Family Informal Conversation

and lessen the suffering of others.

EDUCATION SKILLS WORK EXPERIENCE Awards: Runner-Up Undergraduate Super Jury (2012) Competitions: 2012-2014 Solar Decathlon Design Phase (Placed 2nd Overall) College: Dean’s List (3 Years) • Western Undergraduate Exchange Scholarship High School: Dean’s List (3 Years) • Sunrise Children’s Foundation Scholarship Affiliations: VYP (Vegas Young Professionals) • AIAS (American Institute Of Architecture Students) Other: Completion Of Winter Chinese Course From The Hanban Confucius Institute Headquarters • Piano Performer (15 Years) • Certificate Of Merit California Music Award (7 Years) • Knights Of Stardom Finalist (Talent Show) Volunteer: “Intersection & Connections” ARCC Conference Student Volunteer • Help Build Hope Haiti Housing Design-Build • City Impact Center Afterschool Volunteer • Knightingales (HS Singing Club) Vice President • Piano Accompanist To High School Choir (3 Years)

2013 SUMMER - INTERN CMMA Architectural & Engineering Services 2012-2013 - INTERN PSC (Pugsley.Simpson.Coulter. Architects) As-Built Verification, Site Visits, Construction Document Red-Lines, Drafting, RFP Responses, Competitions, Rendering, Client Presentations Internally: Refining System For Sending Out Proposals, Tracking And Analyzing Proposal Success Rate, Tracking Monthly Revenue Goals 2012 SUMMER - VOLUNTEER INTERN CCSD (CLARK COUNTY SCHOOL DISTRICT) Renovation Assessments, School Board Meetings, Cost Estimation, Site Visits 2010 SUMMER - GREEN DEPT. INTERN ECADI (Eastern Chinese Architecture & Design Institute) Research: Tall Building Sustainability Office: Proofreading English Translations (Brochures, Reports, Etc.), Logo/Slogan Design, Experience In FirmTo-Firm Business Meetings 2009-2013 - GRAPHIC DESIGNER QUADJACKS POKER NEWS MEDIA Logos, Maps, Brochures, Banner Ads, Proposed Magazine

HONORS & ACTIVITIES You’d be surprised how far that gets you.” ― Neil deGrasse Tyson 5

Learning About Learning

A CONVERSATION WITH STEPHANIE CASS When asking an architect what type of buildings they would like to design, a school is rarely the first off any young architect’s tongue. Stephanie Cass was no different, but, over the course of a single semester, clicked so well with the field that she is now applying to the only graduate focus in educational facilities in the country. In an interview with PORTFOLIO magazine, Stephanie explains what she did that semester and why it got her hooked:

6

Basic Panels

Opposite: exploded axon of all the components of the DIY system. Colored arcs describe areas of overlap between the panel types.

For example, strucutural, special function panels can be something like built-in cubbies (1) or a miniature kitchen (2). Special function exterior finish panels, on the other hand, are things like a climbing wall (3) or a canvas-covered bench (4).

Structural Panels

Roofs

2

1

3

Special Function Panels

Floors 4

Exterior Finish Panels

7

Catalogue: all the information of the semester, including the diagrams below, and all components and recomended combinations were compiled into a single booklet. For example, the second spread describes different carts in terms of physical dimension as well as function.

Tell us a little bit about that what can really hold a student back. semester. Which semester was it Some are small details, like the fact and what changed your mind? that the brain needs to rest after learning 7 new pieces of information It was a studio class with Kevin Kemner in order to transfer them from the that I took in my last undergraduate short term memory to the long term semester, in the spring of 2012. memory. Other more fundamental Kemner is one of those teachers facts included the idea that the brains everyone wants to have at least once of this age group were in the process of so this was my last chance, even forming a framework to view the world. though I had no idea what the studio For example, if a was going to be about. child sits in the Well, now that you’ve taken it, same seat all describe what it was about. year and never sees the shapes In a phrase, the Pre-Fabricated, on the board High-Performance Classroom. As a from multiple research and design class, we spent angles, it may be two thirds of the semester defining difficult for them those terms. Although it might sound to understand straightforward, there is such a wealth the concept of of information to keep track of that it perspective. really feels like my mind was opened to a mini universe.

What did you end up doing with all this information? Is that where the Can you list a few of the things you design third comes in? learned from this research?

Yes, there is that, but we also Sure. One of the things I’m drawn distilled that information into a series to already is understanding the way of diagrams that break down the human beings work. Since we honed needs, the do’s and don’ts, the “best in on grades 1 through 6, it was practices” for classrooms. The final important for us to understand how jury deliverables were set up so that the brain is developing at that age we also had to put all this information and what stimuli are beneficial and into a booklet.

