Kristen Anthony Graduate Portfolio

2021-2024

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KRISTEN ANTHONY

DESIGN STUDIO

Design Studio 3GB Vertical

Design Studio 3GA Vertical

Design Studio 2GB

Design Studio 2GA

Design Studio 1GB

Design Studio 1GA

Visual Studies Pleats Please

Visual Studies Grin

Visual Studies Wallpaper

Visual Studies III

Visual Studies II

Visual Studies I

Introduction to Autodesk Revit

Advanced Embodied Carbon

Advanced Project Delivery

Practice Environments

Design Development

Environmental Systems

Materials & Tectonics

History of the Commons

History of Architecture & Urbanism II

History of Architecture & Urbanism I

Intro to Contemporary Architecture

Statement

At SCI-Arc, my architectural endeavors are propelled by a commitment to fostering meaningful dialogue and addressing pertinent social and cultural inquiries. During the initial two years of my projects, my focus centered on materiality and the nuanced articulation of material behavior across various mediums, with a dedicated emphasis on the immersive 1:1 human experience. These projects compelled me to navigate the boundaries between distinct mediums—digital, drawing, and physical— and to contemplate the implications of this intersection on architecture, as the edges blurred across different modes of representation and scales.

While retaining my initial interests, I have recently broadened my perspective to examine the broader impacts that diverse materials and architectural processes have on the world, encompassing social, political, environmental, and economic dimensions. Looking ahead, my aspiration is to delve deeper into these thematic considerations, employing them as a conceptual lens to scrutinize material processes, social infrastructure, and the possibilities of adaptive reuse within architectural practice.

Kristen

Kristen Anthony Los Angeles, CA December 2023

Anthony

Design Studio

Design Studio 3GB Vertical |

SPRING 2024

DAVID ESKENAZI

Architecture both leads and follows. It expresses culture and social groups while also shaping them. Buildings often aim to endure, preserving their values over time. However, some forms of architecture are temporary, such as event tents, pavilions, or movable huts, which may leave lasting impacts despite their short-lived nature. These temporary structures often accompany a moment or event, fostering new social groups that dissolve when the architecture is removed. This studio explores both permanent and temporary architecture, examining their potential social effects and how they can work together.

The studio project involves designing two side-byside buildings: a temporary event platform and a bathhouse. Using paper and 3D-printed models, we explore analogous materiality, emphasizing the relationship between the two structures and their material assemblies. Seven key studio propositions will guide the work, aimed at creating an architecture that fosters empathy in a new aesthetic and political context.

Provisional Everything: Embracing temporary assemblies, weak materials, and flexible systems that anticipate eventual dismantling and reuse. Experimentation with techniques like bundling, taping, stacking, and wrapping to create dynamic formal and social arrangements.

Queer and Modern: Starting from modernist principles like orthography and minimal aesthetics, we’ll explore queer aesthetics, asking if a

Something Permanent and Something Temporary

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subtle form of queer minimalism can operate in architecture.

Live Models: All models will be active participants, brought to life through live performances and videos that infuse humor, seduction, and emotion into the architectural process.

Appearing Twice (and Not): Exploration of the contrasts between temporary and permanent, flexible and rigid, singular and multiple, field and figure, through architectural doppelgangers and mirror-like inversions.

The House-Bath: Using the Hollywood Spa, a defunct gay men’s bathhouse, as a site, a proposal for a new form of bathhouse that blends public utility, community resources, and temporary housing, addressing the needs of the unhoused population and other subcultures.

Crude Images: Embracing quick, rough, and inexpensive aesthetics to describe texture, color, light, and material, using crude renderings to express how architecture organizes life.

Just Redo It: Instead of creating entirely new designs, remodeling, relocating, resurrecting existing forms, employing kit parts, architectural diagrams, and collective authorship to propose looser, more adaptable architecture.

Hollywood Sento

This project explores the interplay between temporary and permanent architectural elements through the lens of heat, humidity, steam, and comfort. Inspired by the concept of wrapping and cleansing, the design focuses on creating a flexible, movable bathhouse environment that balances rigidity with adaptability.

The midterm phase involves designing movable boxes that embody wrapping actions, where flaps lift and the ground plane shifts between wrapped and unwrapped states. This introduces a binary between stiff and flexible, appearing twice throughout the design. The final phase features a removable enclosure with panels that offer both visual and auditory privacy, creating a dynamic interplay between exposure and concealment.

The program is based on a Japanese Sento-style bathhouse, featuring multiple baths and pools, a sauna, a café, and an event space. The design will explore temperature changes and flexibility in the spatial organization, with the viewer able to look down into the pools, creating a dialogue between the viewed and the viewer.

The project also emphasizes the effects vs. performance, focusing on abstracted elements like heat packets and carpet wrapping. Videos document actions like wrapping, squishing, and even frustration with the models, bringing the physical processes and emotions into the design narrative.

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3GB.DS.A Dom-ino Model 03: Paper and tape model. 3GB.DS.B Final Model: Top view.

IN COLLABORATION WITH INDIA CHAND

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3GB.DS.C Dom-ino Model 01: Collapsed paper and tape model.

3GB.DS.D Dom-ino Model 01: standing.

3GB.DS.E Model 01:Tracing.

3GB.DS.F Dom-ino Model 01: Top View.

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3GB.DS.G Dom-ino Model 02: Paper and tape model. 3GB.

DS.H Dom-ino Model 02.

3GB.DS.I Dom-ino Model 02: Graphic Grid Drawing.

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3GB.DS.J Dom-ino Model 03: Paper, tape & carpet padding model. 3GB.DS.K Dom-ino Model 03: Tracing.

3GB.DS.L Dom-ino Model 03: Graphic Grid Drawing.

Scan to watch our Model Act Video

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3GB.DS.M Midterm Model: Paper & tape models in dialogue with their 3D printed counterparts.

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Midterm Model: Representing levels of material abstraction.

3GB.DS.O Midterm Model.

Scan to watch our Midterm Model Act Video

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3GB.DS.U Final Elevation Render. 3GB.DS.V Final Model: Detail.

3GB.DS.W Final Model: Detail.

3GB.DS.X *On following page* Final Model.

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Design Studio 3GA Vertical | Competition x2

FALL 2023

JOHN ENRIGHT

ANDREA SANCHEZ MOCTEZUMA

This studio focuses on Architectural Competitions as a foundation for developing diverse architectural strategies across scale, location, and program. Engaging in two seven-week competitions, the studio explores the value and various approaches to architectural competitions, connecting work across both as related, progressive investigations. The two-part project breakdown offers flexibility for refining and redoing earlier versions of form, strategy, and approach. The studio challenges the pedagogical norm of a 15-week singular project semester.

The Architectural competition, with a history spanning 2,500 years, has produced iconic buildings like the Acropolis and Disney Concert Hall. While some criticize competitions as an abusive method that undermines thoughtful architect selection, potentially exploiting labor and raising concerns about professional relevance, it’s evident that architectural competitions are enduring. The Guggenheim Helsinki competition, with its 1,700 entries, underscores the enduring interest competitions generate.

However, the creative realm inherently involves competition. We constantly compete in various ways, acknowledging that our ideas, concepts, and work are naturally compared, debated, and ultimately judged against each other. Embracing the belief that healthy and fair competition is a positive pursuit, this studio approaches the two projects with this spirit.

Competition 1: Labyrinthe de Pensées

Competition 2: Mývatn Beer + Spa

Labyrinthe de Pensées | Maze of Thought

This proposal for the forecourt to the Natural History Museum of Paris proposes to create spaces of contemplation and respite, formed by both natural plants and human made materials, offering visitors a maze-like series of spaces to pause and consider our relationship between nature and architecture.

The Museum’s literature describes the Natural History Museum of Paris as “an active research institution studying the evolution of life on this planet and its occupants,” a place where tradition and innovation merge. The forecourt space becomes a physical manifestation of the intersection of this planet’s human and non-human organisms that exist on the grounds of this institution, the confluence of the study of humans, animals, and plants in the middle of a bustling urban environment. Thus, the themes of order and chaos and the delicate balance between nature and human intervention can be reasoned. This project

proposal explores those themes and introduces additional topics of contemplation through a maze-like assembly in that forecourt space. Mazes and labyrinths have existed throughout history for centuries, and while there are various intentions for their presence, they often share the goal of shifting perspectives.

The maze becomes a convergence of the known and the unknown, and the occupants must relinquish the orientation of both their bodies in space and their perspectives of the built world. The manipulation of vegetation and building materials into a maze-like structure, in both plan and section, alters the typical understanding of one’s surroundings. The maze typology is reoriented from a two-dimensional study into a three-dimensional spacemaking assembly. Additionally, the proposal seeks to spatially reorient the hedge typology. Regional typologies of spacemaking plants begin to fly

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overhead or stick out in ways that are not typical. The hedge and maze don’t exist if humans are not intervening. The proposal seeks to initiate the reconsideration of one’s relationship to a human intervention that is familiar; if the gardener doesn’t come to manicure the hedge, then the plant itself starts to break the boundary or intervention of the human to interject its internal logic. Furthermore, an inherent slowness within the maze and a removal from the frenetic pace of the city occurs. The chaotic urban environment recedes into the background, and the occupants’ relationship with the city is reconsidered.

3GA.DS.1.B Reflection: Render showing a medium scale space during Spring. 3GA.DS.1.C Process Diagram.

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3GA.DS.1.E Lecture: Render showing a large scale space during Autumn. 3GA.DS.1.F

Nooks: Render showing a small scale space during Winter. 3GA.

DS.1.G Children’s Area: Render showing a small scale space during Summer.

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Buildner

Mývatn Beer + Spa

This proposal aims to seamlessly integrate the rich natural and cultural heritages of the captivating Mývatn region in Northern Iceland. To accomplish this, the project incorporates a double-glazed façade that simultaneously maximizes views of the surrounding landscape and creates a sustainable enclosure that moderates thermal heat loss and gain. The brewery equipment is arranged vertically and is celebrated as a focal point for visitors both from the interior and exterior.

Surrounded by the stark beauty of the lava fields and positioned to overlook the reflective expanse of Lake Mývatn, the site provides an exceptional canvas for the project. The presence of the Skútustaðagígar craters further enhances the narrative, serving as a testament to the earth’s power and history. The challenge is not merely to occupy this space but to become an integral part of the breathtaking panorama, striking a delicate equilibrium between the serene beauty of the environment and the functional demands of the brewery and spa.

Acknowledging the relatively recent embrace of beer culture in Iceland, the project pays homage to this cultural shift. The lifting of the ban on selling beer in 1989 became a pivotal point of inspiration in terms of the spatial organization of the brewery. The multi-level design allows for a gradual procession through the program, allowing visitors to traverse the various stages of the brewing process, each level offering a nuanced perspective on the artistry behind beermaking.

Visitors are immersed in an experience that extends beyond the architectural boundaries. Panoramic views of the surrounding landscape become an intrinsic part of the design, fostering a profound connection with nature. From the distinct geological formations at ground level to the ethereal dance of the Northern Lights in the night sky, the project invites guests to partake in the marvels of the Mývatn region. Additionally, outdoor spaces great for birdwatching provide an opportunity for guests to engage

COMPETITION 2 7 WEEKS

with the local fauna, appreciating the region’s diverse avian life.

The project’s success will be measured not only by its functionality but also by its ability to provide a platform for guests to immerse themselves in the unique cultural and natural tapestry of Northern Iceland. The project is envisioned not merely as a structure but as a dynamic participant in the narrative of the Mývatn region, the Sel Hotel, and its evolving cultural identity.

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3GA.DS.2.F Level 3 Plan.

3GA.DS.2.G Beer Baths: Rendering showing beer bath area on Level 2.

3GA.DS.2.H Section A.

3GA.DS.2.I Bar: Interior Render showing the bar and roof terrace on the third floor.

3GA.DS.2.J Site Areal.

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DOUBLE SKIN FACADE

METAL ROOF

FERMENTATION TANK BRITE TANK

FINISH FLOOR

CONCRETE FLOOR TOPPER

CLT FLOOR ASSEMBLY

GLULAM BEAM

GLULAM COLUMN

BREW KETTLE WHIRLPOOL HOPBACK

ROTATING WOOD LOUVERS GRIST MILL MASH TUN LAUTER TUN

LOW-E GLASS CURTAIN WALL WITH LOW-CARBON ALUMINUM

Design Studio 2GB | Architecture as Urban Design

SPRING 2023

JOHN ENRIGHT

DAVID FREELAND

DARIN JOHNSTONE

MELISSA SHIN

LEILA KHODADAD

This studio explores the intricate relationship between architecture and the city, aiming to enhance students’ comprehension of how architecture can influence and be influenced by the urban context it engages with. Through thoroughly examining relevant examples and site research, the studio considers and applies models involving formal, infrastructural, and ecological approaches to the interaction between architecture and cities. Students are tasked with proposing designs for a significantly large, condensed urban campus project, emphasizing the importance of integrating their designs into existing urban conditions while understanding the dynamic interplay of economics, planning, ecology, politics, and infrastructure that have shaped the contemporary city. The studio contends that embracing bigness is crucial both in form and substance. Large buildings and generic urban structures can fulfill the need for new forms of urban density, leading to innovative architectural solutions. Rejecting urban agnosticism, very large architecture must now accommodate diverse programs and respond to the complex demands of the urban fabric and the city skyline. It is expected to be grounded yet aspire to reach the sky.

College of Design and Art (CDA)

Containers of Bigness

“The project narrative imagines a merger between a fictitious Mexico City University and a contemporary College of Design and Art to create a standalone school and campus ‘megabuilding’ situated within Mexico City. ... At approximately half a million gross square feet of area, the program consists of twenty art and design oriented academic programs with shared support spaces, including larger scale galleries, library and auditoria, as well as housing, administrative and support spaces.” - Studio Brief

This project, first and foremost, looks at the concept of bigness, particularly in relation to the vertical understanding of a campus. With this understanding, the project is inherently “big” in that it takes all the components of a horizontally oriented campus and re-orients them in a vertical container. Additionally, campuses can often be read as their own city that is situated within a larger city or context. The fragmentation, while a product of the formal operations of the design process, also looks at cities’ progression and dynamic nature. Pieces and parts

can be added or changed over time, much like how cities change and shift over time with the introduction of scalar or density shifts.

The pyramid remains at the “core” of the project, an unchanging volume holding all public programming.

The architecture embraces the idea of time and change while simultaneously rejecting it by concealing the fragmentation with a veil, with openings appearing to re-engage the context at key points.

This project also seeks to challenge traditional expectations of materials and space by way of the cube/ pyramid, sky/ground false dialectic. In doing so, there is an exploration of unexpected inversions of mass and void which involve challenging normal material expectations. Glass appears massive and mass appears as if it is floating. In dialogue with this, the project is

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situated within Venturi’s notion that a building can be more than one thing at once; looking at creating perceptual shifts and alterations of “reality.” In doing so, pyramids become skies on the ground, cubes become grounds in the sky, and they exist simultaneously.

