Issuu

2025

Tim Wu

Portfolio

(Academic)

Modern Taos Pueblo Reimagining Communal Housing for Modern Urban Contexts Program: BSAD, University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign Level: Arch 474 (4th yr., 2nd sem.), Prof. Peter Zuroweste Position: Student, Individual Software: Rhino, Twinmotion, Photoshop, Illustrator 1-6 Corridors evolution and increase of social isolation; “Figure, Doors and Passages”, Translations from Drawing to Building and Other Essays, Robin Evans

7 Tao Pueblo, Floor Plan 8 Tao Pueblo, Section & Analysis

Location: West Central, USA Year: 2022 Type: Social Housing, Anti-gentrification, Community, HABITAT Design Competition: Climate Positive Concrete Housing 9 Photo, https://taospueblo.com/ 10 Photo, https://taospueblo.com/

In many contemporary urban environments, rising social isolation and accelerating gentrification threaten to unravel the civic fabric once woven tightly by communal living. Much of this shift can be understood by examining how our dwellings have evolved. Historical housing typologies such as the Taos Pueblo, Viking longhouses, or the conical dome houses of Harran were configured around collective spaces, interlaced circulation paths, and overlapping spheres of activity. In these arrangements, simply passing through the space often meant conversing with neighbors or engaging in shared tasks. As modern architecture introduced designated corridors and private cells, the serendipitous encounters of older dwellings were traded for privacy and separation. Consequently, many contemporary apartment buildings now isolate residents from one another, dampening community bonds and allowing gentrification to spread unimpeded, displacing established cultures. For cities like Austin, Dallas, Houston, and San Antonio—each with populations exceeding one million and showing signs of rapid gentrification—the need to reconsider how housing typologies affect social connection is all the more pressing. These cities, like Taos

Pueblo, sit in warm, sunny regions where environmental concerns such as heat gain, cross-ventilation, and water management loom large in the design process. Yet historic communal dwellings offer more than just climate-responsive solutions; they also point to architectural strategies that encourage human interaction. Robin Evans, in his seminal text “Figures, Doors and Passages,” and contemporary commentators like Stewart Hicks have noted how introducing corridors as circulation spaces distinctly separated from living areas gradually eroded the social vitality of traditional dwellings. In seeking to restore this sense of community, an adapted “Puebloinspired” typology emerges as a compelling model for Texas. Imagine a development that, instead of hiding residents behind a line of closed doors, encourages communal rituals through multipurpose circulation zones and interconnected layers of space. At the street level, mom-and-pop shops provide daily necessities while simultaneously drawing foot traffic and fostering neighborly exchange. This commercial threshold leads into a central courtyard—the heart of the community—where people gather for markets, performances, or simply enjoy the shade on a hot day.

Modern Taos Pueblo

11-14 Model Photos

Surrounding this courtyard is the residential zone, broken down into clusters of homes that open onto semiprivate terraces or shared arcades, inviting impromptu conversation and collective activities. By softening the divide between public and private realms, these layered environments recall the social synergy of older communal housing. Equally critical is the design’s attention to the local climate and the potential for self-sufficiency. Taking cues from the Pueblo’s thick walls and narrow openings, the new construction could employ similarly dense materials for passive thermal regulation, as well as strategic windows and louvers for cross-ventilation. Courtyards and rooftops might incorporate rainwater harvesting systems, feeding gardens that supply fresh produce and, in turn, become another venue for social interaction. Over time, residents could evolve these communal areas into spaces for entrepreneurship, cultural celebrations, and intergenerational gathering—strengthening their resilience against market-driven forces that often aim to homogenize neighborhoods. By tying commercial, social, and residential spheres into a cohesive

whole, this modern Pueblo-inspired framework endeavors to catalyze a deeper sense of place and mutual care. Rather than unyielding corridors, the primary routes of passage become lively avenues of engagement. Rather than merely stacking private units, the dwellings interlock around shared centers of daily life. And rather than catering to speculative profits, the architecture is shaped to foster personal connections, local enterprise, and collective identity. In short, this design philosophy envisions housing as a platform for community-making, guided by adaptable, climate-conscious strategies that can be replicated in different contexts within each city’s zoning and development guidelines. Ultimately, the goal is to push against the tide of displacement and “white town sanitization” by shaping neighborhoods where residents are not interchangeable and where place-based culture is celebrated rather than erased. Much like the Taos Pueblo has long stood as both a home and a cultural anchor, these new developments could become vibrant sites of belonging. In reclaiming the communal spirit embedded in traditional building forms, architects can offer an alternative to the isolating standard of modern apartments, thus championing a living architecture that

Modern Taos Pueblo

15 Region assigned for competition: Westcentral States 16 City with population over 1 million, US Census 17 Over 1 million with 7% or more gentrification, US Census

18-121 Boundary Selection Base on Gentrification severity, UrbanDisplacementProject 18 - Austin 19 - San Antonio 20 - Dallas 21 - Houston

22-24 Examine zoning to identify commercial corridors undergoing gentrification 22 - Austin 23 - Dallas 24 - Houston

25-27 Vacant site within commercial corridor for system installation 25 - Austin 26 - Dallas 27 - Houston

28-31 Enlarged selected site with wide variety for system testing 28 - Site 1, wide width, Austin 29 - Site 2, small area, Austin 30 - Site 3, long depth, Dallas 31 - Site 4, proper area, Houston

1000 FT

40,000 ft

18 21 1000 FT

40,000 ft

22 19 1000 FT

holds society at its core.

