Kimi Ouattara Architecture Portfolio

PORTFOLIO

01 ARCHIZOOM

TABLE OF CONTENT

02 YES, AND...

07 ART

06 PROFESSIONAL WORK

03 OFFICE TOWER

04 CHICAGO’S ARCHITECTURE OF LABOR

05 HOUSE-ING

RESIDENTIAL PARKING

This project follows the No-Stop City concept of openness and infinity through the creation of a plan that co-exists with an open section. The assignment required the use of a letter as the principal circulation shape of a parking, along with an organic element. The letter J and a lake (as organic element) were used to fulfill these requirements. The challenge of my concept of openness was the creation of an endless and unique residential parking in which cars, inhabitants and landscape would cohabit in harmony. The letter served as an opening to allow circulation, and as an inspirtion for furniture shapes. Rather than doors, J-shaped cuts were made in the floor to create door-openings. The J openings created the connection between the infinite levels to conceive an endless inhabitable parking. The lakes were used to establishe a vertical openness as J shaped openings were made in the middle of rooms’ floors to allow inhabitants to jump from a room into a lake for recreational purposes.

In the creation of the plan and the section, I defined openness as the freedom of circulation through the fusion of different floors into a unique floor. It implies the notion of horizontal and vertical freedom. It allows the users accessibility to all elements as everything is on one floor. The lake for instance, establishes a vertical openness that completes the horizontal openness of the endless floor. An open section is the representation of the freedom that emanates from the availability and ease of circulation. It displays the visual freedom that inhabitants experience from sky and floor openings and the free circulation.

Diagrammatic Rendering

YES, AND ...

Yes, And... started as a conceptual building design that began with a rectangle. It was required to develop a strategy to create a concept that would transform the original rectangle into a unique shape. The final shape resulted from several trials of foam cuts and collages. chose to “push and pull” my rectangle and picked the below figure among the tested shapes. The next step was the creation of public spaces derived from the concept of “push and pull”. Following the public design, the professor then disclosed the program (a library) and allowed each student to chose their own collection. The goal was to be creative in the choice of a design process without being influenced by the program and its collection. I chose the collection of African Art as it is a subject that inspires me in my daily life.

The push and Pull African Llibrary is made out of clay-like material to remind the traditional West-African building material and ambiance.

2D Perspective, Library’s lobby

Interior Public Space Xray Model

2d Perspective, Library’s Stairs With Built-In Shelves

2d Perspective, Library’s Art Gallery

6x4” and 12x8” Final Figures

800 FULTON MARKET

This project is a semester-long project in which developed an office tower as another proposition for SOM’s 800 Fulton Market building located in the West Loop of Chicago. It was required to follow the Chicago Building Code for the development of the design. During the design process and building conception, I considered the Fulton’s Market history and architectural heritage. therefore lowered the front of the building which faces the Historical Fulton Market and placed the higher tower (office tower) in the back where there are taller office buildings.

04

CHICAGO’S ARCHITECTURE OF LABOR

THE STARR HOTEL

The following drawings and renderings are support creations for an essay of a theory class. I worked on a demolished hotel from the late 20th century that depicts the labour history and working conditions of the Hobo community of Chicago’s Skid Row. The plan and sections represent the poor living conditions in this kind of hotels also know as “cage hotels”. As there are not any plans or sections of this building, created the drawings with the help of Chicago’s historical documents and other similar hotels’ plans and sections. The Plan that I drew aims at representing the small “cages” that were assigned to the workers. There could be 100 persons per floors for less than 10 water closets with one bathroom. Similarly, the section shows the poor living conditions of the hobos in 7x7x5 feet rooms separated by plywood boards that had chicken wire mesh as ceilings, also used to hang clothes or other belongings due to the lack of space.

