Urban Design Studio III
Resilient Colombia
site.
Middle Tunjuelo River, Bogotá, Colombia
Spring 2023 program.
retrofit of urban fabric, river meander revitalization
faculty.
Katherine Orff, Thaddeus Paelowski, Adriana Chavez, Dilip da Cunha, Geeta Mehta, Maria Palomares
The Tunjuelo River is located in Bogotá’s Southwest zone, and as the water flows downstream from the Páramos, it faces a significant increase in pollution. Additionally, the river tends to get lost and erased in the articulation of the urbanized areas. The water quality of the river is drastically decreased from its source in La Regadera dam until it reaches the farthest portion in the middle Tunjuelo, the Bosa neighborhood, where it cuts through four massive pollution sources: crops, landfills, construction sites, and tanneries.
To revive the Tunjuelo River, our project aims to integrate meanders into the existing urban fabric, initiated by the Tunjuelo Guardians’ proactive approach. The meanders of the Tunjuelo River were once responsible for slowing down its flow and increasing its holding capacity. Today, with its meanders cut off for urban development, the river floods, and is heavily polluted. Therefore, our project focuses on slowing down and cleaning the Tunjuelo by reintroducing meanders at multiple scales and for varying levels of flow within the river and the existing city fabric. This initiative creates a sense of collective place and opportunities for water and society to shape and reshape each other, coexisting in a relationship of reciprocity.
Community participation is essential in this process. Existing and new environmental stewards from the community play a crucial role in enhancing the environment for future generations. Ultimately, making it a healthy and thriving ecosystem that benefits both the community and the environment.
Reya Singhi, Saloni Shah, Nupur Shah team.Analyzing the river as the central actor at a zoomed-in scale reveals the disconnection between the water system and the surrounding neighborhoods. Concretized riverbanks and stagnant water ponds compromise the water system, contributing to a lack of belonging for residents. At a smaller scale, most edges of the river are marked by fences and garbage, which generates household waste and increases pollution in the water.
The middle Tunjuelo region is particularly affected by pollution from the tanneries located in San Benito, from where the polluted water flows downstream. Ultimately, this polluted water ends up in Bosa, the lowest basin of the Tunjuelo River.
The meanders of the Tunjuelo River once worked to slow its flow and increase its holding capacity, filtering and eliminating pollutants, allowing the ecosystem to thrive.Until a few decades ago, the river was a connected system with the expansion of wetness throughout green large areas, and the growth of urban areas respecting the river flows allowed the neighborhoods surrounding it to thrive (7.2).
Over the past ten years, the river has been chopped, cut and sculpted, reducing its surface and eliminating meanders from its winding paths. This erasure had a negative impact on the nearby neighborhoods and continues to be a major cause of serious floods. Bosa, at the basin, ends up being the most impacted one and despite efforts to mitigate, the underlying issue still persists (7.3).
Our project’s main goal is to slow and clean the Tunjuelo by retrofitting the urban fabric to reintroduce old meanders and create new ones in the middle Tunjuelo. At multiple scales, it will allow the floods to be mitigated before it reaches the lower parts of the river, as well as fitrate the polluted water coming from upstream (7.4).
7.2. Overlay of 1980 map showing a connected and thriving system of water and wetlands.
7.3. Current riverflow (yellow) with the erased meanders (blue) lost in the urban fabric.
7.4. Proposal of a water holding system with meanders reintegrated into the current urban fabric.
TINGUA AZUL WETLANDS AS A SAMPLE SITE
The Tingua Azul wetland is part of the former natural flood zone of the Tunjuelo River. The wetland is quite affected by the passage of Villavicencio avenue that divided it into 2 sectors, eastern and western, with its consequent high level of noise and air and garbage pollution that both affect these ecosystems. The Tingua Azul retrofit envisions bringing back the lost ecosystem by reviving meander paths and integrated wetness, as a part of the Mayor’s program’s 14-year plan in place to protect the wetlands.
