Portfolio _ Lydia Rosenthal _ 2024

PORTFOLIO Lydia Rosenthal B.Arch, Cal Poly, 2024

OPEN ARMS LIBRARY Winter / Spring 2022 Prof. Stacey White

Collaborative work with Katherine Neuner San Diego, California, USA Located in the underserved Logan Heights neighborhood of San Diego, Open Arms Library exploits the intersections of environmental and social sustainability to create a lasting, welcoming addition to the community. As part of a new law school campus, we had to be particularly aware of the area’s tense history with institutional impositions. To create a welcoming yet private environment, interactions between users are encouraged on the ground floor and in outdoor space, but controlled through separate circulation and curated views on the upper floors.

Studio Prize Winner

F6

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F2 Student support F1

Daycare Library Law clinics

The Open Arms Library is part of the broader California Western School of Law relocation within San Diego.

The school has a particular emphasis on providing legal services to underserved and migrant populations.

As the new Barrio Logan neighborhood contains a significant migrant population, this new location was seen as an opportunity for improved outreach. The Library, sitting at the border with the neighborhood, was an ideal candidate to house community programming, including pro-bono law clinics and a community daycare. The daycare and law clinics not only improve “town-gown” relationships, but may contribute to student success. According to data from

the Institute for Women’s Policy Research, only 33% of single parents graduate within 6 years, but access to reliable child care improves graduation rates three times over. It was important that the building massing reflect our social goals. Assigning each program to a distinct volume maintains privacy and security, and allows the building to be clearly legible from the street. It also facilitates the scale transition from the low-lying residential areas to the denser campus block. The L-shaped form also engages the street more directly while creating sheltered green space for the campus community.

Law Library Stair

Bus

Vegetation

The expansion of public transport into the campus area better connects the divided area

0 sq.ft to 5500 sq.ft

Bicycles Increased and convenient bike parking reduces carbon emissions and caters to students

Pedestrians

UP

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Public functions and a porous ground floor encourage flexible circulation for all pedestrians

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Children’s Library

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Our site mediates the residential and university boundary. In an effort to increase transparency and access, the ground floor is porous and intentionally non-hierarchical, inviting all users in with public programming, such as a cafe and children’s library.

Entrance + Cafe

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Plantings on site are native to the area. and engaging to the senses, increasing occupant health by engaging biophilia

Wooly Blue Curls

Western Redbud

Sky Lupine

Pride of Madeira

Blue Fescue

California Milkweed

Yarrow

Lavender

Cape Weed

Cleveland Sage

California Mock Orange

Lamb’s Ear

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butterfly gardens

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view to San Diego Public Library

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passive convection through experiential stair

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DAYCARE A. cafeteria B. classroom C. play room D. storage E. active play F. children’s library G. roof playground H. theater LIBRARY I. group study J. conference pods K. breezeway L. reading room

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RAINWATER CAPTURE A. roof membrane B. downspout filter C. cistern D. filters E. uv light disinfection F. carbon filter G. potable water tank I. water heater J. chlorine tank K. drinking fountains, sinks L. greywater

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Benchmark 31.2

2030 Target: 22.2

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10.5

Predicted EUI

3° RING

Winter 2022 Prof. Nanni Grau Berlin, Germany What will life look like, three degrees warmer?

This project focused on a renovation of an existing apartment complex at Mehringplatz, Berlin, imagining how architecture and urban form can be adapted to not only survive, but thrive on a warming planet. The project covers strategies at the urban and architectural scale, and aims to improve the passive thermal and ventilation performance. Throughout, a focus on adaptability, light-weight intervention, and connection to outdoor space was of particular import.

TRAFFIC CALMING To limit non-resident traffic and protect the privacy of the community, commuter bicycle and car paths will be rerouted outside of the interior ring.

WIND TUNNELS

DENSIFY

Yellow indicates partial demolition of existing walls to allow for the prevailing winds to pass through the urban complex. Community gardens in these spaces will unite the community.

The red areas indicate places where open space in the ground floor will be filled with new programs. In these areas, additional floors will also be added to densify the complex further.

URBAN STRATEGY Developed in collaboration with Franka Marxer and Ramona Friedrichs.

The Mehringplatz residential complex was designed by renowned German architect Werner Düttmann in the 1960s. Although quite radical for its time, the design has proved less successful than anticipated. Its repetitive structure is characterized by covered throughways which are underutilized and unwelcoming. The central grassy area is similarly little-used, and primary pedestrian traffic consists of commuters walking through the complex to reach a subway station. The ring orientation means that many apartments have poor orientation, and are either too hot or too cold throughout the year.

GREEN CORRIDOR

FACADE SHADING To protect the southern exposure in a warming climate, a system of balconies and arcades will extend the living space and provide adequate shade. These may also begin to affect building circulation.

The rewilding of the local park and nearby river will protect from the heat and provide a barrier against more frequent flooding events.

REMODEL TYPOLOGY A 2 Bed, 1 Bath

REMODEL TYPOLOGY B 1 Bed, 1 Bath + Studio

REMODEL TYPOLOGY C 3 Bed, 1 Bath

Minimal intervention in the existing floorplan improves ventilation and offers increased flexibility in the living spaces.

One bedroom apartments enable a greater diversity of lifestyles. Both receive southern and northern exposure, and can be cross ventilated.

Densification of the existing apartments can also be achieved through an additional bedroom abutting the balconies.

ARCADE STRATEGY Each apartment may extend onto the new arcade, which provides additional living space, shading possibilities, and instant connection to outdoor space.