2GB.DS.C Precedent Diagram: Figure/ground diagram of various versions of the Cal Tech campus in Pasadena, CA.

2GB.DS.D Process Diagram: Figure/ground, mass/void diagram of massing floor plates derived from the Cal Tech campus diagram.

PYRAMID FRAGMENTED CUBE

WRAP

VEIL

2GB.DS.E Concept/Massing Diagram

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2GB.DS.F City Plan: Mexico City, Mexico

2GB.DS.G Site Plan: Cuauhtémoc, Mexico City, Mexico

2GB.DS.I Program Diagram: Program diagram from midterm showing basic programmatic understanding. *Note: some program arrangements did change*

2GB.DS.J Level 7 Plan: Floor plan of level 7 depicting academic programming in a ring typology.

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FLOOR 7 // RING

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2GB.DS.N Section B: East/West section showing the relation of the transfer floor to Chapultepec Castle in Chapultepec Park in Mexico City.

2GB.DS.O Worm’s Eye Axonometric.

2GB.DS.P North Elevation.

2GB.DS.Q South Elevation.

Kristen Anthony

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2GB.DS.R Render: North-West axonometric view during the day.

2GB.DS.S Render: North-West axonometric view at night.

2GB.DS.T-V Midterm Model: Lifting Sequence, revealing pyramid massing.

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2GB.DS.W Midterm Model: (Detail Photo) Matte Fiber PLA massing model.

2GB.DS.X Midterm Model: Matte Fiber PLA model showing full massing study.

Design Studio 2GA

FALL 2022

MARCELO SPINA

RUSSELL THOMSEN

PETER TRUMMER

DEVYN WEISER

PAIGE DAVIDSON

JULIA MCCONNELL

JAMES PICCONE

The second-year core M.Arch I sequence commences with a focus on enhancing students’ understanding of the discipline and knowledge of architectural production. The studio emphasizes the development of projects in accordance with Integrative Design principles. It is structured to elevate awareness of the intricacies of designing sophisticated architectural projects. Fundamental spatial structures and organizational systems are seen as outcomes shaped by various factors such as site conditions, program distribution, structural systems, building envelope systems, environmental elements, and building regulations. These influences are recognized as both physical and virtual, enduring and transient, situational and circumstantial. The studio encourages the exploration of site-related qualities, contextual situations, environmental factors, and cultural contexts as potential tools to challenge conventional approaches to architectural design.

The 2GA studio in architecture aims for a radical re-engagement with the ground, considering both literal and conceptual aspects. It delves into the disciplinary, professional, environmental, and social dimensions of architecture. Focused on the theme “Architecture Culture: New Museums for Social Change,” the studio explores the historical significance of museums as

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CINEMA 4D OCTANE

contributors to architectural and cultural value globally, citing the transformative “Bilbao Effect” of Frank Gehry’s Guggenheim Museum. In the context of current social, environmental, and cultural challenges, the studio addresses the evolving expectations for art production and cultural identity. It examines the role of museums in making cultural, artistic, and political impacts without compromising their missions. The studio poses questions about the role of architecture in museums, emphasizing its potential as an active agent for social change and its role in creating sustainable cultural identities for institutions and cities.

Exploration of challenges related to progress, exclusion, gentrification, and the interplay between architecture and institutional identity is integral. The studio grapples with how architecture can navigate its engagement with images in a culture concentrated on aesthetics. Additionally, it questions the alignment of a museum’s constructed identity with that of the art and artists, shaping the cultural mission of contemporary institutions. The studio encourages projects to present well-informed arguments, offering intelligent, relevant, albeit provisional, and speculative responses to the intricate questions facing contemporary architecture.

MASS MoCA

The Gap: A Split Kunsthalle

Location: North Adams, Massachusetts, USA

Program: Art Gallery, Blackbox Theatre, Artist Studios, Cafe

Size: 154,070.06 sq. ft.

Height: Approx. 82 ft.

In 2017, MASS MoCA (Massachusetts Museum of Contemporary Art) achieved the status of being the largest museum for contemporary art globally, a remarkable transformation considering that just thirty years earlier, its expansive brick buildings were abandoned remnants of a closed factory. The Studio proposes using MASSMoCA as a conceptual ground to envision a large, urban, and transformative adaptive-reuse project for North Adams, a small-town exemplar of white-collar Rural America situated in the Berkshires region of Northeastern Massachusetts.

Currently encompassing 19 buildings, 12 of which are converted into exhibition spaces, artist studios, and workshops, MASS MoCA spans 1 million

square feet and includes both indoor galleries suitable for large art installations and outdoor areas with a river, bridges, and remnants of machinery. Despite its ambitious scale and drawing 160,000 visitors annually, MASS MoCA considers itself an integral part of the community, aiming to impact the community and economy in a complex, mutually beneficial way.

The Gap: A Split Kunsthalle is an addition to the MASS MoCA campus in North Adams, MA.

The project centers on the programmatic conditions of a kunsthalle or “art shed,” which is a noncollecting institution that presents art on loan from other institutions or individuals. Reengaging the local community is a key driver for the project and is reflected in the programmatic additions beyond just an art gallery. Additionally, the

IN COLLABORATION WITH INDIA CHAND

introduction of a “split” or “gap” creates flexible community programming in the center of the building that allows patrons to experience MASS MoCA from a new perspective.

The building form starts from the basic museum typology of the box and works to create a porous perimeter without destroying the iconography of that box. The split elevates the art gallery above the raised highway and allows for open community space below that is visually linked to the horizon of the city.

The goal of the material choices is to be visually linked to the context while utilizing more carbon friendly options. This is achieved through color and textural choices that relate to the primary use of brick in the city and on the MASS MoCA campus directly.

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2GA.DS.C Site Render: North Adams, MA. 2GA.DS.D Site Plan: MASS MoCA Campus, North Adams, MA.

2GA.DS.E Diagram: Plan diagram showing formal moves using a puzzle based on the studio brief.

2GA.DS.F Final Model: Image showing final model split in two, demonstrating the diagram has been maintained.

TYPICAL KUNSTHALLE

GAP

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2GA.DS.G Front Facade: Render of the East elevation.

2GA.DS.H Diagram: Elevational diagram showing the formal moves of splitting & lifting in relation to the Kunsthalle typology.

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2GA.DS.L Gap (Floor 3) Plan: Showing Blackbox Theatre, Cafe, and Flexible Performance Space. 2GA.DS.M Gap (Floor 3) Plan: Showing circulation routes and one potential version of flex space use. 2GA.DS.N Gap (Floor 3) Plan: Showing circulation routes and another

of

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2GA.DS.O Gallery (Floor 4) Plan: Showing open

2GA.DS.P Gallery (Floor 4)

2GA.DS.Q Gallery (Floor 4)

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2GA.DS.R Section: North/South.

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2GA.DS.S Axon Render: Showing building on MASS MoCA Campus. 2GA.DS.T Structural Chunk Render: Showing preliminary structural understanding of project. 2GA.DS.U Final Model 2GA.DS.V Final Animation: Scan QR Code to view final animation.

Design Studio 1GB

SPRING 2022

MATTHEW AU

DAVID FREELAND

ANNA NEIMARK

ANDREW ZAGO

KAITA SAITO

This design studio continues to build upon fundamental architectural representation techniques. With an emphasis on interiority, typology, program, circulation, and landscape, this studio explores the development of a multiprogrammed municipal building in Van Nuys, a Los Angeles, California suburb. The studio introduces the complexities of community, equity, and sustainability and the cultural and ecological concerns those bring. The studio is broken up into areas of focus; those being site & context, building & ground, program & circulation, and finally material & detail. The site & context portion of the studio is implemented as a larger group with the remaining areas being individual. This studio is completed under specific direction from two faculty members: a main instructor, and an assistant teacher.

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Van Nuys Municipal Building

Comprised of the Van Nuys branch Registrar-Recorder, County Clerk, LA Public Library, and a Civic Child and Development Care Center, this building negotiates the complexities of a collection of programs that have vastly different organizational requirements in terms of access and circulation. The organization of public and private spaces is essential for the security of the wide range of occupants. Documentation becomes a major theme in the articulation and understanding of the project both for the building and the landscape. The municipal building where documents are stored is the starting point for the project. These buildings are a remnant of a 20th-century way of life, where most of our lives have now transitioned to digital formats. The design of these office buildings throughout history is representative of civic life and citizen participation, however, there became a turning point where offices have failed to evoke a sense of civic pride. The planning of these buildings is purely functional. The goal of this project is to bring the public back into the building. Two strong organizational aspects of this project have to do with

a courtyard and ramping floor plates. This project includes a central courtyard surrounded by two different intertwining ramping systems. Each floorplate is comprised of two parts: the programmed occupied floorplates, that fold up to form walls, placed on top of the corrugated system. The corrugated floorplates are accessible but not programmed and they extend to the boundary of the building site. This intertwining of two ramping systems offers areas where the inner and outer programs can interact and areas where they are separate. The library and archive are placed in the center ramping system and the placement is informed by the article: The Power of the Archive and its Limits by Achille Mbembe. The center placement of the library and archive allow the complete access of it to all programs to bring knowledge and information to the people. The occupiable floorplates, slightly offset from floor to floor also relate to the notion

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of transparency of knowledge. Material articulation is also a key aspect of the project. The corrugated floorplates are a strong identifying feature. The corrugation evolved from a diagrammatic articulation of the courtyard pushing into the building, the public pushing into the private. It also relates to the ornamentation of municipal buildings in history. On one side of the site sits a 20thcentury municipal building and on the other a 21st-century parking structure. This project seeks to merge the macro and micro scales of each, and the articulation of corrugation allows the building to move in that direction. The corrugation moves to the landscape at a different scale and merges with native California foliage.

1GB.DS.C Generic Courtyard

Diagram. 1GB.DS.D Courtyard

Diagrams: Diagrams of courtyard case study buildings showing the courtyard as mass that pushes into the buildings openings in a Rachel Whiteread-esq way (Done in collaboration with Sukanya Mukherjee).

1GB.DS.E Study Models: Paper models of parking garage ramps superimposed with a courtyard. 1GB.DS.F Midterm Model.

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1GB.DS.G Program Diagram.

1GB.DS.H Midterm Floor & Ceiling Plans.

CONSTITUENT

DELANO ST.

SYLVAN ST.

VAN NUYS CITY HALL

JAMES C. CORMAN FEDERAL

1GB.DS.I Site Plan: 14340 W Sylvan St, Van Nuys, CA 91401. (Completed by myself, Sukanya Mukherjee, and Sean Keeley and provided to the rest of the class.

LA POLICE DEPARTMENT

SYLVAN ST.

TYRONE ST.

SUPERIOR COURT EAST

1GB.DS.J Landscape Texture & Color studies: Depicting native Southern California plants.

1GB.DS.K Redacted Document (Front): Redacted California Birth Certificate. 1GB.DS.L Redacted Document (Back).

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1GB.DS.R Final Model: Depicting building model with roof placed on plaster landscape model with both placed in milled high-density foam site model (Site model was a class collaboration).

1GB.DS.S Landscape & Building Render.

1GB.DS.T Final Model: Depicting building model with roof placed on plaster landscape model with both placed in milled high-density foam site model (Site model was a class collaboration).

1GB.DS.U Process Photo: Final model pieces; copper 3D print.

1GB.DS.V Process Photo: Final model pieces; black paper.

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1GB.DS.W Final Model:

Depicting building model with roof placed on plaster landscape model with both placed in milled high-density foam site model (Site model was a class collaboration).

1GB.DS.X Section.

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1GB.DS.Y Final Model. 1GB.DS.Z Final Model.

Design Studio 1GA

FALL 2021

MATTHEW AU

KRISTY BALLIET

JENNIFER CHEN

DAVID ESKENAZI

This design studio is broken into three projects that have an intention to develop a foundation for a visual language that is to the standard of SCI-Arc and can become uniquely individual. This is achieved through the practice of drawing, rendering, and modeling. The three projects are completed in succession and focus on the same main themes. The first project is completed with direction from all faculty members. The second and third projects are completed with main direction from one faculty member with additional feedback provided by the remaining faculty members. The final project is a culmination of the themes of the studio into a building design.

Project 1: The Line

Project 2: A Figure

Project 3: The Building

The Line

Project 1 focuses on the notion of a line as an introduction to form and space. The project is formed from a series of phases: Survey & Construct, Transformation, Edit, and finally, Grain & Scale. The project begins with surveying the regulating geometry of the Santa Fe Freight Depot, the shell of which SCI-Arc currently lives, and moves into how the concrete shell can be read like an outline. That idea is used to confront ideas of volume and thickness. The result is an abstraction of SCI-Arc through a series of drawings and a model of a single continuous line. Looking at how the line can be reconfigured and how it confronts constraints becomes important in the development of the project. The length of the line, the bounding box given, and the strategies developed individually for corner conditions all become constraints that determine the outcome of the project. The line folds within the edges of the bounding box and leads to the formation of strategies for how to articulate each of the folded corner

conditions. Material transition and the dialogue between grain and the line follow; choosing to project, challenge, or follow. The folding strategies become an identifying quality of the project with the goal that in one elevation the project reads in one way, the line extending to the bounding box in two directions, and then in a second elevation, it reads in another way, the line meeting the extents of the box in just one direction. The resulting line then displays two different readings of the same line: Compression and Extension. The subtlety of the grain is another identifying quality and the articulation of that grain at the corners is important. The project negotiates what happens when two different grain directions meet, when one overrules the other.

1GA.DS.1.A The Line: Detail view of The Line model showing grain transition on corner conditions.

1GA.DS.1.B The Line: Overview photograph of The Line model displaying the folded figural line abstraction of SCI-Arc.

1GA.DS.1.C Centerline drawing of top view of The Line within the bounding box. 1GA.DS.1.D Top view of The Line within the bounding box articulating the regulating geometry of SCI-Arc. 1GA.DS.1.E Centerline drawing of front elevation view of The Line within the bounding box. 1GA.DS.1.F Front elevation view of The Line including the centerline within the bounding box articulating the

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1GA.DS.1.D

1GA.DS.1.E

1GA.DS.1.F

1GA.DS.1.G Frontal section cut of The Line within the bounding box. 1GA.DS.1.H Top view section cut of The Line within the bounding box. 1GA.DS.1.I The Line: photograph of The Line model displaying the folded figural line abstraction of SCI-Arc and the corner conditions.