Two lane retrofitted avenue +
Multipurpose lane + +
Buffer zone +
Wetlands Pools +
+
Rio Tunjuelo +
Restored Meander
plant +
Birdwatching +
Boardwalk +
Soft Rush plants +
Acacia Forest + Cabomba waterREVINVING THE LOOP
SAN BENITO AS A SAMPLE SITE
San Benito tanneries are the major source of pollution of lead and chromium metals directy polluting the Tunjuelo. Due to this continuous contamination of the river the people of the neighborhood are under a constant threat of second displacement by the government on the name of environmental protection which would lead to the loss of their livelihoods. The project starts to implement the strategy of de-concretizing the impervious surfaces by cutting and filling the soil, creating a gradient of high and low lands capable of restoring the water flow. Along with the formation of the meanders, it creates more opportunities for social gatherings around.
Rio Tunjuelo
+ Retrofitted basketball court to Community Center
+ Water inflow from upstream
+ Existing pedestrian access
Sloped riverbanks connected existing waterbodies
Activated pedestrian riverfront
+ Widened riverbanks
7.5_Perspective view of the meandering Tujuelo River passing through San Benito’s neighborhood
Spring 2023
team.
The project focus is to investigate, document, design, build and program the activities at a temporary pavilion erected at the Columbia campus, near Avery Hall. It includes hands-on building, budgeting, and calculating for the engineering components such as solar power and wind load safety. This year’s iteration is focusing on the use of biomaterials and recycled/upcycled materials to design and build a inflatable prototype charging station pavilion. With the use of photovoltaic panels, people will be able to charge their cell phones and see the pavilion change color at night during the week of the long-awaited graduation in May.
Galia Solomonoff, Laurie Hawkinson faculty. consultants. Brennan Heyward, Daniel Li, Kelly He, Nicholas Richards, Samuel Bager, Vishal Benjamin
10.2_ PV Panels & LED Wiring Construction Drawing
10.3_ South Elevation Construction Drawing
10.4_ West Elevation Construction Drawing
Academic
MScAUD, Columbia University
location. Downtown parking area, Atlanta, United States
area.
unispecified
Fall 2022 program. temporal use, collective gathering
Emanuel Admassu studio coordinator.
concept, 3d modeling, graphic design, plans, images contribution.
Atlanta and its communities have fallen victim to the city’s decision to facilitate cars that have embedded and layered divide throughout the city. Thus, the routes are controlled and land remains vacant to accommodate the convenience of the few over the lives and relations of the many. Downtown Atlanta stands as a testimony to the state’s misplaced priorities.
State-enforced parking lines are recognized as mechanisms that promote direction, control, and isolation, and the project critiques the marked methodologies that promote ownership for capital endeavors, leading to the hoarding of land for future profit.
The project’s main objective is to imagine a world beyond property that isn’t subservient to individual interests, leading to the contemplation of a world without cars. The proposed solution is to remove the urban systems that dictate the landscape, starting with the elimination of roads and redefinition of streets. Strategies are then proposed to remove and reorient the parking lines that have populated the vast landscape. The aim is to reimagine these lines, which have divided people for years, and create coherent communal systems that encourage growth.
Ultimately, the project aims to wash away years of directional marginalization and create a more equitable and sustainable urban landscape that prioritizes the needs and wellbeing of its community members.
the more parking there is, the bigger is the land profit
the landscape is homogeneous, rigid and monotonous
how does the community infiltrate and occupy existing structures of control? how do we reorient ourselves toward a public space that serves the community?
parking lots demarcations and directions abstracted
extrusion of these limitations and invisible boudaries
The project places emphasis on spaces of resistance, aiming to increase their influence. By creating spaces of communal chaos that are understood collectively by the inhabitants and the surrounding space, the project creates an environment where communities can thrive.
hand drawings of space-people interations
Through multiple iterations and interactions, these white lines semi-temporary, and permanent engagements. The project studied architectures with the objective of empowering local communities divided relationships. The resulting open and ambiguous spaces artistic exhibitions to recreational areas and gathering places, surrounding city.
of rigor were transformed into spaces for temporary, studied the forms, lighting, and potential uses of these communities and maintaining the area’s communal and nonspaces can host a range of activities, from fair stands and ensuring frequent use and continual interaction with the
activation nodes
In this new world, the lines serve as a reminder of a past on the brink of breaking. However, they are no longer vacant lines on asphalt hoarded by the wealthy. Instead, they have been reoriented and restructured as spaces that embrace and accommodate collective existence.