40k’

40,000 ft

Commercial Corridor Gentrification Direction 2k’

1k’

100’

Modern Taos Pueblo

32-35 Haci-Pueblo formation 1 - Identify the site per zoning code 2 - Split into “Family Retail”, “Community Plaza”, and “Residential Pueblo” with dimension fitting to construction methology of Tilt-Up Concrete (25-25-50, then round to closes increment of 4’) 3 - Extrude each program unit to 10’ vertical, “Residential Pueblo” has stacking design facing the Plaza

36-39 Sun-Wind improvement 4 - Adjust “Residential Pueblo” units according to windrose using Ladybug 5 - Integrate stairs over the “Residential Pueblo” to provide access to each rooftop 6 - Extend 2 x 8 wood joist to outside rooftop with direct sunlight over 10 hrs as pergola

40-43 greenary and indirect lighting 7 - Implement greenary and recreation on the central “community Plaza” 8 - Create celestories for “Residential Pueblo” with pattern, creating double level space and create unit variety (10’) 9 - Create celestories for “Family Retail” with criss-cross pattern (5’)

44-47 Streetside deco and surrounding 10 - If adjacent is street, then add 2 by 8 wood pergola for shading; If adjacent is property add wall for “Community Plaza” for privacy

Wind Direction

100’

Modern Taos Pueblo

48 First Floor Plan

46’10”

72’

31’

32’

46’10” < 100’

15’5” < 16’

15’5”

20’

Modern Taos Pueblo

49 Perspective, central Garden 50 Perspective, upper outdoor/circulation

51 Section 52 Program Diagram

20’

“Family Retail” “Residential Pueblo”

“Community Plaza” “Resident Club”

20’

Matter Value Adaptive Reuse in a 1960s Seoul Community Program: M.Arch I, University of Pennsylvania Level: Arch 7010 (3rd yr., 1st sem.), Lect. Barry Wark Position: Student, Partnered (Jun Li) Software: Rhino, Houdini, Blender, Keyshot, UE5 1-6 Precedent 1 - Debang Cafe, one-aftr, KR 2 - Tongde Hall, ZSZY Studio, CN 3 - Museo Egizio 2024, OMA, IT

4 - Bukchon House, Boundaries architects, KR 5 - Le Fresnoy Art Center, Bernard Tschumi, FR 6 - Ecants, b720 Arquitectos, ES

“The grid is, above all, a framework for the creation of infinite number of configurations and can generate both order and unpredictability. It is indifferent to any preconception about program or style.” “The grid’s two-dimensional discipline generates an architecture that both describes and dismembers the city. It allows Manhattan to be a collection of blocks, which can each be totally autonomous, serving different purposes and creating distinct experiences.” — Rem Koolhass The Donuimun Museum Village, once under threat of demolition by government directive, occupies a critical juncture in Seoul’s urban fabric. Positioned adjacent to Gyeonghuigung Palace—an undervisited yet historically significant site—the village was perceived as a visual and spatial obstruction to palace access and tourism. This project responds to that challenge by proposing an alternative: a transformation that both respects governmental goals of improved visibility and revitalization, and preserves the layered urban memory embedded within Donuimun’s fragmented fabric.

Location: Donuimun Museum Village, Seoul, South Korea Year: 2024 Type: Adaptive Reuse, Market

7 Axon Render

Our approach begins with a re-examination of the village’s historical significance. The site captures an era of intense urban transformation in Korea, spanning from the 1940s to the 1960s. These decades saw waves of colonization, war, and rapid industrialization. Due to a lack of comprehensive zoning and policy frameworks during this time, housing and infrastructure developed organically, resulting in a mosaic of structures built without formalized typologies or planning logic. Unlike both the rigid axiality of traditional Eastern city planning and the gridded rationalism of modern urbanism, Donuimun’s spatial organization emerged from necessity, migration, and survival. What remains valuable on this site, therefore, is not simply its material remnants—brick, mortar, or tile—but the organic patternation, the spontaneous alignments, and the irregular densities of life once lived there. The village reflects a temporality and authenticity that cannot be replicated by top-down design. In this spirit, our intervention seeks to conserve the essence of this spatial legacy while adapting the site for new flows, programs, and publics.

Matter Value

8-11 Model Photos 12 Perspective Rendering

13 Model Photo

We propose a minimal preservation strategy rooted in two core elements: the foundation and two parallel walls per building footprint. The preserved foundations register the spatial memory of past structures, distinguished through material shifts in pavement to define thresholds and circulation. The walls—fragments of original elevations—establish volumetric continuity, demarcating zones that once separated front yards from alleyways, private from public. This restrained approach creates a legible framework that simultaneously preserves, abstracts, and reinterprets the historical morphology.

Beyond spatial strategy, the project is also a philosophical and cultural negotiation. We aim not to reconstruct the past but to initiate a dialogue across time—a conversation between what remains, what is remembered, and what must be reimagined. This dialogue is expressed through material choices, where traditional finishes are reinterpreted in contemporary ways, and through spatial typologies that echo the past while supporting new forms of urban life.

Central to our design philosophy is the concept of slippage—a productive misalignment between historical spontaneity and contemporary order. While today’s Seoul is increasingly dominated by grid systems aimed at efficiency and formal clarity, the irregularities of Donuimun offer a counter-narrative. By superimposing a flexible, adaptive grid over the organic existing pattern, we generate zones of tension—intersections where history and modernity coalesce. These moments of slippage are not viewed as conflicts but as opportunities for rich spatial and social experience. They give rise to new public plazas, transitional

courtyards, and experiential corridors that blend past and future.

A key architectural and cultural element in this dialogue is the courtyard, or madang—a cornerstone of Korean domestic life. Traditionally serving as communal and spiritual centers of the home, these spaces mediate interior and exterior, built and natural, individual and communal. In our project, madang are reimagined as light wells, shared gardens, and contemplative gathering spaces— woven throughout the urban fabric to foster social interaction and environmental sustainability. They act as climatic regulators and cultural anchors, grounding the new intervention in a deeply Korean spatial ethos. 9

Matter Value

14-18 Site Information

19 Origional Floor Plan 20-24 Demolition Strategies

This design process has been deeply informed by site analysis, mapping of historic layers, and community engagement. We have sought input from local stakeholders to ensure the proposal reflects collective memory and contemporary needs. The result is a hybrid framework—not a preservation of buildings, but a preservation of relationships: between forms, people, and history.

any preconception about program or style.” “The grid’s two-dimensional discipline generates an architecture that both describes and dismembers the city. It allows Manhattan to be a collection of blocks, which can each be totally autonomous, serving different purposes and creating distinct experiences.”