1GA.DS.1.H

1GA.DS.1.I

Model Misbehavior

Project 2 focuses on the development of a figure and how a model of architecture engages material forms. The terms real, stand-ins, abstractions, and simulations are driving concepts that lead to the idea of the simulation of material and the relationship between geometry and material. The project starts with a compilation of various sheet materials. Physical tests, digital models, and physical simulations are conducted on these sheet materials. The goal of which relates to the idea of slippery connections between mediums to construct new forms. Clarity and ambiguity become strong themes within the project. Part one of the project shows the documentation of the sheet materials using strip shapes, props, photographs, and tracings. Part two yields a compiled composition of a combination of material properties, by combining single figures made of single parts that intersect. Digitally modeled papers and intersections of pieces are products of this part. Part three looks at projective

interiority in relation to three types: a fully enclosed interior, an implied interior, and an interior within another interior. This creates a variety of spatial qualities and formal properties. Scaling, grain, hollowing, and posture become additionally important at this stage of the project. The model and ideas from this project directly translate to a building in the final project.

Single-faced corrugated cardboard is the main characteristic material quality of this project. The articulation of the cardboard in the first stage of the project determines the direction of the formation of the figure. The project is looking at how corrugation can be represented at different scales and in different mediums and how those representations can move between realms to create clarity and ambiguity.

PROJECT 2: A FIGURE 3 WEEKS

1GA.DS.2.A Compiled Composition 2: Rendered image showing Strip Shape Composition 2 with a digitally modeled corrugated cardboard with scaled thickness. 1GA.DS.2.B Midterm Model: Photograph of Model Misbehavior paper model displaying scale, grain, projective interiority, projective three dimensionality, posture, and color.

1GA.DS.2.A

1GA.DS.2.C Sheet Material

Documentation: Photograph, tracing, digital model. Showing the effects of gravity on open face corrugated cardboard at two different scales and with three different strip shape variations

1GA.DS.2.D Strip Shape Composition 1. 1GA.DS.2.E Strip Shape Composition 2.

1GA.DS.2.D

1GA.DS.2.E

1GA.DS.2.F

1GA.DS.2.G

1GA.DS.2.F Plan: Drawing showing Model Misbehavior figure with grain articulation and projective interiority. 1GA.DS.2.G Elevation: Drawing of Model Misbehavior figure showing grain articulation, posture, and projective interiority. 1GA.DS.2.H 90° Elevation

Oblique: Model Misbehavior elevational render depicting posture and figure. 1GA.DS.2.I Compiled Composition 1: Rendered image showing Strip Shape Composition 1 with a digitally modeled corrugated cardboard.

1GA.DS.2.H

Midterm Model: Photograph of Model Misbehavior paper model displaying scale, grain, projective interiority, projective three dimensionality, posture, and color. 1GA.DS.2.K Compiled Composition 1: Photograph of Strip Shape Composition 1 paper model with original sheet material open face corrugated cardboard. 1GA.DS.2.L Compiled Composition 2: Photograph of Strip Shape Composition 2 paper model with abstracted cardboard articulated through surface grain.

1GA.DS.2.J

1GA.DS.2.J

1GA.DS.2.K

1GA.DS.2.L

Boys and Girls Club of Metro Los Angeles

Project 3 deals with the formation of a building. It asks the question: How do we gather? The goal of the building is to serve a dual purpose of a point of engagement/education and of community gathering. The project explores ideas of cultural, social, and political aspects of the city of Los Angeles; pushing the idea that a building can act as an agent for inclusion. The project focuses on the negotiation of inside and outside taking into consideration the organization of thresholds, circulation, and occupation. The building serves as a location for the Boys and Girls Club of Metro Los Angeles which is a privately funded organization that works in conjunction with schools and neighborhoods to provide afterschool and summer programs. The building is approximately 15,000 square feet located on a 50,000 square foot site in the Venice area of Los Angeles, California. 2/3 of the building program fits within 2 large volumes and 1/3 fits within small and medium support

areas, developed through the idea of poche. The project also negotiates the conflict in having a secure facility for children with the programmatic areas that deal with a larger community population. Security becomes a driving factor in the organization of the program.

This project takes the figure from Project 2 and adapts it to a building by rotating it, editing it by removing or altering volumes, and negotiating its relationship to the ground. The removal of one of the three volumes from the figure becomes essential to the formation of the figure into a functional building. The articulation of varying degrees of enclosure creates a project with depth and interesting light and spatial qualities. Volumetric variety is also a key aspect of the project that can be seen in the final section model of the building. Continuing from Project 2, the material representation of the corrugated cardboard informs the material and spatial qualities of the project.

PROJECT 3: THE BUILDING 6.5 WEEKS

For a broad spatial understanding in terms of the program:

1/3: Service (amenities and services that support the club and community)

1/3: Academic (providing classrooms and learning resources)

1/3: Recreation (providing health and recreation

1GA.DS.3.C Diagrams: Diagrams showing grid and poche organizations within the boundaries of Stripe Composition 2 from Project 2. 1GA.DS.3.D Site Plan.

1GA.DS.3.C

1GA.DS.3.F

Exterior Render.

Final Model: Detail photograph of final section model showing light and shadow conditions within interior volumes. 1GA.DS.3.J Final Model: Perspective photograph showing building overhang and grid facade. 1GA.DS.3.K Final Model: Detail photograph. 1GA.DS.3.L Final Model: Detail photograph showing exterior surface grain, and perforated paper facade.

1GA.DS.3.H

1GA.DS.3.I

1GA.DS.3.H

Visual Studies

Visual Studies Pleats Please

SUMMER 2024

DAVID ESKENAZI

Issey Miyake pleats a T-shirt. Frank Gehry corrugates a Dutch-colonial house. Ed Ruscha paints a ribbon. Each act represents a radically new interpretation of what’s possible in a discipline through unconventional material manipulation. This course builds on such innovations by exploring techniques that stiffen or relax geometric and formal constructs. Over the semester, lectures and readings will analyze historical case studies alongside contemporary examples in fashion, architecture, and art. We will examine commercial applications like pleating techniques and tent construction to uncover parallels between reinforcing weak materials and softening rigid geometries.

An expanded toolkit will introduce both digital and physical techniques, from simulated pleating to 3D-printed fabrics. Rhino and CLO3D will be the main digital tools for geometric development, material simulation, and rendering. Additionally, drawings and video simulations will test each assembly.

RHINO CLO3D

ADOBE ILLUSTRATOR

Pleats

Beginning with the research and design of simple pleats and progressing to complex pleats, these projects examine the simplicity of pleating and its impact on the material behavior of paper. The final phase explores the concept of “poor modeling” in relation to a strong architectural figure: the pyramid. The pyramid, a form known for its heavy base and lightweight apex, is reimagined through the use of weak materials and stiffening techniques like pleating and corrugating. The goal is to challenge the conventional weight-to-sky relationship by reconstructing the pyramid using non-traditional materials.

The final project focuses on two key approaches: Material Pleats and Assembled Pleats. We’ll expand the material palette to include 3D-printed fabric and pleated unconventional materials. The project will culminate in a collection of models, drawings, and renderings that reflect these explorations.

Two specific strategies are explored: the Hide Strategy and the Fold-up Strategy. The Hide Strategy draws inspiration from the concept of separating skin from flesh, using rigid body forms to differentiate geometry from materiality, referencing Jason Payne’s Rawhide and Piet Blom’s Kubuswoningen. The Fold-up Strategy employs minimal pleating to create drooping effects and uses overlapping techniques to increase rigidity, referencing Craig Green’s CG Scuba Stan and First Office’s Josephine, Strawberry, and Wilson.

12 WEEKS

IN COLLABORATION WITH SEVAG

KOUROUNIAN

VS.PP.D

VS.PP.E

VS.PP.C Complex Pleat Pattern 01. VS.PP.D CLO3D Render: Complex Pleat 02. VS.PP.E Canson Paper Pleats: Complex Pleat 01 & 02.

VS.PP.F Rosin paper Fold-up pleated pyramid with purple masking tape attachments.

VS.PP.G Masking paper Fold-up pleated pyramid test model with masking tape attachments.

VS.PP.H Rosin paper Fold-up pleated pyramid with purple masking tape attachments.

VS.PP.F

VS.PP.G

VS.PP.H

VS.PP.I Flexible TPU 3D printed ‘fabric’ and ‘rigid’ solid bodies.

VS.PP.J Hide Model: Flexible TPU 3D printed ‘fabric’ and ‘rigid’ solid bodies arranged in a pyramidal form. VS.PP.K Complex Pleat Pattern 02.

VS.PP.L Flexible TPU 3D printed ‘fabric’ and ‘rigid’ solid bodies. VS.PP.M CLO3D Simulation: Scan the QR code to watch. VS.PP.N CLO3D Render: Hide Pyramid. VS.PP.O Hide Model.

VS.PP.L

VS.PP.M

Visual Studies Grin

SPRING 2024

WILLIAM VIRGIL

This course delves into the evolving role of grillz in expressing the complex layers of the Black American experience, drawing on the themes of Paul Laurence Dunbar’s poem “We Wear the Mask.” Grillz are explored not just as fashion items but as symbols of identity, resilience, and resistance to societal expectations. The seminar traces the history of grillz, from their ancient origins to their influence on modern urban and hip-hop culture, highlighting their role in navigating themes of visibility, concealment, and cultural expression, much like the dualities present in Dunbar’s work.

Students will engage with zBrush design, gaining hands-on experience in creating grillz while reflecting on the social, economic, and racial narratives these objects embody. The course emphasizes the connection between art, identity, and societal commentary, prompting critical discussions about the deeper meanings behind grillz. Final projects will not only demonstrate technical skills but also reveal an understanding of how these symbolic accessories tell intricate stories of struggle, identity, and defiance—mirroring the powerful metaphor of the mask in Dunbar’s poetry.

Grillz

The first project focuses on learning the basic techniques and workflow of the software. Using simple sculpting moves, we create an elegant design with flowing curves. This project emphasizes gaining control over zBrush’s tools while allowing space for creative expression through smooth, organic forms. It’s a chance to get comfortable with the software while exploring clean, fluid design concepts.

We selected a U.S. President (George W. Bush) from a provided list and received a 3D model of that president’s head, split between the facial half and the skull. Drawing on the lectures and discussions from the class, we conducted research on a significant event (Hurricane Katrina) from the president’s tenure, focusing on issues related to sex, race, identity, or gender. This event serves as the inspiration for a Grill design that encapsulates the essence of the story or historical moment.

The Contrast Between Appearances and Reality:

Hurricane Katrina, one of the deadliest and most destructive hurricanes in U.S. history, disproportionately affected African American communities in New Orleans and other Gulf Coast areas. The slow and inadequate response led to widespread criticism of the Bush administration and undermined public trust in government institutions, sparking debates about systemic racism and social inequality in America.

VS.G.A

VS.G.A Midterm Model: 3D printed grill and skull.

VS.G.B Midterm Grill Render.

IN COLLABORATION WITH INDIA CHAND

VS.G.D

VS.G.E

VS.G.C Final Render: Side view of grill on George W. Bush Bust.

VS.G.D Final Render: Front view of grill on George W. Bush Bust.

VS.G.E Final Model: 3D printed bust and grill.

Visual Studies Wallpaper

SPRING 2023

FLORENCIA PITA

This course will center around the concept of Wallpaper as a landscape setting, a form of drawing, and patterns that mimic nature. The initial phase involves examining forms and translating them into drawings. These drawings will then be converted into outlines, which will be redrawn using a CNC milling machine equipped with a Sharpie marker, resulting in a wallpaper outlined with Sharpie lines. In the latter part of the semester, students will progress by developing their drawings further, transforming the lines into surfaces.

In parallel to traditional plaster wall moldings, the class will explore ornamental features, utilizing CNC milling to create plaster decorations that can be applied to the wallpaper. Examining both 2D and 3D geometries, the course delves into the concepts of ornamentation and nature.

The students will approach the work conceptually, initially working with abstract diagrams defined by procedural steps and later evolving to define their own drawing strategies. The creative process will always commence with a referent that establishes core ideas, leading to the development of drawings, diagrams, and material studies that define the conceptual path.

ADOBE ILLUSTRATOR

A key focus of the course is on the idea of abstraction and the potential for abstract diagrams and drawings to manifest as material effects. The central question driving the class is: How can a drawing transform into a material? All explorations and case studies revolve around the fundamental notion that material is not fixed but can always be recreated and reinvented. The objective is to invent a new material that is flat, artificial, and colorful.

RHINO

Lucky Strike

Informed by Armin Hofmann’s Graphic Design Manual and drawing inspiration from the Paneled Rooms of the Art Nouveau movement, our project unfolds through a dynamic exploration of drawings, diagrams, and patterns. This creative journey commences with the creation of drawings, which serve as a foundation for analyzing textured materiality. Transitioning from the digital realm to the physical, we employ a CNC milling machine equipped with a marker, seamlessly merging the graphic and material realms and giving rise to captivating surface effects.

Building on the concepts of surface effects and embracing imperfections, we extend our exploration to the development of ornaments. These ornaments transcend the boundaries between the digital and physical worlds, blurring the lines between precision and imprecision. Throughout this process, we wholeheartedly embrace the imperfections as an integral part

of our creative journey. Color and textural variation emerge as significant outcomes of this exploration, influenced not only by the process itself but also within the broader context of the history of graphic design and wallpaper design. This project celebrates the interplay of imperfections, offering a nuanced perspective on the rich tapestry of color and texture resulting from the creative process. In doing so, we honor the legacy of graphic design while contributing to the ongoing dialogue in the realm of contemporary design.

14 WEEKS

IN COLLABORATION WITH

VS.W.A

VS.W.A Ornament: Dyed plaster ornament.

VS.W.B Final Wallpaper: Final CNC drawn wallpaper with plaster ornaments.

INDIA CHAND

VS.W.C

VS.W.C Final Pattern Study VS.W.D Final Wallpaper Drawing

VS.W.E Midterm Wallpaper: CNC drawn wallpaper.

VS.W.F Midterm Wallpaper: Line Drawing.

VS.W.G

VS.W.G Ornament: Dyed plaster ornament. VS.W.H Ornaments: Dyed plaster ornaments.

VS.W.H

VS.W.J

VS.W.I Ornaments: Dyed plaster ornaments.

VS.W.J Final Ornament: Dyed plaster ornament on final wallpaper.

182 VS.W.K Final Wallpaper: Line Drawing.

VS.W.M

VS.W.L Final Wallpaper: Close-up image of CNC drawn wallpaper. VS.W.M Final Wallpaper: Close-up line drawing of final wallpaper pattern.

VS.W.N *On following page* Final Wallpaper: CNC drawn wallpaper with plaster ornament.

Visual Studies III

FALL 2022

MARCELO SPINA JAMES PICCONE

Visual Studies III offers an overview of modeling, advanced projection, composite drawing, and photorealistic rendering techniques. The seminar is designed to align with the representational narrative and analytical discourse of the 2GA Design Studio.

The course aims to familiarize students with methods of comprehending, representing, analyzing, dissecting, and transforming architectural entities, including buildings and projects, within a cultural context. It seeks to equip students with both a rigorous and disciplinary approach to analyze and understand significant architectural projects, as well as the technical, projective, and speculative resources needed to utilize them as foundations for the creation of contemporary and culturally relevant work.

