Graduate portfolio

EVAN CRAKER

PORTFOLIO

MASTER OF ARCHITECTURE

EVAN CRAKER | GRADUATE PORTFOLIO THE CITY COLLEGE OF NEW YORK BERNARD AND ANNE SPITZER SCHOOL OF ARCHITECTURE MASTER OF ARCHITECTURE | 2017

FALL 2014

PATAGONIAN INVASION

5

SPRING 2015

VIEW FROM ABOVE

13

RUPTURE HOUSE

21

FALL 2015

WAVEFORM

33

SPRING 2016

MILLBROOK HOUSES

53

FALL 2016

EMERGENT ELEMENTARY

65

SPRING 2017

AQUAMEDES TOWER

71

DECIDUOUS DETROIT

83

RESUME

99

PATAGONIAN INVASION FALL 2014 | ADAM HAYES

In this studio a global cataclysm has resulted in the complete melting of the Greenland ice sheet. As a result entire ecosystems have been turned upside down. Sea lions once conďŹ ned to a limited range of coastline waste no time in claiming the newly submerged streets of American coastal cities. Ground levels have been abandoned, and radical solutions are required for cities to return to a new normalcy. What was up is now down, as global sea level rises a staggering 24 feet changing the daily lives of New Yorkers forever.

SUBADU

The primary objective of this studio was to practice a multitude of diagramming techniques, through the lens of a fantastic scenario.

Each student was responsible for selecting and researching an animal that would be the focus of their project. Once the preliminary investigation was ďŹ nished and a familiarity with the subject was established the task of designing a perfectly suited habitat for your creature was undertaken.

Taking a swathe across Manhattan as our subject are; the goal was to explore the depth of our imaginations and practice using Architectural design techniques in an exciting new way.

ADULT MALES FORM HAREMS OF 3-1

HABITAT & BEHAVIOR

PATAGONIAN INVASION

5

18 FEMALES

DIET

ULT MALES RAID AN EXISTING HAREM

PUPS LEARN TO SWIM IN SHELTERED TIDAL POOLS

GAME AS DIAGRAM

BEACHMASTER A SEALION EXPERIENCE

BEACHMASTER IS A GAME OF SURVIVAL OF THE FITTEST WHERE YOU TAKE THE ROLE OF A SUBADULT PATAGONIAN SEALION WHO HAS JUST REACHED SEXUAL MATURITY AT THE AGE OF SIX, AND MUST NOW BEGIN TO ESTABLISH HIS OWN TERRITORY IN THE COLONY, BEGIN BUILDING HIS HAREM, AND EVENTUALLY ENSURE THE SUCCESSFUL PROPOGATION OF HIS LINE. TO DO SO HE MUST LAUNCH DARING JOINT RAIDS WITH HIS FELLOW SUB-ADULTS UPON THE ESTABLISHED MASTERS OF THE BEACH AND CAPTURE FEMALES FOR HIS OWN HAREM. ALL WHILE STRATEGICALLY EMPLOYING THE NATURAL ADVANTAGES OF THE COLONY’S NUMEROUS TERRAIN FEATURES TO HIS UPMOST BENEFIT. THE GAME CONCLUDES WITH THE EXHAUSTION OF THE SEALION’S NATURAL LIFE SPAN OF 16-20 YEARS AT WHICH POINT THE SEALION WITH THE LARGEST GENETIC LEGACY IS HAILED AS THE ULTIMATE BEACHMASTER!

TOPOGRAPHY TILES

GAME OBJECT

THERE ARE SIX UNIQUE TOPOGRAPHY TILES ESSENTIAL TO A SEALION COLONY ECOSYSTEM. EACH TILE POSSESSES ITS OWN UNIQUE CHARACTERISTICS AND ADVANTAGES TO BE EXPLOITED.

GAME CONTENTS

BEACH

1

6

STANDARD TOPOGRAPHY

5

3

1 BOARD MAP 4 SUB-ADULT MALE GAME PIECES 4 SEALION BULL GAME PIECES 48 FEMALE SEA LION PIECES 30 BEACH TILES 8 TIDAL POOL TILES 8 CLIFF TILES 8 OUTCROP TILES 8 PLATEAU TILES

2

SAND OR GRAVEL BEACHES FORM THE PRIMARY TOPOGRAPHY OF THE SEALION HABITAT. THE BEACH IS AN ESSENTIAL FEATURE IN ANY COLONY. USED FOR ALL COMMON ACTIVITIES IN THE COLONY SUCH AS, SUNBATHING, MATING, SLEEPING, FIGHTING, AND SOCIALIZING.