COMMUNAL FLOORS Remodel and extension typologies are flexibly and diversely arranged in order to promote intermingling between residents. Spaces that were opened for the urban wind tunnels host community gardens, while the rerouted circulation emphasizes connection to outdoors.

WIND’S EYE

Fall 2023 Prof. Dale Clifford Collaborative work with Xander Bergey, Eloise Hides, and Morgan Miller Surrending control to nature allow us to understand our world in novel ways. “Wind’s Eye” aims to create a viewing portal controlled by the wind itself. The bent-wood “weather vane” takes its form from airfoils, and spins freely about the tripod. Users are invited to take a look in the direction of the wind, and follow the instrument as it rotates. Even the slightest shifts in wind direction force a change in perspective. Wind is typically a power that we harness for our own goals and desires. The chance to submit to its whims for a change subverts expectations in a fun way.

PLATZ 89

Summer 2023 Prof. Thomas Neumann Munich, Germany Platz 89 serves the needs of many disparate groups – including seniors, young families, and students. Sited on a prominent corner in a quiet neighborhood, the project offers intimate, appropriately scaled building volumes housing meeting and living spaces.

Beyond these safe and solid anchor points, the space in between is full of airy spaces for spontaneous use or friendly conversation.

Platz 89 aims to invite users into an exploratory and open mindset.

Residential District

PEDESTRIAN

BIKE

VEHICLE Preservation of existing park, invitation at corner

Division of community vs. residential, public facing

Appropriately scaled volumes, “village” organization Commercial District

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STRUCTURE A B

Structural system consists of a combination of self-supporting CLT walls, and mass timber frame systems. Mass timber was chosen for its carbon sequestration abilities, as well as its friendly impression in this neighborhood. Two CLT volumes are elevated, necessitating a hybrid system. Circulation spaces exist between or outside the volumes, giving them an airy quality, with abundant glazing. Privacy was a concern for student apartments - there, the circulation corridor is pulled out from the volumes, with individual “entranceways” leading to each apartment.

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CIRCULATION E

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A. Group room B. Workshop C. Gymnastic room D. Music room E. Lounge F. Gardens G. Terrace H. Student apartment

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ROOF Waterproof Bitumen Membrane Mineral Wool Insulation max 200 mm + 250mm Moisture Barrier (PE Film) 175 mm Cross Laminated Timber

WALL 36 mm Cement Fiber Eternit Wave Panels or: 19mm Larch Siding 2 x 30/60 mm Steel Batten Weather Resistent Barrier 20 mm Fiberboard 150 mm Wood Fiber Insulation 125 mm Cross Laminated Timber

FLOOR 20 mm Wooden Floorboards 20 mm Fiberboard (for sound insulation) Installation Level / Wood Framing 95/45 mm 175 mm Cross Laminated Timber

CONSTRUCTING ELEVATIONS The simple, friendly facade organization gives the buildings a human, approachable scale, and helps them blend into the neighborhood.

Subtle interlocking patterns between materials lend texture and visual interest and help indicate underlying structural organization.

RAVINE CITY

Thesis - In Progress Prof. Dale Clifford

15m 10m

Lost Rivers

5m

Cities are built over the remains of their natural forms, which are viewed alternately as resources or nuisances. The constant pushand-pull between the natural and the artificial creates a ghostly imprint on the city. A keen eye can read this history in any city - in roads curving around hills leveled long ago, in houses flooding annually in degraded watersheds, and in skyscrapers sinking into what was once a marsh. Toronto exemplifies this natural-artificial tension. The city’s many rivers and ravines were loaded with heavy industry in the 20th century. The few larger rivers which survived the industrial period are now protected as landmark green spaces. The smaller rivers, however, were less lucky. Rapidly converted into sewers, their ravines were largely filled in for housing. Their ecological function was eliminated, and evidence of their existence repressed. Despite this, the lost ravines have not fully released their grip on the city, asserting themselves through dips in the city topography, winding streets, even in the arrangement of city parks along their old paths. The sewer-rivers have not been “lost” - they have been constructed, altered, imbued with a new meaning. There is no possible return to the “original” creeks, only a continued dialogue between the natural and the artificial. The task now is to ensure that the city is aware, active, and careful in its stance towards nature, with an understanding of the history of its home. This project aims to reintegrate one of these river-sewers (Garrison Creek) into the urban fabric through a series of architectural interventions that will reveal the River/Sewer as a living historical artifact in the city, making the city’s history legible to itself, and re-purposing its wastewater locally to renew lost natural habitats.

20m

Toronto, Canada

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Garrison Creek + Watershed (Lost, Converted to Sewer 1884-1920)

Garrison Creek Sewer

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FORM FINDING Iterative hand drawing and sketch modelling in search of a scalable, symbolic form that can be used for multiple interventions in the cityscape.

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21’

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32’

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CONCEPTUAL SECTION RAVINE MACHINE

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This “Ravine Machine” in Trinity Bellwoods treats 1’’ = 10’ sewer waste, using it to recreate habitats.

1. EXISTING SEWER LINE 2. SOLID1.SETTLEMENT ExistingTANKS Sewer 3. EQUALIZATION TANKS 2.

Solid Settlement Tanks 4. ANOXIC TANKS 5. CONSTRUCTED WETLANDS Tanks 3. Equalization 6. AERATED LAGOONS 4. Anoxic Tanks 7. DISPERSAL FIELDS / REWILDING 8. HABITAT 5. SCAFFOLD Constructed Wetlands

6. Aerated Lagoons

LYDIA ROSENTHAL 7. Dispersal STUDIO CLIFFORD, WINTERFields/Rewilding 2024

8. Habitat Scaffold

24.5’

14.5’

28’

6’

20’

25.5’