Pedestrian paths have been built to lead into these spaces, blending the landscape with vegetation and reminding us of the ecologies lost in our pursuit of capital. Accessible by a new tram line connected to the existing metro, no cars are necessary. As a result, a combination of logical and illogical nodes have filled the area, breathing new life into downtown Atlanta and empowering its people.
Developed with assistance from Sausalito’s Mayor Janelle Kellman and the Woking Waterfront Coalition
Fall 2023
LINK 01
Sausalito is a coastal city in California that faces a range of challenges, including the threat of rising sea levels due to global warming, seismic activity, and landslides. The city’s infrastructure, including sewer and stormwater systems, is vulnerable to flooding, and development constraints limit affordable housing options. Despite these challenges, Sausalito has a rich cultural heritage, including a working waterfront that supports the city’s economy. However, real estate interests are pressuring the City Council to re-zone the waterfront for high-density housing and commercial use.
The Blue New Deal strategies are being applied in Sausalito to help the blue economy while protecting and accommodating the environment. The solutions include developing offshore wind energy with foundations used as artificial reefs to farm seaweed and other aquatic life, creating floating research and training job centers, building a barrier island of sand to reduce flooding risk, restoring tidal marshlands, creating nearshore reefs, and re-adapting office buildings for Blue-Tech innovation centers. Additionally, planting native trees to prevent soil erosion and adapting to greener energy usage is essential, including community-wide rainwater harvesting, solar panels, and multi-family housing.
Katherine Orff faculty.
Academic
Summer Studio
MScAUD, Columbia University
location.
Canarsie, New York City, United States
area.
120,000m²
Summer 2022 program.
Community Land Trust, zoning policies, co-housing
Sagi Golan and Nans Voron studio coordinator.
concept, 3d modeling, graphic design, plans, images contribution.
After conducting a thorough analysis of Canarsie, a neighborhood in New York City, including its economic, political, and social fabric, as well as its devastating aftermath post-Hurricane Sandy, the project was fueled by the opportunity to establish a Community Land Trust model. By separating land ownership from housing ownership, homes are removed from the unstable property market and can provide CLT residents with opportunities to build shared equity.
This empowers the local community, which has experienced many hardships since the hurricane, to thrive and take control of its own future.
The aim of the project is to re-envision housing for the people, by the people.
phase I: building the CLT and advocating for it
phase II: policy changes and ADU design strategies
“Community membership in which all parties value stability and empowerment — puts the C in CLT.”
- Robert Swann
2100 MMHW predictions
2080 MMHW predictions
2050 MMHW predictions
Parks and green open spaces
Retail Corridor
Industrial zone
Buildings footprint
Main roads and railroads
strategies phase III: co-housing development, ADU solidifiction and edge condition rough design.
The Canarsie Commons Community Land Trust has a plan consisting of four phases to address housing and safety concerns, using CLT methodologies, urban planning, and design. After its establishment, the focus was on purchasing vacant public lands and acquiring the land of current owners in the Opportunity Zone - on higher ground - to build enough housing stock to accommodate future changes.
Partnered with community-based organizations to leverage research into the specific context in which Canarsie is situated, we pushed forward the existing proposal to rezone some residential areas located in the high ground of the neighborhood to increase the building height of the currently allowed housing typologies.
Concurrently, a new deeply affordable housing model was designed, including shared green and communal spaces to empower collective ownership of land and resignify the relationship of the residents with their homes and continuous threats.
Lastly, the final phase would dive deeper into the potential to restore the existing marshlands, relating its study to the direct impact of flooding and how a resilient future for Canarsie can be built to overcome the real threatening future predictions.