4

GAME SETUP 1. BEFORE THE GAME BEGINS THE PLAYERS MUST ASSEMBLE THE TOPOGRAPHY OF THEIR ISLAND COLONY. EACH PLAYER MUST GATHER 2 EACH OF THE TIDAL POOL, CLIFF, OUTCROP, AND PLATEAU TILES AND PLACE THEM ONE AFTER ANOTHER ONTO THE SPACES MARKED ON THE GAME BOARD UNTIL THE BOARD HAS BEEN FILLED. ROLL TO SEE WHO PLACES THE FIRST TILE.

ROCK OUTCROPS

1

+1 TO FEMALE CAPTURE

6

2. ONCE EACH ALL THE TOPOGRAPHY TILES HAVE BEEN PLACED EACH PLAYER PLACES THEIR SUB-ADULT GAME PIECE ONTO ANY OCEAN TILE OF THEIR CHOOSING.

2

3. AFTER THE SUB-ADULT TILES HAVE BEEN PLACED EACH PLAYER PLACES A SEALION BULL PIECE ONTO ANY TOPOGRAPHY TILE EXCEPT FOR A SHALLOWS OR OCEAN TILE.

5

3

GAME PLAY

EXPOSED UPTHRUSTS OF ROCK BREAK UP THE HOMOGENOUS FORM OF THE BEACH CREATING SHELTERED NOOKS AND NARROW PASSAGES THAT ARE FAVORED BY FEMALES AND ARE EASILY SECURED BY ADULT MALES.

1. THE PLAYER WITH THE BEST SEALION IMPRESSION BEGINS THE GAME.

I. HUNTING PHASE 2. AT THE START OF EVERY TURN THE PLAYER MUST GO HUNTING BY ROLLING A DICE. THE NUMBER THAT THEY ROLL CORRESPONDS TO THE FOOD SOURCE THEY CONSUME AND THE ENERGY THEY MAY EXPEND DURING THE ACTION PHASE.

SQUID PROVIDES 3 ENERGY

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OCTOPUS PROVIDES 4 ENERGY

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PENGUIN PROVIDES 5 ENERGY

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ADOLESCENT FUR SEAL PROVIDES 6 ENERGY

6

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+1 TO DEFENSE AND SAFE FROM ORCA ATTACKS

5

HAKE PROVIDES 2 ENERGY

II. ACTION PHASE 6 5

3

WATCH YOUR PUP AND HE WANDERED TO THE SHALLOWS AND WAS EATEN BY AN ORCA.)

+1 TO PROPOGATION ROLLS

2

B. PROPOGATING - EXPEND ONE ENERGY TO INITIATE A PROPOGATION ROLL AND ATTEMPT TO CREATE A PUP. THE PLAYER MAY INITIATE AS MANY PROPOGATION ROLLS AS THE NUMBER OF FEMALES IN HIS HAREM UNTIL HIS ENERGY IS EXHAUSTED. i. ROLLING A FIVE OR A SIX ON A SINGLE DICE RESULTS IN A SUCCESSFUL ATTEMPT. ii. ROLLING A TWO, THREE, OR FOUR IS AN UNSUCCESSFUL ATTEMPT. iii. ROLLING A ONE MEANS YOU LOSE ONE OF YOUR EXISTING PUPS. (YOU WERE TOO “BUSY” TO

TIDAL POOLS

1

3. THE PLAYER THEN EXPENDS THE ENERGY GAINED IN THE HUNTING PHASE BY EITHER: A. MOVING - BY EXPENDING ONE ENERGY POINT TO MOVE ONE TILE IN ANY DIRECTION.

EXPOSED UPTHRUSTS OF ROCK BREAK UP THE HOMOGENOUS FORM OF THE BEACH CREATING SHELTERED NOOKS AND NARROW PASSAGES THAT ARE FAVORED BY FEMALES AND ARE EASILY SECURED BY ADULT MALES.