Can you give a few examples of information from the research influencing your design decisions?

At the beginning, we were all learning new things as a class, so what we learned, we used to establish the basic guidelines. Room size, for example, was determined by the ideal teacherto-student ratio and the recommended square feet per body. That resulted in a 30’x32’ rectangle. Then as we chose to look down different paths, we also took different research approaches.

I decided that for it to be a feasible system, I had to take practicality more into consideration, like saving time on on-site construction because schools are on tight academic schedules, while yet being flexible enough to change or expand with the school’s needs.

This influenced my decision to utilize a panelized structure (rather than modules or a kit of parts), which meant a 32’x32’ square made more sense.

Tell us more about the final product and what you ended up presenting at the final jury.

Well, product is actually an excellent term because factoring in prefabrication and practical considerations of school entities lead to a final design that looked more like a mix & match catalogue than a singular building.

While the design was a catalogue of parts, I really latched onto that and focused on creating a flexible system of interchangeable parts for maximum personalization with minimal custom work. The DIY School, as I call it, is a panelized system because modular systems were too bulky to replace parts easily and a kit of parts would be too piecemeal to pack a lot of function into few components. To overcome the limitations of panels, the structure, insulation, waterproofing, plumbing,

“flexible system of interchangeable parts for maximum personalization with minimal custom work”

88

and electrical components come in the “basic walls.” The exterior finish, usually a time and labor consuming on-site process, comes as attachable panels that arrive premade to the site and are simply bolted on. Then there are “specialty walls” which include all the functions of a basic wall, plus a specialized function, for example, a miniature kitchen. They add possibilities to a classroom without

taking away too much space. There are also “specialty finishes” which do the same thing for the exterior.

What about the roof? You’ve only talked about walls, so far.

Of course! How could I forget! I designed the bulk of the HVAC and electrical systems into these elements to save space and achieve maximum HVAC efficiency. It is well known that

ENHANCEMENTS ENHANCEMENTS

Enhancement Sample Sizes: Enhancement Sample Sizes: SMALL 8x8 SMALL HALF 8x8 8 x 16

HALF 8 x 16 SQUARE 16 x 16

SQUARE 16 x 16 LONG 16 x 32

LONG 16 x 32

Roof #2: FLY AWAY!

Here is only one example of the roof systems designed to integrate structural stability, Enhancement Sample Sizes: insulation, natural ncement Sample Enhancement Sizes: Enhancement Sample Sizes:and artificial Sample Sizes:Enhancement Panels: lighting and control, and HVAC. AllHALF SMALL Enhancement Panels: L HALF SQUARE LONGSMALL HALF8 x 8 x 16 SMALL HALF SQUARE LONG systems were design to come in8SQUARE 8 x816 16 x 16 16 x 32 8x8 x 16 16 x 16 x8 8 x 16 16 x832 Enhancements can16 x 16 two modules, each 16’x32’. be built up according Enhancements can

ENHANCEME ENHANCEMENTS ENHANCEMENTSENHANCEMENTS SQUARE 16 x 16LONG 16 x 32

LONG 16 x 32

ENHANCEMENTS ENHANCEMENTS ENHANCEMENTS ENHANCEMENTS ENHANCEMENTS ENHANCEMENTS ENHANCEMENTS ENHANCEMENTS

to the specific needs be built up according of the classroom. A This particular system, the FLY to the specific needs collaboration between ARTAWAY! roof, is CUBBIES KITCHEN of the classroom. A a modificationREADING of art and cooking? No Enhancement Sample Sizes: collaboration between ART CUBBIES READING KITCHEN the typical butterfly roof. With problem! Choose an art and cooking? No SMALL HALFART panel, a NUTRITION SQUAREclerestory windows LONGaround the Enhancement Sample an Sizes: problem!