Typical Men’s Hotel Section

FRANCESCO MARULLO

Typical Men’s Hotel Plan

05 HOUSE-ING

This comprehensive design studio explores livable minimums as an alternative to existenzminimums, the early twentieth century term used to describe minimal acceptable floor areas, ventilation requirements, and outside areas for domestic inhabitation. This studio investigates how minimalism in all its multitudes: minimum possessions, minimum space, minimum materials, minimum structures, minimum gardens... might liberate spatial excesses for collective living.

The studio entails the design of several physically connected houses in a re-imagining of chicago’s typical block and typical housing typologies.

I consequently designed the U-House, a 12-unit building that creates a flexible collective living while keeping each inhabitant’s privacy. This was done through floating round-shaped units stacked onto eachother in two towers to create create a u-shaped circulation. Different activities happen on each floor from lounging and working, to showering and dressing, to sleeping at the top. The coocking happens on the lowest level where flexible openings allow the possibility to have a colletive kitchen if desired.

The connecting collective space of the building is the horizontal gap that allows visual connections through the large transparent apetures and physical proximity through its length and its location: in the centre of the two towers.

The external envelop made of transluscent pannels is located on the sidewalks. The choice of the material resides in the desire to attract the curiosity of the public, while preserving the privacy of the inhabitants, through the unclear view of large holes that can only be seen from the interior of the building.

Each floor is dedicated to a special activity, from the most collective activities at the bottom, to the most private at the top.

The long path connecting the two thin towers represents the main area for collective interactions and activities. It is accessible from each of the 12 apartments and visible from ech apetures.

Personal area

Familial area

Collective area

Public area

This diagram illustrates the U-House in relationship to the ground level. It is color-coded to determine the publix, collective, familial and personal areas of the building.

The lowest level is a flexible area that can be converted into a communal area (cooking, eating, lounging, parting) if desired by the users. Sliding apetures allow the possiblity to keep pricavy or interact with the neighboors.

Personal area

Familial area

Collective area

Public area

Communal Space Photograph

Interior Units Photograph

Rear Phoograph

The traditional Akan Stool is a carved wooden stool common in sub-Saharan West Africa, especially in Ghana and Côte d’Ivoire. Among the Akan tribes, it is used as a household object used in rites of passage, and considered sacred.

Round huts with tatched roofs are a common model of African vernacular architecture. They are ususally built of readily available materials such as mud, cow spillings, clay bricks or grass.

Masks are a prominent feature of African cultural heritage. The history, use, and symbolism of masks vary across national, ethnic, and cultural identities. In West Africa, masking traditions are closely linked with the history of masquerades.

This project was done during my internship in Porto Cervo, Sardinia, Italy at Valerio Corvo e Associati. The work consisted in the design of an African inspired tent for the famous weekly market in the city of Porto Cervo. The purpose was to produce an innovative market tent that would shelter and display African artifacts while standing as art itself. therefore worked with African elements originating from West Africa, precisely from my tribe: the Akan tribe. In the Akan tribe, art is a driver of the daily activities of the society through its symbols, shapes, size... I therefore chose to use significant objects such as the Akan Stool or masks to shape the poles, masks as ornaments, and African huts’ roofs shapes for the round tents. I chose the is ebony wood, as it is an important wood in West Africa, that is commonly for sculptures and art in general.

For the first proposal, I used a stirdy and noble mask known for its verticality and fineness to shape the poles. The tent is round-shaped to recall the tatched roof of a traditional hut. The upper mask is placed at the top of the tent as it is placed on the highest point of royal member’s huts, to distinguish royal houses from the population’s.

The socond proposals is a round-shaped tent with four masks on the upper-level of the tent. Some households would usually use masks as surveillance cameras, by displaying them for the protection of the inhabitants against evil spirits. The poles shape are inspired by the curves of the Akan Stool.

The third proposals is a more traditional market tent with four masks on at each corner. The poles shapes are inspired by the curves of the Akan Stool.

