ALI ELSINBAWY Selected Works Columbia GSAPP M.S. AAD 20/21
Restart x Rewind is a visual book of my journey at GSAPP. While applying to the AAD program, I remember expressing my agitation about architecture being used as a gentrification tool, concerns about politics and economics, and hope for what architecture could become. During my time at GSAPP, I was fortunate to have the opportunity to experiment with architecture as an activist, an effective constructive actor that serves, remediates, and rejuvenates its context. Acts of architectural activism fall under social, economic, and environmental activism, considering time as a constant factor that is vibrantly present in my studio projects and explorations. This notion of time is what gave rise to the concept of this book: Restart x Rewind. Restart is expressed in the acts of rejuvenation that were always present in my studio projects. From rethinking a beach in Long Island that is no longer a beach post superstorm Sandy and reintroducing a factory to the historic industrial waterfront in Brooklyn that is abandoned and presently being gentrified, to reconnecting Beirut post the August 2020 port blast that devastated the area and shook the political and economic state in the country. Rewind represents the urgency to consider the context, and its past through the eyes of its various actors, human and nonhuman alike. The projects are presented in reverse chronological order as a process of reflection and Rewind.
CONTENTS O1.THE ANTICIPATORY RUIN COLLECTIVES
Summer 2021 The Beach Lab by Tei Carpenter Collaboration with: Joel McCullough Advanced AAD Studio
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02.URBAN METABOLISM
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03.THE INTERSTITIAL AGENCY
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Spring 2021 The Factory Studio by Mimi Hoang Collaboration with: Yasmin Ben Ltaifa Advanced VI
Fall 2020 Reconnecting Beirut by Richard Plunz, Victor Body-Lawson Collaboration with: Yasmin Ben Ltaifa, Junyong Park Advanced V
04.IS THE SALAMANDER CAPITAL THREATENED BY EXURBANIZATION
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05.DYSTOPIA
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00.ARCHIVE
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Spring 2021 Points Unknown: Cartographic Narratives by Michael Krisch , Juan Saldarriaga Collaboration with: Gabriela Junqueira Franco Visual Studies Fall 2020 Techniques of the Ultrareal by Joseph Brennan, Phillip Crupi Collaboration with: Rose Zhang Visual Studies Case Studies + Reseach Analysis
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Ruins have long been artifacts that remind us of the passage of time, not only a remnant of the past but also a fragment of the future. They provoke forms of imagination yet often the ruin is stagnated in its entropic transformation. The Anticipatory Ruin collective is rather considering the design for the Beach Lab of Violet’s Cove as: 1. a material tectonic process, rather than a finite architecture. 2. a regenerative scaffold and form of care. 3. a platform for wonder and education. This approach was provoked from our observations of the site of Violet’s Cove and a curiosity in how the blurring of buildings and nature may start to offer pockets of wonder or unplanned combinations. How could the design challenge the relationship of architecture to the nature collective in order to introduce another form of care and vibrancy for the community? We examined Lina Bo Bardi’s work as a form of trans-species hospitality through Teatro Oficina which offers the intervention as a form of root system. Traditionally, this project focuses on the compression of performance, between the performer and audience which creates an interior in an exterior. To situate the nature collective of Mastic Beach and Violet’s Cove, the design is considered through a series of contextual studies. There is a complexity and interrelationships within the ecosystem through the sectional quality of the various habitats of the many flora and fauna from the deeper to shallower waters, the saltmarsh and the tidal flats’ avifauna, and the types of plants that grow in estuarine/brackish water. In order to understand some of the potential threats that face both habitat loss on site and the Mastic Beach community more broadly, the annual flooding cycles and the projected sea level rise until 2080 were studied.
As we are recognizing the raising of the existing restaurant, the design is grounded through the many found objects and textures. Forms of care that the design is embedding is through the sensitivities of how the many actors, nonhuman, human, and climatic actors are given a form of hospitality through the architecture on Violet’s Cove. This will galvanize for how the community may reconsider the beach lab. Recognizing how the site is situated within an overall strategy by the Conservancy, the design is imagined as a waypoint for the town. It is a place of education and engagement but becomes a form of open work with the community by questioning fixed programs with defined designations of space. Rather the design intends to provide behaviors or events throughout the various spaces of the site to offer an alternative open arena for discovery, education, and interaction. The architecture acts together as a collective series of moments across Violet’s Cove. Previously identified zones of intervention are synthesized in the form of five different hosts. Two tectonic logics are established to synthesize these five hosts into the many thresholds of Violet’s Cove. Through site casting and fish crib assembly, the anticipatory ruin collective acts through these material processes to establish an intervention logic for the site and broader Mastic Beach revitalization plan. The groundwork of Violet’s Cove coalesces the various thresholds and hosts across the site. The groundwork acts as a mitigator and indicator for sea level rise and flooding. Additionally, the groundwork remediates Violet’s Cove to synthesize with the broader Mastic Beach wetlands and ecology. The groundwork becomes a habitat collector through forms of ponding and future habitat creation along the contouring of the new topography.