Choose 8 x 16panel, and and other 16 x 16 16 x 32 ent Sample Sizes:8 x 8 ART panel, a NUTRITION perimeter and a central skylight panel in the catalogue Enhancement Panels: SHELVES CENTERS CENTERSmini WORKROOM SMALL HALF SQUARE LONG SQUARE LONG panel, and and other ncement Enhancement Panels: HALF 8 x 8Enhancement Panels: 8 xSQUARE 16 x 32 16 x 16 LONG at 16 x point, 32 16 x 16Panels: 16 the joining there is plenty 8 x 16 panel in the catalogue 16 x 16 SHELVES 16 x 32 CENTERS CENTERSmini WORKROOM nt Sample Sizes: Enhancement Sample Sizes: of natural light forEnhancements the students. can Sample Arrangements: Enhancement Sample Sizes: ncements can Enhancements Enhancements can can be built up according Each have a mode of shading so Sample Arrangements: uilt up according be built up according to the specific HALF be built upSMALL SQUAREClassroom LONG SQUARE HALFEnhancement: ART LONG needs according Classroom NUTRITION 8needs x 16 16 x 16 16 x 32 8x8 8 x 16 16 16specificsun 16 xEnhancement: 32 SMALL HALF SQUARE LONG e specific to xthe needscanofbe open studio that direct controlled. culinary lab to the specific needs SQUARE LONG the classroom.

8Enhancement: x8 8 x 16 16 x 16 16 x 32 A 16 x 16 16ART x 32 Classroom Enhancement: NUTRITION e classroom.

A Classroom of the classroom.

A of the classroom.

A collaboration between ART CUBBIES READING The HVAC system utilizes open studio culinary lab chilled boration betweencollaboration between ART CUBBIES READING collaborationREADING KITCHEN art and ART cooking?

CUBBIES READING KITCHEN between No ART CUBBIES KITCHEN beams and is No meant to be paired nd cooking? No art and cooking? No art and cooking? problem! Choose an lem! Choose an problem! Choose an problem!

Choose an with a heated floor.ART panel, a NUTRITION Enhancement Panels: panel, a NUTRITION ART panel, a NUTRITION panel, and and other ART panel, a NUTRITION Enhancement Panels: el, and and other panel, and and other panel, and and other panel in the catalogue ment Panels: SHELVES CENTERS CENTERSmini el in the cataloguepanel panel in the catalogue Enhancements can SHELVES CENTERS CENTERSmini WORKROOMSHELVES WORKROOMCENTERS CENTERSmini WORKROOM in the catalogue SHELVES CENTERS CENTERSmini be built upcan according Enhancements ments can Sample Arrangements: to the needs be built up specific according le Arrangements: Sample Arrangements: p according Sample ofspecific theArrangements: classroom.

Classroom Enhancement: LIBRARY Classroom Enhancement: OPEN to the needs A nt Panels: Enhancement Panels: ecific needs reading den entry vestibule Classroom Enhancement: ART Classroom Enhancement: NUTRITION Enhancement Panels: collaboration of the classroom.

A between LIBRARY ART Classroom Enhancement: CUBBIES READING KITCHEN room Enhancement: ART Enhancement: Classroom Enhancement: ART open studio NUTRITION Classroom Enhancement: NUTRITION culinary lab Classroom Enhancement: Classroom Enhancement: OPEN ssroom.

A Classroom ART Classroom Enhancement: NUTRITION openvestibule studio collaboration between No ART culinaryREADING lab culinary lab reading den entry artopen andstudio cooking?

CUBBIES KITCHEN open studio culinary lab tion between ARTcooking?

CUBBIES READING KITCHEN ents can Enhancements can art and No problem!

Choose an CUBBIES READING can KITCHEN ooking? No Enhancements according problem! be built up according Choose ART panel, aan NUTRITION Choose an be builtspecific up according a NUTRITION cific needs ART panel, to the needs panel, and and other l, a NUTRITION to the needs panel, and and other sroom.

A of the specific classroom.

A panel in the catalogue d and other CENTERS CENTERSmini WORKROOM of the classroom.

ASHELVES panel in the catalogue on between collaboration between SHELVES CENTERSmini WORKROOM ART CUBBIES READING KITCHEN ART CENTERS CUBBIES READING KITCHEN he catalogue SHELVES collaboration CENTERS WORKROOM between ART CENTERSmini CUBBIES READING KITCHEN

Pre-designed components enhance classroom functionality.

oking? No CUBBIES art and cooking?

READING No KITCHEN CENTERS CENTERSmini WORKROOM art and cooking?

Sample Arrangements: Choose an problem!

ChooseNo an Sample Arrangements: problem!