THE TIDAL POOL IS AN ESSENTIAL COMPONENT TO THE SUCCESSFUL BIRTH AND RAISING OF SEALION PUPS. THE COOL POOLS PROVIDE A PERFECT PLACE FOR EXPECTANT MOTHERS TO REGULATE THEIR BODY TEMPERATURE, AND ONCE THE PUP IS BORN PROVIDES A SAFE PLACE FOR IT TO FIRST LEARN TO SWIM AND HUNT

4

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ROCK PLATEAUS

1

4

LOBSTER KRILL PROVIDES 1 ENERGY

3

=

2

“Beachmaster is a game of survival of the fittest where you take the role of a sub-adult Patagonian Sea lion who has just reached sexual maturity at the age of six. He must now begin to establish his own territory in the colony, begin building his own harem, and eventually ensure the successful propagation of his line. To do so he must launch daring joint raids with his fellow sub-adults upon the established masters of the beach and capture females for his own harem; all while strategically employing the natural advantages of the colony’s numerous terrain features to his utmost advantage. The game concludes with the exhaustion of the Sea lion’s natural life span of 16-20 years at which point the Sea lion with the largest genetic legacy is hailed as the Ultimate Beachmaster!”

4 PLAYERS MUST BATTLE THE EXISTING BEACHMASTERS AND ONE ANOTHER TO ACCUMULATE A HAREM AND BREED THE MOST PUPS BY THE CONCLUSION OF 14 TURNS.

4

At this stage of the design process the results of my research was used to create a board game that served as a diagram for a day in the life of a Patagonian Sea Lion. Thus Beachmaster was born.

C. ATTACKING - IF A PLAYER IS ADJACENT TO ANOTHER PLAYER’S OR BEACHMASTER’S TERRITORY HE MAY EXPEND ONE ENERGY TO INITIATE AN ATTACK THAT WILL BE RESOLVED IN THE COMBAT PHASE.

III. BEACHMASTER PHASE 4. AFTER EVERY PLAYER HAS FINISHED HIS ACTION PHASE THE BEACHMASTER PHASE BEGINS WHERE THE BEACHMASTERS PATROL THE COLONY AND THREE THINGS CAN OCCUR. A. IF THE BEACHMASTER HAS NOT BEEN INITIATED INTO COMBAT BY A PLAYER HE ENTERS PATROL MODE. A DICE IS ROLLED TO DECIDE THE DIRECTION OF HIS PATROL, CORRESPONDING TO THE NUMBER ON THE TOPOGRAPHY TILE, AND THEN RE-ROLLED TO ESTABLISH THE DISTANCE TRAVELLED ON HIS PATROL. B. IF THE BEACHMASTER RUNS INTO A PLAYER’S TERRITORY A BATTLE WILL BE AUTOMATICALLY JOINED IN THE COMBAT PHASE.

CLIFFS

OBSTRUCTS ALL MOVEMENT THE CLIFF FACE FORMS THE BACK BONE OF MOST SEALION COLONIES. IT PROVIDES A CONVENIENT BACKDROP OF PROTECTION FROM LAND PREDATORS, SUCH AS THE PUMA. GENERALLY IT ALSO ACTS AS A WINDBREAK AND PROVIDES SHELTER FROM THE CHILL AND WET CONDITIONS FOUND IN THE SOUTHERN PORTION OF THE SEALIONS RANGE.

C. IF THE BEACHMASTER IS ADJACENT TO A PLAYER TERRITORY AND COMBAT WAS INITIATED AND BATTLE COMMENCES. 5. RESOLVE ALL BEACHMASTER MOVEMENT BEFORE BEGINNING THE COMBAT PHASE.

IV. COMBAT PHASE 6. WHEN PLAYER/S OR BEACHMASTER INITIATE COMBAT A BATTLE TAKES PLACE AND DICE ARE ROLLED TO DETERMINE THE VICTOR. 7. THE NUMBER OF DICE YOU ROLL IS DETERMINED BY THE SIZE OF YOUR HAREM. A. HAREMS OF 0-6 FEMALES ROLL ONE DICE B. HAREMS OF 7+ FEMALES ROLL TWO DICE 8. THE SIDE WITH THE HIGHEST TOTAL IS THE VICTOR.

