Ian Alexander Simmons - Academic and Personal Portfolio

Ian Alexander Simmons Academic and Personal Portfolio

January 2024

Contents

Acclimation;

Activation;

Adaptation;

Studies;

MOSAIC Refugee Housing Cooperative

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ARTERY Community and Cultural Center

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Mexican War Streets Neighborhood Library

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Brooklyn Bridge Park Ecological Pavilion

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Rest Stop For All Refugee Transition Hub

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Riverboat Display + Exhibition Complex

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Mexican War Streets Rowhouse Studies

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Timber House

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1313 Sherman Ave.

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Sensory Site Analysis

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Synathlon Study

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Pierce Co. Environmental Services Building

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Acclimation; MOSAIC Refugee Housing Cooperative Ian Simmons and Mark Zamiarski, 2023 - Buffalo, New York

Rest Stop For All - Refugee Transition Hub Ian Simmons, 2021 - Lewiston, New York

The concept of home, whether permanent or transitory, is one of the most valuable feats that architecture can provide.

We often take this for granted, failing to recognize the importance that home has in our day-to-day lives. Many are not so lucky, being stripped of their place and their home for reasons out of their control.

The following selection of projects focused on acclimation seek to amend this, creating new spaces for refugees to call home. Through permanent, flexible places to grow a family, and short-term communities of growth and preparation, we can understand that the concept of home is not fixed, but rather can be molded and grown as needed.

MOSAIC Refugee Housing Cooperative MOSAIC intends to acknowledge the everchanging needs of the refugee population by abolishing the rigidity and restrictiveness of the standard housing complex.

Placing emphasis on the need for flexible living and social interconnectedness, the 6

project allows occupants to adapt their apartment as their occupancy needs change. These adaptations are accounted for through both additive and subtractive processes, including the addition of ‘plug-ins’ to the exterior envelope, expanding space through additional program.

This hyperpersonal method of flexible living allows occupants to retain their newfound sense of space, accounting for change without the need for relocation.

Elevating our residential levels, MOSAIC also provides a series of social ‘threshold’ spaces at and above ground level, consisting of platform and mound-like terrain. These mounds provide key public program within the site, allowing occupants and neighbors in the west side at large to occupy these spaces together, expanding upon the relationship with the community.

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Pictured: Sections and an exploded diagram, demonstrating the multiple levels of social occupancy 8

Pictured: Plug-in structure and attachment diagrams, for the expansion of any given unit.

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Rest Stop For All Refugee Transition Hub Being personally-defined as the maintaining of long-term stability, including emotional, mental, and financial wellness, the concept of ‘rest’ is one that many do not have the privilege of experiencing for themselves.

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This is especially true for the refugee population in Western New York, who, for various reasons, often suffer from disproportionate amounts of mental health crises, financial burdens and instability, as well as other socio-economic disadvantages.

As a Rest Stop for All, this project seeks to provide refugees in Western New York with semi-permanent accommodation, during their transitory period from their home countries to their new lives in the United States

or Canada. With the ability to learn Englishlanguage skills, as well as job-training and other educational skills, the aim of this project is to acknowledge this issue at large, and do what it can within its power to assist.

Raising awareness for this issue, and working in collaboration with local refugee-support agencies, the project hopes to create an impact on the damaging issues facing arriving refugees, as well as establish new ties with those in the region.

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Activation;

ARTERY Community and Cultural Center Ian Simmons and Mark Zamiarski, 2023 - Buffalo, New York

Riverboat Display and Exhibition Complex Ian Simmons, 2022 - North Tonawanda, New York

Activating a community requires no specific design, structure, or aesthetic. Rather, activation is a biproduct of the proper consideration of community needs, desires, and identities.

The projects ahead are set in neighborhoods without a strong sense of identity, each lacking a core piece of what makes a community feel complete. They seek to fix this in differing ways, forming spaces to create art and inspire, and spaces to engage with their past.

Through any means, these projects reactivate their contexts through an in-depth understanding of what each neighborhood determines itself to be.

ARTERY Community and Culturual Center Designed as a method of activating the surrounding context, ARTERY aims to unify neighborhoods through the advancement and celebration the arts in all forms.

Operating in an otherwise-inactive sector 14

of Buffalo, its position along Main and North Streets acts as a centerpoint to two main axes of development and opportunity.

The project is subdivided into two L forms of circulation, guiding users in a process of rotation around a central atrium.

Through this atrium, users can visually and audibly connect to the artforms around them, witnessing the production of art as it happens.

Externally, the building is clad with pretensioned concrete fins, positioned in a way that intentionally ripples in a banner-like form.

