IAN WILLIS
select works 2019-2024
MUSIKSCHULE: GARDEN HALL
Garden Hall is an innovative music hall project in Dessau, Germany, designed to be a premier venue for musical performances and cultural events. The hall will focus on state-of-the-art acoustics, a versatile program, and efficient circulation to provide an unparalleled experience for performers and audiences alike. When prompted with the renovation of an old historic structure, it was imperative to keep the iconic features of the existing structure alive, which led to the incorporation of the garden into the performance. The main hall with dedicated acoustic panels opens up to feature its performances to an outdoor audience. All while the basement program gives practicing musicians a place to warm-up.
Connecting Communities: West End Development
Connecting Communities is a comprehensive urban redevelopment initiative focused on revitalizing several blocks in the historic West End neighborhood of Atlanta in collaboration with Kayla Langston and Tamia Durden. The project aims to enhance safety, comfort, and transportation, transforming the area into a vibrant, livable, and accessible community for all residents and visitors. This idea, with three seperate phases, covers 3 block developments, as well as several urban furniture installations and a bridge renovation. Residents were polled and asked of the area’s underlying concerns, being sound, food insecurity, and safety, which were each assesed and led to our design principles.
With clear pathways through the site, a heightened sense of verticality, and design choices mimicing the locations history, the final site design heightened every strength the previous iterations had, providing us with a lush landscape to escape from the dense urban fabric of Atlanta. Proven by earlier research, housing and green space were needed for this site, and by discovering what was needed for this site to thrive, it was only a matter of execution.
Resurgence: Urban Restoration
Resurgence is an ambitious urban renovation project aimed at revitalizing a historic block in downtown Atlanta, with a special focus on the restoration and adaptive reuse of the Atlanta Constitution Building. The project envisions creating a vibrant, walkable, and green urban space that enhances the quality of life for residents, reduces environmental impact, and preserves the historic charm of the area, while also connecting two seperate sides of downtown Atlanta. This project was held over the course of 3 thesis semesters, each delicately focusing on preparation, research, and execution respectively.
Design Scheme
3.3.1 Finalized Design Scheme
