ZHANNA KITBALYAN architecture portfolio
ZHANNA KITBALYAN M.ARCH. APPLICANT 978 387 6696 | 843 DEKALB AVE, BROOKLYN NY 11221 ZKITBALYAN@GMAIL.COM | Z.KITBALYAN@COLUMBIA.EDU
CONTENTS
04
THE NATIONAL BLACK THEATRE
10
LAVADEROS EXPANSION AND WATER AGENCY
16
FIELD CENTER FOR ART AND RESEARCH
20
PERFORMANCE SPACE
22
MANHATTAN TRANSFORMATION
24
CLIFF HOUSE
Harlem, Manhattan
San Gregorio, Mexico City
Freshkills Park, Staten Island
Conceptual Study
Conceptual Study
Rendering Study
RESIDENTIAL TOWER
THE NATIONAL BLACK THEATRE Site Critic Studio
COMMERCIAL SPACE
Harlem, Manhattan Bradley Samuels Architectural Design II Spring 2017
The proposed design for the National Black Theatre integrates commercial, residential, and performance programs. The design draws on the stories of endurance of buildings in Harlem that have undergone significant programatic transformations. Those institutions have adapted over the years based on economic and social circumstances. However, as research demonstrates, the cultural and architectual values of the buildings were often compromised for the sake of economic development. The NBT’s new home is meant to include retail and residential spaces. In response, the proposed design attempts to prioritize communal, non-commercialized space, thus opening up the building to the community and reflecting NBT’s mission.
PUBLIC SPACE
PERFORMANCE SPACE
5T
HA VE
NU
04
E
1
T
EE
TR
HS
T 25
AUDUBON THEATRE & BALLROOM SHABAZZ CENTER 3940 Broadway 1912 Audubon Ballroom building by Thomas W. Lamb, owned by F ox Film Corporatio n
1930s
1965
Used as synagogue for religious services, used for union meetings (IRT Brotherhood Union, Transport Workers’ Union)
Malcolm X assassinated during OAAU meeting
1989
1970s
San Juan Movie Theatre
1992
Columbia University plans to demolish the building and replace with a research center
Regent Theatre building by Thomas W. Lamb
1933
1939-1944
First Corinthian Baptist Church organized. Moves into a loft apartment at 105 W 117th St
Theater undergoes modernizations
1825 Elmendorf Reformed church building by Martin Thompson, located on the corner of the block facing 3rd Ave
Research center built
Malcolm X & Betty Shabazz Memorial Center open
1990
2012
The building on the corner of 5th Ave and 125 St is purchased, after being damaged in a fire.
Grand opening of the $12 mil NBT building, designed by Gerard Paul of GEP PAUL
Building acquired by Baltoro Capital Management, relieving a $10mil. debt on property taxes.
THE NATIONAL BLACK THEATRE 2031 5th Avenue
REGENT THEATRE FIRST CORINTHIAN BAPTIST CHURCH 1912 Adam Clayton Powell Jr Blvd 1913
2005
1983
1968
NBT is founded by Dr. Barbara Ann Teer
Compomise reached: Columbia to renovate the original facade, open a Malcolm X Memorial Center in the lobby
1996
1964
2006
Theater closes down, church moves into the building
Church executes a $500,000 campaign that restores the interior
1950s Theaters lose popularity in the post-war er a
1878
1870s-1880s
1884
1890
IRT Third Avenue Line extended into Harle m
Economic development along 3rd Ave
Church building rotated 90 degrees, now located in the center of the block and facing 121 St, in order to give space to commercial development on 3rd Ave
Parish house built to the West of the church buildin g
ELMENDORF REFORMED CHURCH 171 E 121st Street
1908
Thompson’s building demolished, lot sold for commercial development. Church reloctated to parish house
NBT building expands, housing the theater residential space
06
The public spaces of the building have a landscape quality, with stair reflecting the stoop culture of Harlem. Exagerated stoops and the angulated geometries of the façade allow for the building–street interaction. The commercial space is layed out as a market, mirroring a prominent retail typology in the neighborhood. Additionally, dividing the required commercial area into smaller volumes discourages one large business from occupying the space and, in turn, invites local vendors. The structure of the residential tower and the performance spaces is composed of folded geometries, thus creating unique openings and enclosures and establishing an iconic presence for the institution. 07
WEST ELEVATION
NORTH ELEVATION
08
GROUND FLOOR - THEATRE
THIRD FLOOR - COMMERCIAL
SECOND FLOOR - COMMERCIAL & THEATRE
FOURTH FLOOR & ABOVE - RESIDENTIAL
09
LAVADEROS EXPANSION AND WATER AGENCY Site Critic Partner Studio
San Gregorio, Mexico City Ignacio G. Galรกn Sam Velasquez Architectural Design III Fall 2017
In the neighborhood of San Gregorio, lavaderos - public laundromats - histrorically have served as a space for social interaction and played a significant role in immigrant integration. The majority of the lavaderos have now closed due to shortage of water supply. The project proposes expansion of lavaderos as an urban design intervention. Started as research on water practices in Xochimilco, Mexico City, the projects draws attention to the insufficiency and unreliability of water supply to the informal settlements and households living on the outskirts of the neighborhood. An intervention in form of lavaderos with independent water aggregation systems aims to integrate formal and informal communities and provide agency in water supply management to the local population. 10
FORMAL WATER SUPPLY AND TOPOGRAPHY STUDY, XOCHIMILCO, MEXICO CITY
SAN GREGORIO
N
2.4–4.57 6.9–13.14 14.9–28.38 27.9–53.14
0
1050
2100
4200
6300
8400
10500 m
52.5–100 % OF HOUSEHOLDS WITH ACCESS TO PIPED WATER
Topography lines every 20 feet. Based on data provided by Continuo de Elevaciones Mexicano 3.0 (CEM 3.0). INEGI 2010.