While the rezoning process takes place in order to build the co-housing in the highlands and away from the edges, one of the proposals studies the implementation of ADUs to existing houses in a neighborhood block.
ADUs would spread over time, freeing owners from flood insurance and providing open space for residents. As a consequence of this increased density, the city would begin to take action into improving the public space, including streetscapes, bike lanes and broader sidewalks.
ADU’s units that can be either attached on the top of the building or detached to an existing home that already sold the land to CLT. They are modular, making them easily replicable and quick to build, ensuring a relatively fast allocation of the residents living below the DFE (Design flood height elevation).
Lots that are bigger, could eventually allocate medium density housing with few units, along with shared community and open spaces. The model suits alll audiences. In this study additional 40 units in the block were created with an average housing of 20 families.
2018
location.
Caju, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
area.
120,000m²
program. powerplant masterplan complexes and social housing
Maria Fernanda Lemos tutor.
contribution. This project arose from the need and opportunity to reverse the linear production process that I call “productwaste.” By reversing the process and making part of it circular, it is possible to turn solid waste, both terrestrial and marine, into an energetic product. The complex has at its core a large infrastructure: an industrial, environmental, and educational complex that develops around the WtE - Waste to Energy - system, a form of recovering clean energy by the controlled combustion of solid industrial and domestic waste. The master plan is, therefore, a large infrastructure that houses several subinfrastructures to promote benefits for the surrounding communities, while simultaneously using it to meet the energy needs of the city itself.
concept, 3d modeling, graphic design, plans, images
The project is partially located in the Caju neighborhood and on the southern portion of Fundão Island, in Rio de Janeiro’s city center. This section was chosen due to several factors: it is the city’s most extensive port region; it hosts a large number of expressways linking to the Rio-Niteroi bridge; it has a resistant resident population, going back to the early days of the city’s occupation; it has one of Rio’s most complex urban meshes, as well as social, economic, and political contrasts. Finally, it is an area that was gradually degraded and abandoned in the waves of the revitalization of the port region. In the past 50 years, it had an 80% reduction in fauna/flora, disposed of 18 thousand liters/second of raw sewage, and 90 tons of waste per day.
energetic systems have been suffering a sudden change, adaptation and transition
25 yearsfloating riverbank floating riverbank
energy prices will increase more and more
Brazil will produce 1/3 of the world’’s oil demands by 2035
complex
a new energy matrix will be needed
Fundão Island
Cunha Canal
Caju Neighborhood
recycled materials product
generation of electric energy combustion
product
energy recovered into clean ready-to-use energy
significant reduction of the ecological footprint
99% use of recyclable materials compared to before massive reduction of landfill waste
aerial view of the urban master plan
bench to the Bay view open recreational
power
access to plant rooftop
waste-to-energy plant
main entrance area to the plant’s visit center
plant square
pedestrian bridge over the canal pier
outdoor leisure area
access ramp to the external balcony
advanced research center
advanced research center square
to optimize internal space, the building is composed of three staggered blocks.
all the machinery was positioned centrally in the building, with a walkway that allows the visitor to participate in the burning process. the external walkways allow the visitor to access the terrace, with an almost 360 degree view of the city
the walkway created over the canal is intended to directly connect the two areas of complex II, allowing visitors a leisure area close to the water. Measuring 4m wide at its narrowest point, it opens into the square of the power plant and the research center, creating a visual continuity
center focused on research regarding the plant and the rest of the complex, in order to always keep the systems and products up to date. due to its proximity to Fundão Island, it has a great potential for connection with other existing research centers at the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro (UFRJ), and, in the future, with other universities
community greenhouses
community cultural center
community garden
social housing building with communal area for residents
social housing building
viewpoint of the whole complex and bay area
community access through the small square park park
playground
internal pedestrian street
forest recreation area
access ramps (8%)
museum and school
free area for recurring events
environmental resources center ramps (8%) and stairs access to the viewpoint parking
multi-sports courts
maintenance of the existing soccer court
access paths to the sports area
agroforest
_environmental resource center and museum-school its goal is to inIform and educate the population on the processes involved in the complex and how it works. In this way, the population, with increased awareness of the issues, becomes a fundamental part of the project and its community effect is expanded.