SHALLOWS

+2 ORCA ATTACKS AND +1 ENERGY THE SHALLOW WATERS OF THE CONTINENTAL SHELF MAKE UP THE PRIMARY HUNTING GROUND FOR SEALION COLONIES. THEY PRIMARILY FEED ON FISH, CEPHALAPODS, CRUSTACEANS, AND OTHER INVERTEBRATES FOUND NO MORE THAN 5 MILES FROM SHORE.

9. EVERYONE WHO WON THE COMBAT STEALS A FEMALE FROM THE LOSER TO ADD TO THEIR HAREM. A. THE VICTOR WITH THE HIGHEST INDIVIDUAL ROLL ALSO STEALS A PUP. B. IF EVERY VICTOR ROLLS A 5 ON EACH DICE THEY ALL STEAL A PUP. C. IF EVERY VICTOR ROLLS A 6 ON EACH DICE THEY ALL STEAL 2 FEMALES. 10. EVERYONE WHO LOST THE COMBAT HAS THEIR FEMALES STOLEN, AND MUST FLEE FROM THEIR TERRITORY. A. ROLL A DICE TO DETERMINE THE DIRECTION OF YOUR FLIGHT. RE-ROLL TO DETERMINE THE DURATION OF YOUR FLIGHT. 11. IF ANY ONES ARE ROLLED DURING COMBAT WHOEVER ROLLED THEM (VICTOR OR NOT) MUST LOSE ONE PUP PER ONE ROLLED, AS PUP WAS TRAMPLED TO DEATH DURING THE FIGHT DUE TO THEIR CARELESSNESS. 12. AFTER ALL COMBATS AND FLIGHTS ARE RESOLVED THE HUNTING PHASE BEGINS AGAIN.

WINNING CONDITIONS 1. THE PLAYER WITH THE MOST PUPS IN THEIR HAREM AT THE END OF 14 TURNS WINS.

OCEAN

NO PROPOGATION AND +2 ENERGY THE OCEAN MAKES UP THE SECONDARY HUNTING GROUND FOR SEALION COLONIES. SEALIONS TYPICALLY HUNT THE DEEPER WATERS FOR SCHOOLS OF FISH IN GROUPS FOR MUTUAL PROTECTION. TYPICAL HUNTING EXCURSIONS LAST 3-5 DAYS. MOST HUNTING DIVES LAST BETWEEN 2-3 MINUTES AND REACHING DEPTHS OF 19-62 METERS WITH SOME MALES CAPABLE OF 7 MINUTE DIVES TO 250 METERS INTO THE ABYSS.

BEFORE CATACLYSM AFTER CATACLYSM

INTERVENTION TYPOLOGIES

TYPICAL

HABITAT TYPOLOGIES

In the ďŹ nal stage of the studio Habitat Typologies were created that illustrated the co-habitation of Man and Sea lion in the new Manhattan. A network of boardwalks, levees, tidal pools, and skyways were created to ensure the successful co-existence of man and beast.

BOARDWALKS

LE

EVEES

TIDAL POOLS SKYWAYS

SEA LION HABITAT INTERVENTIONS

BOARDWALKS LEVEES TIDAL POOLS SKYW

WATER LEVEL BEFORE CATACLYSM SCALE 1” = 250’

WATER LEVEL AFTER CATACLYSM SCALE 1” = 250’

WAYS

TIDAL FLOOD ZONE

VIEW FROM ABOVE

SPRING 2015 | BRAD HORN

View from Above was a response to a proposal

by RFCUNY to make use of their underutilized rooftop in Midtown Manhattan. The quick six week design process was undertaken in groups with designers selected from the ďŹ rst two week round of design acting as project managers for a design team of six for the remaining four weeks.

View from Above proposed to create a dynamic rooftop experience where the playful array of seating would be transformed into cinema stadium seating at night when a retractable screen was rolled out for nightly screenings.

The arrangement of the seating was intended to create multiple experiences ranging from sheltered seating nooks to public communal gathering spaces during the day and provide optimal viewing angles for the projection screen at night. My teammate and I were chosen to serve as the project managers responsible for bringing this design to fruition.

VIEW FROM ABOVE

13

NIGHT TIME - EXTENDED

DAY TIME - RETRACTED

PLAYFUL SCAFFOLD

Intended to mimic the appearance of the ubiquitous New York City scaffolding, the seating was to be constructed of reclaimed wood planks on top of an armature of galvanized square aluminum tubing and connection joints. The playful cascade of wood and metal afforded a variety of shading and seating opportunities.