These diffuse or embrace natural light when needed, for various art and studio settings.

Pictured above: Diagrams of design methodology Pictured right: Floorplans and an exploded isometric view of ARTERY’s spacial organization strategy.

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Riverboat Display + Exhibition Complex Designed as a generational display of technology and antiquity, the North Tonawanda Riverboat DIsplay and Exhibiton Complex consists of two sister structures.

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The Boathouse, located directly on the Erie Canal, is designed to serve two functional purposes. Divided into three constituent parts, each component of the frame is able to slide along a rail system. This provides the ability of expanding telescopically into multiple pieces, or nesting within itself as one building.

Expanding or contracting to fit any size and number of boats within, the modular structure also allows the project to take on a number

of new purposes and programs, each with seasonal practicalities. For example, during the winter, the structure is nested to create a structure above an ice skating rink.

This expansion into the public eye allows for the regeneration of public space in North Tonawanda. With little access to the waterfront today, the boathouse’s site marks a key step in redeveloping the town’s ability to connect with its natural and manmade surroundings.

Fully-closed configuration

Expanded configuration

Separated configuration

Located directly behind the boathouse, the exhibition tower provides 7 stories of display space to further embrace the region’s waterfront history. Instead of also moving literally, however, the tower is adaptive through its physical design. Rotating and skewing with incremental increases in height, the tower aligns with the boathouse at ground level, but shifts as it elevates to provide perspective on the context at large.

The programmes of both projects not only mirror the past the city has been through, but also serve as a demonstration of possible change in the future.

Pictured above: Diagrams of the boathouse’s track-enabled expansion and modulation.

Connection to the exhibition tower shown in plan.

By providing a new way to connect with the city’ roots, and creating a new form of micro-tourism within the town, the exhibition building and boathouse would itself be a part of this change that they hope to celebrate.

Pictured on next page: Sections and plans of the exhibition building, in relation to the boathouse.

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Boat Construction Pre-Design Study Designed and built over the course of a fourweek period, this boat project provided direct inspiration for the Riverboat Display and Exhibition Complex project.

With a team of 6 people, this hand-made

boat, dubbed ‘the Vulture’ was constructed using screw and bolt-less methodology, rather turning to principles of friction and wood joinery to hold the structure together.

CNC-milled pieces of wood were fabricated and hammered together to form the skeleton of the boat, which was then wrapped in aerospace-inspired fabric.

The Vulture was raced along the shores of Lake Erie in a regatta against 8 other teams.

This ribcage structure provided inspiration to the boathouse’s design, ultimately using a similar skeleton-like frame for its design.

Pictured above: An exploded isometric diagram of the Vulture, demonstrating each component used in the process of construction. Note the notches intended to allow for seamless joinery between elements, without the need for bolted connections.

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Adaptation;

Mexican War Streets Neighborhood Library Ian Simmons, 2022 - Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

1313 Sherman Ave. Ian Simmons, 2022 - Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

Architecture’s ability to relate to its surroundings is not innate in its actions. Rather, in order to fit in contextually, an architect may choose to draw from its existing neighbors, taking note of any motifs noticed.

The Mexican War Streets neighborhood of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, is one of many unique identities in design. Through art-covered alleyways, spins on traditional brickwork, and small, detailed elements, its row houses each convey their own sense of identity.

These designs on the following pages each draw from specific noted elements of buildings in their radius. Aiming to serve the communities they thrive in, they make the effort to become something new, while retaining their sense of belonging.

Mexican War Streets Neighborhood Library With the intended purpose of ‘fitting in’ with the surrounding context, this Library was designed in May 2022, and is located in the Mexican War Streets neighborhood of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. As a result of the project motive, extensive research was required to ensure the building 22

recognized proper social, visual, and cultural elements of the region. Thus, the first weeks of the project allowed for a visit to Pittsburgh, an extensive study of architecture in the region, and a familiarity with nearby residents’ needs and lifestyles.

Designed to follow the general proportions of traditional row houses from the front, the project morphs itself inward, and creates a new sense of modularity and modernity within. Framed with elements of the buildings

surrounding it, roof shingles, steel piping, and fire escapes wrap and connect the two structures.

Pictured above: A 16 square foot cutaway axonometric diagram, created using layered paper.

Pictured Top Right: Elevations and floorplans, displaying the individual uses of the many floors of the library, tied to the identified needs of the neighborhood Pictured Top Left: A composite graphic containing several circulatory diagrams, demonstrating the underlying design logic from the surrounding context, fire escapes and passages between structures.

