Menma's Landscape/Architecture Portfolio

Menma is a 5th-year Landscape Architecture student at the Pennsylvania State University. He brings an advanced understanding of the built environment, along with strong visualization, 3D and physical modeling, and hand drawing skills. Having lived and schooled in 5 different countries Menma is a true global citizen. His international experience has taught him to look for opportunities in all cultures and contexts.

Recognizing sustainable cities as a significant aspect of humanity’s future, Menma is interested in the intersections between ecology, culture, and urbanscapes. His work aims to create habitable environments for human and non-human stakeholders that encourage public engagement, cultural education, and beauty while preserving our environment.

In his spare time, Menma can be found on the soccer field, at the cinema, on an airplane, or in his room reading. His relationships with his friends and family are also integral to him as he believes the people he has met along the way have had the greatest impact on him.

EDUCATION

Pennsylvania State University

Bachelors of Landscape Architecture

Barcelona (Spain) Study Abroad

Bonn (Germany) Study Abroad

Harvard GSD Design Discovery

Design Futures

Cooper Union Intro to Architecture

TASIS England

Surrey, UK

High School/IB Diploma

EXPERIENCE AND AWARDS

Honor Award BLA Category ASLA Student Awards Program

Teacher Assistant for Landscape Architecture Studio

TASIS England Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Committee

Penn State Landscape Architecture Department Excellence Award

Penn State Landscape Architecture Student Society Member

SKILLS

Physical Model Making

3D Modeling: Rhino, Sketchup

Adobe Suite: Photoshop, Illustrator and InDesign

Real Time Rendering: Lumion, Twinmotion

Drafting: Hand-Drawing, AutoCad

CIUTADELLA URBAN OASIS

Barcelona Architecture Center Summer Program LARCH 414

Summer Semester 2023

Individual Academic Project

KEY ROADS AND LANDMARKS

CIUTADELLAPARK

MONUMENTO COLUMBO

AVINGUDAMERIDIANA

Barcelona’s metropolitan condition and ongoing drought threaten to create an Urban Desert. From this scenario I envision the new Ciutadella Park as an Urban Oasis. A place of respite that serves Barcelonans and their native ecology alike.

BARCELONA BEACH

BARCELONA ZOO

Existing Conditions

The Avinguda Meridiana is a major avenue in Barcelona. Although Ciutadella Park is connected to it, there is no entrance at where the park and road meet. Adding an entrance here would link Placa de Glories (another major park) and Ciutadella Park adding Ciutadella to Barcelona’s ogreen network that is under costruction.

The main entrances are key to the site as they serve as connections to two major landmarks in Barcelona, Monument a Colom (Colombus Statue) and the Arc de Triomf.

Zone 1

Pond

The Placa de Joan Felliver garden is the center of the park and marks the entry to the parliament. However its placement obstructs the circulation and its formalistic style does not flow with the rest of the park.

The adjacent Barcelona beach currently has no access to the park . The park would benefit from such a connection by linking one of Barcelona’s major landmarks to its green network.

Zone 2

The founrain designed by Antoni Gaudi is the most iconic part of the Park. However the absence of a cohesive layout downplays its importance. New circulation should be designed to intentionally integrate the founatin into the site.

Universitat Pompeu Fabra

The Universitat Pompeu Fabra is a major neighbouring facilitiy. The walls, zoo and tram line cutoff circulation through the park. The park needs to be opened up to be welcoming to the students.

Proposed Concept

My concept proposes a new layout which cohesively integrates the park’s facilities and connects external landmarks and adjacent sites. The layout is formed around two main zones, the Gaudi fountain and the parliament.

Although the zoo is to be removed, the existing trees which host a variety of bird species are to be kept. This creates an urban forest and a transition zone from adjacent sites into the park along the right edge.

Lastly moving the Placa de Jao Felix garden to the other side of the parliament reorients the Parliament building, creates access to the park from the University and creates a more formal entry to the Parliament building.

The Barcelona zoo although not part of the park’s original plan is the most dominant aspect of the site. It heavily blocks the sites circulation by blocking off most of the site from the adjacent neighborhoods. Additionally its containment of non-native Barcelona animal species brings its contemporary relevance into question. Because of these factors I propose the shutting down of the zoo and the relocation of the present animals.