Choose an rangements: a NUTRITION ART panel, a NUTRITION Classroom Enhancement: NUTRITION Classroom Enhancement: STEM ART panel, aand NUTRITION and other Classroom Classroom Enhancement: ART panel, andART other grow-make-eat bio lab Classroom Enhancement: NUTRITION Classroom Enhancement: LIBRARY Classroom Enhancement: OPEN Enhancement: Classroom Enhancement: NUTRITION open studio culinary lab panel, and and other Enhancement: LIBRARYEnhancement: Classroom Enhancement: OPEN Enhancement: Classroom Enhancement: LIBRARY Classroom Enhancement: OPEN reading den entry vestibu Classroom Enhancement: NUTRITION Classroom Enhancement: STEM mroom ART Classroom Enhancement: NUTRITION open studio culinary lab eEnhancement: catalogue panel in the catalogue Classroom LIBRARY Classroom OPEN SHELVES CENTERS CENTERSmini WORKROOM SHELVES CENTERS CENTERSmini WORKROOM reading entry vestibule reading den entry vestibule grow-make-eat bio lab open studio den culinary lab reading den entry vestibule panel in the catalogue CENTERS CENTERSmini WORKROOM Classroom Enhancement: NUTRITION SHELVES CENTERS CENTERSmini WORKROOM culinary lab angements: Sample Arrangements: Sample Arrangements:

Enhancement: ART Classroom Enhancement: ART Enhancement: NUTRITION Classroom Enhancement: NUTRITION Classroom open studio Classroom Enhancement: ART open studio culinary lab Classroom Enhancement: NUTRITION culinary lab Classroom Enhancement: NUTRITION open studio culinary lab culinary lab

9

Classroom Enhancement: NUTRITION Classroom Enhancement: STEM Classroom Enhancement: LIBRARY Classroom Enhancement: OPEN Enhancement: NUTRITION Classroom Enhancement: STEM Classroom Enhancement: LIBRARY Classroom Enhancement: OPEN Classroom Enhancement: NUTRITION Classroom Enhancement: STEM grow-make-eat bio lab mroom Enhancement: LIBRARY Classroom Enhancement: OPEN reading den entry vestibule Classroom Enhancement: NUTRITION Classroom STEM grow-make-eat lab Enhancement: bio grow-make-eat bio lab reading den reading den entrybio vestibule grow-make-eat lab entry vestibule

These diagrams were the final product of the research phase, summarizing all of the criteria necessary to take into account once we began design.

The first describes sources of bad noise to be avoided. The second shows ways to amplify good sound. The third deals with heat sources and pemerature tolerances. The final diagram lists the visibility needs as well as best practices for natural and artificial lighting.

TYPICAL SITE 2 entrance on street side provides a safe pick-up spot for children

community is completely enclosed for student safety

Classroom

Teacher Workroom

Warming Kitchen

Mechanical Room

Restroom

Multi-Use Room

Outdoor Cafeteria classrooms open up to central open area

Concerns: - urban site has limited space - students must have a safe path to school gym - should connect to the rest of the school - should feel like a community within itself Opportunities - chance to contribute positively to school’s image - multi-purpose space can be used by community outside of school hours (e.g. computer classes for adults) - single-wall enhancements can add function without taking space

visually connected to the rest of the school and to the playground

multi-purpose space can be a connection point between the school and the community

both the warming kitchen and the bathrooms are connected to the open cafeteria area

entrance on street side provides a safe pick-up spot for children

community is completely enclosed for student safety

classrooms open up to central open area

visually connected to the rest of the school and to the playground

multi-purpose space can be a connection point between the school and the community

both the warming kitchen and the bathrooms are connected to the open cafeteria area

The Diagrams...

To test the flexibility of our proposed designs across multiple settings, 3 sites were given, each with different economic, social, and climatic needs. This particular site was set in an urban neigborhood with limited land. The urban density also required attention to the safety of the students, both while in class and while visiting other parts of campus, including the gym to the north. heat rises and cool falls, but most HVAC systems heat and cool through the same vents. Instead, I designed a couple pairings of roof and floor, with the heat coming from the floor and cold air from the ceiling. Air systems are most common but water can, in the right environment, be much more efficient and comfortable, so I designed one roof and one floor of each.

It sounds like there are many details you had to consider even as you refined the essential concept.

Would you consider the system complete? Or is there more you want to do?

Oh, it’s far from finished. It’s something I would actually like to see become a viable system to compete with the 10

common classroom trailer. To do that I’m going to need to get a lot more hands on experience with the manufacturing side of things, detail the components realistically. On the “high-performance” side of things, I’ve thought of making a matrix to define the performance criteria of different kinds of wall types, anything from acoustic properties to local availability and cost to sustainability and energy efficiency. I also know there is a lot more to know about pedagogy, child psychology, development of human behavior and biology. There’s even a whirlwind of politics around education which I am learning about little by little.

Is there more I can do? Plenty. Enough to keep me busy for a lifetime.

