Nicholas Reddon Portfolio 2019

NICHOLAS REDDON

215 St. James Pl, Apt 2A

Brooklyn, NY, 11238

nickreddon@hotmail.com

(646)659 8076

EDUCATION

Masters of Architecture

University of Toronto, Canada

2015-2019

Honors Specialization in Fine Art

Western University, Canada

2011-2015

PROFESSIONAL

Bjarke Ingels Group

New York City, USA

Designer (2018 - Present)

Denegri Bessai Studio

Toronto, Canada

Part Time Installation Design

Winter 2017-18

Front Office Tokyo

Tokyo, Japan

Design Assistant

Summer 2017

Khoury Levit Fong

Toronto, Canada

Design Assistant

Summer 2016 & Fall 2017

OTHER WORK

Teaching Assistant

University of Toronto Architecture

5 Undergraduate Studio Courses

2016-2019

Digital Fabrication Technician

University of Toronto Architecture

Assistant CNC and Laser Cutter

Technician

2016-2018

AWARDS

Royal Architectural Institute of Canada (RAIC) Honours

University of Toronto, 2019

Awarded to the top 4 students of the graduating class

Faculty Design Prize

University of Toronto, 2019

Awarded to graduating students for excellence in design studios

Certificate of Honour

University of Toronto, 2019

Awarded annually to “the top graduating master’s students”

Ontario Association of Architects

Scholarship

University of Toronto, 2018

Awarded to a graduate student for academic excellence

University of Toronto Fellowship

University of Toronto, 2018

Awarded to a graduate students “with excellent academic standing” to offset expense of research-based travels

Komala Prabhakar Scholorship

University of Toronto, 2017

Awarded to a graduate student at the discretion of the Dean for excellence

Frederick Coates Scholarship

University of Toronto, 2016

Awarded to the first year student who ranks highest in their class

Gold Medalist in Visual Arts

Western University, 2015

Awarded to the graduating student with the highest academic average

Tony and Betsy Little Fine Arts

Scholarship

Western University,2014 - Awarded to the third year BFA student with the highest academic average

Entrance Scholarship

Western University, 2011 Awarded for quality of portfolio and academic standing

SOFTWARE

Adobe After Effects

Adobe Illustrator

Adobe InDesign

Adobe Photoshop

Adobe Premiere

AutoCAD

Enscape Render

Grasshopper

Lasybug Solar Radiation Simulator

Microsoft Office Suite

Pachyderm Acoustical Simulator

Revit

Rhino 3D

SketchUp

V-Ray Render

SKILLS

3D Printing

Art Handling and Install

CNC Milling

Laser Cutting

Model Making

Photography

Vacuum Forming

Welding

Woodshop Experience

FAVOURITES

2001: A Space Odyssey

Australian Shepherd

Buckminster Fuller

Gretsch

Locanda Vini & Olii

Martin Margiela

The Myth of Sisyphus

Naomi Klein

Negroni

Rachel Whiteread

Radiohead “In Rainbows”

Tokyo, Japan

PRODUCTIVE DENSITY

Low-Rise Housing Solutions for Los Angeles

Personal Project / Competition

Location: Los Angeles, California

Date: January 2021

Team: N/A

Type: Competition (LOW-RISE LA, organized by the Office of the Mayor)

RATIONALE: The astonishing number of lots zoned for single-family use in Los Angeles, along with population growth and increasing demand for housing have inflated the market, making decent affordable options scarce for those who need them most. Yet, there is uncertainty about what density means, where it should be allowed, and what it should look like. People are frightened by the countless past failures of top-down planning, and many neighborhoods that need housing most have been historically redlined, disinvested from, and are now gentrifying: making them wary of change. This project aims to address these anxieties and provide an example of how modest density can be a sustainable, equitable and economically viable way forward.

AFFORDABLE: Los Angeles does not need more rental housing: it needs avenues to income generation and homeownership. Many owners want to build ADUs on their land for others, but cannot afford to. This proposal imagines such people pooling capital in Limited Equity Cooperatives where each member buys a unit and commits to a fixed resale price to maintain affordability long term. If a property is not owned, one would be purchased or leased from the city’s Surplus Property Portfolio. The residents would apply for grants with LA's Strategic Growth Council and other programs interested in developing affordable housing, agreeing that 1-2 units be rented to Section 8 Voucher holders, thereby providing additional income for member-owners.

