P O R T F O L I O
YAHYA ABDULL AH Master of Architecture Candidate 2021 University of Toronto John H. Daniel’s School of Architecture Selection of Works
Architecture is the art of spatiality; light, form and perception are its contributors.
BENEATH US. Golden Mile, Toronto, Canada To float; an act paralleling the human desire to rid gravity’s individual pull on the body. One can imagine experiencing serenity or intensity depending on how water is engaged; a natatorium may truly become a space for varying levels of passion. The key characteristic of the project derivation is apparent through investigations of two juxtaposing systems; the duality of solid and void as a material and spatial relationship, ties the project to an overarching curiosity of time, space, light and water.
A place beneath us. Where time is the distiller of space, Mother Nature bred a son of no place. When the city turned to blue and grey reflections Of a sky it so little cared for. Retract. Revert to the earth you once came from, A shelter where the sky speaks through portals of light. Uncover. The sleeves of sand and dirt bring you warmth, And the water flows as summer springs. Beneath you a place exists, Where you may return to a shadow of light.
Main lobby and courtyard section
CROSS SECTION 3
Gym and spa section
Athletic and outdoor pool section
Intervention within Toronto’s secondary plan
CROSS SECTION 2
CROSS SECTION 1
First floor plan
Second floor plan GROUND FLOOR PLAN
East elevation
SECOND FLOOR PLAN
EAST ELEVATION
Entrance lobby section
1 - Skylight detail
2 - Door detail
3 - Soil level facade detail
Athletic Pool section
1 - Skylight detail
Corridor typology views
Exterior night surface level
SCRATCHING THE SURFACE. Portlands, Toronto, Canada Questioning the current methods of parcelization along Toronto’s waterfront is key in establishing a typological transformation towards a healthy social network. The proposal is to develop an urban intercollegiate university campus by taking on a cohesive staging approach which embeds the faculty curriculums throughout the project life cycle.
Heritage Corridor
Building network typologies
Campus block
Train station
TREES OF STONE. Château de la Mothe-Chandeniers, France YAC Competition 2019 (Italy) Stone and water. Trees as vibrant as the word is green. The intervention sensibly meanders through the site in telling the story of its ruined castle. A site establishing a contemporary version of the past should tell a story of preserved tactility. How does one choreograph a careful experience without breaching the integrity of a preserved legacy? Sometimes to preserve is to leave alone; restoring becomes the journey that is catered to the visitor.
Castle Gangways 3rd Level
Castle Gangways 2nd Level
Shop
Preserved Castle
History, age and a weathered story. Tales that never speak are the ones to be heard One about a romantic site embraced by the bustling trees of time One about a fire, And one about the trees. I saw the humans flee, but the landscape found a home, They saw the fire and adopted the child. All that is left is the weight of history carved in stone, Silence is age. From the ashes, rose flowers; Vines that will tell you of how they were born; How the trees greet the stones of forefathers, Only then can the humans return to an era; Where trees are houses that float like the rivers beneath them, Where man and earth return to their mothers. The fruit of a land that bears again, Only then will the trees and stone embrace the new.
Spa and Restaurant
second floor (spa)
third floor (spa)
fourth floor (restaurant)
LUCENT ART. Birmingham, Michigan, USA Downtown Birmingham is an upscale center at the core of Birmingham, Michigan. The region is thriving with dining venues, cultural activities and over 300 retailers that have become a walkable district for the people of Birmingham. The Lucent Arts Center development project will create a node in the heart of the city and provide an active social, educational and recreational environment on the current vacant lot. The art center will act as a city gateway and bring new identity to the area generated from its existing characteristics.
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East elevation
West elevation
Site. The site is located along a street wall, on a busy road within the downtown Detroit area.
DETROIT SPEAKS Detroit, Michigan, USA The ‘Detroit Speaks’ centre proposes a building for spoken word in an effort to help revitalize the public engagement within the downtown areas of Detroit, Michigan. The centre targets many user types through; open mic stage performances with local artists, libraries, classrooms and even poetry listening stations for those interested in observing poetry in quiet spaces. Listening stations bridge the receded floor space directly to the facade, allowing for interior contemplative spaces that embrace the outdoor public realm.
Maximize. Building envelope extruded to maximum height.
Solar angle. The site is situated between two dominant buildings, limiting areas of natural lighting. The angled form allows to maximize lighting.
Public facade. The facade of the building is set at the street-wall face to maintain public engagement within the urban context.
Reconnected bridging. Poetry listening stations are inserted within each floor above grade, between the receded floor slab and the public facade of the building. The public threshold is engaged from the interior
Site intervention
Facade section
(re) ACTIVATE THE EDGE Grand Rapids, Michigan, USA The rigidity and future self inflicting chaos of the typical levee wall system has diminished the river’s edge to notions of industrial human centric production. In order to truly reactivate the river, the edge condition will become an adaptable interrelated network of spaces for human and ecological growth. Many prey and predator type birds have been integral in the cultivation of future public spaces in acts of preservation and activation.
THE CLIFFHOUSE Design competition - (class winner) The site sits adjacent to both a forest to the east and a lakeside coast at the south. The program is organized by its public + private spaces both vertically and horizontally. The client requires a studio and library space, which becomes a distinctive ‘crystal studio’ contrasting the orthogonality of the adjacent programs. ‘Crystal Studio’ breaks the public and private threshold within the interior spaces, vertically bridging the zones in an open space to drive creativity.
Roof level
Second floor
Ground floor
PROFESSIONAL WORKS IBI Group - Toronto, Canada Architectural Designer 2017-2019 The following works are a collection of projects done as Architectural Designer at IBI group throughout 2017-2019. As a designer I have been a key part in various projects across Toronto, Montreal and Ottawa - Canada. Responsibilities have ranged from early Schematic Design until Design Development. Coordination with clients and consultants have been key in completion of the following projects, while working closely within a tightly knitted team involving the studio Directors and various Associate Architects.
M3
Mississauga, ON, Canada Residential, Retail, Office 77 storeys
Designer
Lead designer during competition (winners). Worked from competition to DD + visualization renders
383 SLATER
Ottawa, ON, Canada Residential, Office, Hotel, Retail 34 storeys
Lead Designer
Competition (Winners), Schematic to full development of design, including plans, elevations, parking, and heritage considerations + visualization renders
AZURA CONDOS
Toronto, ON, Canada Residential, office 26, 28 storeys
Lead Designer
Proposed various design options, coordinated with client until approvals for DD + visualization renders
DE MAISONNEUVE
Montreal, QC, Canada Residential, Retail, Office 20 storeys
Lead Designer
Design proposal for city, plans, parking, elevations + visualization renders
78 PARK STREET
Mississauga, ON, Canada Residential 20 storeys
Designer
Designer from schematic to DD + visualization renders
700 RUE SAINT JACQUES Montreal, QC, Canada Residential, Office, Retail 60 storeys
Lead Designer
Lead Designer, Schematic design options proposal to Design Development + visualization renders
203 JARVIS
Toronto, ON, Canada Residential, Hotel 32 storeys
Designer
Design options + visualization renders