PUBLIC SEATING SPACE

Low lying seating created a space of public gathering and accessibility, and minimal shading allowed users to soak up the sun.

PRIVATE MEETING NOOK

Intimate shaded seating areas were created underneath the planks of the cinema’s stadium seating, perfect for a private conference or a cool refuge.

RUPTURE HOUSES

SPRING 2015 | BRAD HORN

The problems facing the city of Detroit have intrigued and puzzled Architects for decades. The rapid depopulation of the city around the turn of the century created a landscape devastated by vacancy and blight, and Detroit became the poster-child for America’s postindustrial shrinking cities. While the city itself struggled to maintain solvency and began to look for bold solutions to their problems; the unique circumstance and existing landscape of the city seemed to be providing the perfect laboratory for testing innovative urban theories.

Out of this creative milieu emerged the Detroit Future City Plan. A plan designed by a local think-tank that proposed bold changes to the existing fabric of the city, including; designating areas in the highest vacancy areas of the city to be turned back over to nature functioning either as innovative ecological or agricultural areas. They also imagined the creation of an extensive blue/green infrastructure network that would provide natural storm water management and pollution mitigation solutions enabling a green future for the city.

This studio was premised on the idea of Detroit as urban laboratory and looked to the Detroit Future City Plan as a realizable course of action for the city. The goal was to explore the realization of this plan and design a structure that would be a part of this radical future. Ultimately, it attempted to answer the question of can you begin to solve the myriad of problems facing Detroit through perhaps the most counter-intuitive solution; single-family housing.

RUPTURE HOUSE

21

SITE: NORTH CORKTOWN

The site chosen for my intervention was the neighborhood of North Corktown. This neighborhood had been bounded and cut-off from the by the sunken-highways encircling it on all sides. Isolated by a moat of pavement North Corktown had a vacancy rate of 75% to 85%, and was marked as an Innovative Ecological zone in the DFC plan. Meaning that the area was intended to taken off the grid and transformed into an ecological preserve.

OCCUPYING THE BORDER

To accomplish this transition a series of new settlements would be established along the perimeter of the ecological zone. These outposts would be inhabited by a new breed of Detroiter; the Detroit Park Ranger. These Rangers would act as the primary catalyst behind the areas change to an ecological zone. From their residences bordering the highway they would work from the inside out decommissioning buildings and roads, planting trees, and creating new animal habitats in the newly ex-urban area. After the successful completion of the transformation they would serve as the gatekeepers of the new forest ensuring a healthy relationship between a resurgent Detroit and its new Urban Forest.

THE RUPTURE HOUSE

The Rupture House is a new form of building that would serve as a new typology for the Ranger’s outposts. The complex would serve the dual function of living quarters and base of operations of the transformation of North Corktown. The form of the building was designed to evoke tectonic movements or even more aptly a determined plant bursting through the cracks in concrete.

The building would be constructed to a high energy efficiency and economical standard. The partially submerged and southern orientation of the primary living quarters would ensure the capture of passive heating opportunities in the heating dominated climate. The vestibule created by the sloped glazing would also provide the Ranger’s with a small greenhouse like space where they could grow food year-round to help support their off the grid lifestyle.

CARBON FOREST

RAPID SUCCESSIONAL TRAIL CREATION REFORESTATION ROADS

EXTRUDE

CONVERGE

DIVERGE

SHIFT

RUPTURE

SURFACE LAKES

ROADS TO RIVERS

LONGITUDINAL SECTION

LATERAL SECTION

WAVEFORM

FALL 2015 | MARTIN STIGSGAARD

One of the hallmarks of CCNY’s program is it’s Comprehensive Design Studio. In this semester a team of two students work with a team of faculty and exterior professional consultants to create as close to a complete set of Construction Documents as possible. The challenge of this design was to create a structure that could serve the dual purpose of improving Manhattan’s coastal resiliency and providing a space for a public market that would partially fund the maintenance and operation of the project. The specific criteria was to create a continuous barrier capable of resisting a 100-year flood event.

To accomplish this Waveform was envisioned as an occupiable berm that would create an elevated parkscape along the Hudson, protect the coastline through a combination of hard and soft defenses, and provide spacious accommodations for the new market center. The program includes the “Souk” marketplace, an interior restaurant with riverside patio, a plaza promenade and boardwalk, a great lawn, a tidal marsh park, playground, amphitheater, explorable barrier islands, and a street-side public plaza.