MAXIMAL: This design proposes to max-out the allowable floor area (5,000 ft2) and unit count per the competition brief, with 4 typical units and 2 efficiency units. Following standard property line setbacks, the 5,000 ft2 limit for these 6 units is split between 2-storeys, thereby maximizing shared outdoor space at the ground level.

LEFT, ABOVE: Diagram sequence describing massing logic.

LEFT, BELOW: Street-facing elevation

RIGHT: Axonometric drawing of building in fictional site. Callouts indicating PV array and rooftop produce gardens, communal dining and facilities, recreationa space, entry to below-grade parking, and position of greywater retention tank.

LANDSCAPE/GROUND FLOOR PLAN

LP 01. Stair to garage and upper levels

LP 02. Primary drainage route to retention tanks below

LP 03. Communal laundry facilities

LP 04. Communal recreation space

LP 05. Ramp to basement garage

LP 06. Communal space, possible basketball court

LP 07. Communal space, possible children's pool

LP 08. Communal electric barbecue

LP 09. Recycled Greywater distribution

LP 10. Communal picnic tables

LP 11. Rainwater filter, retention tank and pump below grade

LP 12. Large planters for trees

LP 13. Linear drain at low point of site

ROOF PLAN/SITE PLAN

RP 01. Catwalk/shared balconies

RP 02. Rooftop produce greenhouse/ and photovoltaic array

RP 03. Greenroof with sedum and native species

BASEMENT PLAN

BP 01. Stair to upper levels

BP 02. Public bike share lockers

BP 03. Private car share parking

BP 04. Public parking for electric car share program

BP 05. Electric vehicle charging

MODULAR: The bar building is divided into twelve 400 ft2 modules that can be bought and combined into larger units, kept as efficiency units, or designated as communal amenities. Without specific owners, a finite composition of the units is not possible. The modular logic is intended to be adaptable to any group. For example, a multi-generational family could develop the site, with 2 units for Section 8 Holders. The design provides an approximate, adaptable framework for the member-owners to decide on the final configuration.

COMMUNAL: The building is lined with shared balconies, an accessible rooftop landscape, and a community greenhouse for food production operated in partnership with an organization like Community Healing Gardens. In addition to various exterior amenities, the residents have access to a dedicated multi-purpose room for events and activities, and shared laundry facilities.

LEFT: Axonometric and plan drawings of various unit types: efficiency units, 1 bedroom, 2 bedroom, and 3 bedroom layouts.

RIGHT: View through main living space of a typical unit

S 01. PHOTOVOLTAIC/SOLAR PANEL ARRAY (32 PANELS)

S 02. SEDUM AND NATIVE SPECIES GREEN ROOF TO AID STORMWATER MANAGEMENT AND REDUCE HEAT ISLAND EFFECT

S 03. CATWALK/BALCONY PROVIDES SHADE TO GLASS FACADE

S 04. SINGLE-LOADED APARTMENTS ALLOW CROSS VENTILATION THROUGH THE BUILDING

S 05. TREES PROVIDE SHADE TO GLASS FACADE

S 06. COMMUNAL ELECTRIC BARBECUE GRILL

S 07. POROUS PAVERS AND GROUNDCOVER NATURALLY FILTER RAINWATER

S 08. ELECTRIC CAR CHARGING STATION FOR COMMUNAL VEHICLES AND PUBLIC CAR SHARING PROGRAM

S 09. RAINWATER FILTER, RETENTION TANK, AND PUMP TO CIRCULATE GREWAYTER

S 10. GREENHOUSE FOR COMMUNAL PRODUCE GARDEN AND COMPOSTING PROGRAM

S 11. PHOTOVOLTAIC PANEL INVERTER TO CONVERT DC OUPUT FROM PV’S TO AC CURRENT USEABLE ON SITE

S 12. LED LIGHTING THROUGHOUT PROJECT FROM PV POWER

S 13. DISTRIBUTION OF FILTERED GREYWATER TO FAUCETS, TOILETTES, AND ROOFTOP GREENHOUSE

S 14. OPERABLE WINDOWS ABOVE DOORHEIGHT TO NATURALLY VENTILATE APARTMENTS

S 15. SOLAR POWER DISTRIBUTED TO ALL-ELECTRIC KITCHENS, LED LIGHTS AND ALL OUTLETS, AS WELL AS ELECTRIC VEHICLE CHARGING STATIIONS

S 16. SHARED BIKE STORAGE AND BIKE SHARE LOCKER

SUSTAINABLE: Various strategies allow the building to be highly efficient and fully powered by on-site renewables, as described in the drawings. Passive strategies are used for thermal comfort, such as shading from trees and balconies, heavy planting designed with a local non-profit like North East Trees to reduce heat island effect, as well as natural cross ventilation through the units. Rainwater is filtered, stored, and pumped through the building for greywater use and greenhouse irrigation. Finally, the rooftop has a solar panel array sized to provide electricity throughout the building. These systems work together to assure that the building is carbon neutral.