In conclusion, our vision for Donuimun Museum Village is not simply to conserve or to build anew—it is to curate an evolving urban narrative. It is a place where Seoul’s wild urban past intersects with its structured present, where courtyards breathe new life into forgotten corners, and where weathered foundations uphold stories worth remembering. In embracing the slippage between time periods and spatial logics, we offer a new model for urban preservation—one that celebrates tension, multiplicity, and continuity. We invite you to join us in realizing this vision: not just as architects or planners, but as stewards of a living heritage.“The grid is, above all, a framework for the creation of infinite number of configurations and can generate both order and unpredictability. It is indifferent to

Matter Value

24-29 Tectonic Assembly 24 - Demolition completion, overlay with 20’x20’ Modern grid system 25 - Pour Concrete base on grid system, 1’w x 1’l extension, for joint foundation & lateral strength 26 - Further reinforce assembly with Brick 3’ min. with additional stepping to leverage height difference, for lateral strength & height midigation

27 - Add Wooden stair for any height change in the site, angled toward the palace 28 - Implement GlueLam girder and 2 x 8 Wood beam as roof 29 - Further reinforce Assembly with Brick 3’ min. with additional stepping to leverage height difference, for lateral strength & height midigation

30 Structural Tectonic Glulam Girders with 2 by 8 Beams Demo material as roof cladding Wood treads with Steel Structure

27 Concrete Cap Stone Brick as secondary material Cast in place concrete

Origional Wall

Origional Foundation

Newly circulation pavement

Matter Value

31 Floor Plan 32-35 Autonomus Rules Base On Existing Wall 32 - “A”, Pop-up shops for area with light/no existing structural disruptions 33 - “B”, Enclosed shops for area with moderate existing structural disruptions 34 - “C”, Bespoke shopes and circulation for area with moderate existing structural disruption 35 - “D”, Light well garden for area with heavy existing structural disruptions

Matter Value

36 Existing Structure 37 New Structure

38 Existing Foundation 39 Program Layout

D A A A A D A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A D A A A A A C A A A A A B A A C A B D A A A D A A C A D A D A A C D A D A C A A B A D A A C D A C A D A A A A A C A C A A D D A A A C C A A B A C A A C A D B B A A A A A A

ENTRANCE

A C A A A

EXISTING BUILDING

Monolithic Sandy Hook Rethink Ecological Surge Protection Program: M.Arch I, University of Pennsylvania Level: Arch 602 (2nd yr., 2nd sem.), Prof.Richard Garber Position: Student, Partnered (Qinming Hou) Software: Rhino, Enscape, Lumion, Photoshop, Illustrator 1 Surge Wall Evolution: 1800s (1st Industrial Revolution) - 2000s (AECOM), DOI: 2015612

Location: Sandy Hook, NJ, USA Year: 2024 Type: Aquatic Laboratory, Surge Protection

2 Axonometric, dynamic ecological surge zone with Aquatic Laboratory building at the center 3 Perspective rendering, second floor amphitheater

4 Model Photo 5 Interior Perspective of Central Hall

Surge Wall, Industry 1.0 standing wave

Massive Block

Wave Breaking Pile

Interlocking Blocks Breaking Waves

Rubble Core

Armour Blocks

Surge Wall Improvement, AECOM, 2004

In the era of Industry 4.0, envisioning a transformative system for surge protection necessitates a paradigm shift towards ecological integration and sustainability. Recognizing the imperatives of global warming and advocating for designs that prioritize ecological symbiosis over anthropocentrism, we are poised for a revolution in flood protection methodologies. This revolution seeks to safeguard human settlements without compromising the habitats of other species.

aiming to enhance its tectonics and efficacy. Historically, the techniques employed up to the early 2000s trace their origins to the First Industrial Revolution, where surge walls were designed akin to dams, characterized by smooth, vertical surfaces. However, these conventional designs reveal critical shortcomings. The smooth and vertical structure is prone to base corrosion, undermining the wall’s integrity over time. Additionally, this configuration exacerbates surge impact on unprotected areas, failing to distribute the forces evenly.

Could we conceive a solution that embodies Timothy Morton’s philosophy, which perceives humans as an integral component of the ecological tapestry rather than its dominators? This vision would demand an architectural approach that harmonizes with the environment, fostering resilience and coexistence. By embracing postmodern principles, we can explore innovative strategies that blend technological advancements with a profound respect for the natural world, ultimately achieving a harmonious balance between human needs and ecological preservation.

To address these deficiencies, a shift towards more adaptive and resilient designs is imperative, reflecting a comprehensive understanding of modern environmental challenges and technological advancements. In 2004, AECOM conducted a series of studies that addressed these issues, resulting in a formal distinction where surge walls were transformed into surge zones with multiple stages to combat varying levels of surges. They also recognized the importance of rough surfaces, which increase surface area to combat undersurface circulations.

Our research delved into the evolution of surge wall technology,

However, the revolutionized surge zone didn’t incorporate the 14

Monolithic Sandy Hook

6 Formal Finding: use of AI to generate contextual relevant geometry (midjourney) 7 New Surge Zone Theory Demonstration, incorporate Morton ideology into AECOM Research of 2000s 8 Axonometric Rendering, final new synthetic surge zone zoomed-in

Context Satellite Image, Sandy Hook

AI Morphosis

3D Interpretation of AI to Surge Zone

findings from Dr. Rachel from East Carolina University and the University of Miami, who emphasized the necessity of an ecosystem beyond the surge wall. The growth of coral reefs and coastal plants can significantly reduce the strength of incoming waves before they reach the surge wall. Therefore, in this studio, my partner and I attempted to combine these two insights—the surge zone from AECOM and the ecological system from ECU and U of M—creating a complex surge zone where animals, plants, and humans share the same space. This design implements the strengths of the surge zone while also leveraging the benefits of an oceanic ecosystem. The complexity of this system also forms an intriguing formal space for humans to explore and experience the coastline from various heights and perspectives, framed by geometrically diverse surge walls. Creating this synthetic surge zone requires the implementation of randomized, highly complex geometries on different scales to imitate natural forms. Therefore, we developed a geometric method for the surge zone that is logically rational with minimal repetition and small adjustments over short periods. The method we eventually settled on utilizes a Virtual Neural Network (Figure

4). We captured top-view images of important site components in Sandy Hook, feeding them into AI with minimal human intervention. We then recognized these patterns and transformed them into 3D models, incorporating the necessary height for surge walls, materiality, programmatic interests of inhabitants, and plant needs. To achieve better eco-friendly results, the nonstructural components of the surge zone are constructed using rammed earth and caged rock, while the structural elements are made of cast-in-place concrete. Additionally, some walkable paths are paved with wood decking. This approach not only enhances the sustainability of the design but also creates a more natural and aesthetically pleasing environment. By integrating these materials, the surge zone becomes a cohesive blend of durability and ecological sensitivity, fostering a harmonious interaction between human activity and the surrounding ecosystem. This method resulted in a complex surge wall system dedicated not just to humans but, in line with Timothy Morton’s ideology, to the entire ecosystem. In addition to the exploratory surge wall, we also turned our focus to the design of a building for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), adopting a pragmatic approach with a deep

