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Evan Wilson Portfolio

Foreword

Inspiration can come from anywhere, as long as you’re paying attention. Growing up I always felt the most inspired by the things that felt the most out of reach, the most impossible. Fantasy novels, video games, action figures, music, and films always caught my attention when they challenged my understanding of what reality can be. Years of paying attention to these vastly different worlds continues to inspire me to test the boundary of what can be imagined. Not only that, but I strive to see which regions of my mind I can turn into reality. As a future architect, my mission is to pay attention to, and be inspired by worlds outside of my own, in order to turn the needs of others into reality. Architects have the uniquely critical responsibility to act on the priorities of their communities through the built environment. Between the pandemic and climate change, many things are shifting our lives rapidly, and architecture is my opportunity to change the outcome. Build the change you wish to see in the world.

Stepping Stone

Cultural Sensitivity & Research

Olive Hill Park

Strategic Redevelopment

Growing Forward Facade Design & Visual Storytelling

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Grønjords Kollegium

Client Partnership & Masterplanning

Stepping Stone Course: BS Studio V Instructor: Molly Reichert Created: Fall 2022 Working closely with professionals from disciplines ranging from healthcare to city planning to data science, members of our studio each developed proposals for a culturally-responsive treatment center intended to serve Somali women seeking care for opioid use in Minneapolis. Prior the final proposal, my research consisted of data visualization and the analysis of my chosen site. This investigation informed my design and heightened my awareness for the importance of inclusive healthcare options. My site choice was based on it’s adjacency to the Midtown Global Market, which is home to a diverse array of food vendors that represent the variety of cultures present in the area. This site also belonged to a business burned in the midst of 2020’s protests for George Floyd, further justifying the necessity of a positive resource in the Lake Street area. The Stepping Stone Recovery Center acts as a step in the direction of change and a brighter future for this community. Work produced for this project was an exercise in cultural sensitivity and represetation techniques, with added focus being placed on legibile and detailed conceptual communication.

Alindi-fabric-inspired scrim draws visual attention to the clinic and plaza while providing privacy for patients. The plaza allows outdoor seating for the neighboring market and business stalls within the clinic, which offer employment opportunities for patients to reintegrate into their community.

The overlap of Minneapolis BIPOC resident density, and the locations of 2022 shootings and opioid overdoses displays the disproportionate trauma faced in these neighborhoods.

Previous initiatives have improved the aesthetic appeal of the Lake Street area, increasing its potential to serve as a hub for its diverse community. The clinic’s recessed facade undermines the currently narrow sidewalks of the area, providing more space for public activity.

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An enclosed courtyard and shared patios build a sense of unity for the residents of the clinic. Culturally responsive details provide an approachable option for treatment among Somali women, and help to destigmatize seeking proper care.

4 The indoor track connects the building’s three primary structures and gives residents year-round access to exercise and walking therapy.

Olive Hill Park Collaborators: Chris Panzella Course: M.Arch Studio 1 Instructor: Olivier Touraine Created: Fall 2023 With an increasing need for affordable housing, especially in developing urban areas, our studio experimented with various forms of shared housing solutions increasing from 1 to 10 to 100-person dwellings. With help from my project partner, Chris Panzella, we designed a 100-person co-living building in downtown Los Angeles. The name “Olive Hill Park” comes from the streets adjacent to the site and our objective to re-green a part of the urban environment. We chose to locate our project on a city block that is connected to major public transportation routes and exists as a parking lot. Without existing structures or the need for personal parking, the site can quickly transition to a park and achieve affordability for its residents. The project improves the neighborhood through its park and retail options on the ground floor. The building is organized to give residents varying degrees of community: individual units are grouped in sets of 4 to 5 rooms and share a common room, groups are paired to share outdoor patio spaces on each floor, and the second floor hosts an elevated green space to connect the community of residents.

Alongside the park, the building’s ground floor houses public amenities such as a cafe, a grocery store, a general market, and a bicycle repair shop with rentable storage spaces for commuters.

The expression of the facade and building plan stem from the formal relationship between the rigidity of hardscape and the fluidity of landscape. The strict lines of the facade facing the street are bent to form the facade that faces the new park. Similarly the building bends to create gathering spaces on both sides.