_community
6 and 12m containers compose the ambience of the exhibition spaces aimed at giving visibility to cultural expressions of the local community.
_social housing
The two buildings have 30 apartments in total, each with 50m². The apartments have cross ventilation, external vertical circulation, and a balcony facing the new park.
open to the public and shaped like a semi-circle, the center can sort 32 types of materials. After sorting, materials are sent to the recycling center or the power plant
water purification tanks
water purification tanks
administration building
water purification tanks
private parking
visitor’s garden
visitation parking
private entrance to the water central
information center
in here the materials that are found to be recyclable after sorting are treated. After being treated, they are packed and placed for marketing
_water purification center
manages the purification tanks, which have the function of collecting and treating seawater. After being treated, this clean water is used for the entire complex
the Caju district produces, on average, 90 tons/day
+
10 tons/day waste removed from the bay
lower cost of electricity received and higher quality energy due to on-site production and distribution
public-private partnership
studies show that a property of this size would be able to process approximately
40-50% of the jobs created are maintained
47,000 houses are powered per year
who invests in the project?
less cost in waste displacement, more investment for collection expansion
who benefits from all this? community companies
with the new supply being cheaper than the current ones, the energy passed on will be less expensive
Utopic Architecture
public private
wall and program as barriers
location.
Leblon, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
area.
34,000 m²
2017 program. urban farm, educational center, masterplan, landscape
team.
Júlia Marquesconcept, 3d modeling, graphic design, plans, images contribution.
The intermediate-scale project is located in Rio de Janeiro’s most affluent neighborhood, Leblon. Though 80% of its urban landscape is exclusively residential, there are several educational institutions (including schools, daycare centers, and higher education) in the neighborhood, and it has a fairly intense floating population. Between Leblon and its neighbor, Gávea, there are more than 20 schools .
market + restaurant artificial farm
breaking barriers and connecting
programmatic and spatial integration
farm support area + technical school
florist and gardening store
seating area
water reservoir
technical area and administration
vertical artificial farm vertical artificial farm
information center and farm store
agroforest
floriculture
original trees as structures of the existing physical space
trees in alignment orienting paths and defining space
fruit trees for educational and production purposes
medium and high canopy trees generating areas for shading, staying and socializing
technical school garden lookout
location.
Cordoba, Cordoba, Spain
area.
110,000 m²
2016 program.
collective housing, urban farm, landscape
team.
Ana Carreras and Marina Garcia
concept, 3d modeling, sketches contribution.
The landscape and urban design project is located in the heart of Córdoba, a municipality in the province of the same name, in the autonomous community of Andalusia. By analyzing Cordoba’s occupational history to better understand urban dynamics, we were able to map how the city gradually developed and how its territory is used. First, the natives lived there due to the good location and land potentials; VIII BC Phoenicians came seeking silver, gold, copper, and tin; 206 BC the Romans invaded and established a military camp for their troops; 5AC the Roman Empire fell and Vandals and Visigoths sacked the city (the former giving the Andalusian region, its present name); 711 the Muslim invasion took place, actively supported by the Jews, as it would mean the end to over a century of persecution suffered at the hands of the Visigoth kings; 833 Irradiating center of culture and power, it was home to the biggest public library in the world; the final occupation in 1236 led by King Ferdinand III, a Catholic, who conquered the city and eradicated the Muslims.