PHOTOVOLTAIC ARRAY SIZING:

The average single family lot in LA County uses 897 kWh per month. The solar panel array is sized assuming that this site will use 3,000 kWh per month. On average there are 12 hours and 10 mins of sunlight per day in LA.

LEFT: Section perspective describing various sustainability strategies

RIGHT: View at rooftop landscape

Assuming a mid-range solar panel with average output of 250 w per panel:

8,220 w system / 250 per panel = 32 Solar Panels

K 01. ELECTRIC REFRIGERATOR/FREEZER

K 02. SINK CIRCULATING FILTERED GREYWATER W/ STORAGE/PLUMBING BELOW

K 03. INDUCTION COOKTOP

K 04. DRYGOODS/KITCHENWARE CABINETS

K 05. MAGNETIC KITCHENWARE HOLDER

K 06. INDUCTION STOVETOP SWING-COVER

K 07. TWO-DOOR ALL-ELECTRIC OVEN

ACCESSIBLE: Cars are a necessity in Los Angeles for the foreseeable future. As a bridge solution to this reality, the co-op collectively owns 2-3 electric vehicles, and rents the remaining below-grade garage space to a car share like Green Commuter. The same is done to promote cycling. In both cases the co-op would profit financially from the partnerships in exchange for space and solar-powered charging stations. The garage can be expanded and reconfigured to accommodate 16 vehicles if desired.

SCALABLE: This project is presented in a fictional site to underscore that the place, people, and community that build it will determine its final design. The core premise of the project is that its modular units, generous outdoor and communal spaces, and sustainability strategies can be replicated, scaled up and down and tested across the city. The building presented is not a fixed form but a series of options and ideas that would de-stigmatize density and combat affordable housing in a way that is sustainable and equitable, for local communities and all of Los Angeles.

LEFT, ABOVE: Interior view of allelectric kitchen

LEFT, BELOW: Diagrams describing the all electric kitchen layout (required by the competition brief) which contributed to the sustainability strategy.

RIGHT: Interior view of unit looking on to balcony

VALE-UN-VEIL VINEYARD

Wine Tasting Pavilion for Monte d’Oiro Vineryard

Personal Project / Competition

Location: Alenquer, Portugal

Date: June 2020

Team: Kevin Pham

Type: Competition (Organized by Quinta do Monte d'Oiro and BeeBreeders Architecture Competitions)

OVERVIEW: Situated at the boundary between the Quinta do Monte d'Oiro Windery and its expansive vineyards, this proposal for a wine tasting pavilion attempts to reconcile the urban condition of the archetypical European plaza present within the site and the raw, elemental landscape beyond.

DIVIDE: This is achieved by the singular, formal gesture of a monumental wall that is positioned between the existing production facilities and the proposed site of the pavilion, physically and metaphorically separating and clarifying the experience of the vineyard from the mechanics of the winery. Conceptually, Vale-un-Veil considers the winery's relationship to the surrounding vineyards by using its architectural

elements to veil and unveil successive parts of the landscape, slowly revealing the poetry of the estate.

LEFT: Site plan and parti diagram

RIGHT: View onto landscape from entrance corridor

SEQUENCE: The architecture is conceived as an armature for encountering the landscape, using the abstract collision and tense separation of planes to frame and filter moments and views (an architectural theme that is prominent in many canonical examples of modern Portuguese architecture). These moments of filtration are organized along the primary corridor that is produced by the primal elements of the project: massive walls of concrete and locally quarried limestone which guide visitors in a linear fashion from the plaza. Vernacular cobblestone extends from the plaza throughout the length of the project, which, together with leaks of light along a sheltered corridor, create a clear procession from winery to pavilion.