THE ANTICIPATORY RUIN COLLECTIVES/FACULTY: TEI CARPENTER
GSAPP/ ADVANCED AAD STUDIO/ THE BEACH LAB/ SUMMER 2021
01.THE ANTICIPATORY RUIN COLLECTIVES
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GSAPP/ ADVANCED AAD STUDIO/ THE BEACH LAB/ SUMMER 2021
THE ANTICIPATORY RUIN COLLECTIVES/FACULTY: TEI CARPENTER
SOIL COMPOSITION
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GSAPP/ ADVANCED AAD STUDIO/ THE BEACH LAB/ SUMMER 2021
THE ANTICIPATORY RUIN COLLECTIVES/FACULTY: TEI CARPENTER
WETLANDS
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GSAPP/ ADVANCED AAD STUDIO/ THE BEACH LAB/ SUMMER 2021
THE ANTICIPATORY RUIN COLLECTIVES/FACULTY: TEI CARPENTER
WETLANDS ECOSYSTEM
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GSAPP/ ADVANCED AAD STUDIO/ THE BEACH LAB/ SUMMER 2021
THE ANTICIPATORY RUIN COLLECTIVES/FACULTY: TEI CARPENTER
ANNUAL FLOODING
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GSAPP/ ADVANCED AAD STUDIO/ THE BEACH LAB/ SUMMER 2021
THE ANTICIPATORY RUIN COLLECTIVES/FACULTY: TEI CARPENTER
PROJECTED SEA LEVEL RISE
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GSAPP/ ADVANCED AAD STUDIO/ THE BEACH LAB/ SUMMER 2021
THE ANTICIPATORY RUIN COLLECTIVES/FACULTY: TEI CARPENTER
ROOSTING PATTERNS
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GSAPP/ ADVANCED AAD STUDIO/ THE BEACH LAB/ SUMMER 2021
THE ANTICIPATORY RUIN COLLECTIVES/FACULTY: TEI CARPENTER
ACTOR-ACTOR SITE PLAN DIAGRAM
GSAPP/ ADVANCED AAD STUDIO/ THE BEACH LAB/ SUMMER 2021
CONTEXTUAL CONNECTIONS
SITE AS GROUND TEXTURES
HOSTS
THE ANTICIPATORY RUIN COLLECTIVES/FACULTY: TEI CARPENTER
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EXISTING SITE
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GSAPP/ ADVANCED AAD STUDIO/ THE BEACH LAB/ SUMMER 2021
THE ANTICIPATORY RUIN COLLECTIVES/FACULTY: TEI CARPENTER
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GSAPP/ ADVANCED AAD STUDIO/ THE BEACH LAB/ SUMMER 2021
THE ANTICIPATORY RUIN COLLECTIVES/FACULTY: TEI CARPENTER
CASTING EXPLORATIONS
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GSAPP/ ADVANCED AAD STUDIO/ THE BEACH LAB/ SUMMER 2021
THE ANTICIPATORY RUIN COLLECTIVES/FACULTY: TEI CARPENTER
ASSEMBLY CASTING
GSAPP/ ADVANCED AAD STUDIO/ THE BEACH LAB/ SUMMER 2021
THE ANTICIPATORY RUIN COLLECTIVES/FACULTY: TEI CARPENTER
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LATTICE SHADE TOTEM LIGHTHOUSE
CAST HOSTS
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GSAPP/ ADVANCED AAD STUDIO/ THE BEACH LAB/ SUMMER 2021
THE ANTICIPATORY RUIN COLLECTIVES/FACULTY: TEI CARPENTER
CRIBBING EXPLORATIONS
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GSAPP/ ADVANCED AAD STUDIO/ THE BEACH LAB/ SUMMER 2021
THE ANTICIPATORY RUIN COLLECTIVES/FACULTY: TEI CARPENTER
ASSEMBLY CRIB TECTONIC
GSAPP/ ADVANCED AAD STUDIO/ THE BEACH LAB/ SUMMER 2021
THE ANTICIPATORY RUIN COLLECTIVES/FACULTY: TEI CARPENTER
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TRANS-LAND CRIB ACCORDION CRUCIFORM
CRIB HOSTS
OYSTER REEF CULTIVATION CRIB HOSTS
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GSAPP/ ADVANCED AAD STUDIO/ THE BEACH LAB/ SUMMER 2021
THE ANTICIPATORY RUIN COLLECTIVES/FACULTY: TEI CARPENTER
OYSTER DOCK
WHAT IF IT ACTUALLY WORKED?