Monolithic Sandy Hook

7 Exploded axon based on structure components 8 Building geometry ideation base on historical site building (component of dormer)

9 Shop drawing, building DNA: pre-cast concrete component types

F2 Slabs: Precast Double T & Hollow-core Slab

F1 Structural Wall: Precast Concrete Panel

F1 Slabs: Precast Double T

F1 Structural Wall: Precast Concrete Panel

dive into all aspects of pre-cast concrete construction ecosystems. For the building’s geometry, we drew inspiration from the site context, particularly the historical buildings adjacent to our site. These buildings feature dormers, which add variety and complexity to the vernacular architecture. We incorporated this element and shape into the design of our research laboratory for NOAA.

designs reflects a commitment to both innovation and practical feasibility, creating structures that are resilient, sustainable, and harmonious with their environmental and historical contexts.

The structural system includes vertically bearing insulated precast concrete panels, complemented by strategically placed concrete trusses. The horizontal system primarily consists of precast double tees, with occasional use of hollow-core slabs. To achieve the angular aesthetic reminiscent of dormers while ensuring ease of construction, we introduced a third element—an angular small component (Type B, Figure 9)—to connect the upper and lower parts of the insulated precast concrete panels. Adhering to transportation limits for precast concrete, each panel is designed to be no taller than 13 feet and no longer than 40 feet. The foundation is a cast-in-place structure with friction piling, ensuring stability and durability. This combination of exploratory and pragmatic approaches in our

Monolithic Sandy Hook

10 Detail Wall Section

11 Detail Weall Section

Monolithic Sandy Hook

12 First floor plan

1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 12

Office 8. Kitchen 9. Meeting Room 10. Bathroom 11. Large Wet Lab 12. Storage 13. Medium Wet Lab 14.

Small Wet Lab Aquarium Lecture Hall Class Room Public Space Truck Lane / Exhibition Space Pump Room 20’

Monolithic Sandy Hook

13 Section AA

14 Second floor plan 15 MEP diagram, first and second floor

A 14

40’

Micro//Max Sub-Title Program: M.Arch I, University of Pennsylvania Level: Arch 6010 (2nd yr., 1st sem.), Prof. Giesla Baurmann Position: Student, Individual Software: Rhino, Vray, Enscape, Photoshop, Illustrator 1 Choisy 2 Precedent, TOWER by Wandoy Studio

3 Precedent, More Bas Princen by Victor Tsu

Location: 44th Dr, Long Island City, NY, USA Year: 2023 Type: Residential, Co-habitation, Disruption, Paradigm Shift

4-5 Central Rock Space, Perspective

Rats are among the most paradoxical non-human actors embedded within human civilization. Once deified as sacred symbols in ancient mythologies—whether as the first sign of the Chinese zodiac, the mount of Ganesha in India, or a lesser emblem of Apollo in Rome— rats now occupy the opposite end of the symbolic spectrum. PostEnlightenment urbanity cast them as avatars of disease, chaos, and social decay: blamed for the Black Death, vilified by public health campaigns, and hunted by the sanitation politics of cities like New York. The rat has transformed from divine companion to abject pest. Yet this shift is not a reflection of the rat’s essential character, but of the changing ontologies of the human world. The rat did not alter; we did. And so too did our cities. This project begins with a recognition: rats are not intruders into urban space—they are its product. The alley, the sewer, the garbage pile, the leftover void beneath the subway grate: these are architectural conditions shaped by human intention, negligence, and omission. The Norway Rat, far from being a failure of civilization, is in many ways its greatest evolutionary success story—a creature that learned not only to survive in the shadows

of anthropocentric design, but to thrive in it. Meanwhile, species such as the Allegheny Woodrat, once native to the northeastern U.S., have declined precisely because the urban logic that benefits the Norway Rat excludes other modes of coexistence. This uneven ecological theater reveals the urgent need for a new architectural framework—one that neither exterminates nor romanticizes, but rather cohabits. Inspired by Timothy Morton’s philosophy of “dark ecology,” which calls for the dismantling of human exceptionalism and the acceptance of entanglement with all forms of life, this proposal envisions an urban architecture that centers not human purity, but interspecies intimacy. The rat becomes both symbol and agent of a reoriented urban logic—one where architecture no longer enforces boundaries between clean and unclean, subject and pest, home and infestation, but instead stages conditions of proximity, negotiation, and mutual impact. In the dense, contested urban fabric of New York, this manifests as a speculative rewilding—not of pristine nature, but of abjected 20

Micro//Max

6-9 Modeling Photos

cohabitation. Instead of designing out rats, we design with them. This could mean embedding porous infrastructural membranes into building envelopes that serve both rodent and human; or developing “rat gardens,” liminal ecosystems within city lots that allow rats and other marginal creatures to forage, breed, and be observed as ecological citizens rather than threats. Waste is no longer hidden or removed, but choreographed as a shared system—feeding both rats and compost systems, which in turn support rooftop urban farming and microclimates for pollinators. Vertical circulation cores might incorporate interstitial voids that become migratory paths not only for humans, but for species who inhabit the vertical strata of the city.

The future of architecture lies not in ever-more refined forms of control, but in open systems of relation. In that future, the rat is no longer the enemy in the wall, but a co-resident of the ecological city. New York, long defined by its shadows and contradictions, might become the laboratory for a new type of architecture: one built not on mastery, but on shared dwelling—messy, unpredictable, and radically alive.

