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Rubin Quarcoopomeâ€™s

PORTFOLIO

Rubin O. Quarcoopome 5210 Russell Ave NW, Apt. 209 Seattle, WA 98107 313-204-3319 rujabes@gmail.com odaodadesign.com

STATEMENT An ambitious, hardworking designer on the path to licensure with boundless creative energy. Looking for the opportunity to learn and express new ideas with a forward-minded firm. Passionate with various arts, from photography to digital painting.

EDUCATION Master of Architecture, 2016 Taubman College of Architecture and Urban Planning, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI Bachelor of Science in Evolutionary Anthropology, 2012 University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI

SKILLS Digital and Analog Design Extensive knowledge of Rhinoceros 5, Revit, AutoCAD, and Maya, as well as the Adobe Suite. Familiar with video and audio editing and production. Experience with routing, model-making, and artistic and architectural installations. Photography

Professional photography experience, having shot weddings, multiple model photoshoots, and architecture. Art Lifelong honing of sketching and digital painting skills, with pieces for sale on the professional art websites, Deviant-Art and Society6.

PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE Architectural Designer, The Design Collective, Seattle, Washington, 2016-present Currently works at a medium-sized firm specializing in movie theater, retail, and residential construction. Routinely designs creative exteriors and unique yet cost-effective interiors, along with the relevant detailing and various renderings for clients. Has often submitted projects for bid, while serving as main drafter and primary point of contact for client and consultants. Also supervises social media and relevant marketing, as well as plans monthly company recreational events. Co-founder, Designing in Color, 2016-present Created a start-up platform along with colleagues in LA and Boston to create opportunities for young minority professionals, giving them a voice and opportunities to thrive. The platform includes workshops at various schools and conventions, such as lectures at Cal Poly, Tuskegee Unviersity and multiple annual NOMA Conventions. Venice Biennale Exhibition Fellow, “The Architectural Imagination”, Venice, Italy, 2016 Installed and served as docent for the 2016 Venice Architectural Biennale. Spent two weeks documenting and installing 12 projects for the international event from established architects including BairBalliet, Preston Scott Cohen, Stan Allen, MOS, Greg Lynn, Marshall Brown, and Andrew Zago. Then served as docent for the opening days of the Biennale, giving tours of the installation and interacting with press. Architectural Intern, Durrie Design Build, Ann Arbor, Mi, 2015 Worked as a paid architectural assistant, tasked with measuring sites, creating BIM models, crafting AutoCAD drawings and renderings, and meeting with clients to propose new designs. The designs and work were subsequently built, all over the course of three months in the Summer of 2015. Treasurer, National Organization of Minority Architect Students, Ann Arbor, Mi, 2014-2016 In charge of fundraising and funds for the Taubman chapter of NOMAS, the largest student branch of the organization in the United States. Planned, designed, and supervised numerous school-wide initiatives, keeping the chapter fiscally secure. Graphic Designer, Ann Arbor, Mi, 2012-present Designed numerous logos, websites, banners, and graphic components for several businesses and startups.

HONORS/PUBLICATIONS AIA Diversity Recognition Award (with Designing in Color) (2019) Published (with Designing in Color) - “They Reminisce Over You: A Look Back at Designing in Color...“, NOMA Magazine (2019) Published (with Designing in Color) - “Black en Vogue: The Commodity of Blackness“, NOMA Magazine (2018) Honorable Mention - Blank Space’s Fairy Tales Competition for “Honey Street” (2016)

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Resume and Contact Info

2-3

And the Livinâ€™ is Easy

6-9

Regal Cinemas - Branding Update

10-13

Cinemark Totem Lake

14-17

Section Story

18-21

201 E. Huron

22-25

Polson Cinemas

26-29

Honey Street

30-33

Carr Center

34-37

Designing in Color

38-41

The Architectural Imagination

42-45

Art

46-51

Photography

52-57

ARCHITECTURE “And the Livin’ is Easy” Fall 2015 Exhibited in the Taubman College Gallery Dec. 2015 - Jan. 2016

