community contours | mission hill, boston in collaboration with Sarah Friedman
creative campus | segovia, spain
grad student apartments | fenway, boston
model making | william rawn associates in collaboration with Lindsay Behenna + Daniel Woolfenden
community contours
This mixed use residential project adds over 450 new housing units to Mission Hill, a neighborhood in Boston.
The site currently contains several parking lots, new and active construction, historic buildings, public open space, an MBTA railway, and several roads.
This design aims to create welcoming spaces for the diverse populations of Mission Hill, with careful consideration of the neighborhood’s rich history.
celebrating a rich history
Mission Hill was built by working class immigrants who came to the United States in pursuit of the American dream. The puddingstone ledge provided newcomers in the 19th century with inexpensive and convenient building material to start their lives. To ground this new project in the history of the neighborhood, the primary construction materials are brick and puddingstone.
designing intentionally
Community spaces across ground floors activate the ground plane and encourage people in the neighborhood living on and off the site to take advantage of the public amenities. Widened sidewalks on the perimeters of the site extend activity and allow travelers to pause in their commutes.
Buildings are no taller than five stories. Landscaped slopes bridge the gap between the heart of the site and the surrounding context. Crenelations break up larger park spaces into a range of scales. The building form pushes and pulls to create dynamic interactions that meld with the topography throughout the site.
shaping the topography
evolution of the building form
How can a set of double loaded corridor buildings be reimagined? To encourage neighborliness, most ground floors are designated as public community spaces.
Upper floor blocks are combined and shifted to form balconies.
The bottom floor is divided into several pieces, creating intermediate spaces on the ground plane.
The final form has 117 units, with eight shared balconies and two laundry rooms available to residents and neighbors for use.
To connect residents of this building to residents living in the Alice Taylor apartments across the street, wide sidewalks with overhangs invite people in. Public laundry rooms on the ground floor are next to sitting areas for friends to catch up as they wait for their laundry.
the landscape is redefined with the changing seasons
polyvalent spaces
the market extends into the adjacent plaza
over function as more dramatic built-over areas creating entry berms.
landform buildings serve as public education spaces
creative campus
The trails alongside the neighboring Eresma River are a serene setting for a “creative campus” expanding IE University in Segovia.
Crochet serves as a vital tool in the design process. Yarns of varying textures help to translate the surroundings and create dynamic forms.
site context
This site is tucked away between trees and shrubs, with the IE Creativity Center to the West, the Eresma River to the North, IE main campus to the East, and the walls of Segovia to the South.
1” = 300’
IE university creativity center
unpaved green spaces
IE university main campus
preparation
slip knot base chain + stitches trim + tie off final form
Eresma river
city of Segovia
Segovia perimeter wall blend of roads, buildings and small parks
Mapping Segovia in two dimensions evolves into freeform crochet in three dimensions.
Distorting the scale of the site and layering techniques represents the project’s organic composition.
Molding spaces, making space
The park is a collection of artifacts, monuments, textures, and elevations. By introducing various different elements, each visitor curates their visit and has an experience all their own.
An integrated wire skeleton brings the topographic mounds to life. The model is constantly in motion, just as a park is ever evolving.
elevation + roof plan
The organic form of the buildings sits among the preexisting trees, melding with terrain. The buildings themselves are covered in soil and grasses, camouflaging into their surroundings.
+ floor plan
Interior spaces vary in scale, giving visitors the flexibility to use them as they wish. Exterior spaces are broken up by foliage, topography, and monuments to create intimate moments in nature.
grad student apartments
The graduate student population has a wide range of ages and backgrounds. Their housing should reflect this diverse group and their different needs.
Flexibility and adaptability become the pillars of the design; one unit type can morph into many layouts.
In each unit, the kitchen and bathroom are set fixtures, but all other rooms are meant to be defined by the residents that inhabit them. Residents have a great deal of creative influence in their space.
This flexibility allows the freedom to adapt their unit to life changes that might have otherwise been difficult to accomodate.
1’ = 1/16”
sliding cabinets
Each upper floor unit has two multi purpose sliding cabinets. They are composed of an upper and lower section, each fixed to its own track.
These cabinets have a wide range of functions and can be repurposed based on the program they are serving.
When connected to pocket doors, cabinets act as wall partitions, creating private rooms.
model making
As a model maker at William Rawn Associates I worked with project teams to tailor each model to fit their aesthetic and functional preferences.
I’ve highlighted three projects from my internship:
1. the design for new gates at Mt. Auburn Cemetery
2. a proposal for the Berklee College of Music masterplan
3. a proposal for a new performance hall at the University of Virginia
mount auburn cemetery gates
The oak leaf gate is one of four leaf themed gates highlighting Mount Auburn Cemetery’s historic trees. The leaf shapes were built in wrought iron, and can be seen in person today when entering the cemetery.
berklee college of music masterplan
This 1” = 60’ model is composed of hundreds of pieces of painted wood and 3D prints. Colorcoded blocks represent programs in existing buildings and in potential new buildings. Principals and architects from William Rawn and HMFH discussed their ideas using the model as a design tool. In the proposal, Berklee representatives were able to test out new configurations and ideas for expansion in real time.
Standard colorcoded blocks represent the square footage necessary to accomodate additional housing and classroooms.
In mixed use buildings owned by Berklee, floor plans are affixed to blocks that can be pulled apart and examined.
Current construction projects are modeled in their present and future forms to represent the evolving cityscape.
university of virginia performance hall
This 1/32” = 1’ model has a cardboard and cork base with wooden and foam buildings. The base topography is painted to show roads and sidewalks, and carved out where there is a riverway.
This proposal is part of an existing masterplan that includes building footprints of projects yet to be designed. These are extruded and made in white foam core to contrast the wooden built projects on and adjacent to the site.
