Portfolio - J. Patrick Mella

PORTFOLIO J.Patrick Mella

M.Arch | B.EDS johnpatrickmella@gmail.com +1 (403) 813-4591

[2022]

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Contents Studio

1 Sacrarium 13 Drift 25 Synecdoche

Miscellaneous

37 Stacks 41 Models

1 | Sacrarium

Sacrarium Graduate Project | Winter 2022 Committee: Leslie Vanduzer (Chair), Sam Ostrow, Laura Killam, Roger Mullin University of British Columbia

Often we think of churches and temples as spiritual or scared places and so I started to ponder on the role of artifacts as mediators, redefining spirituality as an exchange of between different scales particularly with the human scale. But rather than an exchange with the scale of a divine being, I look to the scale of a mountain, or a tree, or a rock. This thesis explores the role of artifacts as mediators between the landscape and the human figure.

The project is situated in the remote backcountry of Mount Assiniboine provincial park. Throughout the year, many spend consecutives days traversing the valleys and peaks from point A to point B, particularly through the trail between Sunshine Village to Mount Shark. This project proposes a different trail. It starts and ends the same way, but takes you on a quieter, and more contemplative walk, in search of the spiritual, a form of contemporary pilgrimage.

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3 | Sacrarium

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Discovery The first shelter acts as a metaphor for discovery and search. The tall window when reflected upon the water serves as wayfinding. Inside, a view to the water as well as a boatshed, a symbol of voyage and journey.

The roof is distorted to form a pronounced gutter, where the water flows down and through the walkway as it spills out on the side.

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Immersion The second shelter is centered around the themes of immersion, time and place. The hut strongly rooted into the history of the park as well as it’s essence.

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Reverence The third shelter is where you’d find respect for the mountain as the deity of this place.

It is centered around themes of fragility and transience. It serves as a climbing base for those brave enough to traverse the sides of Assiniboine for feeling of excitement and awe.

9 | Sacrarium

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Reflection The final shelter is a pair of structures that represent reflection. The roofline shifts and connects reading as one.

The rear is a place for a quieter and more intimate reflection. It is entirely opened into the views of the trees, seemingly blending into larches.

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13 | Drift

Drift Comprehensive Studio | Winter 2021 Instructor(s): Inge Roecker University of British Columbia In collaboration with Massimo Pecoraro

Situated in Britannia Beach, this intervention acts as a built threshold between a proposed suburban development and an environmentally delicate natural creek. It seeks to provide a barrier, allowing the creek to rejuvenate and regain its stability after deterioration resulted from the decades-long mining industry. At the same time, it hopes to engage with the local public as well as the expected rise in tourism following the future development, through various programs such as a bath house, hotel, restaurant and community hall.

The form and architectural language takes precedent from its surrounding landscape, inspired by the complex history of the town’s mines. By understanding that mining is deeply rooted within Britannia Beach’s identity, Drift serves both as a reflection as well as a new found optimism that paradoxically understands the controversial themes of mining as well as the need to move past it.

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15 | Drift

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17 | Drift

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19 | Drift

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21 | Drift

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23 | Drift

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25 | Synecdoche

Synecdoche Vertical Studio | Fall 2020 Instructor(s): Leslie Van Duzer University of British Columbia

Accommodating Wanderlust was a studio that exolored notions of travel culture and the different exchanges between architectural ideas and typologies structured around a “virtual trip.” Each student was to select a route between two different cities across the globe and from there, develop an architectural response in the form of an accommodation that would be influenced by the experiences of the traveler that underwent this trip.

Synecdoche is a celebration of the very human need for connection during travels, a connection built simply on the premise of conversation and stories. It is a collection of these multitudes of perspectives coming together momentarily like passing ships. It attempts to reflect the dynamic history and context of Istanbul, where in today such dynamism is reflected within its eccentric role as a travel destination. In one place, one might see different instances of certain cultures or persons reflecting a foreign identity, a small part put for the whole.

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27 | Synecdoche

Synecdoche syn·​ec·​do·​che | \ sə-ˈnek-də-(ˌ)kē

: a figure of speech by which a part is put for the whole.

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29 | Synecdoche

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Level 3 Plan

Level 2 Plan

Level 1 Plan

31 | Synecdoche

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Level 6 Plan

Level 5 Plan

Level 4 Plan

33 | Synecdoche

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35 | Synecdoche

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37 | Stacks

Stacks An Exchange of Stories

Stacks is a companion piece to Synecdoche, used as generative tool to explore precedents and develop design.

As a piece of narrative fiction, it explores themes of wanderlust, mundanity, and random encounters centered around the exchange of stories. It tells the story of a lone traveler finding themselves in a journey from Istanbul to Isfahan. The piece was the driving force in the development of the architectural concept for Synecdoche

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39 | Stacks

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41 | Models

Models Several explorations of site, forms, concepts and structures, through physical modeling.

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Thank you for your time.

J. Patrick Mella johnpatrickmella@gmail.com +1 (403) 813-4591