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SUNNY DAY AT THE BEACH
NEW RITUALS
OVERGROWTH
FLOODED EXPLORATIONS
COSMIC WAYPOINT
02.URBAN METABOLISM The factory is an urban metabolism that renews the site while also transforming organic food waste into innovative raw materials, thus creating a closed loop system. In addition to its productive, social, and educational aspects, this urban metabolism provides a rich natural habitat for the local flora and fauna. The factory edges are a living shoreline and deep landscape serving as a mitigator between machine and the environment. The wetlands carry the flora of the dry landscape into the water, providing additional types of wet habitats. The water plants do their part in cleaning pollutants from Gowanus Bay. The landscape operates as a tool for soil bio-remediation. It is planted with crops such as mushroom. The mushroom roots, or mycelium, have many benefits for eliminating pollutants embedded in the depths of the soil. The dense covering of the factory creates a threshold between the controlled and mechanized processes of the interior with the wildlife that activates the site. The roof is heavily planted with lavender as to infuse the air of the adjacent neighborhood with fragrant aromas rather than smelly food waste. The building is strategically situated as to take advantage of the prevailing winds both in the exterior and interior functions. It is also designed to take advantage of dayllight. Skylights run across the roof structure in alteration with planters to provide a well-lit and ventilated space for all workers within the building. The planter beam structure of the roof folds down to shape the facade of the factory. This facade is planted with mushrooms. The mushroom roots, mycelium, are harvested and used in factory processes in combination with organic food waste to manufacture biodegradables. One of the main focuses of the factory is the educational component. Its program
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falls in line with NYC Mayor DeBlasio’s initiative for food waste as the next recycling fronteir. The invisible processes of transforming agrowaste into innovative raw materials are made visible for everyone to observe. Organic waste travels to the site on barges, reducing carbon emissions from vehicular transportation. This factory introduces a significant shift in the paradigm, shrinking distances and transforming waste into biodegradables, offering an alternative to a linear model where waste ends up in Landfills. The complex consists of open air, semi enclosed, and enclosed spaces. Essential spaces include the waste processing room, the triple deck refinement platforms, the bio-packaging manufacturing workshop, the processed goods export hall, the water treatment and energy generating rooms, the mushroom processing space, the handson visitor classroom and the offices. This living remediation machine is a deep landscape. It emerges from the soil and grows incrementally. The productive beds are sloped with two orientations. While the mushroom beds face north and are planted with heavy tree canopies for shading, the crop beds face south. These planting beds are used for lavender as well as urban farming. The planter beams of the roof are a continuation of the landscape. They vary in depth, sometimes even extending from the roof to the ground. Along the walkable roofscapes are ramps leading down into the building. They function as viewing platforms for visitors to see into the activities of the factory floor. This bustling urban metabolism renews the site on a daily basis. It has many scales of impact, from the very local to the larger urban.
URBAN METABOLISM/FACULTY: MIMI HOANG
GSAPP/ ADVANCED VI/ THE THE FACTORY STUDIO/ SPRING 2021
FOOD WASTE: THE FINAL RECYCLING FRONTEIR
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GSAPP/ ADVANCED VI/ THE THE FACTORY STUDIO/ SPRING 2021
URBAN METABOLISM/FACULTY: MIMI HOANG
FOOD DISTRIBUTION NETWORK
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GSAPP/ ADVANCED VI/ THE THE FACTORY STUDIO/ SPRING 2021
URBAN METABOLISM/FACULTY: MIMI HOANG
WASTE ROUTES
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GSAPP/ ADVANCED VI/ THE THE FACTORY STUDIO/ SPRING 2021
URBAN METABOLISM/FACULTY: MIMI HOANG
WASTE SORTING - BIODEGRADABLES MECHANICAL PROCESSES
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GSAPP/ ADVANCED VI/ THE THE FACTORY STUDIO/ SPRING 2021
URBAN METABOLISM/FACULTY: MIMI HOANG
SITE AX0NOMETRIC
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DEEP PLANTER
ROOF RAMP
PLANTER WALL
GSAPP/ ADVANCED VI/ THE THE FACTORY STUDIO/ SPRING 2021
URBAN METABOLISM/FACULTY: MIMI HOANG
CONTEXTUAL INTERRELATIONSHIPS PLANTER VARIATIONS
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WATER COLUMN
PLANTER BEAM
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GSAPP/ ADVANCED VI/ THE THE FACTORY STUDIO/ SPRING 2021
URBAN METABOLISM/FACULTY: MIMI HOANG
GROUND FLOOR PLAN
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URBAN METABOLISM/FACULTY: MIMI HOANG
SECTIONAL DRAWINGS
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GSAPP/ ADVANCED VI/ THE THE FACTORY STUDIO/ SPRING 2021
URBAN METABOLISM/FACULTY: MIMI HOANG
WASTE SORTING
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In considering the proliferation of interstitial space in Gemmayze, this proposal introduces a new form of urban micro-infrastructure that will serve as a programmatic host and generator for rebuilding the city. In Beirut, only 0.5% of the neighborhood is formally designated public space, making it a scarce resource and inaccessible to most. There are unused interstitial spaces that are currently an untapped resource within the urban fabric with significant generative potential for collective use. Activating these spaces can be a catalyst for the reoccupation of Gemmayze. Within the larger city, such interstices can work as a network of nodes within the city, increasing connectivity and accessibility. Rethinking the interstitial calls for both a physical intervention as well as consideration of the ways the public is involved in the decision making. In addition to the physical platform, this proposal suggests a digital component that engages the public. The Interstitial Agency initiative will create a call for action that allows the community to identify its needs and realize its aspirations. This proposal also recognizes the importance of collaboration between the public sector, namely the State, and private agents. One channel for facilitation of the process of funding, designing, managing, and ownership of interstitial nodes will be through Private Public Partnerships (PPPs). This interstitial concept aims to use a variety of architectural devices to host public functions, programs and uses, all driven by site-specific needs. These architectural devices are represented as a kit of parts. The kit of parts includes structural hosts (scaffolding, frames, containers),
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skin materials (cladding, mesh), essential service elements (waste collection, wellness spaces, mobility). These elements can be ordered through the Interstitial Agency website and sourced with primarily local materials. In addition, the Initiative seeks out collaborations with artists, craftsmen, and refugee businesses to visually stitch the interventions into the visual language of the urban fabric with graffiti, the use of traditional fabrics, and other art forms. In its initial stages, the prototype will be strategically deployed as a method for urgent recovery. It will address the lack of essential services and facilitate economic recovery. In future stages, the architecture of the prototype will engage in a dialogue between heritage and technology in the form of sustainability, telecommunication, and health. As an infrastructural tool, the redesigned interstitial spaces have the potential to serve as a prototypical network for infrastructural reform in other high density cities. The dynamic nature of the architectural devices in the kit of parts encourage flexibility and adaptability as required by the community needs. The interstitial nodes will come to represent the resilience of a people in the face of challenges. What is considered a temporary placeholder will grow into a robust infrastructural frame that will meld into its context and adopt the architectural character of the place. Reimagined interstices will stitch the heritage and memory of the past with new modes of public service. With regard to programming, we envision an openended framework that can accommodate the evolving needs of residents and can be mediated through an app, where the individual takes part in the decisionmaking process that will benefit the collective.