The construction of the building would be accomplished using a rib and plank method, where pre-cast concrete planks would span between a series of structural concrete beam and pier assemblies creating a terrace effect. This system would allow for a terraced structure that is easily accessible and extensively planted within the span of the concrete planking. The soft defenses of the tidal marsh park and the constructed barrier islands would serve the dual purpose of storm surge mitigation and the restoration of riparian flora and fauna that would promote a healthier riverside ecosystem.

WAVEFORM

33

WAVEFORM AT NIGHT

PROMENADE AND PARK

“RESILIENT” SOUK

RIVERSIDE RESTAURANT

MILLBROOK HOUSES

SPRING 2016 | JAMES KHAMSI

The objective of the Millbrook housing studio in the Bronx was to undergo a thorough examination of existing multi-family housing typologies and create a considered solution of an expansion of the NYCHA site in Millbrook.

Partially inspired by a real-life RFP the project required the creation of an additional 100 one and two bedroom units on the existing site. The previous radial arrangement of tower-in-the-park style housing blocks resulted in an abundance of under-utilized open space at ground level.

Cut off from the historic Bronx waterfront by the CrossBronx Expressway, and suffering from an ostracizing disconnection of scale between the existing tower complex and the adjacent three to ďŹ ve story neighborhood, Millbrook needed a solution that would connect its past and present with its future.

MILLBROOK HOUSES

53

SITE DRAINAGE

EXISTING LAND COVER

HISTORIC WATERSHED

LATERAL SECTION NORTH

SITE SPECIFICITY The receding terraces of the new housing complex was designed to act as a counter-point to the steeply sloped topography of the site, strengthening the visual connection between the northern and southern sides of the site. The wedge-like bulk of the units were designed to ďŹ t perfectly within the challenging footprint created by the required setbacks resulting from the radial tower arrangement. Filling in the gaps in the arc the new public and private buildings of the complex would create an interlocking gear of activity across the entire site and provide more opportunities for speciďŹ cally programmed open-space. The bulk of the required housing units would be located along the southern edge of the complex with new public recreation facilities located along the northern edge that would strengthen connections between the previously insular complex and its surrounding neighborhood. Finally, a reworking of the existing site water management system would create the opportunity for a more green approach to the infrastructural task and eventually reestablish a vital link between the South Bronx community and its historic waterfront through daylighting of daylighting of natural stream paths within the historic watershed.

LATERAL SECTION SOUTH

AMENITY & ENGAGEMENT The new housing complexes themselves would be comprised of an efficient arrangement of one and two bedroom apartments with shared communal amenity space on each floor. Each unit would also have access to a private terrace, and the shared roof deck. The elevated ground floor of the buildings would contain spaces for community recreation and education and be connected by a continuous public promenade spanning the length of the complex. On-site parking would be provide via partially submerged garages built into the slope of the site accessible by the southern edge of the site. This complex is designed to provide a new level of amenity, community engagement and continuity between the Millbrook site and the rest of South Bronx.

FILLING IN THE GAPS

Newly programed spaces fill the gaps between the existing towers, while the new construction fits snuggly within the unique setback configuration created by the tower’s radial building arrangement.

NEW LEVELS OF CONNECTION A raised plinth of public plaza connecting the string of new developments allows planar continuity across the sloping topography of the site, and creates new opportunities and spaces for connection among the projects inhabitants.

EMERGENT ELEMENTARY FALL 2016| BILL MACDONALD

The southern tip of Manhattan is suffering from a crippling lack of educational infrastructure. This lack of both public and private schools is only exacerbated by the recent explosion of population density precipitated by the conversion of downtown office buildings to more lucrative high-rise residential buildings. This studio sought to remedy this situation by fashioning a new typology of elementary school that could emerge from this climate of opposing forces and possess a form that was at once molded by the influences surrounding the site and be adaptive to the ever changing needs of the educational system for flexible learning environments.

The design was to be achieve through an exhaustive analysis of the existing site conditions and influences. This information was then translated into a algorithmic based modeler that assisted in the visualization of the prevalent forces. Next these visualizations were sculpted to meet specific criteria, and then combined with encoded structural cells that realized the base architectural mold of a form to be crafted into structure that was the embodiment of the amelioration of external site pressures and internal programmatic requirements.

