NEHA TUMMALAPALLI
DESIGN PORTFOLIO
RECLAIMED FARMLANDS
STUDIO
In a region plagued by environmental degradation caused by corporate farming, our project explores the future of sustainable agriculture. Our chosen 6 x 6 mile site juxtaposes a portion of the Rita Blanca National Grassland with a corporate feeding farm. Mediating between these two extremes, our proposal is a large-scale integrated crop and livestock system (ICLS). Since this system has never been implemented at a large scale, the sheds also act as research facilities. The scattered agricultural sheds are designed
to accommodate the seasonally changing animal grazing, crop growth, and research programs. The building includes residential spaces, research laboratories, as well as a double-height adaptable barn, which can house humans, cows, or large machinery. The insulation and ventilation systems change throughout the project depending on the occupants. This creates various thicknesses of enclosure ranging from the mesh-like screen to the thick hay insulated dormitory walls.
* While the design was a collaborative effort, I produced all the included drawings.
team*
Andrea De Haro and Charlotte Bascombe course | arc 407 professor | Adam Frampton
Harvest Season: September - November Planting Season: March - May
Grazing Season: December - February Pasture Season: June - August
* 1 ICON = 15,000 TONS OF CROPS
The map on the left illustrates the massive crop outputs and infrastructures of corporate farming that have taken over the Great Plains. The aerial image shows our site in the northeast of Texas, and the dichotomy between the feeding farm and the grassland. The site section below shows how the scattered research facilities are situated along the pivot farms. The detail drawings explain how central pivot irrigation works and how the eroded soil conditions from unsustainable farming practices can be rehabilitated after ICLS farming is implemented.
SPACE FOR THE DISPLACED STUDIO
This project is located along the intersection of Adam Clayton Powell Boulevard & 125th street, which was the site of many historic activism movements. The recent contentious rezoning of 125th street positioned our intervention at a crucial setting amid the current gentrification in Harlem. This redevelopment displaced over seventy local businesses and many street vendors who did not own any property. Our project aims to allow these local vendors and businesses to reclaim their place in Harlem by
formalizing a market and including storefronts for small businesses to own. The massing strategy uses a large cantilever to engage the adjacent plaza, and carves a void within the building to connect the largely developed 125th street with the quieter 126th street. Our design also employs modular market carts and an operable facade to create adaptable market experiences. Additionally, the exhibition and event space on the top floor would educate the public about activism movements in Harlem.
COVID-19
ALLEY MARKET
team* Mariana Munoz course | arc 307 professor | Daekwon Park
This initial research focused on the effects of gentrification and the history of activism in Harlem. The first diagram shows the contentious rezoning of 125th street. Many small businesses and manufacturers were replaced by large scale commercial and residential construction. The Harlem locals have pushed back against these top down planning attempts, which often end up forcing locals out of their community due to skyrocketing living costs. The site research examined the two main streets adjacent to the site, which showed how many local businesses along MLK Blvd have been replaced by large chain stores. Based on these analyses, formalized vendor spaces and small business storefronts were crucial to our proposal.
UNNATURAL NATURE STUDIO
This project challenges what is considered natural by creating spaces that reframe abandoned infrastructure as part of landscape, and allowing for symbiotic interactions between humans and the new organic conditions. The site is adjacent to an abandoned loading facility at skytop quarry on South campus. The site analysis exhibits how the ruins of weathered infrastructure have led to “new wild” conditions. This “new wild” is no longer untouched, but a result of infrastructure weathering into nature for an extended period of time. This project integrates with the non-
pristine nature on the site by fostering the current overgrowth patterns. The design architecturally and programmatically curates relationships between the building and the site. The top portion of the building uses light timber framing aligned with the existing grid to allow for vertical overgrowth to continue to penetrate the building. The concrete addition to the building further explores the horizontal relationship between the ground and building that exists in the original structure.
team* Zarah Durst course | arc 409 professor | Joon Ma
* While the design was a collaborative effort, I produced all the included drawings except for the section perspective.