THE INTERSTITIAL AGENCY/ FACULTY: RICHARD PLUNZ + VICTOR BODY-LAWSON
GSAPP/ ADVANCED V/ RE-CONNECTING BEIRUT/ FALL 2020
03.THE INTERSTITIAL AGENCY
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GSAPP/ ADVANCED V/ RE-CONNECTING BEIRUT/ FALL 2020
THE INTERSTITIAL AGENCY/ FACULTY: RICHARD PLUNZ + VICTOR BODY-LAWSON
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GSAPP/ ADVANCED V/ RE-CONNECTING BEIRUT/ FALL 2020
WELLNESS NODE
LIVE-WORK NODE
URBAN NODE
RECREATIONAL NODE
THE INTERSTITIAL AGENCY/ FACULTY: RICHARD PLUNZ + VICTOR BODY-LAWSON
INTERSTICES
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GSAPP/ ADVANCED V/ RE-CONNECTING BEIRUT/ FALL 2020
THE INTERSTITIAL AGENCY/ FACULTY: RICHARD PLUNZ + VICTOR BODY-LAWSON
CONNECTION DETAILS
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GSAPP/ ADVANCED V/ RE-CONNECTING BEIRUT/ FALL 2020
THE INTERSTITIAL AGENCY/ FACULTY: RICHARD PLUNZ + VICTOR BODY-LAWSON
MICRO INFRASTRUCTURE - WATER + ENERGY
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GSAPP/ ADVANCED V/ RE-CONNECTING BEIRUT/ FALL 2020
THE INTERSTITIAL AGENCY/ FACULTY: RICHARD PLUNZ + VICTOR BODY-LAWSON
KIT OF PARTS
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GSAPP/ ADVANCED V/ RE-CONNECTING BEIRUT/ FALL 2020
THE INTERSTITIAL AGENCY/ FACULTY: RICHARD PLUNZ + VICTOR BODY-LAWSON
RECREATIONAL NODE - ASSEMBLY
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GSAPP/ ADVANCED V/ RE-CONNECTING BEIRUT/ FALL 2020
THE INTERSTITIAL AGENCY/ FACULTY: RICHARD PLUNZ + VICTOR BODY-LAWSON
RECREATIONAL NODE
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GSAPP/ ADVANCED V/ RE-CONNECTING BEIRUT/ FALL 2020
THE INTERSTITIAL AGENCY/ FACULTY: RICHARD PLUNZ + VICTOR BODY-LAWSON
WELLNESS NODE - ASSEMBLY
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GSAPP/ ADVANCED V/ RE-CONNECTING BEIRUT/ FALL 2020
THE INTERSTITIAL AGENCY/ FACULTY: RICHARD PLUNZ + VICTOR BODY-LAWSON
WELLNESS NODE
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GSAPP/ ADVANCED V/ RE-CONNECTING BEIRUT/ FALL 2020
THE INTERSTITIAL AGENCY/ FACULTY: RICHARD PLUNZ + VICTOR BODY-LAWSON
URBAN NODE - ASSEMBLY
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GSAPP/ ADVANCED V/ RE-CONNECTING BEIRUT/ FALL 2020
THE INTERSTITIAL AGENCY/ FACULTY: RICHARD PLUNZ + VICTOR BODY-LAWSON
URBAN NODE
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GSAPP/ ADVANCED V/ RE-CONNECTING BEIRUT/ FALL 2020
THE INTERSTITIAL AGENCY/ FACULTY: RICHARD PLUNZ + VICTOR BODY-LAWSON
LIVE-WORK NODE - ASSEMBLY
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GSAPP/ ADVANCED V/ RE-CONNECTING BEIRUT/ FALL 2020
THE INTERSTITIAL AGENCY/ FACULTY: RICHARD PLUNZ + VICTOR BODY-LAWSON
LIVE-WORK NODE
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The Eastern Hellbender is a funny looking creature with an ominous sounding name. Ranging from about one to two feet in size, the creature has earned some unsavory nicknames. In its home region of Southern Appalachian Mountains, for example, it is sometimes known as the “snot otter”. But this little underappreciated amphibian plays a vital role in helping humans understand the quality of the water in their environment. That’s because these creatures can only survive in the clean freshwater environments. While this creature is decidedly less cute than its metaphorical cousin, the canary in the coalmine - its demise can be the harbinger of bad news for other organisms in its ecosystem, and the humans who live nearby. The water quality of the natural streams in this region is being continuously affected by demographic changes. The change in water quality occurs when the land is disturbed, and the eroded sediments run into the water streams, muddying the water, and affecting the habitat of aquatic organisms. And perhaps it comes as no surprise that it is humans who are to blame for the changing environment. Exurbanization in the area is one of the main actors behind polluting the natural waterways and disturbing the land. The exurban residents tend to live in the mountains rather than the valley, which is occupied by the native farmers. In the past 25 years, the growing population of exurban dwellers are increasingly modifying the region by new land developments that have escalated the runoff of eroded sediments that contain fertilizers, pesticides, and other pollutants. The Southern Appalachian Mountains region is often hailed as the salamander capital of the world, where it is home to more salamander species than the rest of the world combined.