EMERGENT ELEMENTARY

65

QUALITATIVE ANALYSIS

The existing site was evaluated for the presence of different cultural forces and the geometries of their occupation and interactions within and surrounding the site.

INFLUENCE MODELER

The data collected through the qualitative analysis is transcribed into a numeric ordering system that is readable by a script capable of assessing the existing inuence of different site qualities over time and throughout the space of the site.

METABOX DERIVATION

The resultant of the inuence modeler is utilized to construct the form of the buildings structural container. The shape that emerges is one created to enhance or reduce certain site qualities and cultural forces with each component coded and linked to a corresponding force and numeric factor.

CELL DEPLOYMENT

Encoded cell structures are then deployed throughout the metabox conďŹ guration according to their corresponding external force and programmatic correlations. The resultant geometry is a rough structural form that represents the inuences and needs of the site. This approximate form was then sculpted into usable structures using a series of mesh manipulations.

AQUAMEDES TOWER

FALL 2016 | JONATHAN SCELSA

Aquamedes Tower was an exercise into the usage of parametric design using Rhino and Grasshopper. In particular, the creating of a parametrically responsive tower and facade system. My design team of two was assigned Archimedean Solids as the base geometry that would form the aggregation of our tower. The trick behind this assignment was to combine the typical functions of an average ofďŹ ce tower with a unique program element, in the case of Aquamedes the incorporation of a public Aquarium.

AQUAMEDES TOWER

71

PARAMETRIC FORM FINDING

The ďŹ rst exercise of the project was to experiment with different form creation methods withing Grasshopper, and to learn how to control inputs to create the desired balance between different program requirements and external appearance.

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RESPONSIVE FACADE

The second stage of the project was to familiarize ourselves with responsive facade construction techniques. This facade system was designed to respond to a facsimile of light exposure altering the overall opacity of the facade module according to different light conditions.

This was achieved by tooling the extent of the module’s aperture width and protrusion extent and their interplay.

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FACADE APPLICATION

In the third round we were tasked with devising a way to apply our facade strategy to our desired building envelope. In this instance a fritted glass panel pattern was created to highlight the boundary of the Aquarium and ofďŹ ce program on the exterior facade of the building.

ARCHIMEDEAN AGGREGATION

Finally, the primitive Archimedean solids were used to derive the internal structure and form of our tower. In the final arrangement the solids act as structural voids that are filled with water to service the Aquarium program within the tower.

DIVERSE PROGRAMMING

As the Archimedean solids ascend the height of the tower their size and order decreases. This creates a diverse array of programmatic interactions between office and Aquarium, with the larger public tanks transitioning to smaller private installations accessible only to the offices on the higher floors.

DECIDUOUS DETROIT

SPRING 2017 | LANCE J. BROWN

Re-framing Resiliency in Detroit was the outcome of a joint one semester thesis project that explored in greater breadth and depth the outlook of Detroit’s future and in particular began to question in a way the framework put forth by Detroit Future City. This studio took a hard look at the potential outcomes of plans for Detroit, like Detroit Future City’s ecological and agricultural zone proposal, through the gaze of one experiencing Detroit’s future first hand. Each of the three thesis member’s selected a zone of study, either the relatively healthy suburbs, the hollowed out middle, or the resurgent core and studied the reaction to the DFC as lived by a statistically representative member of each community.

My zone of study focused on the relatively healthy outer neighborhoods of Detroit that bordered upon highly vacant areas in the middle that were slated for conversion to productive agricultural land. To illustrate life in this district I crafted the story of my avatar Andre who would over the course of the 50 year implementation of the plan experience the creation of this new Detroit.

Throughout his journey we see Andre make the transition out of his healthy neighborhood into one of the nearby blighted areas where he becomes intimately involved in the rejuvenation and blight remediation efforts in the local community. In the meantime he becomes enmeshed within the culture of urban farming steadily expanding his operation over the next 25 years from a single side lot to a block spanning enterprise. Along the way he and a community of small growers begin to bring local commerce back to previously depressed neighborhoods. He then begins paving the way for new methods of urban farming, including vertical farming and aquaponics, that will allow his business to scale to a commercially viable size and in doing so create new a urban typology described as “Rurbanity.” Rurbanity explains the new condition of low density single-family housing co-existing with large scale high density “farm-scraper” vertical farms. Eventually the success of his and other agricultural endeavors like it promote a resurgence in the regions produce market and encourages the creation of new local markets where fresh produce can be bought and sold in areas previously resigned to food desert status.