Because of its rich history and cultural importance, in 1984 the town was declared by UNESCO as a World Heritage Site. From 2000 onwards there have been new neighborhoods and infrastructure until it became the modern city we know today. Shortlisted as the European Capital of Culture in 2016, the city has a vast and exceptional history, as well as excellent examples to relive the splendor of past times.
in the old city, the walls were the barriers between the occupied space and the outside
old
Some parts of the ancient wall still exist and are maintained as the heritage of the city and touristic attraction points
Comprehensive analysis plan and temporary proposal map
some parts of the ancient wall still exist and are maintained as the heritage of the city and tourist attraction points
_contemporary city walls
the city’s road and highways can be seen as contemporary walls or barriers that delimit the city in different scales and shapes
city, the walls were the between the occupied space outside
The concept of the proposal is to unify the old and new identities of the city of Córdoba. Through the assessment of topics such as viewports, land heights, landscape visibility, historical background, natural flora and fauna, and cultural celebrations, the project’s conception starts with the occupation of focal points in the city, which are connected through the suspended walkway. The 3km long suspended walkway follows – at times physically and at times conceptually – the perimeter of the old wall. In its above-river portion, it adapts into an organic form, following the flow of the Guadalquivir river whilst creating new homes for the living fauna around the area and opening new possibilities of attractions for tourism. The observatory at the highest point of the walkway is set at the south point, where the city can be appreciated as a whole. Its shape is designed around the idea of the daily-sun path, as it is born in the east and sets in the west.
Evaluating the different bird species living around the riverside of Cordoba led to the proposal of a new idea for the project, taking ecology into consideration. A system of combined trusses would allow the birds to nest and build their new homes around our new construction, above the river.
Restoring a natural habitat was the first step. We later introduced other features and uses to the complex: focal and new tourist attraction, restoration of the historical part of the city, the reunification of the ancient wall of Cordoba, new pedestrian flows and networks giving a new identity to the city. The financial aid of the proposal is based on the contribution from the public and the private spheres. It is a large project, with different construction phases, but certainly capable of bringing a harmonious combination of the modern and the old to this beautiful city in Andalusia.
species of birds present at cordoba
Professional Work
as AKAP Project Manager
location.
area.
2020-ongoing program.
5.606 m²
16-story Minha Casa Minha Vida social housing project
Jacarepaguá, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil team.
AKAP architects and interns
The 16-story residential Minha Casa Minha Vida project is an initiative that is funded by the Brazilian government and the first program of its type to promote access to homeownership to lower-income families in Brazil, and is financially supported by the Cyrela Group. To be a lowcost and fast execution project, it relies on a structural masonry system.
Located in Barra da Tijuca, one of the newest neighborhoods of Rio de Janeiro, it is within 15 minutes of all kinds of commerce and leisure areas. With 178 units, It offers versatile floor plans with 1 or 2 bedrooms, to suit the needs of the families that will live there. Two of its 16 floors have accessible apartments for people with physical disabilities, and all its common areas are designed to accommodate everyone equally.
Living Sunset has the silver level of the Blue House Seal, which is a social-environmental certification from the Caixa Econômica Federal for housing projects that adopt efficient solutions in the conception, execution, use, occupation, and maintenance
standard + accessible apartments - 14FL plan
typical apartment unit condominium shared room
location.
Ipanema, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
area.
1,021 m²
2020-ongoing program. high-end 12-story residential building
team.
AKAP architects and interns
The project contemplates a high-end 12-story residential building located in the heart of the city of Rio de Janeiro at Prudente de Morais St. in Ipanema. It reflects the lightness of the carioca spirit as an exclusive development designed by a top rated team of experts in each phase of the project.
The contrasts and nature are an invitation to contemplation: on one side, the beach. On the other, Rodrigo de Freitas’ lagoon.
The mobility is facilitated by easy access to several public transportations. Close to two subway stations, it is 450 meters from the Nossa Senhora da Paz station and 600 meters from the General Osório station.
From walking along the beach waterfront to outdoor sports, the beloved Carioca neighborhood has a wide variety of the finest restaurants, services, and stores around the city of Rio.
The balance between the rigorous aesthetics of architecture and a playful lightness is one of the main aspects of the project and it becomes even more unique as each of the 24 apartments has its plan designed individually, according to each client’s needs and personal style but keeping the façade unique.
apartment LM
architect in MS Arquitetura, 2020
penthouse PR
architect in Studio Mult, 2019
penthouse PG
architect in Studio Mult, 2019