11
LAUNDRY ACCESS AND DEMOGRAPHICS STUDY, SAN GREGORIO, MEXICO CITY HISTORIC LAVADERO TYPOLOGY
% OF DWELLINGS WITH ACCESS TO LAUNDRY 0–21.43 21.44–52 52–67.44 67.45–82 82–100
IMMIGRATION POPULATION GROWTH PER YEAR 0–100 100–300 300–800 >800
existing lavaderos informal settlements
CONTEMPORARY LAVADERO TYPOLOGY
N
0
200
400
800 m
Based on Data from: FUENTE: INEGI, MAPA DIGITAL DE MÉXICO, LIMITES DEL MARCO GEOESTADÍSTICO NACIONAL 2016.
12
The current formal urban fabric of San Gregorio ends at the base of the mountains that extend toward the South of Mexico City. On the lower areas of the hills, ant urbanism – a cluster form of informal settlements – has rooted itself in the landscape. Our project proposes urban accupuncture in form of lavaderos. As these lavaderos expand, new communities can form around the water networks. These neighborhoods emerge around the supply and maintenance of water. On a micro level, the goal is to restore agency over water to those currently living in informal areas of San Gregorio. PROPOSED SITE PLAN. EXTRUDED HOUSES REPRESENT INFORMAL SETTLEMENTS AND THEIR PROJECTED DEVELOPMENT
13
These lavaderos are supplied by water from canals that come down from the mountains and a system of concrete umbrella structures. This network aggregates rain water and directs it to storage for later use or washing stations for immediate use. Concrete umbrella structures of varying height and size make the overall space adaptable to different landscape conditions and create a variation of public and private spaces. Plants and microorganisms in the canals copy indegenuous water-filtering practices as the water flows downhill. Ceramic columns wrapped around the “stems� of some umbrella structures freshen the water on the ground. AXONOMETRIC SECTION
14
15
FIELD CENTER FOR ART AND RESEARCH Site Critic Studio
Freshkills Park, Staten Island Frederick Tang Architectural Design I Fall 2016
The Center for Art and Research is a station intented for artists, scientists, visitors, and students at Freshkills Park in Staten Island. The design intends to blur the boundary between circulation, program spaces, and landscape, encouraging interaction and collaboration among the different groups of users of the center. The design started as a circulation study model of interconnected, partially elevated elements. The convex quality of the structure mimics the topographic properties of the site. The natural elevation change by the river shore is transformed into steps that mirror the angulated contours of the building, reinforcing the conituity between landscape and structure.
16
A-A’
B-B’
A
C-C’
17
B
C
A’
B’
C’
FIRST FLOOR
SCIENCE CLASSROOM
SECOND FLOOR
THIRD FLOOR
ART STUDIO
CLASSROOMS AND ADMIN SPACES
FOURTH FLOOR
CLASSROOMS AND ADMIN SPACES
18
STUDY MODEL
19
PERFORMANCE SPACE Critics Partner Studio
Conceptual Study Bradley Samuels, Irina Verona, Severino Alfonso Rachel Hsu Architectural Design II Spring 2017
The conceptual exercise explores spatial properties of a performance space on the scale of a room for two people. The exercise uses the model-making process as the driver for the design. Folding selected as the primary model-making operation and a single flat surface as the starting point, the folds are simultaneously the structural, spatial, and formal backbone of the model. The goal of the exercise is to imagine a room that allows for a variety of performer–observer interaction scenarios, and thus folding was used to create unique enclosures and openings, as well as changes in height and floor elevation.
20
A-A’
B’
A
B-B’
21
A’
B
MANHATTAN TRANSFORMATION Critic Studio
Conceptual Study Madeline Schwartzman Architectural Representation: Abstraction Fall 2014
The project is an abstract representation of Manhattan. It is an exploration of movement and flow within the city, rather than its built environment. The model attempts to be simultaneously fragile and soft and rough and firm. Plaster shells, cast around smooth objects, are broken, bent, and attached to each other in order to calcify movement in the city - flowing yet constantly interrupted, connected yet inaccessible, patterny and tiered yet unsystematic. 22
SECTION DRAWING
ELEVATION DRAWING
23
CLIFF HOUSE Critics Partner Studio
Rendering Study Joseph Brennan, Phillip Crupi Ravipa Ramyarupa Techniques of the Ultrareal (Columbia GSAPP) Spring 2018
The project assignment encouraged exploring rendering techniques and digital tools not only to achieve more realistic representation quality, but also to drive the design process.
24
ZHANNA KITBALYAN M.ARCH. APPLICANT 978 387 6696 | 843 DEKALB AVE, BROOKLYN NY 11221 ZKITBALYAN@GMAIL.COM | Z.KITBALYAN@COLUMBIA.EDU