This is not a call to sentimentalize rats, nor to disregard the health and infrastructural challenges they may pose. Rather, it is a challenge to the very epistemology of design—to unseat the idea that architecture’s role is to shelter the human by excluding the nonhuman. In an age of ecological collapse, pandemics, and planetary crisis, such a fantasy is not only arrogant—it is obsolete. 21

Micro//Max

10 Animal Anatomy form Analysis

11 Units gallery: studio, 1b1b, 2b2b, 3b3b; developed through rotation and mirror

Micro//Max

12 Typical Upper Floor Plan

Micro//Max

13 Amenity Space Floor Plan

Micro//Max

14 Section

Beyond ADA Nature and Inclusivity Program: BSAS, University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign Level: Arch 3720 (3rd year, 2nd semester), Prof. Carl W. Lewis Position: Student, Individual Software: Rhino, Illustrator, Photoshop, Enscape 1 Basic ADA to beyond ADA, circulation analysis 5’

Location: 302 E Clark St, Champaign, IL Year: 2021 Type: Commercial Mix-use, Residential, ADA Research 2 Residential, wheelchair friendly sample 3 Office, wheelchair friendly sample

3‘

5’

29“

Slope :1 Slope12 1 : 12 5‘

6’

2’ 2‘

5’ 3‘

6’ Slope20 1 : 20 Slope :1

2 8’

8’

5’

The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), established in 1990, marked a critical legal milestone in ensuring that individuals with disabilities have equitable access to public spaces, buildings, and infrastructure. While its implementation has undeniably improved physical access and basic mobility across American architecture, the standards it enforces often function as minimum thresholds rather than comprehensive design ambitions. Based on personal experience and in-depth spatial analysis, this project emerges from the belief that true inclusivity in design requires moving beyond the regulatory compliance of the ADA. Accessibility should not merely be about satisfying code—it should be about creating environments that actively enhance the quality of life for all users, regardless of ability. My design investigation began with a direct, personal encounter: maneuvering a wheelchair up a ramp that met the exact 1:12 slope ratio prescribed by ADA guidelines. Although technically compliant, the experience was physically exhausting, psychologically isolating, and spatially marginalizing. That moment was the catalyst for this project: a reconsideration of how we define access, comfort, and inclusion in architectural design.

8’

In response, I conducted a programmatic audit of common building spaces—kitchen, office, dining room, library, and hallway—each designed with ADA-compliant dimensions. My intention was not to critique the regulation’s existence, but to expose its limitations and imagine alternative design strategies that could transform discomfort into dignity. In the kitchen, for example, while a 30inch wide sink or cooktop with 27 inches of knee clearance accommodates wheelchairs, it often results in cramped, inefficient, and awkward spatial configurations. Wall-mounted ovens placed low to the ground, though technically within reach range, require uncomfortable bending or leaning over laps, which becomes difficult for many individuals in wheelchairs. To address these issues, my proposed redesign utilizes adjustable-height appliances, pull-down upper cabinetry, and open-access workspaces. Most importantly, the layout is non-linear, allowing for radial movement rather than directional circulation. This means users can pivot, rotate, or approach tools and surfaces from different angles, not just frontfacing alignments. Spatial flexibility—both in form and function— emerges as a key principle of true accessibility. 26

Beyond ADA

4 Site Analysis

5 Site Plan

West-side Park

Downtown Future Ice Arena Bus Shuttle

Walkability of Disabled People: 2 - 5 - 10 min

Pharmacy Bank Helms Park Bonyard Creek

Site

Scott Park

Walkability of Regular People: 2 - 5 - 10 min

Grocery

Campus

500’

1000’

In work and social spaces such as offices and dining rooms, the problems are similar—formal compliance without ergonomic consideration. A standard 30-inch desk or 36-inch dining table may technically accommodate a wheelchair, but do not account for the different physical configurations and comfort requirements of users. Equally, turning radius clearances are often awkwardly appended to the room, rendering wheelchair users spatially “othered” rather than integrated. To respond to this, I designed modular, mobile furniture elements—office desks with curved fronts to allow for side and diagonal entry, and dining tables with dual-height surfaces, enabling intergenerational and inter-ability dining experiences. This multi-height strategy reintroduces variability, supporting bodies of different sizes, needs, and orientations. Lighting and acoustics were also considered—often overlooked sensory dimensions in accessibility—to reduce glare and echo, which can be disorienting for neurodiverse users. Libraries and hallways posed another set of challenges. In library layouts, shelving height and aisle widths can limit user engagement and encourage passivity rather than exploration. In hallways, the ADA’s 60-inch minimum width for two wheelchairs to pass

100’ 200’

simultaneously may allow for physical navigation, but not social comfort. Walking side-by-side, having spontaneous conversation, or pausing to linger—these human activities are compromised in minimal-width passages. I responded with a library design featuring shelving at eye-level for seated users, mobile stacks, and a braided circulation pattern that allows for both exchange and retreat. Hallways were widened not uniformly, but rhythmically, expanding at intervals into alcoves and rest spots with built-in seating, planters, or tactile displays. These expansions turn corridors into inhabitable connectors rather than purely transitional zones. They promote pause and presence—qualities as vital to accessibility as ramps or door levers. Returning to the 1:12 ramp—the legal slope for wheelchair access—I found it to be one of the most revealing examples of ADA’s performative adequacy. The slope might be navigable for some, but it offers no rest, no shade, no dignity in motion. Rather than treating ramps as isolated appendages or merely utilitarian solutions, I envisioned them as integrated landscape elements— folded into the architecture like trails. These pathways meander gently through gardens and terraces, offering seating niches, tactile

Beyond ADA

6 North Elevation 7 South Elevation 8 Section AA

9 West Elevation 10 East Elevation 11 Section BB B

10’ 20’ 9

10’ 20’ 10

paving, rail-integrated lighting, and even interactive handrails that act as auditory guides for users with visual impairments. These paths were not simply for wheelchair users—they were shared promenades, inviting all users to slow down and experience the architecture as terrain. As the design evolved, I became increasingly invested in the role of nature as a dimension of universal access. Technical compliance focuses on physical dimensions, but true inclusivity also engages sensory and emotional experience. Nature became a critical component—not just as an aesthetic layer, but as ecological infrastructure for access. Biophilic elements such as daylight modulation, indoor planting, multisensory gardens (including smell, sound, and touch), and seasonal variability create environments that soothe, stimulate, and support a wide range of cognitive and physical experiences. People with disabilities, especially those with chronic illness or neurological sensitivity, often experience architectural space not just through the body but through affect and atmosphere. Incorporating nature into daily-use programs—like having a planter wall in the office, or a garden path as a corridor— adds layers of softness and reciprocity that code cannot quantify.