Zone 2

Universitat Pompeu Fabra

Working With Topography

Proposed Topography Map

Topography is a key player in transforming the site to a naturalistic landscape. The site is graded to create an immersive experience as well as aiding in stormwater retention.

Oasis Concept Section

Topography is used as a tool to create seamless transitions between land and water. The edge of the pond is to be transformed from its currently hard edge to an area of native vegetation which supports Barcelona’s native birds and organisms.

Hydrologic Functions of the Site

Topography helps to collect and filter stormwater runoff. The water is then retained or dispersed for the sites hydraulic needs or to adjacent properties.

Concept Masterplan

View of Oasis Pond

Ride Through Urban Forest

DESIGN DISCOVERY: LEARNING THROUGH MAKING

Harvard Design Discovery Be My Neighbor Summer 2022

Individual Personal Project

WORKING WITH THE FOLD

What is a roof? What is a floor?

What is a wall? All architecture on a fundamental level consists of these 3 components. Each of these elements has a common definition.

Definitions that are treated as objective truths. This project does away with architectural premonitions, showing that theoretically, architecture has no objective meaning. Rather, even the most basic architectural elements are subject to context and program. Once architecture can be sited within a certain place, a certain time, and for certain use then can it be defined.

Working with the fold allowed for a breakaway from pre-conceived definitions of shelter. The qualities of the fold leave undefined what wall, floor, and roof are in the virtual/abstract world. The fold simply manipulates space.

Our site on Sumner Street serves as a communal space for the local neighborhood. Present was a community garden and open space for events. All the site lacked was formal shelter to protect from the elements.

© 2024 Menma Okereke

296 Sumner Street

Photo from Google Earth

As the created object is planted in the physical world, it encounters scale, program, and context. It is through this introduction that wall, floor, and roof gain material definition.

Final Massing Model

Site Section With Pavilion

View from Sumner Street Pavilion Exit Pavilion Entrance

MILLENIUM SCIENCE COMPLEX PLEASURE GARDENS

Pennsylvania State University

LARCH 236

Fall Semester 2021

Individual Academic Project

FORMAL GARDENS NATURALISTIC GARDENS

THE GARDEN OF VERSAILLES WAS OWNED BY THE FRENCH KING LOUIS XIV. DESIGNED BY ANDRE LE NOTRE, ITS DEVELOPMENT BEGAN IN THE YEAR 1661 AND TOOK ABOUT 40 YEARS TO BE COMPLETED.

Formal Gardens were commonly found in the chateaus of French monarchs and aristocrats, serving as a symbol of their power and control. The fact that these landscapes required an excessive amount of maintenance and care frequently at the cost of the subjects, only emphasized the owner’s status.

HENRY REPTON IS ONE OF THE KEY PROPAGATORS OF THE ENGLISH GARDEN. HE WAS WELL KNOWN FOR HIS ‘RED BOOKS’ WHICH CONSITED OF DRAWINGS WHICH CAPTURED THE SPIRIT OF HIS DESIGNS.

English landscape (naturalistic) gardens aim to present nature in its ideal state. They generally included a combination of rolling hills and lakes amidst tree groves. Artificial ruins were also commonly included as a means of enhancing this ideal. English gardens were a rejection of French Gardens which were viewed as too rigid and falsified the image of nature.

SYNTHESIZING THE FRENCH AND NATURALISTIC TYPOLOGIES

Formal Gardens through order and symmetry suggest intentional design. However, they require heavy maintenance and symbolically represent colonial ideas of landscape. Natural gardens have strong biodiversity, require little maintenance, and are typically democratic symbols. However, these landscapes are sometimes disorderly. Synthesizing both typologies creates a refined version of each template and allows for a new garden experience.

Design Concept

The 3 circulation paths fragment the existing site

Similar to formal gardens the planting beds form a strong geometric pattern across the site

Deviating from the monocultural nature of formal gardens, the meadow has strong biodiversity allowing for spontaneity and wonder.

Andre le Notre

Henry Repton

into 6 zones.

