A craft-oriented tool library located in Chicago’s Albany Park neighborhood. The building serves as an upcycle center where people can leave unwanted items--paper, fabric, furniture, and anything else you can imagine--for someone else to breathe new life into.
concept work
Themes of looping, whimsicality, and open-ness motivated this design. Like the work that’s to be done here, these spaces are built off of flexibility, freedom, and experimentation.
concept animation
An animation illustrating how the building’s form came to be via playfulness and exploration through ribbons. https://vimeo. com/821891985
concept models
plans
The upcycle center’s program provides Albany Park’s residents everything they’ll need for their next project, including ovens, kilns, sewing machines, paper-making stations, and more. The first floor is dedicated to heavier objects that people can take home to borrow.
longitudinal section
The building’s form follows a ramp that starts in the courtyard and continues until the elevator on the third floor, where it can begin again. This ramp parallels the continuity and life cycle of the objects that are brought into this space--their time never ends as long as there’s an artist to make them new again.
Along the ramp, elements such as a fashion runway and a resting space allow artists to use it for whatever they’d like, whether it’s work or relaxation.
A mixed-use tower in Chicago’s Lincoln Park neighborhood specifically designed for pet owners and their pets, with equal respect given to both demographics. As this programming has never been applied to a tower before, this project explores brand new types of architecture.
“crossover”
Beginning with the word “crossover”, the objective of this design was to explore how animal and human lifestyles can be integrated with each other, rather than the two programming types being separated with a building between them. The result is the creation of “sky spaces”: large open areas with massive glass enclosures.
concept model progression
skyspaces
Interspersed throughout the tower are “skyspaces”: areas with glass enclosures that emulate the outdoor atmosphere for both residents and visitors. Each skyspace within the building contains unique amenities geared toward their users.
skyspace elevation detail
privileged views
Evoking Lincoln Park’s architectural history of highlighting privileged views, these skyspaces feature panoramic views of the site’s surroundings, including Lake Michigan, Downtown Chicago, the Chicago History Museum, and Lincoln Park.
“play” skyspace axon skyspace corner
skyspace section detail
neighborhoods
This tower is divided into four distinct neighborhoods. Each sports a unique identity tailored towards their residents and pets that can be seen in the residential and amenity designs.
4000 sqft
“night” - 3-4 bed. apartments
For adults of all ages, perfect for hosting parties and social gatherings. The roof skyspace can be reserved for holding events.
“focus” - 1-2 bed. apartments
1000 sqft
For students and remote workers, these units are built for working from home. This skyspace contains co-working spaces, a library, and a pet/human spa that all promote mental clarity.
“play” - 2-3 bed. apartments
For families and active adults, designed with space and durable materials to play and exercise. This skyspace includes a dog park, gym, playground, and other active amenities.
“herd” - hotel rooms
Open for the public, this neighborhood’s skyspace encourages gathering via a cat cafe, a bar, a park, and other social spaces.
250 sqft
“focus” skyspace
“focus” bedroom
“play” skyspace
ground floor
The tower’s ground floor and first neighborhood (the “herd” neighborhood) are open to the public, with the previously existing neighboring building being repurposed into a public plaza for events such as performances, pet shows, food events, and more.
Speculative architecture for a future in which the climate crisis resulted in a world characterized by humidity and death. This new environment allows for the growth of new and massive fungi that now support society in the form of medicine, clothing, food, and architecture.
This proposal envisions a system of living that revolves around these versatile and varied fungi to create a tight-knit, self-sustaining community. Here, homes are designed and freely modified by the users themselves to fit their exact needs, rather than trained architects.
concept work
Investigating strategies used in both tent cities and vernacular architectural precedents from around the world, concept work for this housing system was explored via sketching, modeling, and collaging.
site map
Located in New York City’s West Village, this site has been transformed in the future as a communal village that rely on mushrooms for food, architecture, and more. Facilities include a community kitchen, recycling plants, community garden, and donation center--all working in tandem to maximize the efficiency, safety, and satisfaction of the community.
interior perspective
The existing ruins on the site have been repurposed as a donation center and community center, further integrating the community’s citizens into the rest of the neighborhood.
home sections
In this future, brand new species of mushrooms have entered the ecosystem can be utilized in all sorts of ways, one of which for architecture. These homes are as temporary or permanent as needed, and highly customizable to their users’ needs.
Like the mushrooms they rely on, these homes are highly versatile and always changing.
large home - bleeding tooth, oyster, and trooping mushrooms
mushrooms for building
As construction materials, there already exists precedents of mycelium being used as bricks, strucutral members, and insulation. These homes build upon these uses to provide stable and safe living conditions for their users.
medium home - honey and turkey tail mushrooms
hyphae bricks mycelium foundation bioluminescent mushroom lighting
small home - shaggy scalycap and veiled lady mushrooms
CONCERTHALL
Studio work / Fall 2022 / Instructor: David Ellis
A concert hall situated in Chicago’s Greektown neighborhood. This multi-use performance center offers both Greektown’s residents and students at UIC experiences they may not have had access to previously.
sections
Borrowing from the best parts of Greek and theatrical architecture, this design is inspired by both the ionic column and the Greek amphitheater. This concert hall is fit for everything, from large-scale performances to intimate presentations.
plans
The concert hall is equipped with rehearsal rooms, office spaces, and an auditorium with two levels.
stair core
hotels/lodging
condos
hotels
apartments
site diagrams
Although Greektown contains many apartments and hotels, there are very few theaters in not only this neighborhood, but also the surrounding neighborhoods.
An eating space deep within the jungle designed to support 100 monkeys with the goal of creating a “collective, cohesive, and participatory eating environment” rather than splitting the monkeys up at separate tables.
Fruit revolves around the rails and the only way for the monkeys to obtain the fruit is to grab it themselves. Once they grab the fruit, they’re in a position where they can pass fruit around and interact with each other in different ways. The building’s railings and vertical nature accommodate the monkeys’ love for climbing.
A senior-housing system in Champaign, IL. In an effort to reduce isolation among seniors, this design employs various methods to integrate Champaign-Urbana’s younger population to foster intimate and meaningful interactions between the two demographics.
plans
The site’s program includes several facilities that not only serve the seniors inhabiting it, but also incentivize visitors of all ages to visit and build relationships with each other. These facilities include a community garden, gym, restaurants, retail stores, walking paths, and more.
courtyard perspective
The system’s central courtyard is the site of many of its most communal activities. Events such as farmer’s markets, group exercises, art classes, and more take place regularly here and further connect Champaign’s senior residents to their younger counterparts.
section detail
structural diagram
massing diagram
This design is built off of the overlap between the private and public. The spaces created from this overlap allow for more intimate gathering spaces.