10’ 20’

10’ 20’ 11

10’ 20’

This project is not a critique of the ADA as a legal tool; rather, it is a call for architects to recognize its limitations as a design driver. True accessibility is not about minimums—it is about ambitions. It is about designing space that welcomes not just the able-bodied ideal, but the full spectrum of embodied difference. It is about asking not, “Is this space compliant?” but “Is this space welcoming, intuitive, and dignified for all?” In doing so, we begin to shift from compliance to compassion, from regulation to relation. We begin to think of accessibility not as a checklist at the end of a project, but as a generative condition at its very core. This is not simply about accommodating difference—it is about designing for it as an expression of equity, empathy, and imagination.

Beyond ADA

12 Axonometric

Title

13 First Floor Axon

14 Second Floor Axon

3 2

Dining

Commercial Office

Restroom

Main Entrance

Retail

Office

Retail Space

8 2

Title

15 Third Floor Axon

16 Typical Residential Floor Axon 9

Library

Apartments

Residential Lounge

Study Room

Outdoor Space

Apartments

Study Room

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Monument Of 4th Industrial Revolution Re-Life Coal As Architecture Program: M.Arch I, University of Pennsylvania Level: Arch 5020 (1st year, 2nd sem.), Pf. Andrew Saunders Position: Student, Individual Software: Rhino, Keyshot, Vray, AI Software

Location: Callowhill, Philadelphia, PA Year: 2023 Type: Market, AI, 4th Industrial Revolution

1-6 Precedent, Louis Nevelson Art Piece 7-9 Existing Artifact at Callowhill

10-12 Historical Artifact at Callowhill

This project explores the redefinition of the marketplace as an architectural typology through the lens of defamiliarization, digital production, and material transformation. Drawing from historical industrial residues and emerging technologies, the design positions the market not simply as a site of transaction but as an architectural ecology that reflects the contradictions, capacities, and crises of the Fourth Industrial Revolution. Using the medium of relief—as both artistic reference and formal strategy—the project interrogates the spatial, material, and symbolic foundations of the market, proposing a mountainous, multi-scalar commercial landscape that challenges normative ideas of horizontality, efficiency, and flatness that traditionally underpin market design. The design process began with an in-depth study of Louise Nevelson’s sculptural practice, particularly her use of assemblage and spatial density. Nevelson’s formal language—layered planes, nested voids, and discontinuous grids—offered a conceptual and compositional toolset for reimagining the market as a spatial relief: not a bounded volume but a topographical surface. Working with found and cast-off fragments from Philadelphia’s Callowhill

13-15 Artifiact Re-collage Inspired by Nevelson, Bas Relief, High Relief, Figural Relief 16-18 AI Defamiliarization

19-21 Material Property, Coal 22-24 Direct Air Capture, CO2 Formed Eco-diamond

neighborhood, we constructed an initial analog relief that mimicked Nevelson’s method while localizing it through site-specific materiality. I was particularly drawn to her use of “framing” to hold discontinuous, fractured elements within a larger coherent whole. This principle of structured disjunction—organization without totalization—became a key generative force in the project’s development. To move from visual relief to architectural form, the project employed Artificial Intelligence (AI) as both co-author and provocateur. AI, arguably the most emblematic artifact of the Fourth Industrial Revolution, was introduced not merely as a representational tool but as a spatial collaborator. Through iterative learning cycles, AI was trained to reinterpret the logics of our initial physical relief and generate new spatial topographies. The outputs that resonated most preserved the striping and tectonic language of Nevelson’s grid but liberated them from containment, producing surface conditions with varied Z-axis modulations and interwoven plateaus. These generated forms no longer adhered to the flat, plan-based logic of the traditional market. Instead, they offered a terrain of scalar shifts and spatial asymmetries—evoking

Monument Of 4th Industrial Revolution

25 Site Plan

26-27 Model Pictures

This move from flatness to topography was not formalist alone; it was ideological. The conventional market operates through a logic of leveling—physically, socially, and economically. Everything is accessible, transactional, and optimized. In contrast, this reimagined market reintroduces friction, elevation, and experience into the act of commerce. It is no longer merely a site of consumption but a landscape to be traversed, occupied, and engaged with on multiple levels. Visitors are not shoppers passing through aisles; they are climbers, observers, and dwellers in an ecosystem of exchange.

Rather than viewing coal as waste or pollutant, this project repositions it as a medium of architectural expression and defamiliarization. When left to oxidize under sulfur-iron exposure, anthracite coal reveals golden, crystalline interiors beneath its blackened surface. This transformation—from opaque to luminous, inert to reflective—embodies the project’s conceptual ambition: to convert residues of industrial destruction into vessels of value and meaning. Carved and split coal blocks become the structural and symbolic elements of the market: each stall or node within the complex is made from partially excavated coal, revealing a luminous interior. These golden cores serve both literal and metaphoric functions—lighting, shelter, and display—while gesturing toward the alchemical conversion of material and meaning.

mountainous landscapes, eroded surfaces, and sedimentary stacks.

Materially, the project interrogates one of the most paradoxical resources in American industrial history: coal. Specifically, it reclaims anthracite coal, a dense, high-carbon material historically extracted in large quantities in Pennsylvania. Once a backbone of regional economic power and a catalyst for the steel industry, coal now stands as a relic of environmental degradation, carbon excess, and post-industrial decline. Yet coal remains physically abundant, geographically embedded, and visually potent. Its afterlife—its continued presence in the landscape—demands architectural

attention.

The market program centers on a once-celebrated and now re-emergent craft: the watch and jewelry industry. During the colonial period under William Penn, Philadelphia attracted German artisan clockmakers, many of whom contributed to a rich urban culture of mechanical craftsmanship. These traditions were later