By Stephanie Cass (yes, I interviewed myself ^_^)

openspring relaxed in shade

closedspring flexed in sun

barmarked by vertical stepssunny spot to sit gatheringclear space for events hangoutdefined & semi-private

link

new experience of old hotspots

canvas

blank surface catches rainbows of polarized light

Connective Tissue

professor Hyoung Jun Park class ARCH 533 semester Fall 2013 creator Stephanie Cass programs used Rhino-Grashopper-Kangaroo-revit-photoshop-indesign

IN THEATERS FEBRUARY 29th

11

The Weekly Steph Mimesis, Virtue, and Dwelling: What does architecture do? *Response to Martin Heidegger’s “Building Dwelling Thinking”

us that bauen, to build, is really to dwell; it also because we are dwellers. gives us a clue as to how we have to think about the »» inversal of process taken for granted: we do not dwelling it signifies. dwell because we have built, we build and have »» he connects building and dwelling, saying that built because we dwell, because we are dwellers in a way they are the same, because to build is (we exist as existers? If ich bin – to be – derives an essential part of internalizing the experience from to dwell…) of dwelling… so my thoughts are that, now, Real sparing is something positive and takes place the builders (architects, engineers, contractors, when we leave something beforehand in its own developers, etc). how does that affect the nature, when we return it specifically to its being, concept of dwelling? As “users” we can be when we “free” it in the real sense of the word into entirely removed from the creation of spaces, a preserve of peace. To dwell, to be set at peace, except as abstract tools during the design means to remain at peace within the free sphere process. that safeguards each thing in its nature.

The way in which you are and I am, the manner »» sparing is active, not passive… so just like in which we humans are on the earth, is Buan, dwelling is active not passive? Or no, dwelling is dwelling. To be a human being means to be on the the passive occupation of freedom? earth as a mortal. It means to dwell. [...]Building in the sense of preserving and nurturing is not making This simple oneness of the four we call the fourfold. anything. Shipbuilding and temple-building, on the other hand, do in a certain way make their own »» the fourfold: earth sky divinity mortal, presupposed that there is a separation of works.

“making itself intelligible is suicide for philosophy” -- Heidegger I will begin with amending an opinion in a previous response. I commented on the wordiness of “architect-ese” (the habit of using jargon and larger words than necessary to complexify ideas) and I would have extended the same opinion to philosophy, except that I do see Heidegger’s point.

“Making itself inteligible is suicide for philosophy,” says he. There are times when wordiness is not only useful but the only thing possible, particularly when the point of speaking is not to explain but to raise more questions. In terms of format, this reading demanded several scans. First, I simply wrote my stream of thought as it pertains to the relevant portion. Then I summed up these ideas in a concluding paragraph. So, without further ado, below you will find my response to Heidegger’s Building Dwelling Thinking, with my thoughts italicized below excerpts from the original reading.

Building Dwelling Thinking

12

»» he separates 3 levels of dwelling/being: to exist, to protect/care for/cultivate, to create

SIDE THOUGHT:

“mortal” as human… and what is divinity? Then again that is what language is and essentially what consciousness is… the left side of the brain is specifically dedicated to the understanding of self as separate from non-self

»» (home, homelessness, idea of taking ones home within their person makes it akin to being, to Mortals are in the fourfold by dwelling. dwelling, without need of a structure although it is almost always tied to a location, at least, if not »» but are we not also a defined portion of the fourfold by dwelling? also a structure) The real sense of bauen, namely dwelling, falls into oblivion. At first sight this event looks as though it were no more than a change of meaning of mere terms. In truth, however, something decisive is concealed in it, namely, dwelling is not experienced as man’s being; dwelling is never thought of as the basic character of human being. »» Heidegger studies not only the subject matter, but always emphasizes understanding an idea within its context... such as the western conception of existence, taking it for granted instead of asking why do we exist, how, and why have we overlooked it

It is language that tells us about the nature of a thing, provided that we respect language’s own nature. [...] Man acts as though he were the shaper and master of language, while in fact language »» he talks about the switch in meaning, saying that remains the master of man. it parallels a switch in paradigm where dwelling »» okay, so understanding that semantics are becomes an external explanation of the habit, just as important to understand a thing as the rather than existence itself explanation/definition of a thing We do not dwell because we have built, but we Now to be sure the old word buan not only tells build and have built because we dwell, that is,

But the basic character of dwelling is to spare, to to site is much like the mortal’s preserve. Mortals dwell in the way they preserve Thus the bridge does not first come to a location to the fourfold in its essential being, its presencing. stand in it; rather, a location comes into existence Accordingly, the preserving that dwells is fourfold. only by virtue of the bridge. The bridge is a thing; it »» so if we do not “save the earth”, when cultivation gathers the fourfold, but in such a way that it allows is not the goal, are we still dwelling? a site for the fourfold.

chemicals. Our minds are often thinking of things other than sensation or immediate circumstances.