Through a series of interconnected exercises, students will engage in researching, modeling, analyzing, dissecting, projecting, and transforming existing architectural precedents. The objective is to generate new objects that, while retaining a vague resemblance to the original, incorporate novel formal features and aesthetic attributes. This process encourages the creation of newly constructed objects that are simultaneously familiar and strange.

RHINO VRAY CINEMA 4D OCTANE

Textured Objects in the Virtual Realm

Precedent: Kadokawa Museum

by Kengo Kuma

This project revolves around harnessing the artistic potential of photography as a catalyst for inspiration. The construction of fictional narratives through the unique lens of architecture is a central challenge. By leveraging rendering and texture-mapping techniques drawn from original precedent sources, the creation and speculation of new composite objects are undertaken. These objects are carefully crafted to embody a dual nature— simultaneously oblique and photorealistic, abstract, and entirely real. The creative process serves as a testament to the harmonious convergence of imaginative storytelling and architectural visualization. Expanding upon the groundwork laid in the initial project, a venture into the realm of animated storytelling is undertaken, exploring the intricate material connections between architecture, space, and time within fictional environments. The focal point is the entanglement and infusion

of elements from reality into models situated on new sites, where the very ground beneath them is perceived as provisional and contingent. Throughout this exploration, the integration of atmospheric effects and nuanced lighting conditions aims to conjure an alternative yet entirely plausible world, enriching the narrative tapestry woven throughout the exploration.

14 WEEKS

IN COLLABORATION WITH INDIA CHAND

VS.3.D

VS.3.C Projective Realism: Oblique Rendering Side 1.

VS.3.D Projective Realism: Oblique Rendering Side 2.

VS.3.E

VS.3.E Material Transformation: Oblique Rendering Side 2.

VS.3.F Material Transformation: Close-up Perspective.

VS.3.H Optical Apparatus in the Virtual Field: Perspective 1. VS.3.I Optical Apparatus in the Virtual Field: Perspective 2.

VS.3.J Optical Apparatus in the Virtual Field: QR Code for Final Animation.

VS.3.H

Visual Studies II

SPRING 2022

MATTHEW AU ZEINA KOREITEM

This seminar course expands upon knowledge attained in Visual Studies I that deals with architectural representation techniques specifically relating to projected line traditions of plans, elevations, etc. The projects in this course, rather than working with vectors and lines, deal with images and surfaces. The discussion of the difference between two forms of architectural representation that connect architecture to culture becomes important: by looking at documentary and experimental modes of articulation. Recording, tracing, remeshing, and building (digitally and physically) are major themes of this course in addition to representational methods of disruption like the manipulation of computational color image structures. As a supplemental portion of this course, the portfolio development section becomes essential to the progression of the degree program. The portfolio portion introduces the culture of publishing and printing in architecture. It offers exposure to visual trends within architecture and design in general. Additionally, the portfolio focus offers a chance to develop an understanding of fundamental graphic concepts and techniques for effective visual communication.

RHINO ADOBE PHOTOSHOP ADOBE ILLUSTRATOR

Kitchen Experiments

This project is a compilation of images, drawings, and models that deal with the notion of recipes. Recipes and receipts were interchangeable terms in the 15th century placing recipes as a source of value. They act as evidence, a record, or a document. They organize, transfer, and index information. The main themes within the project are recipes & records, precision & fidelity, and accidents & errors. The project looks at the idea of precision within making, degrees of replicability, and to what extent information is lost in the process. Starting from a documented Cuneiform tablet, various abstractions and replications are enacted. What results is a combination of images that represent the movement between digital and physical articulation. What information is lost or gained from the constant remaking of an image?

VS.2.A Cuneiform: Reference image of Cuneiform prism: inscription of Esarhaddon courtesy of The MET. VS.2.B Cuneiform Digital Render with background image of painted physical swatch.

VS.2.A

VS.2.C

VS.2.D

VS.2.C Color Swatch. VS.2.D

Backside of Color Swatch.

VS.2.E Cuneiform Image Trace GIF Animation Keyframes.

Anthony

VS.2.F Line Drawing of Cuneiform Digital Replica 1. VS.2.G Line Drawing of Cuneiform Digital Replica 2.

VS.2.H RGB Color Remapping 1. VS.2.I RGB Color Remapping 2. VS.2.J Color Remapping 3.

VS.2.H

VS.2.J

210 VS.2.K Digital Watercolor Painting: Animation Keyframes. VS.2.L Digital Paint Remapping: Animation Keyframes.

VS.2.K

VS.2.M

VS.2.N

VS.2.O

VS.2.P

VS.2.Q

VS.2.M Cuneiform Rhino Screenshot of Mill Path Geometry. VS.2.N Cuneiform Rendering of Mill Path Geometry.

Geometry. VS.2.O Cuneiform Cork Mold: Milled Cork. VS.2.P Cuneiform Silicone Mold. VS.2.Q Final Exhibition: Showing final drawings and plaster casted cuneiform (Other student work present in image as well).

Visual Studies I

FALL 2021

MATTHEW AU KRISTY BALLIET

This seminar course focuses on developing a graphic and visual language through drawing and digital & physical modeling. The projects work on formulating a skillset to utilize in other courses and projects. The first project for this course is the same as the first 1GA Design Studio project. The second and third projects are joined together working with the same theme but with each displaying different visual techniques. The second project is a model and the third is a set of drawings that represent that model.

RHINO ADOBE ILLUSTRATOR

A Corner of SCI-Arc

These projects deal with the abstraction of SCI-Arc. Moving from the folded line of SCIArc from 1GA Design Studio Project 1, these projects look at a single fold within that model. Assembly, specification, and material qualities are important aspects of the development. The resulting is a plaster cast model of the interior volume of the said corner and a set of drawings that articulate that corner.

The plaster & 3D print model deals with themes of contrast both materially and visually. The white plaster cast has a handmade natural quality that contrasts with the black plastic 3D print representing a machinelike quality. This model looks at the boundaries that exist between physical and digital methods of production. The drawings focus on material representation and the subtle articulation of such. The drawings offer a level of detail that changes from the distance of the reading, i.e., the closer it is read, the more information is revealed. The model and drawings together introduce a conversation about methods of material representation.

PROJECT 2 & 3 9 WEEKS

VS.1.A The Line: Reference image from 1GA Design Studio Project 1. VS.1.B A Corner: Plaster model of interior volume of corner with 3D printed “jacket.” VS.1.A

VS.1.C A Corner: Oblique drawing of model mold.

VS.1.D A Corner: Model mold.

VS.1.E A Corner: Plaster model of interior volume of corner.

VS.1.D

VS.1.F Plan: Plan of a portion of SCI-Arc. VS.1.G A Corner: Plan of folded portion of SCI-Arc. VS.1.H A Corner: Elevation of model. VS.1.I A Corner: Section of model.

VS.1.H

Applied Studies

Introduction to Autodesk Revit

SUMMER 2024

JOE D’ORIA

This course focuses on Autodesk Revit and its role in a professional office setting. The principles of Building Information Modeling (BIM) will be introduced and applied through a series of exercises involving both 3D modeling and documentation using Revit. Topics will cover the basics of Autodesk Revit, including file creation, modeling, and documentation. In addition to learning how to use the software, the course will explore when and why it is favored in the industry over other tools. External add-ins that can assist with day-to-day tasks in Revit will also be discussed.

RHINO MIDJOURNEY AUTODESK REVIT TWINMOTION

Artist Retreat

Project Scope:

Design an ideal creative space for yourself. This space can be either in an urban environment or in a remote location. The idea for this space is a space that you as a designer can use to go and create. The program of the house should consist of a creative working space, a living space, a place to eat and sleep.

Project Description:

Discover the ultimate getaway with this exquisite single-family waterfront vacation home, nestled on a serene lakefront property in North Carolina. This 2-bedroom, 2-bathroom retreat blends modern luxury with sustainable living, offering an unparalleled escape into nature. Crafted with wood construction and straw bale insulation, the home is both beautiful and ecofriendly, ensuring comfort and sustainability. Large windows and outdoor living spaces enhance your connection with the scenic surroundings, creating a seamless indoor-outdoor experience.

Location: North Carolina

Site: ≈ 46,000 sq. ft.

Program: Residential

Number of Stories: 2

Type of Construction: Concrete,

Wood with Straw Bale Insulation

WEEKS

G

Advanced Embodied Carbon

FALL 2023

SOPHIE PENNETIER

The undeniable role and responsibility of Architects in the realm of mitigating global warming is emphasized in this course. According to the United Nations (as conveyed by the Carbon Leadership Forum), buildings contribute to 40% of worldwide emissions. These emissions include operational (e.g., electricity, fuel, repairs) and upfront, also known as “embodied carbon,” encompassing upstream emissions in the procurement, transportation, and manufacturing of construction materials.

Similar to the Scope 1, Scope 2, and Scope 3 emissions of any entity (e.g., a Corporation, a School, etc.), buildings exhibit direct, upfront, and indirect emissions. Architects’ choices, advocacy, and education impact some of the world’s most significant emissions and constitute a professional liability.

This course provides essential tools to enhance the understanding of the carbon assessment of major construction materials and building operations. As an advanced course, it is highly recommended to be taken concurrently or subsequently with other carbon-centered courses offered at SCI-Arc, such as Environmental Studies I and II and the Carbon-Informed Design layer of the Design Development project.

The development of an individual project is involved. Similar to a mini-thesis, this assignment involves formulating and addressing a specific question, accompanied by documentation, related to the impacts of global warming on the Built Environment.

Mývatn Beer + Spa

In my individual project, I extended my exploration of material carbon impacts within the built environment by delving into the details of my 3GA studio project. The focus of this endeavor was the development of a beer spa in northern Iceland. From the initial stages of the design process, I took the initiative to conduct a comprehensive carbon assessment, specifically evaluating different building materials, particularly those related to the structure. To enhance the project further, I applied knowledge acquired from the course and engaged in insightful conversations with two Icelandic engineers. Their expertise played a crucial role in informing and influencing the design decisions. As a result, the project addressed the creation of a beer spa and provided valuable insights into conducting carbon assessments and life cycle analyses within the context of a small-scale building project.

Location: Mývatn region, Northern Iceland

Site: ≈ 423 sq. m.

Client: Owner’s of the Sel Hotel

Program: Brewery, Beer Spa, Souvenir Shop

Square Meters: ≈1,268 sq. m.

7 WEEKS

SITE

PROJECT

MÝVATN LAKE

Q+A

IN CONVERSATION WITH DR. THOMAS HENRIKSEN & STURLAUGER ARON ÓMARSSON

Dr. Thomas Henrikson is the Founder & Director of Henrikson Studio. Thomas has a Doctorate in Architectural Engineering from TUDelft and over 20 years specialised experience in structural and facade engineering across a range of energy efficient buildings and infrastructure projects worldwide. Previous roles include Global Facade Leader at Mott MacDonald Ltd, Technical Director at Waagner-Biro Stahlbau AG and Technical Director at Seele Austria GmbH. He was also a Project Manager for ÍAV hf., also known as IPC (Iceland Prime Contractors), and Senior Structural Facade Engineer at Ove Arup Ltd.

Sturlaugur Aron Ómarsson is a Civil Engineer, M.Sc. and Managing Director at NNE Verkfræðistofa. His expertise includes Project Management APME, General Structural Design, Steel Design, Concrete Design, Earthquake Engineering Design, Design of Timber Structures, Tender Documents and Project Specifications, and CFRP Reinforcement.

When comparing Timber and Steel structural solutions for the building, the A1-A3 carbon isn’t significantly different at that scale. That was calculated by using US values and discounting transportation, since at the GWP levels we have, freight would range within a small percentage, which is irrelevant at concept stage. Do you have access to Icelandic GWP baselines or do you have any recommendations?

TH: I do not, Iceland mainly import all material from Europe/China. Except for Aluminum, however to my knowledge they do not extrude or powder coat.

What are the low carbon concrete options in Iceland? Is concrete the most common construction material for low/mid rise?

TH: Not sure, however most likely they would have to import the Cement from Denmark (Aalborg Portland). In terms of low rise buildings always concrete due to earthquake.

SAO: Concrete is the most common building material here in Iceland. All cement is imported, there is a low concrete option available where quantity of cement is reduced and replaced by adding fly ash (flugaska) and silica fume (kísilryk). The Nordic eco label requires this low carbon concrete to be used in at least two structural components in order for the building to get the eco label. Often contractors use this concrete in foundations and parapets. Some contractors claim its not as easy to “work with” this low carbon concrete.

What proportion of structural steel is imported, in your experience?

TH: 100%

SAO: All building material is imported except for insulation.

Looking at local materials, I was curious about the use of lava rock, do you know precedents related to Icelandic lava rock aggregates for concrete?

TH: That is a good question, I am not sure, however I think that they import most of the aggregates, as well.

My design includes a double skin façade which is aluminum intense. Following your recommendation, I will look into it and swapping from US-baselines Aluminum to Icelandic aluminum might yield about 15% carbon reduction at core and shell level. Yet how prevalent is the use of overseas vs domestic aluminum, for complex facades in Iceland? What about glass?

TH: All main materials are imported. They do assembly glass in Iceland, however large quantities are imported.

Denmark is certainly leading the charge in terms of decarbonization, how doe s it compare to the Icelandic market and policies?

TH: Iceland is following this, however they have a full green electric supply, district heating as well. So they are less concerned in some ways. However they have to transport all main material via sea.

Do green roof make any sense in those climates?

TH: not really they just blow off, they mainly do steel corrugated roofs, that is fixed against wind and can take the snow.

Do you have any other pointers?

TH: Not sure, I hope it helps. Iceland is a interesting place, they do have extreme weather conditions (Wind and Snow) and frequent earth quakes, daily at the moment.

SAO: One floor industrial buildings are often steel frame buildings cladded with steel sandwich panels. Multistorey commercial buildings are usually done in concrete, sometimes the staircase/ elevator shaft is in concrete for horizontal stability and steel columns/beams to support the slabs. In multistorey buildings made in structural timber/massive timer elements, sound and fire protection requirements are hard to fulfill/ expensive. There is one such building here in Iceland that I know of. Some areas on Northern shore have earthquake up to 0.5g. Meaning ca. 50% of building total weight must be applied horizontally in structural design.

CARBON COMPARISON

Taking the overall areas from different aspects of my project and the baseline GWP’s for those materials, I calculated the CO2 equivalent for two structural systems. I compared the results of a timber structural assembly and a typical steel and concrete assembly. My results yielded a surprising result; showing that the A1-A3 carbon isn’t significantly different at this scale.

*GWP Data from CLF 2023 & US facades trends amended with Icelandic Aluminum

CARBON REDUCTION STRATEGIES

APPLIED + POTENTIAL STRATEGIES

PROCESS STRATEGIES

Identify embodied carbon as a priority

• In crafting the architecture for this project, the unique challenges and opportunities presented by Iceland’s native material and geological identities take center stage.