Monument Of 4th Industrial Revolution

28 Axon Showcasing Intricate Elevation Change Like Mountains

displaced by mass manufacturing, the commodification of time, and the rationalization of labor. The artistry of horology was replaced by the precision of production. Today, however, a new industry has emerged that reengages the relationship between time, value, and carbon: lab-grown diamonds. The production of lab diamonds, especially through carbon capture and conversion processes, ties directly into the project’s material and ideological trajectory. Using direct air capture systems, atmospheric carbon dioxide is collected, compressed into solid carbon form (visually similar to coal), and then transformed into diamonds through Chemical Vapor Deposition (CVD). This process literalizes the project’s guiding metaphor: turning a problem—carbon excess—into a product of high value. Diamonds, once symbols of extractive luxury, become emblems of planetary healing. Thus, the market becomes an interface not just between buyer and seller but between past carbon economies and future material ethics. The spatial organization of the market reflects this continuity. Rather than discrete vendor stalls laid out in grid formation, the market takes the form of a geological stratification. Carved into the AI-

generated mountain form, each programmatic node—jewelry studio, retail kiosk, clock repair atelier—is nested within a coal cavity. The dark exterior signifies history, weight, and density; the golden interior suggests reinvention, visibility, and illumination. Circulation is choreographed not as a linear pathway but as a sequence of elevations, inclines, and plateaus. Visitors ascend and descend, sometimes gradually, sometimes abruptly, encountering moments of panoramic overlook and intimate enclosure. The architecture thus becomes a spatial allegory of transformation: from darkness to light, from ground to sky, from past to future. There is also a spiritual and cosmological thread that runs through the project. Coal and diamonds share a geological origin: both are carbon under pressure, differentiated only by the degree of time, temperature, and compression. Historically, both materials were extracted from mountains—spaces often associated with permanence, divinity, and isolation. In reimagining the market as a mountain, the project reconnects the act of trade with rituals of ascent, encounter, and elevation. It is an architecture that insists on presence rather than speed, detour rather than directness. 34

Monument Of 4th Industrial Revolution

29-32 Perspectives

Ultimately, this project proposes an architecture of post-industrial monumentality. It is a market not for goods alone, but for histories, values, and possible futures. It does not erase the carbon past but reworks it into spatial and symbolic structures that critique, commemorate, and transform. The mountain form—AI-generated yet materially grounded—stands as both relic and prototype: a landscape made of algorithm and residue, transaction and terrain. In the age of the Fourth Industrial Revolution, such architectures do not simply reflect technological change—they mediate its complexities and contradictions. This is a market for a world in transition: where digital form meets carbon matter, where ecological ethics intersect with economic desire, and where architecture serves not to conceal contradiction but to reveal and reframe it.

“O” Reconfigured Figure Ground Program: BSAS, University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign Level: Summer Independent Project Position: Student, Individual Software: Rhino, Enscape, Photoshop, Illustrator

Location: Champaign, IL Year: 2020 Type: Formal Exploration

2 Site Analysis

4 Figure Ground

Commercial, Campus

Commercial, Downtown

Base Map

Significant location

Central Business Urban Fringe

Conservation-Recreation-Education

Central Business Downtown

Zoning

Public Park

Multifamily University Neighborhood

Central Business Campus

Transportation

County Propertyline

In architectural discourse, the figure-ground relationship has long been utilized as a foundational analytical tool—a method of distilling the city into binaries of form and void, presence and absence, mass and space. But within that reductive black-and-white abstraction lies a profound philosophical potential. What if figure-ground were not merely a graphic representation, but a spatial condition? What if, instead of serving as a post-facto diagram of architectural intervention, it became a generative process through which space emerges—not through addition, but through negotiation?

the cross. These shapes are not selected arbitrarily; they carry embedded histories within architecture, art, and metaphysical thought. They are charged with symbolic resonance, embodying notions of unity, order, balance, and convergence. Yet when deployed within the urban field of Champaign, Illinois—a city defined by gridded rationalism and orthogonal repetition—these shapes begin to act not as ideal forms but as ruptures. They become spatial anomalies, moments of resistance against the homogeneity of the urban grid.

This project seeks to reconceive the figure-ground diagram not as a static oppositional image but as a dynamic system of interaction between form and field. Rooted in geometric abstraction and executed through operations of boolean manipulation, the design challenges the conventional understanding of building as figure and site as ground. Instead, it posits a scenario in which form and surface are co-constitutive—where the appearance of one necessitates the transformation of the other.

Among these, the sphere emerges as the most significant and the most disruptive. Where squares and rectangles mirror the logic of the city, the sphere stands apart—an object both of contrast and of fascination. Its smooth curvature offers a radical departure from the rigid tectonics of the surrounding built fabric, establishing a tension that is not merely visual, but experiential. The sphere thus becomes a spatial protagonist: a figure that does not sit upon the ground but is instead carved into it, extruded from it, fused with it. Through boolean operations—union, subtraction, intersection—the architecture manipulates the terrain, asserting that ground itself is not passive but elastic. It bends, folds, and hollows in response to

The starting point for this exploration lies in the use of primal geometric archetypes: the circle, the triangle, the square, and

“O”

3-6 Perspectives

formal imposition. This formal strategy challenges long-standing architectural binaries: figure vs. ground, object vs. field, solid vs. void. The operations of subtraction and union are not just digital procedures; they are spatial philosophies. A void carved into the earth becomes an auditorium. A sphere subtracted from the surface becomes a gathering chamber. A mass intersected with the ground creates layered thresholds and circulatory interstices. In this way, the project enacts a kind of tectonic reciprocity. It resists the imposition of form onto site and instead fosters a condition where form emerges through the deformation of ground. The choice of Champaign as the site of this intervention is deliberate. The city, while host to a large academic population and dense residential fabric, lacks a centralized civic space that invites collective indoor interaction. Public life is dispersed across institutional buildings and fragmented plazas, with few architectural anchors to unify the social landscape. This project positions itself as a response to that void—not through monumentality in the classical sense, but through spatial and formal distinction. It proposes a

building that is not merely different, but necessary—iconic not because it replicates historical tropes, but because it introduces new ones. The site already holds two adjacent outdoor gathering spaces. By situating the new structure at their edge, the project establishes a meaningful dialogue between interior and exterior public realms. The transition between outside and inside is not abrupt but continuous; the building reads as an extension of the plaza’s surface. Entry is orchestrated through a series of compressions and releases—moments of elevation, descent, and enclosure that guide the visitor through varying atmospheres. Light and shadow play across curving surfaces. The ground swells to form seating. The roof dips to frame views. In this way, architecture becomes topography, and topography becomes event. Programmatically, the project operates as a civic condenser. It brings together an array of uses—auditorium, library, museum, retail, office, and student center—each positioned to serve both the general public and the academic community. Rather than assigning these programs to discrete zones, the design organizes them as

“O”

7 Spatial Solid-Void Figure Ground Analysis, Different Shapes 20 Spatial Solid-Void Figure Ground Analysis, Sphere in depth