The emerging exurbanization patterns followed by the land developments is altering the natural habitat of the Appalachian salamanders, and thus endangering their existence. People who seek a countryside lifestyle with a natural environment for retirement often move to the exurbs. In fact, the size of exurbia doubled between 1990 and 2000, according to Berube et. Al (2006) who used census data to locate the exurban settlements. The study of exurbanization sheds light on the importance of land use planning strategies and land management, with respect to protecting the natural habitat of its nonhuman residents. This exurbanization is not just an indicator of environmental pollution, but it is threatening the very existence of Hellbenders— one of the last survivors of the ancient vertebrates group of salamanders, achieve many ecological functions within their habitat. In Addition to being important for controlling crayfish population, Hellbenders can actually help to save the environments they live in. That’s because Hellbenders breathe through pores in their skin. This requires less energy and makes it possible to store large amounts of carbon. According to a new study (Hartwell H. Welsh Jr., and Michael L. Best, 2014), salamanders play a significant role in the global carbon cycle. The study, published in the journal Ecosphere, found that salamanders help to retain carbon in the soil by eating up insects and other invertebrates that convert leafs on the forest’s floor into greenhouse gases.
URBAN-RURAL DIVIDE /FACULTY: MICHAEL KRISCH + JUAN SALDARRIAGA
GSAPP/ VISUAL STUDIES/ POINTS UNKNOWN: CARTOGRAPHIC NARRATIVES/ SPRING 2021
04.IS THE SALAMANDER CAPITAL THREATENED BY EXURBANIZATION?
Mapping the exurban migration in the Southern Appalachian Mountains is important to identify sources of habitat disruption that require water conservation strategies to keep the water at its cleanest for the famous Appalachian Salamanders to survive.
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ga_acs2019_tracts = ga_acs2019_tracts.drop([‘state’,’county’,’tract’,’NAME’,’STATEFP’,’COUNTYFP’,’TRACTCE’,’AFFGEOID’,’LSAD’], axis = 1) ga_acs2019_tracts.rename(columns = {‘B07004A_001E’:’totalPopulation’, ‘B07004A_003E’:’WithinSameCounty’, ‘B07004A_004E’:’FromDifferentCounty’, ‘B07004A_005E’:’FromDifferentState’, ‘B07004A_006E’:’FromAbroad’,’B07004A_001M’:’totalPopulation_moe’, ‘B07004A_003M’:’WithinSameCounty_moe’, ‘B07004A_004M’:’FromDifferentCounty_moe’, ‘B07004A_005M’:’FromDifferentState_moe’, ‘B07004A_006M’:’FromAbroad_moe’}, inplace = True)
columns = [ ‘B07004A_001’, ‘B07004A_003’, ‘B07004A_004’, ‘B07004A_005’, ‘B07004A_006’, ]
# # # # #
TotalPopulation WithinSameCounty FromDifferentCounty FromDifferentState FromAbroad
columns_E = [i+’E’ for i in columns] columns_M = [i+’M’ for i in columns] api_database = ‘ACSDT5Y2019’ api_conn = cenpy.remote. APIConnection(api_database) g_unit = ‘county’ g_filter = {‘state’:’13’} ga_acs2019_counties = api_conn. query(columns_E + columns_M, geo_ unit=g_unit, geo_filter=g_filter)
VaMR = alt.Chart(va_acs2019_tracts).mark_geoshape().encode( color=alt.Color(‘totalPopulation:Q’, legend=alt. Legend(title=’Population’), scale=alt.Scale(scheme=’blueorange’)), tooltip=alt.Tooltip(‘totalPopulation’,title=’Population’) ).properties( width=1000, height=1000, title=’South Appalachian Region Geographical Mobility by residence in 2019’ ).project( type=’transverseMercator’, rotate=[82 + 10 / 60, -30] )
URBAN-RURAL DIVIDE /FACULTY: MICHAEL KRISCH + JUAN SALDARRIAGA
GSAPP/ VISUAL STUDIES/ POINTS UNKNOWN: CARTOGRAPHIC NARRATIVES/ SPRING 2021
g_unit = ‘tract’ g_filter = {‘state’:’37’, ‘county’: ‘*’} nc_acs2019_tracts = api_conn.query(columns_E + columns_M, geo_unit=g_unit, geo_filter=g_filter)
GaMR + NcMR + ScMR + TnMR + VaMR SOUTH APPALACHIAN REGION - GEOGRAPHICAL MOBILITY BY RESIDENCE 2019
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jsonFile = requests.get(‘https://www.americancommunities.org/wp-content/themes/AmericanCommunitiesProject/data/processed-county-data.json’) CountyPopulationType = json.loads(jsonFile.content) counties = CountyPopulationType[‘objects’]