In a speech about her experience having a stroke, one woman (also happened to be a neurologist) talked about the differences in her perception of the world when the left hemisphere was “jammed.” In these moments, she would have no sense of time, To save the earth is more than to exploit it or even »» so his definition of location is not merely a no sense of self, no care for good or bad, pain or wear it out. place to be but a place defined. again with the pleasure. She simply was, and so was everything dwelling, location is a spot of significance among else. Then her left brain would return and she If saving is dwelling, and exploitation is less than would realize urgency, be able to enact a plan and many spots of none saving, and we exploit, we are then dwelling less to experience her life. At some point in evolutionary We are attempting to trace in thought the nature history, this capability to distinguish self from nonIn saving the earth, in receiving the sky, in awaiting of dwelling. The next step on this path would be self came about and it has stuck around. I would the divinities, in initiating mortals, dwelling occurs the question: what is the state of dwelling in our even pose that lesser animals have some sense of as the fourfold preservation of the fourfold. precarious age? self, too, but to a lesser degree since it seems tied to »» to dwell is to exist and connect/experience all, The real dwelling plight lies in this, that mortals upper brain functions. What it does tell me, though, but it is also to define as separate and to receive ever search anew for the nature of dwelling, that is that this idea of definition is important, defining this from that, and giving significance to things. Its »» if we are not dwelling, what are we doing? they must ever learn to dwell. possibly responsible for our very existence, or in If dwelling is so essential and seemingly What if man’s homelessness consisted in this, that other words survival. Then the question is, why do inescapable, then even in doing improperly we man still does not even think of the real plight of we need to define? are still doing it, no? dwelling as the plight?

On Homelessness But the bridge, if it is a true bridge, is never first of all a mere bridge and then afterward a symbol. [...] Concluding Comments: In response to the guy from class, I would have said Only? As this thing it gathers the fourfold. that there is, or can be, a sense of home regardless On Understanding of one’s location. I know I have had to “carry” my »» Everything is wrapped up in its function as much as in its meaning, its own existence as much as I have always thought that way about needing to home within myself when moving and travelling in its use. To understand it one way or the other include not just the accepted definition of a thing life (most of childhood was spent moving between but all past definitions and reasons for its change in divorced parents, during which I had to learn to take ONLY, would be to misunderstand a thing. definition as part of understanding a thing Home with me and create it wherever I landed).

But only something that is itself a location can It seems as though Heidegger is saying a similar make space for a site. The location is not already On Definition thing when he says that we must “ever learn to there before the bridge is.

I sometimes question this definition of human as dwell.” In a comfortable childhood, it seems to just »» So, is a mortal being a location and can it have so separate from anything else. Aside from wanting happen, but it can also be enacted. a site? unlike other things typically considered to be separate, what really separates us from the locations, mortals move. but then again a thing world? Our skin is constantly exchanging particles like a mobile home and a location, but its relation with the air, and for that matter our bodies are mere About the exercise: At the prodding of a professor, I created a blog dedicated to the content produced from my Architecture and Urban Design Theory class. Each week, a set of weekly readings was assigned. Each week I produce a reaction paper to one or more of them. It’s been tough, having to read and write in such volume, but it has been a worthy exercise.

I hope to always spend some time engaging in this level of intellectual rigor in the future. We architects wonder at the gap between academic and the profession, and this is it right here. Few put emphasis on manifestos after school ends.

“to dwell is to exist and connect/experience all, but it is also to define as separate and to receive”

You may visit the blog to see the more of my responses at: http://theweeklysteph.blogspot.com/ Each post is titled by the theme of that weeks readings. Overall, the readings fall into this organization: “Architecture and the Body”, “Architecture and Architecture”, “Architecture and the World”.

13

Pavilion

The Lost City Museum Three distinct stages of human evolution have left traces on the site of the Last City Museum. Remnants of an Anasazi settlement, sustained by the desiccant air of the desert, tease with the secrets of North America’s first inhabitants. Just as mysterious, the skeletal ploughs of some faded industrial era atrophy under the blistering heat. Flashing by it all are the sleek cars of modern cosmopolitans, having gradually made an exodus in search of clearer roads and open skies, the quiet of the natural.