Photo from Wikipedia

Photo from Wikipedia

Photo from ChateauVersailles.fr

Photo from Wikipedia

The Millennium Science Complex Pleasure Gardens consist of a pollinator garden, prairie meadow, and tree plaza intended for use by students and visitors of the college. The lawn outside the Millennium Science Complex (MSC) lacks visual and programmatic design. My design for the MSC Pleasure Garden seeks to resolve this issue by synthesizing the ordered geometries of French gardens with the spontaneous spirit of the prairie meadow. In this design, independently defined spaces fit together to depict a single form; aligning my central path with the center of the MSC building creates order and symmetry. To emphasize order, the central space of the site’s eco-lawn contains no herbaceous vegetation, ensuring it stands out. The use of curved paths and the selection of native vegetation retains the spontaneous nature of the meadow while vibrant plants with height variations allow for active interaction and create an immersive experience within the meadow.

Section Cut

Prairie Meadow Phenology Chart

Asclepias syriaca

Asclepias tuberosa

Baptisia australis

Eutrochium fistulosum

Echinacea paradoxa

Gaura biennis

Helianthus angustifolius

Heliopsis helianthoides

Helianthus tuberosus

Liatris spicata

Monarda didyma

Primula meadia

Ratibida columnifera

Solidago speciosa

Asclepias syriaca Asclepias tuberosa Baptisia australis

Echinacea paradoxa Eutrochium fistulosum

Gaura biennis Helianthus angustifolius

Helianthus tuberosus

Heliopsis helianthoides

Liatris spicata Monarda didyma Primula meadia Ratibida columnifera Solidago speciosa

Walk through Mesic Garden

CONSTRUCTION DRAWINGS

Pennsylvania State University

Individual Academic Projects

Planting Methods Class: Meadow Technical Planting Plan

SEE PLAN FOR PATTERN

GEOTEXTILE AS PER SPECIFICATIONS, PLACE BELOW

AGGREGATE BASE COURSE

2" COARSE AGGREGATE SUBBASE

SILVA CELL 2X (DECK, BASE AND POSTS SPACE 1" APART AT TOP DECK

Grading Class: Project 2

AROCHUKWU CHAPEL

Buildner Architecture Competitions

Rammed Earth Pavilion

Spring 2023

Individual Personal Project

Competition Brief

The competition

The Rammed Earth Pavilion competition is part of a series exploring the unique benefits of different building materials. Participants are tasked with designing a pavilion to be constructed of rammed earth in a location of their choosing. The pavilion will host an exhibition on the material, the contents of which should be included in submitted designs.

The Rammed Earth Pavilion can be designed as either a temporary or permanent structure but should be no more than 50 m2. What is important is for the design to be as creative as possible in its use and exploration of this ancient and sustainable building material.

Participants are allowed to select a site and location of their choosing.

AROCHUKWU CHAPEL

WRITTEN BY MENMA OKEREKE ILLUSTRATED WITH MIDJOURNEY AI VISUALIZER

AROCHUKWU

Arochukwu is an Igbo town located in Abia State. The town holds significant historical and cultural importance in the Nestledregion. in the lush landscapes southeasternof Nigeria, Arochukwu is known for its traditional institutions, and vibrant community.

Due to the intense nature of earthen construction, community members join to build each persons home.

Earth as a material is important to Arochukwu due its utilitarian, communal and spiritual significance.

UTILITARIAN COMMUNAL SPIRITUAL AROCHUKWU MAP OF NIGERIA

Lastly, due to the belief that mankind was created from the earth, the material is treated with reverence and has strong spiritual significance.

Earth’s utilitarian significance comes from being the dominant building material in Arochukwu. Due to the strong presence of sand stone in the region majority of homes and structures were made out of earth mortar.

GEOLOGIC MAP OF IGBOLAND

Women help out by carrying lighter materials and mixing the earth to make mortar.

WHY A CHAPEL

Men handle the heavier lifting and the construction of the homes

Most importantly the process is a ceremonial affair. During construction, workers sing, dance and laugh with one another. Additionally, a meal is shared betweeen everyone at the end of each work day.

I decided on a chapel as I see it as the programmatic equivalent of earth. Like earth, chapels symbolize utility, community, and spirituality in Arochukwu. The Chapel’s design is influenced by Christian Numerology, combining 3 points (symbolizing perfection) with 5 points (symbolizing God’s grace). This represents the communion between humans, a perfect God and His grace. The monolithic form serves as a symbolic landmark in the community. and works within the rigid tectonics of rammed earth.

Map gotten from Godwin Chukwudi Nwude’s Thesis

Map gotten from Vemaps

Chapel Birds-eye View

Light Well

Chapel Back View

Landscape photo and path sourced from Adobe Stock