countyData = counties[‘counties’] countyMoreData = countyData[‘geometries’] countyDF = pd.DataFrame.from_records(countyMoreData) df = pd.json_normalize(countyDF[‘properties’]) countyDF.drop(columns=[‘properties’,’type’,’arcs’], inplace=True) newCountyData = pd.merge(countyDF, df, left_index=True, right_index=True) newCountyData.drop(columns=[‘name_x’], inplace=True) newCountyData.rename(columns = {‘id’:’GEOID’, }, inplace = True) newCountyDataGa = ga_counties. merge(newCountyData, on=’GEOID’) VaCT = alt.Chart(newCountyDataVa).mark_geoshape().encode( color=alt.Color(‘community:N’), tooltip=alt.Tooltip(‘community:N’) ).project( type=’transverseMercator’, rotate=[82 + 10 / 60, -30] ).properties( width=1000, height=1000, title=’South Appalachian Region Community Types’
URBAN-RURAL DIVIDE /FACULTY: MICHAEL KRISCH + JUAN SALDARRIAGA
GSAPP/ VISUAL STUDIES/ POINTS UNKNOWN: CARTOGRAPHIC NARRATIVES/ SPRING 2021
g_unit = ‘tract’ g_filter = {‘state’:’37’, ‘county’: ‘*’} nc_acs2019_tracts = api_conn.query(columns_E + columns_M, geo_unit=g_unit, geo_filter=g_filter)
) GaCT + NcCT + ScCT + TnCT + VaCT
SOUTH APPALACHIAN REGION - COMMUNITY TYPES
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statesUS = gpd.read_file(‘https://brown-institute-assets.s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com/Objects/ pointsunknown/statesSe.zip’) statesSE = statesUS[(statesUS.STUSPS == ‘GA’) | (statesUS.STUSPS == ‘SC’) | (statesUS.STUSPS == ‘NC’) | (statesUS.STUSPS == ‘VA’) | (statesUS.STUSPS == ‘TN’)] statesSE = statesSE.to_crs(epsg=’4326’) pTSAM = alt.Chart(allTowns).mark_geoshape().encode( color = alt.Color(‘popDiff:Q’, scale=alt.Scale(scheme=’blueorange’, domain=[-1, 1], domainMid=0), legend=alt.Legend(title=’Change in Population between 2010-2019’, format=’.0%’)), tooltip=[‘NAME_x:N’] ).properties( height=1000, width=1000 ) regionMap = alt. Chart(appalachiaRegion).mark_ geoshape(fill=’darkslategrey’) regionStreams = alt.Chart(riversStreams).mark_geoshape( filled=False, strokeWidth=.4 ).encode( color=alt.value(‘aliceblue’), tooltip=[‘Name:N’]
URBAN-RURAL DIVIDE /FACULTY: MICHAEL KRISCH + JUAN SALDARRIAGA
GSAPP/ VISUAL STUDIES/ POINTS UNKNOWN: CARTOGRAPHIC NARRATIVES/ SPRING 2021
riversStreams = gpd.read_file(‘https://brown-institute-assets.s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com/Objects/pointsunknown/riversStreams.zip’) regionStreams = alt.Chart(riversStreams).mark_geoshape( filled=False, strokeWidth=.2 ).encode( color=alt.value(‘aqua’) ) regionStreams
) alt.layer(regionMap, regionStreams, pTSAM).configure_ view(strokeWidth=0)
SOUTH APPALACHIAN REGION - CHANGE IN POPULATION BETWEEN 2010-2019
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What would happen in a future where the Earth’s surface becomes uninhabitable? Dystopia, is a visual exploration of future settlements and landscape, where underground shelters become a settlement norm and antiquated modern towers become monuments of the past. The project undergoes multiple forms of experimentation, from colors, materials, sketches, photography, and rendering visualizations. The project was completed through 3Ds Max, and VRay for ‘Techniques of the Ultrareal’ as part of the Visual Studies sequence at GSAPP.
DYSTOPIA /FACULTY: JOSEPH BRENNAN + PHILLIP CRUPI
GSAPP/ VISUAL STUDIES/ TECHNIQUES OF THE ULTRAREAL/ FALL 2020
05.DYSTOPIA
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GSAPP/ VISUAL STUDIES/ TECHNIQUES OF THE ULTRAREAL/ FALL 2020
DYSTOPIA /FACULTY: JOSEPH BRENNAN + PHILLIP CRUPI
CONCEPT SKETCHES
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GSAPP/ VISUAL STUDIES/ TECHNIQUES OF THE ULTRAREAL/ FALL 2020
DYSTOPIA /FACULTY: JOSEPH BRENNAN + PHILLIP CRUPI
CONCEPT SKETCHES - POST MODELING
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GSAPP/ VISUAL STUDIES/ TECHNIQUES OF THE ULTRAREAL/ FALL 2020
DYSTOPIA /FACULTY: JOSEPH BRENNAN + PHILLIP CRUPI
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BATARA
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Batara, a project by Anne Holtrop beginning in 2016 experiments with architecture as a monolithic material through ground casting. This case study examines the interface between natural and artificial through walls as a minimal form of shelter. Design is a process rather than a specific form. The architecture embraces unconditioned space with undefined uses, thresholds, and apertures.
