Chris McGuire UC Berkeley MLA Portfolio

MLA PORTFOLIO Chris McGuire Master of Landscape Architecture, 2022 UC Berkeley, College of Environmental Design

ABOUT ME I aim to design landscapes that take inspiration from natural geometries and landscape processes, blend green infrastructure with compelling constructed forms, and combine ecological, social, and civic functions.

My process embraces digital technologies and techniques as a way to explore novel abstract forms and define constraints, while allowing for aesthetic and creative intuition to fill in the rest.

SKILLS

REFERENCES

Adobe Creative Suite Proficient with Illustrator, Photoshop, InDesign

Deni Ruggeri Studio Instructor, LA201 GSI Advisor, Fall 2021 email: ruggerideni@gmail.com

Rhino Proficient with 3D modeling, Drafting Basic proficiency with Grasshopper (analysis, form-finding) AutoCAD Intermediate proficiency with drafting, sheet management ArcGIS Intermediate proficiency with handling geospatial data, standard analytical tasks Horticulture Native plant species ID, habitat restoration methods, edible plant cultivation, water conservation and drought tolerant gardening

Tyler Mohr Instructor, LA234B email: tylermohr@berkeley.edu Robert Glass Internship Advisor, 2019 Instructor, LA233 email: bobby@spaceopen.space

CONTENTS [1]

East Cut Plaza Urban Plaza

[2]

South Basin 2050 District Scale Urban Design

[3]

Make Way for Bat Rays!

Park Design

[4]

Battery Theater Design Intervention

[5]

Intertidal Interventions Park Design

[6]

Selected Studio Exercises Spatial Abstractions

[7]

Parametric Explorations Parametric Design Experiments

[1]

EAST CUT PLAZA STUDIO PROJECT Spring 2020 San Francisco, CA Instructors: Mike DeGregorio, Paul Peters

AN URBAN PLAZA THAT CREATES UNIQUE SPACES FOR SOCIAL INTERACTION AND SECLUSION The design process for this project combined abstract graphical patterns and parti models with careful analysis of sunlight hours and circulation to respond to the site’s dense urban context. The proposed site design provides spaces of exposure and enclosure, sun and shade, elevation and recession, while mitigating urban heat and managing onsite stormwater.

The design embraces complexity and hexagonal geometry, following a strict logic of 30 and 90 degree angles across multiple scales.

Broad tilted planes and flat surfaces at the center of the site give way to fractured terraces and steps forming a sculptural relief overflowing with vegetation. The simple building blocks of landscape designterraces, ramps, steps, and planters, combine and overlay one another to create a complex balance of form and function.

TERRACE GARDEN

PROMENADE

FACETED LAWN

RECESSED RAIN GARDEN

OPEN PLAZA

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ANALYSIS AND ABSTRACTION SUNLIGHT MAPPING Grasshopper was used to investigate the site’s complex light conditions. The study revealed a triangular zone of high sun exposure along the southwest edge, and a broad east-west sun belt running diagonally across the site.

Spring Equinox

Summer Solstice

Winter Solstice

CONNECTIONS BETWEEN PUBLIC OPEN SPACES The new park is a central part of a pedestrian corridor that connects a patchwork of public green spaces to the water’s edge. Efficient circulation along this corridor and to the access points of the adjacent buildings defined the site’s circulation scheme.

Proposed Circulation Scheme

PATTERN AND PARTI Abstract graphic patterns and parti model studies defined an initial design vocabulary which informed further design development through 3D modeling

Shadow Paths

Hexagonal Diffusion

Angular Basins

Stacked Terraces

Faceted Topography

SPATIAL COMPOSITION PLANTINGS Mexican Fan Palms frame the plaza

California Sycamores provide shade in the Terrace Garden Pacific Reed Grass, Sword Fern, and Giant Chain Fern create a lush native understory planting Arroyo Willow, Pacific Wax Myrtle, and a variety of native grasses, rushes, sedges and forbs fill out the bioretention basins

TOPOGRAPHY AND FORM Retention Basins

Plaza Seating Seat Walls

ADA Accessible Ramp

ISOMETRIC VIEW

The design conforms to an underlying hexagonal grid, following a design vocabulary developed through pattern and parti model studies.