LENSES: The resulting structure engenders a composed sequence from the urban to the natural, slowly revealing the layers of the landscape. Breaks in the walls allow entry into different micro-landscapes that represent varying degrees of human intervention in landscapes. Visitors move from the urban condition of the adjacent square, to a manicured grid of trees on an existing terrace, to a loosely organized rock garden with a veil of overgrown drains, before finally concluding in the tasting room, where expansive views of the surrounding landscape are revealed.

LEFT: Site axonometric

RIGHT: View onto landscape from roof of existing structure and bird's eye view of pavilion

NEXT: Plan perspective with schematic detail callouts, views inside pavilion and rock garden

AFTER THAT: Perspective sections with schematic detail callouts

AFTERIMAGE

THE PALPABILITY OF ILLUSION

Winter 2019

ABSTRACT: “Afterimage: The Palpability of Illusion” is my M.Arch thesis project, the culmination of a year of research on image-making practices and their relationship to optical illusion. The project is a manifesto on architectural representation, presented through several novel drawing experiments. Informed by media theory, phenomenology, and perceptual psychology, “Afterimage” highlights the effect that photographic “realism” and virtual simulation have had on the once-distinct ontological categories of illusion and reality. The experiments reimagine historical techniques for simulating spatiality and producing optical illusion— from stereoscopes to holograms— that manipulated perception, but plainly exposed the mechanisms of their

effect, whereas in digital illusion the intent is to obscure the apparatus, convincing the viewer of its reality. “Afterimage” blends those older techniques with digital images, reinstating the perceptual immediacy of the former ito demonstrate the inherent contrivances of virtual simulacra.

The project consisted of a theoretical essay that traced the history of optical illusion in architecture, from the Parthenon to virtual reality headsets with special interest in the culture of illusion in Victorian England. The essay was included in a book alongside a guide to the final installation. The following pages describe 3 of the 12 "illusions" and various images extracted from those not described.

M.Arch Thesis

Advisor: John Shnier

INFINITY: This experiment is based on the fairly common effect of the“infinity room.” The infinity room shown here is more complicated, however, because the front face of the box is a two-way interrogation mirror. As a result, the viewer does not see their reflection in the infinite space, as one would in a Yayoi Kusama artwork. This illusion requires control of the light contrast between the outside and inside of the box (where the inside is brightly lit, and the exterior room is quite dark).

HOLOGRAMS: Inside the infinity box an LED monitor plays 24 moving films simultaneously. The films are arranged in 6 cruciform patterns that are then calibrated to the circles that you see on the ground. When the images appear in the circles, they are reflected in the glass pyramids above— producing three-dimensional holograms, infinitely arrayed in the depth of the infinity mirrors. This is 3D reimagining of the 19th century Pepper’s Ghost illusion.

LEFT: Diagram explaining construction of the infinity box and holograms.

RIGHT: Photograph from final install.

PANOPTICAL PLAN: This drawing is etched in plexiglass, with a linear LED strip along the circumference of the semi-circle. The light carries through the plexiglass, reflecting only where lines are etched, producing the effect of lines drawn with light. The semi-circle is reflected in the mirrored surface that it comes into contact with, completing the circular drawing. A second mirror is then placed at a 30-degree angle, which produces the illusion of multiple plans floating in the space of the mirrors, arrayed 6 times around a polar centroid.

LEFT: Diagram explaining the effect of the 30-degree mirrors.

RIGHT: Photograph from final install.

WHEATSTONE STEREOSCOPE: These experiments reimagine one of the earliest type of stereoscope, which was invented by Sir Charles Wheatstone in 1838 and named eponymously. It used a pair of mirrors at 45 degree angles to the user’s eyes, each reflecting a picture located off to the side. When two pictures simulating left-eye and right-eye views of the same object are presented so that each eye sees only the image designed for it, the brain will fuse the two and accept them as a view of one solid three-dimensional object.

LEFT: Diagram explaining the construction of the Wheatstone stereoscope, and how each image is simultaneously viewed.

RIGHT: Photograph from final install.

LEFT, TOP: This image is a still from a short film sequence of illusions related to opponent colour theory.

LEFT, BELOW: This image is one half of a flip-phase lenticular print, which shifted between this view and a nonaugmented image of the same space as one walked past it.

OPPOSITE: These images were among the scenes rendered for the Wheatstone Stereoscopes (from to camera positions 2.5" apart, in order to be viewable in a 3D illusion)

FORCED PERSPECTIVE: The project was installed in the basement gallery at 1 Spadina, with 6 monolithic boxes, each of which had an illusion displayed on two of its sides for a total of 12 effects. The monoliths tapered in scale to produce a forced perspective (the 13th and final illusion), inspired by Borromini’s Galleria Spada, which confused the scale of individuals viewing the project at opposite ends of the gallery

LEFT: Diagram series explaining the forced perspective in axonometric view, section, and plan.