SEEKING ASYLUM RESEARCH
This ongoing research aims to use code violations, shelter renovations, and policies to analyze the quality of care unaccompanied migrants receive in Texas shelters. The first phase of this project consisted of a literature review to understand the constantly changing immigration policies that affect the process of seeking asylum for migrants crossing the southern border of the United States. The increased amount of unaccompanied minor crossings has led to private nonprofit companies developing a multi-million dollar industry to provide shelter for these
migrants. The state of Texas has the highest concentration of shelters, which makes it a crucial case study. Southern cities, such as Brownsville, have a significant amount of unaccompanied minor shelters owned by nonprofits such as Southwest Keys and BCFS. In addition to the urban scale investigation, I examined individual shelters. The Casa Padre shelter houses thousands of minors, and is run by Southwest Keys in a converted Walmart. The presumptive section of the shelter illustrates the requirements outlined by the Flores Agreement and Texas State Health Codes. advisor Lori Brown publication Youth Circulations
MELA & THE CITY RESEARCH
The largest mela, or gathering of people, in the world is the Kumbh Mela in Prayagraj, India. This religious pilgrammage occurs at various scales each year, but the most attended ones happen every six and twelve years, with about 70 million people attending in 2013 and 120 million people attending in 2019. To support this massive influx of people, a temporary megacity is constructed on the floodplain of the Ganges river to operate for the 55 day festival. The city includes transportation infrastructure, sewage systems, and even security networks. The districts are planned to fit within a loose
grid framework, but the occupants have the spatial agency to determine their individual arrangements. After the event, the city is immediately deconstructed and the land is used for agriculture. This is an extraordinary example of flexible urbanism and architecture that is designed to be disassembled. This temporary city and its symbiotic relationship with Prayagraj is analyzed through ethnographic on-site research as well as visual analyses. By analyzing this extreme form of ephemeral design, this thesis aims to apply similar spatial strategies to emergency situations.
course | thesis advisor | Abingo Wu
OPEN STREETS
PROFESSIONAL
The Loisaida Open Streets Community Coalition aims to reclaim Avenue B as a public space for local residents free of dangerous automobile traffic. In the summer, this organization programs the avenue with various events. However, the existing street barriers were constantly being moved out of place and were not effectively blocking traffic. The Design Advocates team came up with a three part solution to address this issue. The first element is a rubber speed cushion to create a physical and visual reminder for cars to slow down, which would not obstruct emergency
vehicles. The second part is a planter barrier with an attached fiberglass rolling gate. These would be fixed on the street and the gates could be rolled out for various events. Finally, the parklets use a similar planter structure and assembly, but would be easily movable. These could provide seating for workshops and concerts or serve as waiting areas for open restaurants. The Design Advocates team presented the proposal to the Department of Transportation to be tested on three intersections along Avenue B.
* While the design was a collaborative effort, I produced all the included drawings.
team*
MKCA, Loisaida Open Streets Coalition, Carolynn Karp Design, Space 4 Architecture, Meg Kalinowski, Thornton Tomasetti, WPM Engineering
MASORO PROFESSIONAL
This survey investigated and documented low income rural housing in Masoro, Rwanda. Gathering data about the houses in this sector was an unprecedented effort that required collaboration between the General Architecture Collaborative (GAC) and local enumerators. By representing the data architecturally, questions were raised about materiality, construction processes and vernacular details. We began to overlay these drawings with data about household income, education levels, and occupation. Our team collaborated to establish extensive representational guidelines, which
were necessary to create a consistent set of over two hundred architectural drawings. We also consulted with locals to get a better understanding of the foreign landscape and the unique housing challenges faced in Rwanda. The main goal of this study was to profoundly understand the current condition of housing in Masoro, which would allow the GAC to identify and explore specific ways to make it more efficient and accessible.
* While the survey was a collaborative effort, I produced all the included drawings.
team*
Julia Ocejo, Amreeta Verma, Julia Kazubowski, & Mariana Munoz
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