14

15

The program for this project was extremely simple, an art pavilion with both open and enclosed space for exhibition, which freed me to fully engage in exploring the historical, material, sensorial context.

In the design, I tied together the site’s 3-part history with a tripartite of materials, each with a clear structural and sensorial expression. Rammed earth walls symbolize the Anasazi period, a time of living close to or even in the earth. The modern day manifests itself in a crystalline form, prefabricated titanium panels that attract the attention of drivers passing by at high speeds. And between these, thin members of rusted steel tie together physically and metaphorically the present and the past and mimicking the rusted steel of agrarian farm equipment from the Morman settlers.

Functionally, each element also has a programmatic and sustainable role to play. The rammed earth walls curve sinuously with the topography of the

16

site, guiding visitors to visit various points to experience particular views of the surrounding desert. At 2 feet thick, these walls also slow the transfer of heat into the pavilion, which will have no mechanical HVAC added. The metal panels act as signage for the site because the museum had almost no street presence, literally blending into the dusty Southwestern landscape. They provide insulation and reflection of solar heat gain, but more importantly are designed to capture and speed up the summer breezes and to deflect the harsh winter winds. And again, between all of this, the steel members also act as gutters for rain, but channel water in a sculptural way, celebrating the once a year drama of rainfall by turning the building into a larger than life fountain. It’s almost impossible to describe the beauty of the desert in this moment to one who hasn’t experienced it, but this, a place to experience the desert through all senses and all of time, would be my gift to them.

CLIMATE DESERT BLEAK DRY HOT WINDY SUN CREOSOTE RAINSTORM FLOOD CLEANSE CELEBRATION

CULTURE ANASAZI INDIANS EARTH DWELLING ADOBE UNDERGROUND SUBSISTENCE NATIVE MORMON SETTLERS AGRARIAN MACHINERY STEEL INDUSTRIAL FADED 21st CENTURY SPEED CARS HIGHWAY EYECATCHING PREFABRICATION GLOSS

Stage 1: The Beginning Material: Rammed Earth Connection: Grown from the Earth, Of the Earth Form: Linear and Layered yet Organic, just as the Horizon Idea: Solidity, Stability, Oneness with the Earth Purpose: Shelter, Protection, Slow Change Stage 2: The Ascendance Material: Rusted Steel Connection: Stabbed into the Earth Form: Mechanical, Skeletal, Jointed Idea: Transition, Proof of both Progress and Decay Purpose: Connection, Support Stage 3: The New Hope Material: Titanium Panels Connection: Floating above Earth, Growing from Rusting Skeleton Form: Sharp, Irregular, Folded Plane Idea: Other-Worldly, Iconic Purpose: Deflect the Elements, “I Am Here�

17

OTHER THINGS I DO “All art is but dirtying the paper delicately.”

— John Ruskin, The Elements of Drawing

18

19

20

She, Ketel One Charcoal on Paper

21

Flora No. 07

Flora No. 04

22

Flora No. 05 Photography Series

Flora No. 02

23

24

25

How To Capture Smell In A Box ...AND 11 OTHER CRITICAL SKILLS FOR THE ASPIRING ARCHITECT

Over the course of my life I have been fortunate enough to acquire a diverse range of experiences and talents. Most of these have little to do with architecture proper, instead contributing to my general creativity. You see, while there are a good number of books devoted to explaining this or that, nothing quite compares to creating and living for oneself. Here you will find a collection of non-sequitur activities that can, and do, inform the way I see the world and therefore design.

...About that box

What function could smell in a box possibly serve? None, but I made one as an exercise in handcrafting an object that explored the ideas of “connection” and “frame.” The object being framed was not an object at all, but an essence words fail to describe: the smell of the Mojave Desert after rain.

1

26

Connection: rods hold the box together with pressure and release the frame from any structural duties

2

Frame: like an amplifier, the form and beveled edges outline the framed element without touching it

3

Object: suspended, the Creosote branch stays aerated as water trickles slowly through a wooden box inset in the plane above

Learn an instrument; your friends will be jealous.

Well, jealous friends may not actually be a good thing, but playing the piano (any instrument works) can help you in ways you never expected. Music is often associated with math but that’s not where the magic ends! Musicians exhibit dexterous minds as well as hands, and endure rigorous discipline to achieve it. I speak from 17 years of experience, so you’d better believe what I tell you!