• The fact that Iceland traditionally relies on imports for most materials lands the project at a sustainable crossroads.

MATERIAL + SYSTEM SELECTION STRATEGIES

Selection of carbon-storing structural, envelope, insulation, & finish materials

• Bio-based materials typically have lower upfront embodied carbon than conventional non-bio-based products and have the potential to store carbon over the life of the building.

• Bio-based materials like mass timber are significantly lighter than their alternatives, reducing the load and size of supporting structural members.

• Alternative insulation materials have been considered, with a strong push towards potentially using hemp instead of the standard fiberglass or mineral wool.

Select salvaged materials

• Work with the building owner to reuse materials on-site.

Select finishes carefully

• Minimize finishes where not required for functional performance.

• Select low-carbon finishes where available.

• Many areas of the design do not require additional finishes beyond the structural members. Where finishes are required, low-carbon finishes were utilized or considered.

• The utilization of locally abundant basalt rock for the beer baths and the tile in the spa area introduces a regional material alternative.

SPECIFICATIONS + PROCUREMENT STRATEGIES

Optimize concrete specification & mix design

• Minimizing the volume of portland cement by replacing cement with Type 1L cement, fly ash, slag, and other supplementary cementitious materials.

• All concrete in the project is required to be a low-carbon option.

• The Nordic Eco-Label mandates the integration of low-carbon concrete in at least two structural components for accreditation.

• The overall reduction of concrete in the project and the use of low-carbon alternatives will contribute to the global effort to combat the 8% of emissions stemming from concrete production.

Source sustainable wood

• The full life cycle of embodied carbon impacts and benefits of wood are often difficult to quantify because of complex supply chains and differing methods for calculating carbon benefits.

• Current procurement strategies include using reclaimed wood, asking for chain of custody certificates or other supply chain transparency information, and asking for sustainable forest management certificates (FSC).

• Utilizing mass timber members that have been sourced from responsibly managed forests, specifically those certified by the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) is critical and can contribute to wood’s overall carbon impact for the project.

Source low-carbon aluminum

• The project looks to embrace Iceland’s recent aluminum production, which aims for a 15% carbon reduction at the core and shell levels.

Glulam

Glulam

W18 Steel Column

Advanced Project Delivery

FALL 2023

PAVEL GETOV KERENZA HARRIS

JOE D’ORIA

This course focuses on advanced methods of project delivery and construction documentation, integrating digital technologies (Revit) and investigating innovative models for linking design and construction processes. It introduces Building Information Modeling (BIM) as a tool for realigning traditional relationships among project stakeholders. Detailed 3D digital models and a set of 2D construction documents tailored to the project’s design challenges are generated through the analysis and development of a mixed-use program on an urban lot in Los Angeles. Lectures further acquaint participants with technical documentation methods for projects operating at the forefront of current design and construction technologies.

14 WEEKS IN COLLABORATION WITH CHRISTIAN FILIP

JILLIAN LEEDY

YEH-TING LI

AUSTIN NEUMANN

RHINO AUTODESK REVIT

EXCLUSIVE OF VENT SHAFTS AND COURTS, WITHOUT DEDUCTION FOR CORRIDORS, STAIRWAYS, RAMS, CLOSETS, THE THICKNESS OF INTERIOR WALLS, COLUMNS OR OTHER FEATURES. THE FLOOR AREA OF A BUILDING, OR PORTION THEREOF, NOT PROVIDED WITH SURROUNDING EXTERIOR WALLS SHALL BE THE USABLE AREA UNDER THE HORIZONTAL PROJECTION OF THE ROOF OR FLOOR ABOVE, THE GROSS FLOOR AREA

SHALL NOT INCLUDE SHAFTS WITH NO OPENINGS OR INTERIOR COURTS.

2. ZONING CODE 1203 - FLOOR AREA THE AREA IN SQUARE FEET CONFINED WITHIN THE EXTERIOR WALLS OF A BUILDING, BUT NOT INCLUDING THE AREA OF TEH FOLLOWING: EXTERIOR WALLS, STAIRWAYS, SHAFTS, ROOMS HOUSING BUILDING-OPERATING EQUIPMENT OR MACHINERY, PARKING AREAS WITH ASSOCIATED DRIVEWAYS AND RAMPS.

J. ADDRESS AND LEGAL INFORMATION

PROJECT ADDRESS 405 2nd Street Los Angeles, CA 90012

LOT AREA 17,888.9 SF APN 5161018007

TRACT SUBDIVISION OF BLOCK A OF J.M. DAVIES TRACT MAP REFERENCE M R 66-97 BLOCKS NONE LOT 8

ZONING [Q]C2-3D-O-CDO

Practice Environments

FALL 2023

MICHAEL FOLONIS

This course critically examines the impact of professional architectural practices on the development and orientation of architectural design, production, and education. It involves a comprehensive exploration of the architectural profession, encompassing licensing, legal requirements, adherence to codes and budgets, and its position in relation to competing professions and financial interests. The course aims to enhance understanding of registration law, building codes, professional service contracts, zoning and subdivision ordinances, environmental regulations, and other licensure-related considerations.

Insights into the administrative role of architects are provided, covering aspects such as securing commissions, selecting and coordinating consultants, negotiating contracts, project management, egress considerations, code compliance, and principles of life safety. There is an emphasis on developing effective communication skills for engaging with clients and user groups. Additionally, the course analyzes trends like

globalization and outsourcing, assessing their potential impact on the architectural practice. The Emerging Professionals Companion and updated information on the Intern Development Program (IDP) are provided.

Key topics covered encompass human factors, planning, scheduling, cost control, risk management, design and construction management, as well as the latest advancements in information technology for project management. The course delves into inquiries such as the criteria for clients when selecting architects, strategies architects employ to secure commissions, the processes involved in publicizing and publishing projects, the steps to obtain and uphold licensure, and the crucial aspects of collaboration with engineers, consultants, and contractors. Additionally, it offers insights into initiating an independent practice and collaborating with owners, contractors, and developers.

IN COLLABORATION WITH TARA AFSARI

CHRISTIAN FILIP

JOHARATULMAJD RAAIQ

CHUEN WU 14 WEEKS

ADOBE INDESIGN

S TUDIO FLOW

S TUDIO FLOW

PROJECT PROPOSAL

Our team at Studio Flow understands the importance of selecting a team of designers that will be able to make your vision for your property at 837 6th Street in Santa Monica a reality. Therefore, our team is enthusiastic to submit ourselves for consideration as the project’s primary architecture firm.

Our experiences and skillsets both individually and as a team of architects and designers make us a great candidate for your project. Our portfolio of work contains examples of similar scale built projects which showcase our abilities to create a project for you that resembles your vision. Studio Flow's approach to every project is rooted in creativity and we believe that a well-designed space can significantly impact people's lives and the environment.

The site and project sparked the interest of our team of designers, and we are excited to explore the myriad of possibilities that the site offers. The charming neighborhood embodies key elements of a project we aspire to create. With its abundance of vegetation and its close proximity to many amenities, the location offers ideal conditions for a duplex property. Given the current housing demands in LA County, there is a strong indication of a promising return on investment, paving the way for the establishment of a project that seamlessly combines beauty and profitability. Our team wants to assure you that we are dedicated to not only meeting but exceeding your expectations.

We would be delighted to engage in a more in-depth discussion about your project and to explore ways in which we can turn your vision into a reality. Please do not hesitate to contact me to arrange a meeting at your convenience.

Thank you for considering our proposal. We look forward to the possibility of collaborating on this exciting architectural project. Together, we can create a space that inspires, fulfills, and leaves a lasting impact.

2GB Design Development

SPRING 2023

HERWIG BAUMGARTNER

SCOTT URIU

MATTHEW MELNYK

JAMEY LYZUN SOPHIE PENNETIER

This course delves into aspects concerning the execution of design, encompassing technology, material utilization, systems integration, and fundamental analytical approaches such as force, order, and character. It encompasses a thorough examination of both basic and advanced construction techniques, the scrutiny of building codes, the design of Structural and Mechanical systems, Environmental systems, and Buildings service systems. The course also addresses the development of building materials and the integration of building components and systems. The primary goal is to foster a comprehensive understanding of how architects convey intricate building systems within the built environment, demonstrating proficiency in documenting a comprehensive architectural project and exercising environmental stewardship.

RHINO GRASSHOPPER

ADOBE ILLUSTRATOR

ADOBE INDESIGN

ADOBE AFTER EFFECTS

CINEMA 4D

OCTANE

The method for design development goes beyond mere technical progress for the project; it is also a disciplinary advancement. In this context, the course aims to question conventional representation methods and seek relevance in a time when the documentation of design and manufacturing is undergoing changes, relying more on threedimensional live data. While Building Information Modeling (BIM) represents a significant step forward, the objective is to reconsider how we can imagine and convey design through innovative approaches that go beyond the design object itself.

The Gap by SSAKKI

Working from my and India Chand’s 2GA Studio project, my group and I were dedicated to enhancing the technical aspects of the project. We focused on making essential improvements while upholding the overarching design goals established during the initial design phase. This involved meticulously examining structural considerations, particularly addressing the challenges related to the “gap” floor. Additionally, we carefully considered refining the facade’s aesthetic appearance. Moreover, we were conscientious about the environmental impact of our material selections, aiming to minimize the carbon footprint associated with the construction materials chosen for the project.

14 WEEKS

IN COLLABORATION WITH INDIA CHAND ATHENE HO KYLE JENSEN SEVAG KOUROUNIAN

AS.DD.B Building Axon: Final Render showing material, rendered by India Chand. AS.DD.C Animation: Scan QR Code to view chunk and detail animation, modeled by myself and rendered by Sevag Kourounian. AS.DD.D Structual Chunk: Modeled by myself and rendered by Sevag Kourounian.

EMBODIED CARBON

Strategies to reduce embodied carbon footprint:

- Our biggest impact comes from the structural steel (Which is 1033,250 kg CO2eq/m3.) An Alternative Would be Cross Laminated Timber -77,688 kg CO2eq/m3.

- Originally we chose spruce as our flooring which we keep The same at an output of -164,830 kg CO2eq/m3.

- We would swap our EPS insulation Graphite 80 (1,111.0 kg CO2eq/m3.) For hemp insulation at the result of 490.4 kg CO2eq/m3. -The aluminum framed windows which are currently at a GWP rate of 50,426.1 kg CO2eq/m3. Can be replaced With. Wood-aluminum framed windows with an embodied carbon Of 32,791 kg CO2eq/m3.

TOTAL 2,621,275.5 KG C02 eq DRAWN

Environmental Systems

FALL 2022

RUSSELL FORTMEYER

ADOBE ILLUSTRATOR

ADOBE INDESIGN

The course emphasizes the pivotal role architecture plays in responding to sustainability, climate change, and resilience. It shifts the focus from aesthetic and cultural criteria to the performance of architecture in terms of energy and resource modulation, creating comfortable spaces, and actively addressing environmental challenges. Beginning with an exploration of climate constraints and the human body’s response, the course delves into site analysis, considering urban context, historic fabric, ecology, and climate. Subsequent lectures examine how architecture has evolved in response to these constraints, with a specific focus on environmental systems design, heating and cooling, ventilation, lighting, facades, and various building systems. The class culminates in exploring integrated design for buildings and cities within the broader ecological context of climate change and sustainable design, highlighting the generative potential of integrated environmental systems in architectural projects while considering social and cultural values. Strategies such as Zero Net Carbon (ZNC) buildings and the circular economy will also be explored.

In the initial phase of the semester, Project 1 is centered on a distinct public space in Los Angeles. The focus is on analyzing the site’s environmental conditions and vulnerabilities concerning pedestrians. Through a precedent study exploring global best practices in microclimate and public space design, Project 1 culminates in a design proposal. The proposal aims to enhance site conditions with specific, measurable outcomes related to climate considerations and environmental quality, including air quality and site acoustics.

Project 2 focuses on a museum in Southern California as a case study and develops a retrofit approach for decarbonization. The goal is to investigate various systems, including the façade, energy, mechanical, water, and materials. Project 2 proposes a design intervention aimed at reducing or eliminating the museum’s carbon footprint while enhancing the building’s overall human experience.

14 WEEKS

IN COLLABORATION WITH MICHAEL BOLDT

JILLIAN LEEDY

ARAM RADFAR

RUITING XU

RHINO GRASSHOPPER

SITE + CLIMATE

INTERVENTION

Plants

AS.ES.A Project 1: Site Analysis. AS.ES.B Project 1: Intervention.

AS.ES.B

CASE STUDY

CONTEMPORARY @ MOCA

CALENVIROSCREEN + MYHAZARDS

Significant Environmental Effects for the Geffen site under Pollution Burden include:

Solid Waste: 94%

This indicator is calculated by considering the number of solid waste facilities including illegal sites, the weight of each, and the distance to the census tract.

Hazardous Waste: 92%

This indicator is calculated by considering the number of permitted Treatment, Storage and Disposal Facilities (TSDFs), generators of hazardous waste or chrome plating facilities, the weight of each generator or site, and the distance to the census tract.

Cleanups: 86%

This indicator is calculated by considering the number of cleanup sites including Superfund sites on the National Priorities List, the weight of each site, and the distance to the census tract.

“Pollution Burden represents the potential exposures to pollutants and the adverse environmental conditions caused by pollution.”

Population Characteristics Percentile: 88%

“Population Characteristics represent physiological traits, health status, or community characteristics that can result in increased vulnerability to pollution.”

MyHazards

Earthquake - High hazard warning, specifically high ground shaking Near a liquefaction zone area Flood - Low hazard warning Outside of fire and tsunami hazard zones

Significant Exposures for the Geffen site under Pollution Burden include: Diesel Particulate Matter (PM): 96%

Sources of diesel PM in this census tract and nearby emit 0.722 tons per year.

Drinking Water Contaminants: 93%

The drinking water contaminant score for the census tract containing the site of the Geffen is 788. This is the sum of the contaminant and violation percentiles.

*This indicator does not assess whether your water is safe to drink.

PM2.5: 92%

The census tract that contains the site of the Geffen has a concentration of 12.71 micrograms per meter cubed.

California PM2.5 concentrations range between 1.9-16.4 micrograms per meter cubed.

Toxic Releases: 81%

This indicator takes the air concentration and toxicity of the chemical to determine the toxic release score.

The toxic release indicator scores range from 0 to 96,985.

The score for this census tract is 2,161.45.

Ozone: 54%

This census tract has a summed concentration of 0.048 parts per million (ppm).

Ozone concentrations in California range between 0.03 - 0.07 ppm.

These exposures deal with a variety of particle, chemical, and bacterial impacts to the air and water around the Geffen. Each exposure has specific sources for the contaminant and those sources make sense as to why the Geffen would have such higher percentiles in the categories. The Geffen is surrounded by rail yards, freeways, factories, and construction sites. The site is also impacted by sewage and runoff.