Olive Hill Park is designed to create zones for the public to socialize, contemplate, and escape from the city. Pathways through the park provide access to public transportation routes from every direction.

A staggered floor plan creates alcoves for bicycle storage and helps to shade units on the South-facing park side of the building without adding unnecessary shade to the North-facing street side.

Each unit contains an all-purpose cabinet system to maximize usable space. Light shelves and multiple operable windows grant passive ventilation and reduce solar heat gain. The building also maintains a minimal presence on the site with several large breezeways that connect the street and park sides of the site.

4 Shared green spaces on the second floor give residents a sense of community with neighboring pods, as well as their own outdoor space, separate from the park.

Growing Forward: Planting Generational Roots

Collaborators: USC NOMAS Award: 3rd Place Created: Fall 2023 The Eliot Neighborhood in Northeast Portland is a historically black neighborhood that has housed the majority of Portland’s black population for generations. After an urban renewal project to expand a local hospital into this neighborhood during the 1970s forced many residents out of the area, the community is being revitalized through efforts from the Williams & Russell Project. To help with this act of restorative justice, our team designed a multi-generational residential complex that weaves the areas history into a space that can support the growth of the neighborhood and its thriving community.

We focused the expression of our project around the work of local artist Daren Todd, who has used his artwork to document and uplift the history of the neighborhood. His murals have showcased and brought pride to the black community of Portland. Thus, I decided to reference his work in the development of the building’s facade and the way in which our project has been rendered. Todd’s work adorns the outer walls and extends into a dynamic light screen that surrounds the complex. The simplified style of the renderings also references Todd’s art by abstracting the final result to resemble his murals. Growing Forward: Planting Generational Roots represents a strong step forward for the Eliot neighborhood; A step that acknowledges the troubled history of the community with a new place for families to flourish on familiar ground.

Community spaces between each building in the complex connect the project to the larger neighborhood and add necessary pedestrian space to the areas urban fabric.

Base mural is divided into grid based on image resolution

Each cell of grid (pixel) contains a value according to its color

Color values are converted to radii for screen perforations

Final screen’s perforations display original mural

Above is a simplified diagram expressing the steps of the script responsible for creating the building facade. Perforations in the screen vary in size to distinguish each part of the mural.

5 The mural-like quality of the renderings reference the work of Daren Todd and visually connect each area of the project, representing the notion that this complex and its residents are a part of the larger piece of artwork that is the Eliot neighborhood.

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Course: DIS Urban Design Studio Instructors: Rasmus Frisk, Jeanette Frisk Created: Spring 2022 In an effort to revitalize the community at Grønjords Kollegium in Copenhagen, our studio worked to create proposals for the redesign of the public spaces within the complex. Along with our own observations, input to inform our proposals came from conversations with students, staff, and developers. Using a tool called Arki-nopoly, small groups were able to gather additional detailed feedback from students. My individual proposal connects the complex to the surrounding neighborhood by removing its fences, improving circulation, and providing a variety of public amenities. These amenities include shops, community gardens, playgrounds, classrooms/study spaces, green areas, and a rec center. The success of existing spaces informed which regions were left untouched, and which needed to be redesigned. The images for this proposal were created using a sketch-like quality to remain approachable to developers during its presentation, and communicate its in-progress state.

A cafe/bar and convenience stores improve livability and night life for students, while the added structure provides privacy and reduces traffic noise for the reformed green space behind. To improve safety and transit conditions for pedestrians, a bike lane follows the roadway on the northern edge of the site.

[PLACEHOLDER] icon Dead Zones for Activity Excess Parking

Restricted Access

Symbiotic Programs

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Admin office/mail room 5. Gardens + greenhouse 8. Wave fountains 11. Workshops/studio Cafe/Bar + storefronts 6. Hovering classroom 9. Playground 12. Renovated Gym Hangout hills 7. Hammock area 10. Skate park 13. Rec-Center Study swales

A raised multi-purpose structure provides covered bike parking, and study space for residents, as well as an extra classroom for the neighboring elementary school.

The rec-center’s sunken court floor keeps the building at a low profile for residents, and allows bleacher seating for various event types such as tournaments, concerts, and pop-up markets. A retractable roof and garage doors allow for all-season use and improved airflow during warmer months.

Contact Info Los Angeles, CA erwilson@usc.edu (651)-341-0950