JENNI WILGA | work sample
CONTACT JENNI WILGA jenni.wilga@gmail.com 280 North Maple Street Northampton, MA 01062 413.478.6762
ABOUt // PHILOSOPHY I am a recent B.Arch graduate of the School of Architecture at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in Troy, NY. I am now phasing into the professional world and hope to further my design identity. This collection of work is meant to showcase my evolution as a designer. I attended architecture school because it is a design field which encapsulates so many creative fields, while providing constant personal challenges. Through this education I’ve grown to love challenges and designing solutions, no matter the restriction. A trend throughout my personal projects is an intense focus on the experience of the individual. The limitations of control the designer has over the individual’s perspective is something I have tried to explore when possible. The user and their relationship to a space is the root of any architectural design. My work in teams brought a design product which I found truly influential. Not only would I learn things from peers, but also could reflect on my own practices. The art of conversation is absolutely key in any creative productivity and try to make myself an available partner often. I hope you enjoy this collection, and it shall be ever-evolving as my design career continues.
STEMMING STRUCTURE Through the use of the Microstation plug-in Generative Components, branching water-collection units were modulated to create both enclosure and interior structure of this vertical greenhouse. Biomimicry of the Namibian Fog Beetle’s shell, Brittlefish’s lenses and tree branches facilitated processes of inspiration. Located on the enbankment of the Tiber River in Rome, next to the Ponte Sisto, the greenhouse facility would serve for a local community which we became familiar with. [Collaboration with Kyle Baumgardener]
AIANYS Scholorship Winner 2010 Computational 1st Runner-up Bentley International Student Design Competition 2010
SUPERFICI VISUALE For this project, students of Torino’s Polytechnico were teamed with RPI students as part of a 3 week exploration of the Microstation plug- in Generative Components. The site specified was the old Olympic Village from 2006, which straddles two different sides of the city, which are seperated by the main train line and the famous Lingotto. The goal of this media center was to create a visual line to the opposing sides. Choosing what residents would be able to see, ie. views of the mountains, and what would be obstructed, ie. the eyesore of Lingotto. [Collaboration with Steve Andenmatten]
BLINDFIELD // PIP INSTALLATION A semester-long collaboration between Architecture + Electronic Media students working towards a spatial performance solution for the sound artist Francisco Lopez. It was the responsibility of the students to restructure the performance and understand the soundscape as a medium. The result was a field array of hanging panels at varying heights, with transducer-driven sound incorporated into specific panels. An immersive sound environment was executed at a 1:1 scale in the Studio 1 blackbox at EMPAC. Video documentation at [http://vimeo.com/31888701]
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DIVERGING CURVATURE // LYCEUM
EAST
WEST
NORTH
SOUTH ��’ = �”
A six week design competion for a rest area in the Salt Flats of Utah. This design offers an alternative experience to the disorienting immensity of the desert by juxtaposing the intimacy of the human scale to the Salt Flats vastness. Visitors emerge from the confines of the access tunnel beneath the highway directly into building as a way to control the abruptness of the transition to the space of the Salt Flats. Program is divided between over-night and shortterm guests by a bifurcating stone wall which encloses the cafe and joins the landscape.
ITERATIVE SKETCHES // Blindfield Charcoal drawings from a class with live nude models. Between 10-45 minutes were allotted for each drawing.
LIFE DRAWINGS
Sketchbook drawings from explorative iterations throughout the group project which became the installation blindfield. These were key in discussing potential designs with peers.
LYCEUM SKETCHES These sketchbook images are the product of the design process while designing a rest stop in the Salt Flats of Utah. These images range from potential views, materiality and organization. I find that these speak well to my process and these images are evident in the resulting project.