The Chinatown Park and Cultural Center reimagines public space at the edge of Boston’s Chinatown as a dynamic cultural landscape shaped by movement, memory, and tradition. At its core is the “ribbon”—a continuous architectural form inspired by the traditional Chinese ribbon dance, a centuries-old performance art that embodies grace, continuity, and storytelling through sweeping, fluid motions.
The design translates this choreography into a spatial experience that unfolds like an unbroken cinematic sequence.
NUMBER OF DESIGNERS:
1
Supporting this flowing form are structural pods, arranged in circular clusters. These pods not only uphold the rhythm of the ribbon, which is supported by a space frame, but also serve as areas for learning and reflection. Each pod is centered around vertical circulation and exhibits that explore Chinatown’s history, culture, and community, creating opportunities for deeper understanding. By combining movement and storytelling, the park becomes a catalyst for activity and engagement—drawing attention to Chinatown and reinforcing its cruciality.
Site Map: Greenway Park, Boston
Design Montage
Existing buildings hollowed, new housing added, forming tranquil walled garden.
Ribbon links theater and housing, blending public, private spaces for all.
A third of all children in New York City live in single parent households. Among this demographic, there are higher rates of poverty and maternal hardships. The poverty level in NYC for single parent households is around 20,000 dollars a year, which is low anywhere, but unlivable in NYC. Black and Latino single parents experience poverty rates anywhere from 46 to 56 percent of the time. This is double the rate of poverty for White children of single mothers. Concentrated neighborhood poverty can heighten economic insecurity even in areas with relatively few children.
The design is for a micro unit apartment building located in North of Houston. The design of each apartment was created specifically for single parents with one to two kids. Each unit is purposely designed to expand and contract to the users’ needs on a daily basis. Temporal spaces combined with shifting walls allows for a multitude of options for both the adult and children. The plinth level takes inspiration from the High Line, as well as the organic structure of the building. The mass timber structure pushes for some form of exposure to the world, and creates a tectonic grid for the apartments to rest in.
Process Work: Corridor View
Site Map: North of Houston, NYC
Wall acts as both storage as well as privacy to give sense of space
With the ability to be moved, the adult’s bedroom can turn into a stay at home office
Temporal spaces that take advantage of movable walls are ideal in situations of little square footage. Ex. dining room can be turned into living space by pushing wall back
Assuming the role of both kitchen storage on the exterior, as well as a bathroom
Stairs provide ample amount of flexibility for the children to store supplies and toys
Three Bed Unit
500 sq ft
Bathroom is concealed and supports the use of a shower
Moving wall allows for multiple apartment configurations, while also acting as storage
Temporal spaces utilize walls on track systems in order to open up space or accommodate the current user
Walls provide spaces for appliances as well as seating
Two Bed Unit
450 sq ft
Split Section
Elevation: Great Jones Street
Plinth Level:
Vegetation
Retention Trim
Drainage Element
Soil Layer
Waterproofing
Wall Detail
Concrete Deck
Aluminum Finish
1/8” Glass
Glass Balustrade
Rigid Insulation
Section Model: 1/4”
gateway decathlon / concept design
Modular Housing
NUMBER OF DESIGNERS:
Strawberry Hill, Kansas City
LOCATION: 3
The Gateway Decathlon Competition, held in St. Louis, challenges participants to develop innovative, scalable housing solutions that embrace density, sustainability, and community engagement. The competition encourages designs that are adaptable across urban, suburban, and rural contexts while promoting modularity and fostering social connections. By addressing contemporary housing challenges, the competition seeks to create solutions that not only meet immediate needs but also contribute to long-term resilience and livability. Entrants
are ecouraged to integrate flexible, community-oriented designs that support diverse lifestyles, environmental responsibility, and social cohesion. Ultimately, the competition serves as a platform for reimagining how density can be leveraged to strengthen neighborhoods, enhance quality of life, and promote sustainable urbanism in the Midwest and beyond.
The design presents an adaptable response to the Gateway Decathlon’s objectives by integrating density, modularity, and fellowship.
Process Work: Concept Design
Site Map: Strawberry Hill, KC
N. Thompson Street
Orville Avenue
response to limited land availability while demonstrating how strategic densification can promote sustainability and social connection. My original design was selected by my team for the Gateway Decathlon, where it won our intrauniversity competition and will be built as a realized project.
Concept: Section Perspective
Concept: Module Connections
First Prize Decathlon Design: Suburban Axon
Section Model: 1/8”
a Single stair
Buildner Architecture competition
LOCATION: 3
NUMBER OF DESIGNERS:
Denver, CO
In multifamily housing, code requirements for two means of egress have led to the widespread use of double-loaded corridors. This spatial arrangement, with units along both sides of the circulation route, is the result of reconciling regulations, construction practices, and market logics, rather than designing for human needs. Housing blocks are made wide enough for a double-loaded corridor but not so wide that spaces are too far from a window. While developers may take several plan configurations, the spatial arrangements are shaped to the minimum requirements.
Inspired by the structure of a geode, this design revolves around a void winding vertically through the building. The void is shaped by volumes of communal programs that extend into the shared space. The space of the void serves as both circulation and communal space, with connections between floors and crossovers that bridge the two ends.
Gathering Space
Site Map:
14th Avenue
From Left: First Floor
Second Floor
Unit Type Axons
1 Bedroom / 750 sqf
2 Bedroom / 1055 sqf
3 Bedroom / 1550 sqf
Studio / 500 sqf
Vertical Circulation
Personal Work
LOCATION: 1
NUMBER OF DESIGNERS:
A Place of Thanks
I am incredibly grateful for the people in my life and the sacrifices they have made to help me get to where I am today. I often find myself surrounded by both intelligence and compassion, and I hope each day to reflect even a fraction of the character my closest companions embody so naturally.
Thank you to my parents—your unwavering support is unlike any other. To my sisters—you are my first memory and my measure of the world. To my friends— when I am at my best, I feel as if I carry your minds with me.
With every passing year of school, I have come to see more while also realizing how much I have yet to understand. The architecture program at Kansas State has not only taught me the skills of design but has also fostered a sense of curiosity—a drive to learn, question, and explore.