Exposure to these chemicals and bacterias are harmful to health and can lead to chronic illnesses including heart and lung diseases, cancer, and blood disorders.

Impaired Waters: 67% When water bodies are contaminated by pollutants, they are considered impaired. This indicator is calculated by considering the

Materials & Tectonics

FALL 2021

This course provides an introduction to fundamental tectonic principles, emphasizing materials, their properties, and industrial processes. The focus is on exploring the anatomy of materials and their potential applications in architecture. The objective is to foster a comprehensive understanding of materials, including the design methods, techniques, and industrial processes relevant to architecture and building contexts. Through direct testing and experimentation, the class investigates the technical and rational manipulation of both traditional and innovative materials. The aim is to gain insights into the physical characteristics, environmental impact, and potential reuse of these materials.

14 WEEKS

IN COLLABORATION WITH

PAVEL GETOV

JESSICA DOSOUTO NASEEM SOLTANI SUKANYA MUKHERJEE

RHINO ADOBE ILLUSTRATOR MICROSOFT POWERPOINT

TABBY CONCRETE

MULLION + GLASS CONCRETE FOUNDATION CIRCULATION

DESIGN CONCEPT

CONTRAST BETWEEN MATERIAL DEMONSTRATED THROUGH PROGRAM, OCCUPATION, AND CIRCULATION.

GROUND

SECTION SCALE: ¼” = 1’ 0”

History + Theory

History of the Commons

SPRING 2024

THABISILE GRIFFIN

This course explores the history of “the commons,” understood as a material and relational system that prioritizes the shared accessibility of natural and cultural resources for all members of society. While traditionally linked to land and social relations in medieval Europe, this class broadens the concept to encompass global historical and contemporary examples of social and land-based relationships. The aim is to examine diverse practices of “commoning” in various contexts. Case studies include the Zapatistas in Chiapas, Mexico, as well as a range of squatting movements, communal and agrarian societies, and other forms of autonomy that challenge the norms of private property. Though this is a history course, students also engage in creating visual or descriptive models of transformation, drawing on the practices studied.

MICROSOFT WORD ADOBE PHOTOSHOP

Where the Land Meets the Sea: Border Conditions as Commons

The practice of “commoning” has roots throughout history and across many cultures. While different examples approach “commoning” differently the following remains at the core of all instances: “The commons” is a theory which

allocates all land to the community and organizes all labor and resources for the common benefit to all. Within a commons, there is a responsibility to each other and to the Earth. The theory encompasses well-being, dignity, autonomy, and mutual investment. Additionally, “the commons” lies at an intersection of three elements: surplus industry (capitalism), enclosure (a devaluing of the commons), and racialization. In Dr. Thabisile Griffin’s class, History of the Commons, for which I am writing this paper, we wrote a working definition for the “the commons” and it reads as follows: “The consideration of resources so that they are owned, negotiated and used by all members of [a] community linked by principles of cooperation and responsibility to each other and the earth.” “Members” is then elaborated upon to mean “beings who seek a stateless, voluntary cooperative of horizontal communities, based on collective ownership and autonomous self-management of social life.”1 What follows is a closer examination of the antithesis of commons practices and the formation of a “commons” within border conditions; like streets and coastlines.

The opposite of commoning is enclosure. Enclosure is the act of closing off a certain area of

1 Dr. Thabisile

SCI-Arc SP 2024 LA 8547 History of the Commons class, class discussion, April 3, 2024.

Griffin’s

Image: Kristen Anthony | Low Country Collage

allocates all land to the community and organizes all labor and resources for the common benefit to all. Within a commons, there is a responsibility to each other and to the Earth. The theory encompasses well-being, dignity, autonomy, and mutual investment. Additionally, “the commons” lies at an intersection of three elements: surplus industry (capitalism), enclosure (a devaluing of the commons), and racialization. In Dr. Thabisile Griffin’s class, History of the Commons, for which I am writing this paper, we wrote a working definition for the “the commons” and it reads as follows: “The consideration of resources so that they are owned, negotiated and used by all members of [a] community linked by principles of cooperation and responsibility to each other and the earth.” “Members” is then elaborated upon to mean “beings who seek a stateless, voluntary cooperative of horizontal communities, based on collective ownership and autonomous self-management of social life.”1 What follows is a closer examination of the antithesis of commons practices and the formation of a “commons” within border conditions; like streets and coastlines.

The opposite of commoning is enclosure. Enclosure is the act of closing off a certain area of

land. The act of enclosure involves the privatization of common resources on that land and the deprivation of access and privilege, typically to the original inhabitants. While the act of enclosure is a recurring discussion point in The Wealth of the Commons: A World Beyond Market & State, an entry that relates enclosure to boundary conditions is Jonathan Rowe’s writing entitled “Good Bye Night Sky.” In it, Rowe introduces the topic of artificial light as an enclosure. He discusses that the abundance of artificial light today acts as an enclosure, stating, “we are enclosed in a visual cocoon, and the cause is not just the smog and fumes that fill the sky. Even more it is the light.”2 He proposes that the illumination at night acts as an enclosure because light pollution from artificial sources limits our access to the sky, meaning we are hindered from seeing most of the stars. Rowe goes further, suggesting this could contribute to feelings of depression and alienation and that the connection to the earth and to the universe has been altered. Expanding on this idea in relation to border conditions - or thresholds – the impact of artificial lighting extends to streets and coastlines. Street lighting, while intended for safety and to enhance security, can cause night blindness and has underlying implications of control. Similarly,

2 Rowe, Jonathan, “Good Bye Night Sky,” in The Wealth of the Commons: A Word Beyond Market & State, edited by David Bollier and Silke Helfrich (Massachusetts: Levellers Press, 2012), 182.

3

lighting near coastlines, intended for the safety of boats, poses significant risks to animal well-being, especially sea turtles, who become disoriented by excessive artificial light. These examples illustrate how artificial light can be seen as a contemporary version of enclosure, extending beyond land privatization.

Conservation Movements lie at an intersection of environmentalism and the commons and have a large presence in coastal ecosystems. The relationship of people to the Earth is a crucial factor in “commoning” and was discussed during many of the commons examples discussed in History of the Commons. A form of agriculture called shifting cultivation is the practice in which land is cultivated temporarily and then abandoned to allow the soil to regain fertility. Typical in forests in southeast Asia and Africa, this type of agriculture allows for a widespread variety of many kinds of forests of varying ages which created different social functions and meanings, however it was seen as primitive in terms of British colonialism.3 British colonialism practices regarding paved the way for forest preservation movements which became a factor of separation between people and the forests. Similarly, in the Adirondack Mountains of New York, conservation

movements profoundly impacted the way people engaged with the land. Ironically, Adirondack Park “opened” in 1892 for “the free use of all people.”4 The contradiction here is that while the slogan of the park is “forever wild,” upwards of 50 percent of the Adirondack Park is privately owned, and over 130,000 people live and work there. The “creation” of the park has illegitimatized the indigenous people that have lived and worked there for centuries.

Conservation Acts, like the ones in Asia, Africa, and New York, have established “legitimate” ways to use the land in turn criminalizing natural and spiritual acts that have a deep-rooted history to the land. An enclosure of nature occurs and highlights that despite the implied “necessity” of conservation efforts, these initiatives are often backed by colonial strategies of exclusion and control.

Animals also play a significant role in a commons. In Gloria L. Gallardo Fernández and Eva Friman’s writing in The Wealth of the Commons, the authors highlight the connection between the economy of coastal communities in Chile and conservation efforts involving the wildlife in that region. Economic policies in Chile led to an increase in shellfish loco exports which in turn led to the rapid exploitation of the shellfish. This

4

Dr. Thabisile Griffin, SCI-Arc SP 2024 LA 8547 History of the Commons class, class discussion, February 7, 2024.

History of the Commons class, class discussion, February 7, 2024.

led to overfishing and prompted conservation efforts and fishing laws to come into effect. These laws are known as “territorial use rights in fisheries (TURFS) and Chilean TURFS are known as management areas (MAs). The authors write that “since the new legislation, fishers must fish in a permanent place, no longer allowed to move along the coast, a rule that many fishers do not appreciate.”5 These initiatives were established to encourage sustainable practices and the allocation of management to fishers and their communities; “fishers collectively decide when to harvest and at what price to sell.”6 Gallardo Fernandez and Friman go on to illustrate that although there are potential benefits of a collaborative governance model in natural resource management, there is a desire for profitability that is also at play. They explain that half of fishers’ incomes in this area derive from illegal extraction in open access areas.7 So, while the conservation efforts have improved the fisheries that are regulated, the ones that are not are being harmed potentially more than before.

The previous paragraph explored “commoning” in relation to one type of border condition, the coast. Another border condition that can be a space for “commoning” is the street. In

5 Gloria L. Gallardo Fernández and Eva Friman, “Capable Leadership, Institutional Skills and Resource Abundance Behind Flourishing Coastal Marine Commons in Chile,” in The Wealth of the Commons: A Word Beyond Market & State, edited by David Bollier and Silke Helfrich (Massachusetts: Levellers Press, 2012), 258.

6 Gallardo Fernández and Friman, 259.

7 Gallardo Fernández and Friman, 259.

Sabine Lutz’s article titled “Shared Space: A Space Shared is a Space Doubled,” she discusses the idea of streets as a “shared space” between pedestrians, vehicles, and cyclists. She explains that “cars, pedestrians and cyclists each have their own lanes and each use has its own area” but that “Shared Space seeks to reconnect these uses.”8 Another idea that she introduces is the concept of lingering. She states that communication in a shared space only works when people travel slowly, and the space is inclusive of all uses.9 The way the concept of Shared Space works is that everyone involved reconsiders their role and takes equal responsibility instead of simply being a consumer of the space.

Taking the basic principles of a commons, the ideas of enclosure, and the examples of border conditions as commons, coastal marshlands of can be argued as a possible commons. Transforming the coastal marshland into a commons would, in a sense, be returning it to its origins. Looking specifically at marshland in South Carolina and Georgia, indigenous people have inhabited coastal marshland for thousands of years. The land was an important provider of resources including shelter, food, and transportation. European colonization initiated the start of immense exploitation of

8 Lutz, Sabine, “Shared Space: A Space Shared is a

9

Space Doubled,” in The Wealth of the Commons: A World Beyond Market & State, edited by David Bollier and Silke Helfrich (Massachusetts: Levellers Press, 2012), 236.

Lutz, 236.

the region for rice production. This resulted in a recultivation of the area for profit and altered the way indigenous people used the land. Like in the Adirondack Mountains and the forests of Asia and Africa, historical land use became criminalized. Coastal marshland is an essential habitat for many plant and animal species and because of this faces many threats including overfishing, habitat loss due to development and pollution risks. Today, there are conservation efforts being put into place to protect the ecosystem, however, to truly keep the area from being exploited, the marshlands should become a commons. Within this commons, there will be a shared responsibility of the members to the Earth. The community will organize and manage itself in terms of a committee or board. There will not be a hierarchy of positions within this board, but it will instead be organized in a horizontal structure. The protection of plant and animal well-being must be prioritized insofar that not all resources need to be for profit. For the region to thrive, it needs to become un-privatized and not prioritized for surplus profit.

In conclusion, the concept of “commoning” involves principles of collective ownership, shared responsibility, and mutual benefit. It

stands in opposition to enclosure, which involves the privatization of land and resources, at the expense of indigenous groups of people and the environment. This paper looks at examples of enclosure methods and commoning strategies in relation to border conditions, like streets and coastlines. It examines modern forms of enclosure like artificial light and the complexities of conservation laws and practices. Overall, border conditions can work well as a commons because there is already an implied “common benefit to all.” The key becomes transforming these areas into un-privatized, community managed locations. Commoning is not just about reclaiming land but also involves creating a level of interconnectedness and reciprocity between people and the environment.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Rowe, Jonathan, “Good Bye Night Sky,” in The Wealth of the Commons: A Word Beyond Market & State, edited by David Bollier and Silke Helfrich (Massachusetts: Levellers Press, 2012), 182-183.

Gloria L. Gallardo Fernández and Eva Friman, “Capable Leadership, Institutional Skills and Resource Abundance Behind Flourishing Coastal Marine Commons in Chile,” in The Wealth of the Commons: A Word Beyond Market & State, edited by David Bollier and Silke Helfrich (Massachusetts: Levellers Press, 2012), 258-264.

Lutz, Sabine, “Shared Space: A Space Shared is a Space Doubled,” in The Wealth of the Commons: A World Beyond Market & State, edited by David Bollier and Silke Helfrich (Massachusetts: Levellers Press, 2012), 236-338.

History of Architecture & Urbanism II

FALL 2022

JOHN COOPER

ANIRUDH GURUMOORTHY

MICROSOFT WORD MIRO

ADOBE ILLUSTRATOR

ADOBE INDESIGN

ADOBE AFTER EFFECTS

GOOGLE EARTH STUDIO

This course serves as an introduction to the history of architecture and urbanism, aiming to prepare individuals for informed engagement in the field. The primary focus revolves around essential considerations in architectural history, spanning issues such as origins, visual regimes, massing, interior design, ground planning, apertures, and articulation. Unlike a chronological approach, the class adopts a thematic organization, encouraging students to explore architectural history synoptically rather than through exhaustive factual coverage. The emphasis is on depth over breadth, with case studies selected for in-depth exploration. Environmental, socioeconomic, technological, and political contexts will be examined as influences that shape, rather than dictate, disciplinary thought and action. The themes are Forms of Embodiment, Autonomy + Nomadism, Decolonial Ecology + Materiality, and Structural Engineering of the Future.

Histories of the Future

Colonization. Systemic Oppression. Pueblo. Kiva. Tewa.

Ka’po.

The Coronado Expedition. The Pueblo Revolt of 1680. Circular Time. Collective Memory. Assimilation. Acculturation. Middle Place. Seeking Life. Serial Coalescence.

Looking at the history of the Puebloans and the places that are a part of their history requires an ongoing, unending narrative. One that weaves back and forth through time and place. Therefore, time and movement become key elements to

understanding the multi-dimensional histories of the Puebloans. Additionally, noting larger implications of themes within social and political history is essential to this multi-dimensional “reading” of history. Examining influences and processes like construction and deconstruction, migration, natural resource availability, boundary shifts, and social and political impacts when looking at the histories of various sites is required. These themes are situated further when studying the Pueblo cosmos and the cosmological idea of seeking life, or “the continual movement and ongoing negotiation of people with the world.”1

When discussing these histories, an acknowledgment of their placement within a larger context is key, and understanding them as an ongoing living thing that shifts and grows allows for these histories to continue to operate effectively. “The interaction between places and people, and vice versa, is a communication in which both place and person are created, modified, and affirmed, materially and symbolically.”2

Identity is an important factor in the understanding of self and culture. Within Native American histories, the notion of identity continues to be challenged. Today Native Americans are

1

2

Samuel Duwe and Patrick J. Cruz, The Continuous Path: Pueblo Movement and the Archeology of Becoming (The University of Arizona Press), 96.