Pictured Top Right: Floorplans, displaying the individual uses of the many floors of the library, tied to the identified needs of the neighborhood

Pictured Lower: A series of section and elevation drawings, demonstrating the circulatory paths on the interior and exterior of the building.

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Pictured: Physical model of the Mexican War Streets Neighborhood Library. Constructed out of basswood, plywood, and acrylic.

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Row House Research Pre-Design Study

these exercises analyzed the building’s relationship with its context, and itself.

Exagerrating, translplanting, and identifying elements of the house and its neighbors, four variants were created.

Placed in the Mexican War Streets neighborhood of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, a site visit allowed for the determination and study of hyperlocal architecture, using buildings only situated within a few blocks of the site. Sudying 1231 Palo Alto Street,

This study directly influenced the design for a new row house, as well as the neighborhood library project. Drawing inspiration from existing structures was key to the concept of ‘fitting in’, connecting the neighborhood through its own identity.

Pictured above: Row house studies, pencil and marker on paper, digital.

Left: Depiction of building as it exists Top middle: Exaggeration of brickwork Top right: Abstraction of privacy Bottom middle: Transplantation of circulation Bottom right: Proposed new row house design 25

1313 Sherman Avenue

an almost-confrontational interaction of the two materials.

As a follow-up to the Mexican War Streets Row House Studies, 1313 Sherman Ave. draws from the acknowledged architectural and contextual elements of the surrounding neighborhood.

As a method of privacy, the shingle-clad screen system that occupies the majority of the facade shields the occupant from being easily visible from the street, while simultaneously allowing for the passage of light into the residences behind. In doing so, both units maintain their visual connection to the neighborhood, without sacrificing any essense of santuary.

Emphasizing the relationship between shingle and brick, the front facade discourages traditional wall construction, favoring instead 26

Pictured above: An isometric view of 1313 Sherman Ave., with the upper unit highlighted in yellow, and the lower highlighted in red.

Pictured right: Physical model of 1313 Sherman Ave., constructed out of basswood and plywood.

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Studies

Brooklyn Bridge Park Ecological Pavilion Timber House Sensory Site Analysis Synathlon Study - Université de Lausanne Pierce Co. Environmental Services Building While not associated directly with other projects in theme, the following studies account for a variety of concepts explored throughout the past few years.

Studies cover a range of topics. From better-understanding how existing buildings function in place, to how micro-architecture can shape its surroundings, and how senses of touch and aroma can impact our understanding of a site, these works have allowed new lessons to be learned time and time again.

Brooklyn Bridge Park Ecological Pavilion

I ntended to incorporate two local species of flora within its position directly in the heart of New York City, the pavilion intends to invoke a sense of familiarity with the concept of humans and nature coexisting.

Pictured Above: An analytique drawing composed of the final structure and site.

Superimposed with itself, the alreadycomplex form morphs and transforms itself to create an even more-complex fractal.

Centered around the diagramming of all factors involved, the Brooklyn Bridge Park Ecological Pavilion is a direct result of numerous influences in the immediate context.

Ultimately creating the perfect sandbox for exploration, study, and growth, the structure allowed for significant use of diagrammatic design, using influences such as the local street grid, industrial history, and materiality within its creation.

Pictured Right: A series of figure-void diagrams and their strategies as a massing.

Drawing directly from the city grid and other nearby elements, the pavilion’s form is entirely derived from contextual cues.

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Timber House An exercise in rendering, completed over the course of a single day in late 2019. Using the base sketch (right), and aiming for photorealism, this render was accomplished entirely in Blender.

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Sensory Site Analysis Lewiston, New York A site analysis of ARTPARK State Park, in Lewiston, New York. Located adjacent to the Niagara Scenic Parkway, and within close proximity to the Niagara River, the site’s location allows for a mixture of sensory components from urban and rural influences.

Taking the form of a radial section cut, the site analysis diagram incorporates all the sensory elements experienced when walking in a circular path around the periphery of the site.

Aroma and scent has been recorded and categorized into personal subjective components, with color and intensity of the dotted pattern determining where notes of flowers, grasses, forest, and asphalt are experienced.

Audio and noise intensity can be seen through the use of vertical bars along each individual point determined.

Wind intensity and direction is displayed through the arrows on the perimeter.

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Synathlon Study Université de Lausanne Intended to understand the inner workings of the Synathlon building, this study analyzed specific functions relating to comfort and design. Displayed above are diagrams for the structure, circulation, shading, and heat.

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Pierce Co. Environmental Services Building Study An analysis and re-depiction of construction documents for the Pierce Co. Environmental Services Building. Intended to betterunderstand the individual mechanisms of building construction.

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