23 3D Spatial Analysis, Shpere Booleans and Contours

spatial gradients. The auditorium may double as lecture hall. The student center may spill into the library. The museum may house rotating exhibitions by local students as well as traveling shows. The building becomes less a container of functions than a framework for intersections—of people, disciplines, and temporalities. Materially, the project reinforces its conceptual position. The ground is cast in textured concrete, its surface scored and etched with patterns that recall figure-ground inversions. Walls rise from the terrain as though eroded by time, not built by hand. Natural light filters through spherical cuts in the ceiling, while acoustic resonance is modulated by the curvature of surfaces. The experience of the building is not just visual, but haptic and auditory—an architecture to be felt, not just seen. In resisting the conventional image of the civic building as a rectilinear mass with a front facade and back service entry, this project offers an alternative model of monumentality. It is a monument of ambiguity, of multiplicity, of encounter. Its very strangeness becomes its strategy: a form unfamiliar enough to be noticed, yet open enough to be inhabited in diverse ways. In this

sense, the building is not an object, but a proposal—a proposition for how we might reconceive civic space in an age of plural publics and overlapping communities. More than anything, this project is about the conditions that allow architecture to emerge from ground, not as an interruption, but as a transformation. It reframes figure-ground as a dynamic field of relationships—a choreography of voids and solids, uses and flows, memory and imagination. In doing so, it argues for a new kind of public architecture: one that is grounded not in stylistic precedent or formal repetition, but in the active rethinking of spatial relationships and social possibilities. Champaign, like many cities, is a place shaped by patterns—by grids, routines, repetitions. But beneath those patterns lies the potential for difference, for rupture, for space that invites reflection and gathering. This project is that invitation. It is not a finished answer, but an ongoing inquiry into how architecture can ground us—not by stabilizing, but by opening up new ways of seeing, moving, and being together. 38

“O”

10 Inner Sphere, Auditorium 11 Combined Sphere, Museum

12 Intersectional Sphere, Main Entrance 13 Combined Sphere, Retail

14 Oculus Sphere, Library 15 Combined Sphere, Office

“O”

15 Site Axon

16 Floor Plan, First Level 17 Floor Plan, Third Level

“O”

19 Axon Perspective 20 Axon Perspective

21 Front Elevation 22 Back Elevation

Connect, Disconnect, COVID Monumentalizing Post-Pandemic Social Dynamics through Interdimensional Architecture Program: BSAS, University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign Location: Champaign, IL Level: Arch 3710 (3rd year, 1st semester), Prof. John Stallmeyer Year: 2020 Position: Student, Individual Type: Earl Prize, COVID, Library, Food Co-op Software: Rhino, Enscape, Photoshop, Illustrator 1 Realivity by M.C. Escher 2 Conceptual idea about distancing vs gathering

3 Figure Ground 4 Perspective Render

Food Co-op

+ COVID

Gathering

vs 2

For this studio, we are tasked with responding to emerging social behaviors and cultural shifts following COVID-19 through the design of a Library and Food Co-op in downtown Champaign, Illinois. As I began my theoretical exploration, I was particularly captivated by M.C. Escher’s Relativity. What struck me most was the work’s uncanny ability to communicate multiple spatial realities within a single two-dimensional frame—where figures coexist, seemingly interacting, while inhabiting entirely different gravitational and dimensional orientations. To me, Relativity evokes an interdimensional social condition: individuals appear close in proximity, yet are fundamentally isolated by the spatial logic they inhabit. This paradox mirrors our collective experience during and after the pandemic—where physical separation coexisted with digital and visual intimacy. I see in Escher’s work a conceptual prototype for a new spatial ideal: one where people can remain close, connected, and visible to each other, while still maintaining safe, multidimensional separation. It’s a monument to coexistence in isolation. Translating this theoretical reading into architecture, I divided my

project into two layers of intervention: the ideal and the practical. On the ideal level, I interpret Escher’s interdimensional layering as analogous to communication across time. Historical artworks and architectural forms offer a kind of fourth-dimensional conversation— messages from the past that transcend eras. In this spirit, I assigned symbolic roles to the building’s programs: the Library as the voice of the present, and the Food Co-op as a natural grounding of the past. This dichotomy allowed me to express temporality spatially. I extracted formal elements from landscape paintings of the past and transformed them into productive terrains for the Food Co-op, contrasting these organic, time-laden forms against a rationalist modernist framework for the Library and other community programs. On the practical level, I explored strategies to maintain spatial distance while preserving visual and social proximity. I focused on vertical spatiality—layering spaces to maintain physical separation along the z-axis, while compressing interactions in the x and y directions. This strategy fosters moments of interaction across levels—through sightlines, sound, and shared light—without compromising safety.

Connect, Disconnect, COVID

5 Site Plan

6 First Floor Plan

Champaign Residential

Downtown/Site

University Farm Land

Urbana Residential

Private Farm Land

The resulting architecture becomes a layered vessel for both contemporary needs and theoretical reflections. It is a spatial negotiation between monumentality and intimacy, separation and connection, history and immediacy. By integrating Escher’s logic of dimensional contradiction with pandemic-conscious design strategies, the building aspires to offer a new typology for collective resilience.

Connect, Disconnect, COVID

6-9 Landscape paintings, time separation, theoretical side 6 - “A Sunday Afternoon on the Island of La Grande Jatte” by Georges Seurat, 1886 7 - “A Storm in the Mountains” by Albert Bierstadt, 1863 8 - “The Bridge at Narni” by Jean-Baptiste-Camille Corot, 1826 9 - “The Harvesters” by Pieter Bruegel the Elder, 1565

10 - 13 Precedent, vertical separation, practical side 10 - Rosenthal Center for Contemporary Art by Zaha Hadid Architects 11 - The Bank of Georgia Headquarters in Tbilisi by George Chakhava & Zurab Jalaghania 12 - The Edith Farnsworth House by Ludwig Mies can der Rohe 13 - TIRPITZ Museum by BIG

14 - 17 Combined Space

Connect, Disconnect, COVID

18 Section Perspective and demenstration of concept implementation

19 second floor 20 North Elevation

21 Third Floor

22 Fourth floor 23 South Elevation

24 Fifth Floor

25 Perspective 26 Section

27-32 Concept Maneuvering 27-29 Past and Present 30-32 Vertical Distancing

Revit Document Cyber Center

Cyber Center