Adam Fish, Native American Sacred Places and the Language of Capitalism (University of Minnesota Press), 47.

facing notions of identity that are developed by others; individuality and a divide-and-conquer mentality take precedence. However, histories of identity show a place-oriented notion of themselves, a communal and tribal understanding.3 This shift has a lot to do with colonization and the implications that come with that. Acculturation and cultural assimilation are both terms that can help understand cultural identity in the context of colonization or migration. Acculturation is the

adoption of or adaptation to a different culture, especially that of a colonizing, conquering, or majority group. It is a “borrowing process.”4 Cultural assimilation is “the incorporation of one society into another so that the assimilated society no longer exists - a complete loss of identity.”5 These terms can describe the impacts of various Pueblo Tribes influencing each other, the Spanish influencing the Pueblo Tribes, and the Americas influencing the Pueblo Tribes. Within Native American literature, a divide in the goals of the migration of cultures is significant with said literature tending to bridge cultures rather than destroy them with a consideration of all forms of life. However, time and time again Native peoples must prove their “Nativeness” by means of history that must align with western views of identity and cultural lineage. The sentence “proving how Native someone is” sounds wrong because it fundamentally doesn’t warrant much of a foundation. Whether someone is Native or not doesn’t come down to one scientific calculation but is rather an amalgamation of many forms of histories and understanding that often don’t align with western ideas of what history is supposed to be. “Their struggle for identity became a struggle between history and anthropology.”6

4

5

6

Image: Tewa, Tiwa, Towa | Mateo Romero, Cochiti Pueblo Painting | National Museum of the American Indian

3 Sidner Larson, Native American Aesthetics: An Attitude of Relationship (Oxford University Press), 53.

Larson, 55.

Larson, 55.

Larson, 57.

“By the late sixteenth century, Spanish censuses recorded only a handful of sites in the valley and the majority of the Tewa people living in the newly missionized villages. The causes of this move are likely multivalent and include Spanish colonization (and perhaps disease), incursions by Navajos and Apaches, and a continuation of the gradual population coalescence that began in the fourteenth century.”7 This is an aspect of Puebloan history that looks at the influences of colonization and migration. This is just one history in a larger collection of Puebloan histories. To look at Pueblo history is to look at multiple histories that are constantly changing and overlapping. History is within circular time rather than linear time and there is a sense of thought fragmentation. History is “an interweaving process that bends time and sequence to its own purposed and is everchanging with each re-telling of stories.”8 When looking at identity and culture within America, an understanding that western law governing identity “reflects a logic of literacy, of the historical archive” becomes apparent. This differs significantly from an idea of a changing collective memory, and this directly undermines the importance of oral histories.9 As stated in The Continuous Path, “archaeologists tend to accept the existence of an

7 Duwe and Cruz, 115.

8 Larson, 59.

9 Larson, 57.

absolute truth that can be uncovered through the collection of enough facts” whereas Puebloans “view truth as dynamic, multifaceted, and relative.”10

Additionally, examining history requires looking at the economy and politics. “The language of capitalism influences the representation of and access to the material past.”11 The designation of a “Cultural Site” and tourism both transform “the power of place into the power of economy” thus absolving “history from its duty to inform the present.”12

Examining history requires a multidimensional lens and the acceptance that “there is never one truth but many, just as there are multiple people, levels of being, and middle places.”13

Place plays an important role in this research and in understanding the histories of the Puebloans. The core values of Pueblo culture are tied to the community and to the Earth and the Cosmos. Cosmological ideas of sense of place explain the origin stories of emergence in the universe. Emergence and return emphasize traditions of movement tied to the search for “the middle place.” This search for the middle place

10

12

13

11

Duwe and Cruz, 97.

Fish, 41.

Fish, 43.

Duwe and Cruz, 97.

Image: Kristen Anthony | Religious Persecution: Pueblo vs. Catholic.

Cathedral Basilica of St. Francis of Assisi Romanesque Revivial 1886

La Parroquia Adobe 1600s-1700s

Reconstructed after Pueblo Revolt of 1680

Pueblo Kiva Adobe brick AD 500-750

LOCATION

Flyover: Scan QR Code to view flyover narrative.

Image: Kristen Anthony | Terrestrial Diagram.

is tied to values of balance and harmony. What should be acknowledged, however, is that there are multiple middle places within the histories of the Puebloans. “The recounting of multiple middle places also implies that the Tewa are remembering not just a single event of coalescence, but rather an entire history of seeking life – and finding harmony.”14 Places like Tsikumu, Ojo Caliente, Santa Clare Pueblo, Bandelier, and Puye are some of the many “middle places” or sacred locations within the Pueblo culture. With each of these locations, a strong connection to nature and the Earth is apparent and this ties back to Pueblo core values as well. “Separating nature from humanity is antithetical to tribal thought; that all things of creation are necessary parts of a balanced

whole.”15 Additionally, natural resources play an important role in place. A particular material may be important because of its association with an origin or migration story. Because of this, materials may be moved from place to place, or certain places have specific origin associations due to a resource it has. “A preliminary lithic analysis has demonstrated very different frequencies of raw material use that suggest differential relationships with the physical and cultural landscape.”16

With this understanding of the importance of place to Puebloan culture, comes a conversation of property and boundaries and the implications of both. In the Pueblo culture, there is “no separation of material and spiritual;” instead they are seen as “different expressions of the same reality.”17 For this reason boundaries that exist within the land are constantly moving and shifting. When property ownership started in New Mexico during the Spanish and American colonization, property boundaries directly undermined the values of place and boundary in the Pueblo culture. “The language of property is unable to capture the totality of the traditional life-world. It subdivides by reducing the bond between people and place to abstract categories that mean little.”18 The specification of

18

Image: Santa Clara Pueblo. 14 Duwe and Cruz, 93.

15 Larson, 61.

Duwe and Cruz, 111.

Larson, 61.

Fish, 46.

boundaries due to property ownership became a huge detriment to Native sacred lands and middle places. “The making of property boundaries is a method of analysis as opposed to synthesis; it is divisive, not uniting.”19

When property owners realized they could commodify “cultural sites” for economic benefit, these sacred lands were turned into tourist destinations. “The act of naming sacred lands as ‘property’ or as ‘cultural resources’ compromises the religious rights of a minority for the economic benefit of the majority.”20 Capitalism led to sacred lands being turned into “Traditional Cultural Properties” or TCPs. And while one might point out that education is important so why not make a site a tourist destination, making sacred land property diminishes the significance of the place and changes the trajectory of its history. “Articulation of TCPs as bound properties with rational significance and linear history…reduces the heteroglossia, multidimensionality, and diffuse quality of the Native American material past and trivializes nonscientific traditions.”21

Consider this quote from Buster Yellow Kidney of the Blackfeet Tribe of northwestern Montana on the specification of boundaries and place:

19

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21

“All of the mountains of the Badger-Two Medicine are sacred and necessary to our religion. It is not possible to name certain peaks and designate them as sacred peaks. To do so would be like asking a Christian which part of his church was most sacred, and then bulldozing the rest.”22

– Buster Yellow Kidney of the Blackfeet Tribe

22

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Duwe, Samuel and Robert W. Preucel. “Tewa Origins and Middle Places.” In The Continuous Path: Pueblo Movement and the Archaeology of Becoming, 96-118. Tucson: The University of Arizona Press.

Fish, Adam. “Native American Sacred Places and the Language of Capitalism.” In Future Anterior: Journal of Historic Preservation, History, Theory, and Criticism, vol. 2, no. 1 (Summer 2005): 40-49. University of Minnesota Press.

Larson, Sidner. “Native American Aesthetics: An Attitude of Relationship.” In MELUS, vol. 17, no. 3 (Autumn 1991 - Autumn 1992): 53-67. Oxford University Press.

Fish, 46.

Fish, 41.

Fish, 45.

Fish, 43.

History of Architecture & Urbanism I

SPRING 2022

MARRIKKA TROTTER

JOHN COOPER

CARRIE GAMMELL

This seminar course acts as an introduction to the work of architecture. The course employs a strong focus on visual regimes, formal effects, ideas, innovations, and external influences on architecture within a variety of cultures and times. The seminar explores topics such as perspective as symbolic form; buildings as mountains; screens as surfaces; opacity vs transparency; monoliths & primitives; types and typology; parts; containers & courtyards; and ground in a thematic organization favored over a chronological one. The themes are investigated through case studies that offer a deeper understanding of the work of architecture through time. Depth of knowledge becomes paramount over a breadth of knowledge to establish architectural literacy. Themes are discussed in a variety of response articles completed throughout the course. The final writing piece is a response to the question: What is your work of architecture and how does your architecture work?

MICROSOFT WORD

Leon Battista Alberti

READING RESPONSE I

08 FEB 2022

“The precise nature of beauty and ornament, and the difference between them, the mind could perhaps visualize more clearly than my words could explain. For the sake of brevity,however, let us define them as follows: Beauty is that reasoned harmony of all the parts within a body, so that nothing may be added, taken away, or altered, but for the worse. It is a great and holy matter; all our resources of skill and ingenuity will be taxed in achieving it; and rarely is it granted, even to Nature herself, to produce anything that is entirely complete and perfect in every respect. ‘‘How rare,’’ remarks a character in Cicero, ‘‘is a beautiful youth in Athens!’’ That connoisseur found their forms wanting because they either had too much or too little of something by which they failed to conform to the laws of beauty. In this case, unless I am mistaken, had ornament been applied by painting and masking anything ugly, or by grooming and polishing the attractive, it would have had the effect of making the displeasing less offensive and the pleasing more delightful. If this is conceded,ornament may be defined as a form of auxiliary light and complement to beauty. From this it follows, I believe, that beauty is some inherent property, to be found suffused all through the body of that which may be called beautiful; whereas ornament, rather than being inherent,has the character of something attached or additional.” - Alberti

Alberti’s overall goal is getting architecture a seat at the table of the art world with painting, sculpture, etc. He has been known to argue that there is a separation between architecture as an intellectual endeavor and the physical craft of putting architecture together. This writing solidifies his argument. Alberti introduces the idea of beauty versus ornament. To define beauty, he connects it to the human body, saying “beauty is the reasoned harmony of all the parts within a body...” And to define ornamentation he also relates to the body by describing acts done to a body to make it more attractive such as “grooming” and “polishing.”

Placing these terms in relation to the human

body allows Alberti to place the terms within his larger argument of architecture as “art.” In the writing, Alberti claims that beauty is inherent while ornament is an attachment, suggesting that ornament is a component added to something to increase beauty or to make more beautiful.

Taking the ideas that Alberti suggests in this writing and what we know of Alberti’s goals for architecture, beauty and ornament can be understood as beauty being the compositional “art” of architecture that is inherent in its design. Whereas, an architecture that is designed with the composition in mind is beautiful and can be read as a painting, which places architecture directly at the table. Any other elements of the architecture that are arranged within the composition are simply ornament, i.e. columns. They are added to the architecture to contribute to the beauty but they cannot make an architecture beautiful on their own. The quality of the composition is the most important and is what determines beauty because it is what relates directly to “art.” To quote Alberti, “…beauty is some inherent property…, whereas ornament…has the character of something attached…” Alberti uses the terms beauty and ornament to position architecture in the intellectual world.

Quote given in class via Marrikka Trotter.

Frank Lloyd Wright

LOOKING RESPONSE I

22 FEB 2022

The house in the photograph demonstrates a symmetrical composition of the façade. As if the viewer is approaching the house, a large paved surface, with a circular flowerbed at its center, extends from a centrally located set of stairs to the sidewalk. A large planter flanks either side of the stairs. Moving up the stairs, the viewer is met with the symmetrical house, featuring a gabled roof with a chimney at its center. At the center of the house sits a light-colored rectangular area at the center that contains the door and two square windows on either side. On either side of those windows, separate from the light-colored section, there are two more square windows and above a square window appears centered on the door with another window on either side each centered on the lower windows. Two elements visible in the image break the symmetry of the façade; the carport on the left

side of the house and the large tree in the front, also on the left side of the image.

The structure of the photograph itself strengthens the symmetrical theme. The photograph displays a frontal elevation view where the photographer was positioned slightly of the center of the front door. Because of the two elements that deviate from symmetry, the house’s symmetry is, therefore, not centered within the photograph. The photographer, in wanting to get the carport in view, shifts the façade off-center. Additionally, the photograph is shown in black and white. Removing color removes information that is not relevant to the idea that the photographer is trying to display. In both shifting the front elevation photograph off-axis with the house’s symmetry and developing the image in black and white, the photographer makes the symmetry more apparent. The photographer wants the symmetry to be the main focus of the image possibly to express certain formal qualities of the architecture. Taking the photograph from a different perspective or adding color to the image would make the symmetry more difficult to detect and thus lessen the impact of the symmetry overall.

Image: Frank Lloyd Wright, Winslow House, River Forest, Illinois, 1893; Image provided in class via Marrikka Trotter

Robert Venturi

READING RESPONSE II

22 MAR 2022

“The architect’s main work is the organization of a unique whole through conventional parts and the judicious introduction of new parts when the old won’t do. Gestalt psychology maintains that context contributes meaning to a part and change in context causes change in meaning. The architect thereby, through the organization of parts, creates meaningful contexts for them within the whole. Through unconventional organization of conventional parts he is able to create new meanings within the whole. If he uses convention unconventionally, if he organizes familiar things in an unfamiliar way, he is changing their contexts, and he can use even the cliché to gain a fresh effect. Familiar things seen in an unfamiliar context become perceptually new as well as old.” - Venturi

Venturi attempts to demonstrate his mastery of a new architectural organization in this passage. Venturi is taking an assertive formal tone in this passage, speaking to architects, training or otherwise. It seems as if he is trying to place himself in a position of authority to stress the importance of his viewpoint on this future approach to architectural design. This tactic is also pushing his mastery of the subject. Additionally, Venturi is positioning himself as a writer in the passage and not an architect. He chooses not to place himself within that group by using “we” or something similar. Instead, he repeatedly uses “the architect,” and “he” to refer to architects. He does this in order to again show authority; with writing of higher prestige than architecture at the time.

The structure and organization of the passage contribute to Venturi’s goal. He starts with an assertive statement about how an architect’s work

is about organizing parts into a whole. The sentence structure for this part begins formally and ends informally with a contraction. Venturi is actively taking different tonal formations and rearranging them into a new whole. He follows by introducing the idea of Gestalt psychology. He suggests that architects should use the understanding of Gestalt to organize and reorganize familiar things to create new meanings and to alter their contexts. While his explanation of why to use the Gestalt theory is important, the sentence structure used in describing this explanation is more important. For the remainder of the passage, Venturi repeats the same words (organization, conventional, unconventional, parts, context, whole) but rearranges them from sentence to sentence. Again, he is actively rearranging familiar parts (words) to create new wholes (sentences). He states, “familiar things seen in an unfamiliar context become perceptually new as well as old.” Venturi’s position on architecture is to use familiar things (history or the familiar) to create new architecture by reorganizing conventional elements in an unconventional way.