A comprehensive and imaginative take on the architectural principle of the Gesamtkunstwerk, “And the Livin’ is Easy“ conceptualized a small house that doubled as a set for an opera. That opera’s libretto in question was Adolf Loos’s “Poor Little Rich Man”, though the music chosen was the standout, melancholic song, “Summertime”, from Gershwin’s “Porgy and Bess”. The song’s sumptuous soul influenced the deliberately stylized and psychedelic exterior and 60’s-inspired circular interior. The home featured several rounded areas designated as “glow zones” for the surreal quality they gave the exterior character. These zones punctuated the grid of the home, interrupting the three long horizontal strips of the floor plan, and giving rise to unique programmatic elements, such as the centerpiece glassed garden space. The exterior was then overlaid with a grid of metal, as an inversion to the interior relationship. A video was created for the project, using the interior model as a “set” for an adaptation of Loo’s iconic tale.

RENDERED ELEVATION The play of light, mood, and depth are of paramount importance to the project.

INTERIOR RENDERED SECTION A glimpse at the moody interior of the building. The garden space can be seen, readily transparent, as well as the glow zone structures, contrasting with the rectangular datum of the grid. 7

VIDEO CLIPS The complimentary video, set to Ella Fitzgerald and Louis Armstrong’s “Summertime”, utilized greenscreen effects to project patterns to the model-set. It also featured moving, hand-drawn animation for the characters. 9

ARCHITECTURE â€œRegal Cinemas - Branding Updateâ€? Fall 2017 Design Concept

Challenged with creating a new brand identity for this theater chain, I immediately thought of the concept of figure/field, and the gestalt switch between what your mind considers each to be. The Figure was ultimately defined as the center of attention, craving spots for photography and group activity. For this patron, the experience is defined by the red carpet entry, and standee zones, expressly created for photos and selfies. The Field was one who preferred focal points enjoyable from a distance, and for moments of discovery throughout the space. This patron is encouraged to retreat to safety of the public lobby seating, enjoying details like the Regal logo projected onto the massive fins in front of the concession, among other enjoyable discoveries. The rebrand played with light,projection, and iconography to make spaces unforgettable.

RENDER A glimpse into an auditorium, at hexagonal soundproofing tiles

DETAIL Another view of the lobby, showing the center Field condition and its ability to calmly observe the Figure areas around. The inside of the auditoriums (pictured right) feature cove lights and projected imagery on the walls for effect. 12

ARCHITECTURE â€œCinemark Totem Lakeâ€? Spring 2019 (Under Construction) New Cinema Design and Build

This renovation of an existing cinema sought to evoke the spirit of old Hollywood, with lights under an overhead walkway on entry, and a mural on either side featuring abstracted cinema iconography. Wood accents were utilized to keep the formerly cold space from feeling distant,while highlights like Cora graphic paneling gave the walkway above a unique character. Once complete,and if received well, the concept may be reused in nationwide Cinemark locations.

SKETCH Early concept of art of the elevator paneling and walkway layout.

ORIGINAL SHEET SIZE 30" x 42"

1 A3.50

6/15/2018 4:06:04 PM

ROOF AND JOISTS UNDER SEPARATE PERMIT

LAY-IN CEILING P REFLECTIVE CEI

A.C.T. 125' - 10"

A.C.T. 125' - 10" LAY-IN CEILING PER REFLECTIVE CEILING PLAN

LAY-IN CEILING PER REFLECTIVE CEILING PLAN

14 A8.01

AUD 6 326

PROJECTION BOOTH 401

AUD 7 331

12 A8.02

MEZZANINE 117' - 0"