STEAL WHAT OTHER ARCHITECTS WORKED SO HARD TO CREATE

As you may have heard, good architects borrow, great architects steal. Buildings tend to be a little hard to carry, however, so you can always snap yourself a souvenir with a handy digital camera. But don’t limit yourself to buildings. I recommend keeping an eye open everywhere you go for beautiful things just waiting to be appreciated and remembered. So, go ahead, drop your gaze below the elevation and admire the koi pond. The rippling water glossing their colorful scales might just be the inspiration for that façade that’s been bothering you.

insta-steal For quickly pocketing great works of art and bragging about it to friends.

27

Waste time and call it productive.

Sketching really is important though. Whether it’s a means for communicating an idea, jotting down inspiration, or an expression of boredom during a tedious meeting, sketches are an important connection between ideas and reality. So go ahead. Draw your boss as a caricature and the magnificent cathedral you had the once-in-a-lifetime chance to visit. Forget photos and connect with every detail you observe with pen to paper.

How to make a wooden do-nothing The guidelines for this exercise demanded that no material but wood, and possibly string, be used to create an assemblage of two objects that celebrate the joint.

Example Shown: The concept was to bring two formally juxtaposed objects into harmony in such a way that they could not exist apart. The celebrated joint of the resulting assemblage was the precarious balance of the two objects. Where the spindles embody the visual and physical idea of weight, the pedestal embodies angularity that defies gravity’s perpendicularity. Apart, they cannot stand, but together they create a just-so balance and exist in volatile harmony.

Go Places I really did visit all those little orange dots. But what’s important is not the quantity, or even the place. You just need to get out and stay “in” the world. The more time you spend in places other than home, the more you’ll understand what humans always have in common: basic needs and complex desires.

And knowing how to solve for this is the essence of designing architecture.

Maintain Your Intellectual Snobbery Everyone who’s anyone has a blog, which means you should have one, too. But “content is still king” as they say, so make sure to keep up with the latest and greatest and remember to check up on more than archdaily.

28

Take my blog, for example. It is dedicated to philosophical and global questions as they relate to architecture. It’s still under construction, however, so please be patient.

If you are looking for a way to express yourself, perhaps making art with a particularly crumbly medium is just the thing. After years of lithography (and left-brained thinking), I picked up this technique for “painting” with charcoal:

Wear your building and eat it, too!

Okay, so maybe you shouldn’t eat anyone’s building (unless cakes housing beautiful dancers count as a buildings). But learning how to translate shelter for a family into shelter for one’s torso can prove exceptionally stylish. Here are 3 suggested looks to tackle for your next cocktail party: 1 The Chipperfield: 1.

asymmetry and minimalism in felted wool

Smear a perfectly clean piece of paper with a good helping of charcoal dust.

2

Rub it in with a paper towel, or your hands if you’re feeling adventurous. Make sure to get all the way out to the edges.

This also ensures maximum dirtiness.

3

Once the entire page is black, blow away the dust (preferably into your artsy flat).

4

Now you can begin painting light into the darkness with your handydandy eraser.

Get Really Dirty, Really Fast Have A Fall Back (In Case Your Starchitect Dreams Fail) Not saying they will, but one can never be too careful in this economy. I suggest keeping up with industries that overlap with architecture, sure as fashion (see left) or graphic design (see pages 1 - 20).

2 The Zaha: 2.

voluminous and organic, just like Zaha herself 3 The Gehry: 3.

crumpled paper inspiration is out, crumpled paper frocks are in

no Italia

1

Aside from the practical reasons to keep up other hobbies or interests outside architecture, having cross-disciplinary knowledge can always come in handy and inspire your next Bilbao Museum when you least expect it.

Speak Gibberish 文 中 This one is a work in progress for me, E lisnhg

but I still recommend it. Not actual gibberish, of course, but other languages.

Communication is so essential to human interaction that it will open doors for you wherever you go.

29

ACADEMIC Firas Al-douri class: architecture, place, and identity fi ras.al-douri@unlv.edu Deborah Oakley class: structures 1 & 2 • studio deborah.oakley@unlv.edu Kevin Kemner class: architectural theory • studio kevin.kemner@unlv.edu Eric Weber class: construction technologies • studio • meditations on making eric.weber@unlv.edu

REFERENCES

PROFESSIONAL Wade Simpson supervisor at psc • principal wsimpson@pscarchitects.com Sean Coulter supervisor at psc • principal scoulter@pscarchitects.com Josh Chesnik supervisor at ccsd • planning dept. architect jchesnik@interact.ccsd.net Michael Frazier supervisor at unlv special collections • archivist and conservator 702-439-4776

Fonts Used

30

Swiss721 Franklin Gothic Typewriter Condensed

謝謝!

GRAZIE!

31

scass.feini@gmail.com 760.617.0332

32