ANNE HOLTROP /BATARA / CASE STUDY
GSAPP/ ADVANCED AAD STUDIO/ THE BEACH LAB/ SUMMER 2021
ANNE HOLTROP (2016-ONGOING)
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TEATRO OFICINA LINA BO BARDI (1984)
The linearity of this compression reiterates the building as a form of circulation, flow of humans and nutrients. The space for humans is regarded as a lightweight insertion of architectural elements into the existing structure with a wooden carpet acting as the spatial organizer.
GSAPP/ ADVANCED AAD STUDIO/ THE BEACH LAB/ SUMMER 2021
We examined Lina Bo Bardi’s work as a form of trans species hospitality through Teatro Oficina which offers the intervention as a form of root system. Traditionally, this project focuses on the compression of performance, between the performer and audience which creates an interior in an exterior.
LINA BO BARDI /TEATRO OFICINA / CASE STUDY
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FLOATING DOCK WATER TYPOLOGY
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FLOATING SINGLE
Through their tectonic assembly and devices for tethering, docks afford habitat grafting and cohabitation for various marine life.
As to consider habitat scaffolds through the interface between land and water, floating docks were analyzed as a water typology that facilitates this exchange.
FLOATING DOUBLE
PILE
FIXED
SUSPENDED
FLOATING DOCK /WATER TYPOLOGY/ CASE STUDY
GSAPP/ ADVANCED AAD STUDIO/ THE BEACH LAB/ SUMMER 2021
One tectonic system that is being deployed through cribbing was the floating dock, otherwise understood as an artificial habitat scaffold.
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GSAPP/ ADVANCED VI/ THE FACTORY STUDIO/ SPRING 2021
CORN INDUSTRY / PROCESS ANALYSIS
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GSAPP/ ADVANCED VI/ THE FACTORY STUDIO/ SPRING 2021
CORN INDUSTRY / PROCESS ANALYSIS
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GSAPP/ ADVANCED VI/ THE FACTORY STUDIO/ SPRING 2021
JORBA LABORATORIES / MIGUEL FISAC / CASE STUDY
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HOUSING AFTER SCARCITY
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Linguistic ASpect of Naming Conventions The modern world is experiencing a housing problem that from my personal perspective is not an issue of scarcity of resources but ratheran issue ofequity, and economics. The abundance of informal settlements and slums is countered by clearances and construction of lifeless housing projects that appear to be safer and more hospitable. On the other hand, empty residential towers keep emerging looking for residents who can afford the expensive housing rates. The housing terms used by developers and the governments include low-income housing, middle-income housing, public housing, affordable housing, and highend housing. I have always wondered about the naming logic and what consequences the naming patterns have on social and economic divides. Is it a question of land value and construction costs or is it more political and economic? American Linguist George Lakoff talks about the use of framing in language and the implications of using certain terms and naming conventions. For example, when talking about ‘tax relief’ there is an implication of two main actors: a hero who reliefs the public of taxation and a villain that is responsible for applying taxes to the public. The same logic can be applied to the naming conventions of the different housing developments, and even to the term redevelopment. The use of the term ‘redevelopment’ implies improvement and rehabilitation of a certain existing condition. The 1949 and the 1954 Housing Acts in the US identified blighted areas and slums as potential areas for public and private redevelopment and offered Federal aids for the buying and selling of these lands. The acts conditioned that the displaced families would be housed in new housing developments that would be within their financial means, these newer developments would be called Low-Income housing or Public-Housing.
Low-Income housing does not only imply the financial level of the residents of the project, but it also implies social, sanitary and safety standards as perceived by the public, and thus the naming of the projects would not offer a new improved, ‘developed’ lifestyle but rather place a certain cap on an individual’s standing in the society. The same logical naming implication would apply on slums and informal settlements. What is the true nature of informality? Is it applicable to unofficial, non-governmental developments or is it defying a certain set of ‘formal’ rules and regulations and thus informal? Informal Settlements and Slums Informal settlements and slums are seen as both a solution and a problem, depending on which perspective is examined. For the residents of those informal settlements, they have shelter and houses but lack essential infrastructural services and safety in some cases, whereas in the government’s eyes, these settlements informally occupy land and defy safety regulations and laws. The usual approach taken by authorities in this case would be clearance and demolition of these settlements and offering alternative housing solutions to the residents. The problem with that approach is that it is not sustainable. The residents in most cases cannot relate to the newly constructed living environments provided by the government, and in most cases the housing alternatives fail to act as per their original design purpose and end up being appropriated according to the needs of the residents’ and thus slowly shifting back to their original settlement. The other issue with this process is time, energy, and money. The resources put into this process are consumed through demolition and reconstruction of an alternative solution that is not substantially better than the one present prior to that process.
