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This project proposes a nature-immersed recreational space where communities where the ecological patterns are seamlessly interwoven.
Situated within a dense grove of existing trees, the design responds directly to the landscape by gently contouring itself to preserve the site. Every path, platform, and program is thoughtfully shaped around the existing vegetation, allowing the architecture to blend into the landscape rather than rise above it.
The program comprises an underground Olympicsize swimming pool sunken beneath the landscape to reduce visual impact and enhance thermal performance.
The park has edible trails that connect key programmatic zones: outdoor play areas, gardens, sports facilities, and quiet resting nooks. These trails are planted with existing native trees and herbs, turning movement through the space into a sensory experience.
Site - Clay, NY
Credits - Prof. Ayesha Ghosh
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Beneath the shadow of I-81’s divide, Once-thriving streets lost homes and pride. A city split by concrete might, Where families drifted out of sight.
Elders who watched their roots erased, Long for the warmth of a close embrace. But children left for homes anew, Where echoes of history never grew.
Generations scattered, lives rearranged, Neighborhoods forever changed. But imagine now a place to mend, Where ages mix, where strangers blend.
To address this social issue, This project proposes a module for intergenerational housing designed specifically for senior citizens and families. The concept of “the square” aims to create a supportive environment where people of all ages can live together, interact daily, and rebuild a sense of shared community.
Site - Downtown Syracuse, NY
Credits - Prof. Saba Salekfard
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Prototype Plan - The Square
Ground Floor Plan
The Thermal Bath project is designed based on rigorous research of the local microclimate—daily temperature fluctuations, seasonal wind patterns, humidity levels, and solar angles—the design adopts passive strategies tailored to the region. The orientation of the structure prioritizes minimizing solar heat gain on the western façade while maximizing natural cross-ventilation from the cooling ocean breezes. Wind tunnels and openings are positioned in alignment with prevailing wind directions.
The materials chosen were rammed earth walls to provide thermal mass, absorbing heat during the day and releasing it during the cooler nights, significantly stabilizing indoor temperatures. A central water courtyard based on the concept of evaporative cooling, uses water as a natural coolant, enabling moisture in the air to drop the ambient temperature as it flows through the building. The placement of this feature came directly from studies of thermal comfort zones and psychrometric charts specific to Essaouira’s coastal-arid climate.
Site - Essaouria, Morocco
Credits - Prof. Hannibal Newsom
This project begins with an in-depth study of the Tagliamento River, an alpine waterway celebrated for its braided morphology and ecological richness. The second page documents the river’s shifting patterns, sediment behavior, and seasonal transformations establishing a foundation for understanding its dynamic, untamed nature.
From this research emerges a series of speculative landscape interventions that grow like crystals along the riverbed. These interventions are not imposed but rather emerge responding to the river’s flows, sediments, and microclimates. Like crystalline structures, they branch, cluster, and adapt, sometimes linear, sometimes radial, mimicking the self-organizing logic of natural formations.
Each intervention amplifies a specific moment within the river landscape: a still pool, a sediment bank, a seasonal floodplain. Constructed with minimal intrusion, they serve as both ecological markers and spatial experiences, reflecting the rhythm of the river while inviting human presence. These crystalline forms reinterpret the landscape not as static terrain, but as a living, evolving system—always in the process of becoming.
Credits - Prof. Ayesha Ghosh