Venturi’s outward goal with this passage is to reposition the approach to how architects create architecture, to have familiar things be read in a

new light. When looking closer, his goal is really to show his mastery of this organizational method. When looking at the larger context of this passage being a response to the “Miesian Modernism,” it makes sense as to why Venturi would need to demonstrate his mastery of this new approach to architecture that he is proposing. In a way suggesting that because he can do it with his writing, he can do it with his architecture.

Quote from Complexities and Contradictions in Architecture by Robert Venturi (1966); given in class via Marrikka Trotter.

Aldo Rossi

LOOKING RESPONSE II

29 MAR 2022

On a warm summer day, it is a little past noon; the high sun beating down on you. You are walking East towards the outskirts of the Italian city of Cuneo and catch a glimpse of a seemingly solid cube in the distance. It appears to have no relation to anything else and does not align with the city; this compels you to approach. Upon approach, you notice that there is an opening in the solid mass that reveals a large set of stairs. You can only articulate the first few steps, the rest ascending off into a dark

void. You walk up the staircase that is made of solid mass, while another solid mass looms overhead. This movement up is accompanied by a feeling of darkness and of compression from all sides. You catch sight of a slit of light along with a glimmer of hope that your trek is almost complete, the top of the staircase nearing. Once at the top, there is a feeling of release as you are met with a large open space, the bright Cuneo sky above. Looking straight ahead across the open area is a long narrow window, perfectly at the height of your gaze.

The window, resembling a gunner’s slit in a tank, is framing the Cuneo rural countryside, the site where you know so many have perished. It is as if you are looking through the eyes of the Resistance; the eyes which are dead now. You realize that this monument is signifying the darkness of the fighting that has occurred due to the Resistance. You move into darkness and then are released from that darkness into a flood of light from the sky above. You acknowledge that the efforts of those lost while fighting were not for nothing and this monument is a testament that where there is darkness, light can follow; there is hope. You stay awhile looking out through the narrow window, observing the simple landscape that holds so much

significance. You then turn around to head back down the stairs, lingering a moment to absorb the warm sunlight. Descending the stairs, you are surprised at how cold the darkness of the shadow feels on your skin after being in the hot sun and you find relief when you meet the sunlight again. You see the edge of the city ahead now and begin your transition back into your daily life while hoping that the somber experience you just had will stay with you. The cube, a monument to a failed effort, becomes farther and farther away as you reflect on the severity of the circumstances surrounding its construction and think to yourself “what are we going to do now.”

Image: Aldo Rossi, Monumento alla Resistenza a Cuneo, unbuilt, 1960s; Image provided in class via Marrikka Trotter

My Work of Architecture

FINAL RESPONSE

12 APR 2022

My work of architecture is about the human experience of being in space and how that experience flickers between the familiar and the unfamiliar. Across the focuses of many of the architects discussed this semester, the overarching theme is that architecture changes the way we see the world. Inherently positioned in the visual spectrum, this objective of architecture is clear. My architecture will work by incorporating some concepts from various architects that have resonated with me. These concepts have to do with ways of seeing; with the themes of view, type, assembly, and memory. They vary in initial goals and in when they came about in time but they all contribute to the fact that architecture changes the way we experience space. The concept that

I am most driven to strive towards is Adolf Loos’ proposal that architecture is the thing that hits you before you know you are being hit. The thought that there is a subconscious understanding of space before you can articulate what you are experiencing is intriguing. The experiences of architecture at the forefront of my memory deal with this and have had an impact on my life.

Additionally, the use of past architecture in the formation of new architecture is something I will continue to include in how my architecture will work. This approach to architecture positions the architecture within a larger picture and connects to the aim that architecture does not have to be stagnant in time and that it is relevant beyond its place within that larger timeline. It also correlates to the perception that the architecture of our time becomes the architecture of the next time. Aldo Rossi implements this idea in his projects, specifically in The Analogous City. The city is a thing like a thing that we know but not actually what we know. It sits in a space between the familiar and the unfamiliar. Robert Venturi also utilizes this concept in that the designs he creates engage rhetorical moves that work to create a feeling of interest but without being directly

apparent to the viewer. There is an instinctual recognition of something combined with a slightly foreign thing and that osculation between the two creates intrigue.

My architecture will also work by implementing Le Corbusier’s intention of architecture being a representation of the sequence of living and the notion of being an active agent in one’s life. Producing the opportunity for an awareness of one’s position in space and how that may contrast with the flicker of consciousness as proposed above is an interesting dichotomy that I will explore in my work of architecture. Specifically, incorporating Le Corbusier’s use of the repetition of frontality and rotation, viewing and moving on the oblique, as well as the use of familiar objet-types, is a way my architecture will work.

Overall, my work of architecture is about experience and the osculation of what is known and what is unknown. Utilizing and combining approaches from past architects is a way for my architecture to be placed within a larger body of work while also producing the goals that I want my architecture to achieve. While the various architects that are mentioned had different intentions for their various approaches, the concepts involved work

together to create my work of architecture. As we discussed during the Bauhaus lecture, the history of humanity is the production of the idea of “seeming.” My work of architecture is the play between what we may recognize and what we may not that unconsciously impact us and how the arrangement of those things can at the same time produce a consciousness of the experience of life.

Intro to Contemporary Architecture

FALL 2021

MARCELYN GOW MARRIKKA TROTTER

This seminar course provides a foundation for the study of the discipline and practice of architecture. The course explores fundamental concepts in architectural form and composition from the 1990s to the present. There is a focus on theoretical arguments regarding major projects of the era as well as an emphasis on cultural, social, and political implications of design. The seminar is broken up into themes that outline research trajectories that culminate in a research-aided article. The themes of the course are Reading & Re-vision; Intricacy, Algorithmic & AI; Resolution; Postdigital Materiality; Environment; Aesthetics & Ethics; Project vs Practice; Queerness; Discreteness; and Shape vs Form. Aesthetics & Ethics is the focus of the following research-aided article that looks at how architecture relates to identity formation within communities and the implications regarding that. While one main theme informs the direction of the writing, other course themes inform the research and discussion as well.

MICROSOFT WORD MIRO

Architecture and the Formation of an Identity

RESEARCH PAPER 13 WEEKS

The architecture of a place tends to hold great significance in how that place is perceived. Aesthetics and ethics influence this perception and, in the realm of architecture, have long been topics of conversation. Placing these terms in conversation with one another within architecture is important when looking at how identities are formed, especially in today’s political climate. Identities of place, of culture, and potentially of individual come into question. Ethics start from a place of not knowing and then behaving. They act as ways of operating within the world. Aesthetics can be representations of ethics; culturally

dependent or not.1 With that said, architecture can be a representation of ethics through aesthetic principles. How, then, does architecture lead to the formation of identity?

To begin to answer this question, we must first look at different critiques on regionalism.2 The term regionalism often shows up in readings about architecture aesthetics and ethics.

Kenneth Frampton is one of the most notable critics of architectural regionalism.3 He argues that architecture must be approached from a critical regionalism standpoint. The term critical regionalism was first coined by Alexander Tzonis and Liliane Lefaivre in 1981, however, it is commonly associated with Frampton. Frampton suggests that architecture should “mediate the impact of universal civilization with elements derived indirectly from the peculiarities of a particular place,” i.e. climate, topography, culture, etc.4 An interesting point to keep in mind is that Frampton’s critical regionalism readdresses the range of human perception. It considers that what we perceive as humans through direct experience is limited to what we can rationalize. Mark Foster Gage takes Frampton’s ideas and goes further, claiming that if architecture is to have any power, then it has to change because the political climate is changing.5

1 Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, s.v. “aesthetic,” https://www.merriam-webster.com/ dictionary/aesthetic. Entry 2: 2. a particular theory or conception of beauty or art: a particular taste for or approach to what is pleasing to the senses and especially sight.

2 Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, s.v. “regionalism,” https://www.merriam-webster.com/ dictionary/regionalism. 1. a. consciousness of and loyalty to a distinct region with a homogeneous population, b. development of a political or social system based on one or more such areas. 2. emphasis on regional locale and characteristics.

3 Kenneth Frampton is a British architect, critic, and historian. He is most known for his writings on architecture, especially of the twentieth-century. He has taught at Princeton University School of Architecture, The Bartlett School of Architecture, and Columbia University Graduate School of Architecture Planning and Preservation.

4 Kenneth Frampton, “Towards a Critical Regionalism: Six Points for an Architecture of Resistance”, in The Anti-Aesthetic. Essays on Postmodern Culture, ed. Hal Foster (Seattle: Bay Press, 1983), 16-30.

5 Mark Foster Gage is a speculative architect and a prolific author. Gage also serves as the Graduate Chair for the Yale School of Architecture.

He then suggests that “we may find traction for developing new strategies for social and political agency in the built environment” with the goal of equality “across all regions of race, gender, income, and identity” through the “emerging discourses of aesthetic.”6 Gage notes later in his introduction that aesthetics today is being understood as something that determines our “understanding of our existential and social realities.”7 Gage is saying that aesthetics direct our understanding of our rights, our identification of our equalities, and our expression of our beliefs. This goes back to the idea that aesthetics can be representations of ethics. Charles Davis II also expounded upon Frampton’s critical regionalism and critiqued the general themes that Frampton proposed.8 A major critique of critical regionalism is the issue of cultural erasure, especially within Black and African American communities. Davis suggests a replacement of “the black subject’s perceived lack of historical memory in critical regionalist terms with a record of the expressive and material cultures that have been generated to cope with the marginalization of black life.”9 Gage brings critical regionalism more solidly into the realm of politics and economics and Davis pushes it even further into the realm of social justice and equality.

6 Mark Foster Gage, Designing Social Equality: Architecture, Aesthetics, and the Perception of Democracy (New York: Routledge, 2019), 1-7.

7 Gage, Designing Social Equality, 5. “Today” being 2018.

8 Charles Davis II is an assistant professor of Architectural History and Criticism at the University of Buffalo.

9 Charles L. Davis II, “Blackness in Practice: Toward an Architectural Phenomenology of Blackness,” Log, 42 (Winter/Spring 2018): 1-12.

Davis notes a critique of Frampton’s model, explaining that a binary structure made up of the division between a primitive culture and a modern one are essential to Frampton’s “aesthetic technique.”10 While Frampton is using this technique of comparing a more primitive cultural aesthetic to that of a more modern one to support his ideas of referencing historical-cultural components of a place, the division he is thus creating, actually pushes his critical regionalism further away from its intended goal. Davis also notes that the technique focuses too strongly on the European or Euro-American architectural practices, further demonstrating this regression.11 Davis offers an intervention of critical regionalism. Proposing an exposure of global capitalism rather than a “monumentalization of black aesthetic principles;” uncovering the “social and economic mechanisms that exploit black life.”12 He suggests a rejection of a “universal conception of phenomenal experience” because it “mistakes the spatial conditions specific to a phenomenology of whiteness for a normative condition of Being-in-the-world.”13

Beginning to understand identity from a BottomUp approach, is a good starting point in recognizing its formation through architecture. By doing so, identity begins to be organized in terms of shared

10 Davis, “Blackness in Practice,” 3.

11 This critique is also shared by Alexander Tzonis and Liliane Lefaivre.

12 Davis, 10.

13 Davis, 2.

experience rather than in terms of a generalized style, or aesthetic. However, when we start to comprehend how architecture can form an identity, we need to keep in mind that the phenomenology of whiteness is and has been a dominant social and political force in American culture, as noted by Davis. And while Frampton’s critical regionalism theoretically maintained cultural traditions during a time of mass culture, what we come to find out through Charles Davis is that marginalized cultures were “robbed of any direct knowledge of the cultural heritage resources” that are required of critical regionalism.14 These marginalized cultures, then, have been given, or imposed upon, identity through the process of them becoming marginalized. For example, Davis explains that spatial practices of black communities are “embodied in the contemporary patterns of racial segregation, microaggressions, coded political language, and mass incarceration.”15 These identities, then, are not formed at will but rather formed through spatial manipulation. However, they are still connected to experiential identity just not stemming from their cultural heritage. We must not ignore critical factors affecting the lives of marginalized cultures. Additionally, when we understand identity in architecture from the idea of

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15

shared experiences, we must be cognizant that one truth does not exist among all.

Answering the question of how the formation of identity can come from architecture leads us to another question: How does the inevitability of an architectural identity reconcile with the current political climate? Gage situates aesthetics within politics in his introduction. He attests that without an intervention of the operating systems of architecture, “the construction of the physical world” will be left “in the hands of unchecked economic and political machines” whose goals are not that of social equality.16 Going further he critiques the reality that “architecture operates in the service of keeping such existing power structures intact.”17 So when we understand an architectural identity of a culture as one that is formed through experience, historical-cultural references, and spatial manipulation especially, we can see how a political climate could inform the creation of such. Davis’s takeaway from research by Linda Alcoff and Sara Ahmed relates to this; Davis stating that “race is only understandable because of its effects on one’s experiences in the world.”18 If architecture is to position itself in a place of social equality, the identities it yields must protest the current political climate. It must move away from

16 Gage, 2.

17 Gage, 2.

18

Davis, 5. Davis is referencing Linda Alcoff’s The Future of Whiteness (2015) & Sara Ahmed’s A Phenomenology of Whiteness (2007).

Davis, 3.

Davis, 8.

the limited views of Frampton and move closer to those that Davis expresses. The authenticity of architecture must lie in a human experience of social justice, not one of spatial manipulation, and political and economic power structures.

And while these questions cannot be answered in full at this moment, they offer an important moment of speculation. Frampton writes that “critical regionalism depends upon maintaining a high level of critical self-consciousness,” and while that is important, this idea needs to be pushed further.19 Maintaining a level of critical self-consciousness that is required to do the work that architecture needs to do, is challenging and uncomfortable. However, that space of work that is uncomfortable is where architecture can begin to move toward a place of social justice like Davis is suggesting. We cannot begin to resist the contemporary power structures embedded within architecture that Gage eludes to without doing the uncomfortable work.

19 Frampton, “Towards a Critical Regionalism,” 21.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Davis II, Charles L. “Blackness in Practice: Toward an Architectural Phenomenology of Blackness.” Log, 42 (Winter/Spring 2018): 1-12.

Frampton, Kenneth. “Towards a Critical Regionalism: Six Points for an Architecture of Resistance.” In The Anti-Aesthetic. Essays on Postmodern Culture, edited by Hal Foster, 16-30. Seattle: Bay Press, 1983.

Gage, Mark Foster. Designing Social Equality: Architecture, Aesthetics, and the Perception of Democracy. New York: Routledge, 2019.

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