The nature of informal developments is that of efficiency and exponential growth. In many countries, apartment buildings are built in a way where the structural elements are kept exposed on the last floor to allow for vertical expansion whenever the financial and building resources are available, and they house many families within their limited footprints. Alejandro Aravena was awarded the Pritzker Prize in 2016 for his contribution to public housing projects and specifically for his idea for incomplete housing in Chile, where half a house is built, and the other half would be completed whenever the residents have the resources and need to complete it. The logic of the incomplete housing project in essence comes from the construction methodology of informal settlements discussed earlier with the exposed structural elements. The main difference is that it is more refined and has access to basic infrastructural services. The speed and informal nature of construction in some areas would go as far as building a house in 30 days with the help of the builder next door. This construction speed is sought for nowadays to meet housing development demands and only achievable through factory-prefabricated homes. The other interesting aspect of informal settlements is that they are mixed use developments in their nature. The vibrant lifestyle of the residents of informal settlements produced markets, craftsmen, and small businesses in close proximity to their houses. Another main factor for this mixed-use nature might be the lack of connectivity and infrastructure necessary for longer commutes, which turned some of these slums and informal settlements into independent, self-sufficient communities.
Is there a scale of energy at play here that is barely calculated – and thereby are people being deprived of wealth that is before them and should accrue to their tenure and wellbeing? One of the true intentions behind slum clearances and redevelopments of informal settlements is the economic value of the occupied land and potential investments in the geographical location. The clearances are masked under terms, such as safety and sanitation, which might be true in some cases, but the question is whether the redevelopment serves the original residents or other stakeholders. Is it a question of social and financial equity? Another naming convention for the activities in informal settlements would be to describe them as ‘chaotic’. The term chaos is often defined as a complete state of disorder and confusion, but another way to look at it would be as a highly complicated form of order that defies the formal norms of rules and regulations. Informal markets contain shops that put their goods on the streets without a clear physical boundary between one another, yet a shop owner would never invade the neighboring shop’s display area even though they might be displaying the same goods. This form of unorthodox order is bound by what is known as a social contract, and these social contracts shape the vibrant mixed-use nature of these streets in different countries and thus offering a unique cultural experience specific to the location along with its local culture and traditions.
LINGUISTIC ASPECT OF NAMING CONVENTIONS/ MICHAEL BELL
GSAPP/ HISTORY-THEORY/ HOUSING AFTER SCARCITY/ SPRING 2021
LINGUISTIC ASPECT OF NAMING CONVENTIONS
One case study that would portray a certain type of wealth present in the vibrant activity of informal settlements would be the Zabbaleen trash town in Cairo, Egypt. People settled in an abandoned quarry in the outskirts of Cairo in the 70s and took over the task of recycling trash for the city of Cairo.
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GSAPP/ HISTORY-THEORY/ HOUSING AFTER SCARCITY/ SPRING 2021
The barrier between formality and informality is fragile and supported by naming conventions that enable certain political, social, and financial decisions, and the issue of scarcity of resources requires an unbiased re-envisioning of the formal methodologies used to deal with informal settlements and slums. LINGUISTIC ASPECT OF NAMING CONVENTIONS/ MICHAEL BELL
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The residents would collect unsorted trash for free from all around Cairo, take it back to their homes and sort it. They would then recycle the sorted trash there through pulverizing, melting, or pelleting, and would sell the recycled goods for a living. The whole economy of the town revolves around trash recycling, and thus transforming the whole settlement into a giant waste processing plant. The only thing left from their sorting process would be food waste, which is used to feed pigs and thus making Zabbaleen the main source of pork exports in the Middle East. The government at some point in the 21st century tried to replace this mechanism, with official recycling companies and surprisingly the companies failed to recycle the city’s trash the way the Zabbaleen model did. The Zabbaleen model was studied afterwards by international waste processing companies for its efficiency and recycling methodologies. Another hidden potential of that model would be energy production. Recently organic waste has been used to produce energy and other biproducts using anaerobic and aerobic digestion, and the potential of recycling and re-use is still studied and explored by scientists and experts to solve our energy and environmental solutions. The ongoing research along with the flexible, and dynamic nature of informalities can offer a potential collaboration towards a new way of developing informal settlements rather than demolition and clearance. If this model is successful at solving the waste problem of a busy city like Cairo, then what if it is also self-sufficient and has proper infrastructure, all stemming from the informal roots of the activities of the residents that were necessary for survival?
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ACKNOWLEDGMENTS Acknowledgments are due at this point in the book. Acknowledgment that architecture is a powerful tool capable of change, and that architecture is a process rather than a product. I acknowledge that the contents of this book are not seeking perfection, but rather they are acts of activism, explorations to what architecture could become and what it could achieve.
CREDITS Partners Yasmin Ben Ltaifa Junyong Park Gabriela Junqueira Franco Rose Zhang Joel McCullough Professors Andres Jaque Tei Carpenter Mimi Hoang Victor Body-Lawson Richard Plunz Michael Bell Joseph Brennan Phillip Crupi Michael Krisch Juan Saldarriaga This is not the end; it is but a pause in a continuous process of reflection. Rewind
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ALI ELSINBAWY Selected Works Columbia GSAPP M.S. AAD 20/21
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