ZONES

Promenade and Terrace Garden

Plaza

Sloped Lawn

HEXAGONAL DETAILS MATERIAL PLAN

HAND RAIL

GUARD RAIL

RECLINER BENCH

[2]

SOUTH BASIN 2050 GREEN NEW DEAL SUPERSTUDIO PROJECT Fall 2020 San Francisco, CA Instructors: Kristina Hill, Deni Ruggeri

ENVISIONING CLIMATE ADAPTATION, EQUITY, AND RESILIENCE IN THE INDUSTRIAL HEART OF SOUTHEAST SAN FRANCISCO Although it sits at the edge of San Francisco, South Basin represents the city’s beating heart. The district is an important part of the city’s packing, distribution and repair sector, along with light fabrication facilities. It is adjacent to Bayview and Hunter’s Point, neighborhoods that are important to the city’s African American heritage and World War II history.

South Basin is experiencing ongoing displacement brought by gentrification, and suffers from a discriminatory history of redlining and lack of investment. Its industrial past brings with it soil contamination and air pollution. Built on top of a former marsh at the mouth of Yosemite Creek, it is further threatened by inundation from seawater, groundwater, and stormwater.

Envisioning a resilient, sustainable, equitable, and vibrant future for South Basin means responding to the threats of sea level rise, building housing to accommodate a growing city, and expanding economic opportunity, all while protecting residents from ongoing gentrification and maintaining the district’s industrial economy. This project envisions a block-by-block strategy of adapting in place by drawing from successful precedents and innovative proposals.

SOUTH BASIN, 2020

Inundation Hazards South Basin is susceptible to flooding from sea level rise, groundwater, and stomrwater.

Liquefaction Hazards Much of the industrial buildings in South Basin are built on soils highly susceptible to liquefaction.

Transportation Access The area is poorly connected with public transit and green transit routes.

Vehicle and Pollution Hazards Industrial soil contaminants and dangerous roads present health hazards to residents.

9’ Sea Level Rise < 9’ to Groundwater 100yr Flood Zones Stormwater System Liquefaction Zone Bus Routes Rail Lines Unprotected Bike Lanes

SOUTH BASIN, 2050 BLOCK BY BLOCK ADAPTATION STRATEGIES

Taller multi-use buildings are constructed on blocks with low liquefaction risk. These structures replace the existing PDR facilities at risk of inundation.

Blocks that are prone to liquefaction and inundation are converted to polders with floating residential and commercial buildings.

Multi-use development is paired with new public open space to detain stormwater.

Stormwater Detention Stormwater System CalTrain Station Protected Bike Lanes

Constructed wetlands carry out phytoremediation and water purification while sequestering carbon.

Yosemite Creek is restored and daylighted by converting two city blocks into a riparian open space.

A protective levee with a tide gate is constructed at the mouth of Yosemite Creek.

Yosemite Slough is widened, restoring tidal wetlands along the Bay’s edge.

[3]

MAKE WAY FOR BAT RAYS! TEAM STUDIO PROJECT / LA+ CREATURES COMPETITION Marin City, CA Fall 2020 Team Members: Chris McGuire, Zhufeng Pan, Yuetian Wu Instructors: Kristina Hill, Deni Ruggeri

PARK DESIGN AND HABITAT FOR HUMANS AND AQUATIC CREATURES ALIKE Marin City, CA, is a historic African American enclave with a deep connection to San Francisco Bay’s shipbuilding industrial past.

The town has secured funding to convert a lagoon next the the freeway- originally constructed as a flood control measure- into a public park and nature preserve.

To combine the studio project with the LA+ Creatures Competition, we aimed to balance the needs of the Marin City community with the habitat requirements of a specific creature the Bat Ray. As “ecological engineers” who build habitat and can tolerate a wide range of salinities, Bat Rays are critical members of the estuary habitat.

The design integrates the community’s goals of site furnishings and programming, while simultaneously designing a healthy habitat for Bat Rays through water purification strategies and a creative intervention to lure Bat Rays in through the culvert under the freeway.