ABITAZIONE INT. 1

PIANO SECONDO

(H media = 3,80)

This plan is one of an ancient house located in Rome, which documents were mainly drawn by hand. The architect asked me to redraw the plan in an architectural software in order to digitalize it for future modifications.

VIA ANDREA VESALIO

C.T. RIPOST.

TERRAZZO GIARDINO

SUB. 507

NGR.

CUCINA

WC

STANZA

STANZA

WC

STANZA

STANZA

BALCONE

BALCONE

VIA ANDREA VESALIO

INGRESSO CONDOMINALE

PIANO PRIMO

(H media = 4,10)

CORTILE

SERRA

PART.7

TERRAZZO

ALTRA U.I.U.

STANZA

ALTRA U.I.U.

The following plans are those of an old penthouse loated in Rome. It gradually started to present humidity problems, with drywall falls and structural defects. The architect asked me to redraw old printed plans in an architectural software for future modifications and as a guide for an inspection. I was assigned to visit the owner, inspect the house, take pictures, and make a report of the defects noted on site. Different spots were highlighted on the original plan by the architect, representing the spots to capture and incorporate into the final report of the penthouse.

terrazzo terrazzo

cucina dis. wc dis.

dis.

studio camera

Part 546 chiostrina salotto

camera bagno camera terrazzo terrazzo

locali tecnici condominiali

bagno corridoio ingresso salotto

terrazzo terrazzo

n=300

n=300

This project consisted in the design of a villa in Abidjan, Côte d’Ivoire for a young couple. It was important to take into account the origin of the family during the design. For instance, middle-class Ivorian families tend to require two kitchens: one for international dishes and one for African dishes with an access to the exterior as traditional meals are prepared on charcoal fires therefore outside the house.

VILLA DESIGN INTERNSHIP JULY

LE GUIDE ABIDJAN, COTE D’IVOIRE

Hand drawing of the Villa

Rendering

During my internship at Le Guide, in Abidjan, was assigned hand drawing exercices on a regular basis. I drew images of different given online drawings.

enjoy playing the Kora: A West-African String instrument originally played by the Griots of the Mandingue tribe.

play the Flute Fula: A West-African flute originally played by the Fula tribe.

The Labyrinths is a hand-drawing on canvas paper made with paint markers that was drawn during a period of confusion. I started drawing a myriad of symmetrical and asymmetrical lines that assembled and clustered into different parts. Following the expression of my emotional ambiguity and the completion of my drawing, perceived different dimensions and paths that led me to name it The Labyrinths. The paint pen set used for this drawing ranges from 0.2mm to 5.5mm bullet-shaped markers.

The Fortress is a hand-drawing on canvas paper made with paint markers that illustrates my admiration for the “Tata Somba Fortress” houses from Benin, West Africa. These houses honour traditional architecture from Northern Benin, in which houses are built in circles to protect the habitants from enemies and dangerous animals.

The fortresses are made of red mud and local materials that keep a balanced temperature indoors. The paint pen set used for this drawing ranges from 0.2mm to 0.7mm bullet-shaped markers.

Ivory is a hand-drawing on paper canvas made with paint markers that represents my country Côte d’Ivoire whose emblem is the elephant, symbolized by two ivories. The surrounding sketches illustrate the diversity of my country’s population with more than 60 ethnic groups. Their proximity emphasizes the unity that I advocate for a nation that suffered a civil war in 2010. The three spikes on the right ivory represent my country’s motto: unity, discipline, and hard work. The paint pen set used for this drawing ranges from 0.2mm to 5.5mm bullet-shaped markers. K’c. is an acronym of my art signature Kimi’s Craft.

Wood Triplets represent my first set of wood drawings made with paint markers. They have been conceived successively and jointly exposed as one piece of art symbolically. Each wood chunk has an African touch derived from tribal signs and symbols as a nod to my origins.

FORMWORKLESSNESS SEMESTER PROJECT FALL 2022 PAUL PREISNER