Multi-Unit Residential Building
Firm: Drumlin
Stage: Concepting and Early Schematic
Located in Chicago’s historic Bronzeville neighborhood, this threestory residential building features ten units with a mix of one-, two-, and three-bedroom layouts. Entering the project at the conceptual design stage, the primary challenge was maximizing natural light in every unit within the constraints of a mass timber structural system. The design solution treated the building as having two principal facades, utilizing the east- and west-facing walls as extended facades to channel daylight into each residence. This approach highlights the aesthetic warmth of exposed timber while ensuring bright, comfortable living spaces for all residents.
View Through Tree Grove
Building Section Model
La Melodia
Fall 2023, Studio Project Partner: Marina Delgado
La Melodia is a place to learn a perform music. The projected is located in the Alfred Caldwell Lily Pool in Lincoln Park, Chicago, IL.
The building draws inspiration from two meaningful songs: Sabre Dance (exterior Structure) and Life Within (interior structure). Sabre Dance is lively and full of instruments, symbolizing reality, while Life Within has a slow, soft melody with piano and strings, representing a desired emotion. The exterior structure mirrors a musician’s journey, while the interior wood structure captures a dreamlike experience.
Conceptual Structural Section
Life Within by Jorge Mendez Sabre Dance by London Symphony Orchestra
Axial Structure: Braced Frame
Bending Structure: Bending Member
Axial Structure: Folded Plates
Bending Structure: Catenary
Practice Rooms Corridor
Recital Hall
Outdoor Performance Hall
Ground Floor
Second Floor
The Leave
Fall 2022, Studio Project Partner: Marina Delgado
The Leave is a “field house without a field”. The primary program is contemporary Dance, and the building is designed for the Chicago Park District.
The building takes cues from contemporary dance, with its unique design featuring connected rectangular volumes around a central transparent core. Distinct floor heights create a hierarchy, giving dance studios a special prominence. Ramps make it easy to move around, and natural light floods in, creating an inspiring atmosphere. In the darker studios, colored lighting sets a more intimate mood, allowing dancers to express a range of emotions.
Movement of Dancers
Model Making
I like to build things with my hands, it brings me joy.
Alternative Chair Design, Fall 2024
First Mock-up Iteration
Second Mock-up Iteration
Seat Diagram
Elevation Diagram
Twisted Shoe Collage
Bronzeville Neighborhood Collage Model
Stacked Book Collage
Bronzeville Neighborhood Collage Model Collage
Alex Sanchez