M

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ED S AC BED R R N TE TIO A R T FIL

FLOATING WETLANDS PAVILION

WIDENED CULVERT

TIDAL MARSH

Pavilion

A NEW STOP ON THE BAT RAY HIGHWAY Marin City Lagoon

Master ofLn dec

The shallow waters of Richardson Bay are located just off the Golden Gate Straight, making it an ideal place for migrating Bat Rays to mate and birth their young.

Bat Ray Migration Route

Floating Wetlands Filtration Beds

Seating Ramps

Pathways

Culverts

1km

San Francisco

CLEAN WATER, HEALTHY BAT RAYS Stormwater from the parking lot is treated through terraced filtration beds before draining into the lagoon.

Stormwater from Highway 101 is diverted away from site and into detention basins.

B

Oscillating Circuits

A string of oscillating circuits guide the Bat Rays through the widened tunnel by triggering their electroreceptors, creating a Bat Ray Runway!

B’

[4]

BATTERY THEATER CLASS PROJECT Spring 2020 Presidio of San Francisco, CA Instructor: Tyler Mohr

A WARTIME RELIC REIMAGINED AS A PERFORMANCE VENUE AND DYNAMIC EVENT SPACE The hills surrounding the Golden Gate straight are peppered with batteries- World War II era structures built to house large cannons pointed out towards the ocean. San Francisco was never attacked, and none of the cannons were ever fired in battle. These fortifications remain as imposing historical relics, monolithic blocks of formed concrete nestled into the coastal bluffs.

This design intervention imagines one of these batteries Battery Marcus Miller- as an open air theater and event space.

On the upper level of the battery, currently just a concrete pad, an ampitheater with four rows of seating would be constructed.

The lower level would function as a tiered event space for concerts and experimental performances, using the site’s dramatic concrete retaining wall as a surface for multi-media art and lighting.

10’

SITE ACTIVATION Upper Theater: Impromptu sunset performance

Lower Theater: Dance Party and Multimedia Light Show

SITE CONTEXT The ampitheater is positioned with its back to the ocean to provide shelter from off-shore winds.

The site is situated along the Presidio Coastal Trail and is adjacent to a parking lot.

Existing ramps make both areas of the site ADA accessible.

[5]

INTERTIDAL INTERVENTIONS STUDIO PROJECT Fall 2019 Oakland, CA Instructors: Richard Hindle, Tomas McKay

INTERTIDAL HABITAT CREATION PAIRED WITH GREEN INFRASTRUCTURE AND PARK SPACE The final design project for LA200A focused on a flat, empty site at the confluence of the Lake Merrit and Alameda Channels. The proposed design takes inspiration from the site’s natural history of being an intertidal mudflat, and addresses concerns of sea level rise and preservation of marshland habitat.

While the portion of the site that the Bay Trail runs through maintains an elevation capable of withstanding projected sea level rise, the rest of the site slopes gently down to the water, providing new area for the establishment of intertidal mudflats, and area for this marsh habitat to migrate upwards as water levels rise.

Rough swales carved along the sinous pathways direct stormwater at higher elevations, and facilitate the growth of tidal channels in the intertidal zone. Over time, the flux of tide water will erode soil and carve out new tidal creeks.

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PEDESTRIAN BRIDGE

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UPLAND VEGETATION

INTERTIDAL ZONE

MLA

CONTEXT & PROCESS Rapid iterations on trace paper explored different considerations for the site- the journey along the Lake Merritt Channel, surface and tidal flows, and transportation connectivity- building a foundation for the final design.

Historical maps, Sea Level Rise projections, and planning documents were analyzed to determine the site’s natural history, susceptibility to inundation, and connectivity with adjacent open spaces.

SAMPLING OF NATURAL GEOMETRIES Aerial images of San Francisco Bay Area mudflats were sampled and collaged over a base map to derive an organizing geometry and suggest potential path forms.

[6]

SELECTED STUDIO EXERCISES ABSTRACT EXERCISES IN SPATIAL ANALYSIS, MODELING, AND FORM This collection is a sampling of work done outside of major studio projects, highlighting experimental and abstract approaches to analysis, representation and modeling.