This fictitious look into the future of Detroit is optimistic in that it predicts an eventual growth in Detroit’s population and prospects.

However, the primary outcome of the studio’s research was the realization of a need for a new way to build and maintain cities. When facing the unknowns of the future cities must have the ability to react to the unknown, and be ready for all possibilities. This means that there is a need for cities to re-frame resiliency, not just in terms of environmental resiliency but infrastructural and economical resiliency as well - they must be able to respond to both expansion and contraction. The city must be able to pulse. Over the long duration of time cities often grown and shrink but seldom die out all together. With this in mind it is necessary to physically and metaphorically re-frame the outlook for cities of the future. In all instances cities like Detroit must be prepared to find the opportunity in every potential outcome. This inherent elasticity will allow cities to weather the winds of time; whether it is blooming in the spring or pruning in the winter new contingencies, codes, and plans must be set in place to be able to prepare for what we know not.

DECIDUOUS DETROIT

DECIDUOUS DETROIT REFRAMING RESILIENCY

83

GOING TO MARKET

Andreâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s operation increases in scale, absorbing adjacent lots and tapping into local distribution networks, growerâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s co-ops and city markets.

FENKELL AVENUE

New industrial agricultural activity helps reactivate existing primary and secondary commercial corridors.

This formerly vacant apartment building, out of scale and underutilized, is reborn as an agricultural factory producing mushrooms for sale locally.

RESTORATION TOWER

The new Western Market, a favorite of the whole west side, brings locally grown goods from locally owned businesses to neighborhoods which once struggled to obtain fresh food.

WESTERN MARKET

EVAN N. CRAKER

evan.craker@gmail.com|574.514.3189

EXPERIENCE Mar ’17 - Present

Workshop for Architecture | Junior Architect -

Jan ‘17 – May ‘17

OP-Architecture and Landscape | Junior Architect -

Jan ’15 – Mar ’17

Creation of Design Development drawing set for small museum project Design and production of drawings and models for design competitions Material research, code analysis, and project coordination 3-d modeling and Architectural Visualization

Ventresca Design | Architectural Intern -

Feb ’14 – May ’16

Participation in Design Development for housing renovation and expansion Creation of physical study and presentation models for client Preparation of Schematic Design drawing set Material research, pricing, and budget creation

Creation and coordination of lighting design plans and RCP’s for high-end commercial, luxury residential, and mixed-use towers.

Study and documentation of Architectural lighting details Selection and specification of lighting fixtures and preparation of lighting spec book and cut sheets Preparation of materials and imagery for lighting design presentations Building and testing of lighting application mock-ups Correspondence and coordination between clients, contractors, lighting suppliers, and sub-contractors to achieve project goals and deadlines

DJLU Architect | Architectural Intern -

-

Preparation of Construction Document set for mid-rise residential and commercial buildings for DOB filing Site surveys and creation of existing conditions drawings Zoning and Code analysis for feasibility studies Project management and client interaction

EDUCATION Graduated ’17

The City College of New York | Master of Architecture I | New York, NY -

Graduated ’11

Teaching Assistant for Elisabetta Terragni Landscape Studio Spr ‘15 Recipient of Master of Architecture I Outstanding Design Project Spr ‘17

Miami University of Ohio | BFA in Architecture | U.D. Minor | Oxford, OH -

Participant in Energy Efficient Design studio in London Sum ‘09

SKILLS Architectural

AutoCad 2017, Revit 2017, Rhino 3d 5, Microstation V8i, SketchUP 2017, Adobe CC Suite, Maxwell Render, Arnold Render, Vray Render, ArcGis 10.2, Maya 2016

Miscellaneous

Microsoft Office Suite, Adobe Premiere, AGI-32, DIAL-lux

RESUME

99

MASTER OF ARCHITECTURE I 2017

THE CITY COLLEGE OF NEW YORK BERNARD AND ANNE SPITZER SCHOOL OF ARCHITECTURE