RIGHT: Photographs from final install.

FOLLOWING PAGES: Images extracted from various optical illusions and films on display at the final presentation.

SUPERFUN[D] APARTMENTS

Affordable Housing and Water

Remediation for Newtown Creek

Design Studio V: Option Studio

Advisors: Amale Andraos, Dan Wood and Sam Dufaux (WORK AC) Fall 2017, 8 Weeks

THE PROBLEM: Decimated by centuries of shipping and industry, Newtown Creek in Brooklyn, NY is one of the most polluted waterways in North America. The objective of this studio was to design experimental housing that would help remediate it.

GROWING PAINS: Alongside pollution issues, this project addresses New York City’s affordable housing shortage; of particular importance in the face of rapid population growth and gentrification in North Brooklyn. With this crisis comes the issue of affordable food produce, because the farm land required to feed New York City is approximately equal to the land mass of the State of Virginia, and 90% of all produce sold in New York is shipped from California.

THE FIX: This project addresses these problems by combining affordable housing with the infrastructure needed to purify water; which, once cleaned, irrigates vertical farms, thereby reimagining the creek as a place of growth and production, rather than decay.

LEFT: Axonometric buildup, explaining water intake, oyster filtration locks, bar building division, vertical farming, and public access through the site.

RIGHT: Collage view showing the public face of the apartment building.

OYSTERS: The ground plane of the project is shaped around a series of oyster locks. Oysters, known as “nature’s filter,” can each purify 50-70 gallons of water in a 24 hour period. New York City has an initiative called the Billion Oysters Project that aims to rebuild the decimated oyster population along the Hudson River, and in so doing help to purify the water.

GREENHOUSE: After the water has been purified, it is used to irrigate the vertical farms. 1 acre of indoor farm land can yield as much as 20 outdoor acres, and can be operated year-round regardless of weather. The greenhouse is placed and designed relative sun angles to maximize exposure.

PRODUCE: The infrastructure on the site would produce jobs that would benefit the low-income neighborhood. These jobs would include specialized farming, as well food processing, packaging, and shipping facilities on site. Leftover spaces in the greenhouse and beneath the oyster beds are programmed for a public marketplace, cafe, and restaurant, which would call for many more employees.

LEFT: 1:200 model. CNC-milled foam, laser-cut plexiglass, and 3D printed details. 40 x 90 cm.

RIGHT: Site analysis, mapping solar paths and major public transit access.

LAYERS: There are 4,100 m2 of commercial and industrial space and 2,300 m2 of public park packed onto the 7,800 m2 site. The amount of space dedicated to these programs was made possible by layering them, as shown in this perspective section. A large ramp brings the public up to the second level (its slope concealing the ramp of the parking garage), where people can see the oyster beds; the produce from the greenhouse is moved down to processing, packaging, and shipping facilities buried beneath the oysters; the public route through the site runs into the building, where a spiral stair brings visitors up to the greenhouse and restaurant. These intersections of program kept the plan tight, allowing the required 23,000 m2 of residential program without overwhelming the site or impeding on its low-rise locale.

PREVIOUS: Site Plan at +3.00 m and floor plans at +10.00 m, +13.00 m, and +22.00 m, with diagrammatic section as plan key.

LEFT: Perspective section showing food production facilities, public route through site, parking, unit interiors, and residential amenities.

UNITS : Each unit type is modulated around a double-height central space, which ensures consistent light and air quality for all apartments.

NEST: The repetition of unit types would make it possible to pre-fabricate parts, thereby reducing costs of production and assembly. The units inter lock in a tetris pattern, and the removal of pieces create the terraces for vertical farming.

GRADIENT: The various tones of purple, chosen to avoid the aesthetic tropes of “green” architecture, codify the unit types, making their distribution legible in the building’s elevations.

LEFT: All unit types, codified with diagrammatic elevations, axonometrics, and floor plans.

RIGHT: View from unit interior, showing double-height room and oyster locks beyond.

Diagram of “tetris” assembly pattern and physical model of a 1-bedroom unit. 1:50 scale, bass wood and plexiglass. 18 x 16 x 14 cm.