MAPPING WATER RESOURCES IN THE SALT RIVER VALLEY CONTRASTING NARRATIVES OF ABUNDANCE AND SCARCITY

COLONIAL CONQUEST IN THE AMERICAN WEST POINTS, LINES, AND PLAINS OF EXPANSION

Public Shore

Boundary Zone

Homogenous Residential

COLOR FIELDS OVER FUNCTIONAL WORD MAP

Industrial

Heterogeneous Residential

MAPPING COLOR, TEXTURE, AND FUNCTION

STUDY MODEL: RODEN CRATER PROCESS SKETCHES

DIGITAL MODEL AND FABRICATION

3D Model - Top

Built Model - Top

3D Model - Front

Built Model - Front

HIDDEN PROCESSES This hybrid analog/digital drawing transposes a picture of a simple parti model of a grouping of palm trees, and transposes images and graphics that represent the many industrial inputs required to actually grow, plant and maintain them.

The idyllic image of palm trees and blue sky is juxtaposed with much less idyllic images of factories, mining equipment, water canals, and pavement.

TECHNICAL HAND DRAWING

GRADING PLAN

[7]

PARAMETRIC EXPLORATIONS Independent Studies and Master’s Thesis Advisors: Iryna Dronova, Kyle Steinfeld, Richard Hindle, Kelley Lemon

EXPLORING PARAMETRIC METHODS IN LANDSCAPE DESIGN Computational design can be a powerful tool to automate repetitive tasks, respond to site data and spatial constraints, and iterate over potential configurations.

Through multiple independent studies, studio projects, and a master’s thesis, I have explored applications of parametric design for workflow automation, planting design, and topographic modeling.

URBAN FOREST FRAMEWORK The existing canopy is drawn from a survey file.

Smaller radius trees are scaled up to simulate how the existing canopy will mature over time.

The remaining open space is planted with nested grids at 10’ oc, 20’ oc, and 40’ oc. Zones of inclusion and exclusion define planting zones that respond to changes in paths, hardscape, and clearings in the forest.

Tree canopy radius is parametrically adjusted to visualize the growth phases of the forest.

Final Illustrative Plan

SURFACE ANALYSIS Watershed Analysis

Cut and Fill Operations CUT = -1,184 cubic feet

FILL = 1,427 cubic feet

Water Flow

Surface Mesh Construction

Lofted Contours

Base PDF

GRADING OPERATIONS STRAIGHT GRADED SWALE - 3D APPROACH

Define Swale

Construct Swale Surface

Intersect

Trim

Trim

Combine Contours

FLAT TERRACE - 2D APPROACH Define

Offset

Recursively Offset

Trim

PARAMETRIC PLANTING DESIGN OPERATIONS PLANT LIST FILTERING BY SPECIES ATTRIBUTES STUDIO UPRISJER C[1]UDEA]]R STUDSIOD OPDR UTJ ECOP[U[CO1

STUDIO PURJD ETCD [1 ]DDOT[ADIC

STUDIO PRJDEOJTC[

STUDIO DUIPRPJOEUC[IO1D]IO ANOLC[YTNO1CNPR

STUTDIOT PRJO EC PT[R1E[OTDIUJ ]EJOT1

PLANT ZONING Randomized Subdivision

Gridded Subdivision STUDTIO PRJTUECT

Random Subdivision + Point Attraction

Circle Packing

Subtractive Scattering

by Canopy Zone

STUUDIO T

STUUDIO T

STUDTIO PRJTUECT

Random Subdivision + Edge Attraction

PLANT PATTERNING Scattering

Clustering

Linear Scatter

PLANT VISUALIZATION Low Detail Massing

Projected 2D Billboards

Lands Design 3D Models

APPLICATIONS TO ECOLOGICAL PLANTING DESIGN ALBANY HILL PARK, CA Site data are mapped and interpreted to define a linear planting area based on slope and three distinct environmental zones based on aspect.

Three representative perspective views are sampled through site photographsone for each zone.

Vegetation management guidelines were visualized as planting typologies and modeled as parametric constraints.

Generative iterations on plant zoning by canopy layer explore variations in 3D structure.

Canopy Subcanopy Shrubs

Finer scale variations in patterning and species composition are tested through rapid generated eye-level perspectives.

THANK YOU!