CONCRETE ON METAL DECK PER STRUCTURAL

P D1

MEZZANINE FLOOR AND STRUTURE UNDER SEPERATE PERMIT

P D1

BRACING, SEE STRUCTURAL

P D

BRAC

STEEL BEAM

LAY-IN CEILING PER REFLECTIVE CEILING PLAN STEEL BEAM, SEE STRUCTURAL

2 LAYERS O

2 LAYERS OF GYP. NO PENATRATIONS 18" X 8" HVAC STEEL BEAM, SEE STRUCTURAL

LAY-IN CEILING PER REFLECTIVE CEILING PLAN

WOMEN'S RESTROOM 332

LAY-IN CEILING PER REFLECTIVE CEILING PLAN

8" DIAMETER DUCT

MEN'S RESTROOM 327

PROMENADE 339

P D

GEOFOAM - SEE STRUCTURAL

CINEMA LEVEL 100' - 0"

AUDITORIUM 7 WALL SECTION 3/4" = 1'-0"

SECTION - THROUGH AUDITORIUM PROJECTION WALL

AUDITORIUM 6 WALL SECTION 3/4" = 1'-0"

ENTRY RENDER (LEFT) AND ENTRY UNDER CONSTRUCTION (RIGHT) Making the complex entry shell work with my initial sketch was a challenge. With the help of the inteior design team, the concept was finalized, and is currently being realized. 16

ARCHITECTURE

The high-rise stank. None of the lavatories or garbage-disposal chutes were working, and a faint spray of urine hung over the face of the building, drifting across the tiers of balconies.

“Section Story” Winter 2016 - Thesis Project Group Project with Jueying Liu

“Section Story” borrows the many techniques of comic book design and applies them towards the creation of the un-imaged structure of J.G. Ballard’s 1975 novel, High Rise. This project imagines the spaces of the titular building intertwined with the plot arcs of three major characters, Anthony Royal, Richard Wilder, and Robert Laing. These wildly different, mysterious, and often violent arcs are mapped to a section, and proceed to mix the convention of the architectural drawing with that of the comic book page. Poche and gutter become one, time and sequence rely on the power of the panel, and the section can now be read in a specific way and direction.

Even the run-down nature of the high-rise was a model of the world into which the future was carrying them, a landscape beyond technology where everything was either derelict or, more ambiguously, recombined in unexpected but more meaningful ways.

In the end, what is left is a series of readily accessible, yet detailed and complex documents, that express both the space of a structure and the dynamic narrative of the society therein, never once relinquishing their status as architectural documents. Section Story is an exploration of the importance of narrative in the built world, so much so that the story shapes the building as much as the other way around.

The deliberately mindless assaults on anyone found alone or unprotected, the infantile smearing of blood on the walls of empty apartments

DETAIL By now what violence there was had become totally stylized, spasms of cold and random aggression. In a sense life in the high-rise had begun to resemble the world outside-there were the same ruthlessness and aggression concealed within a set of polite conventions.

The elevator shaft of the High Rise, showing several motion states at once

stnediser wollef sih fo puorg gnihtaerb yllivaeh a yb delcricne saw eH

foor eht gnola devom dah ytrap liatkcoc eritne ehT

He unlocked the gate of the sculpture garden and moved through the darkness among the statues, releasing the dogs.

.selbat teffub eht dna rab eht neewteb enola doots won retiaw ehT

He saw that the whole interior of the play-garden was drenched with blood. The tiled floor was slick with bright mucilage.

,teparap eht tsniaga denael gniaL eht fo suoicsnoc emit tsrif eht rof dnuorg eht ot ecnatsid esnemmi .woleb

gniaL edam syawla weiv ralucatceps ehT siht rof sgnileef tnelavibma sih fo erawa lla yal laeppa sti fo traP .epacsdnal etercnoc na saw siht taht tcaf eht ni ylraelc oot s'nam rof tub ,nam rof ton ,tliub tnemnorivne .ecnesba

Dozens of the gulls surrouned him, crowded togethe floor. They followed Royal expectantly, almost as if t waiting for him to bring something to them.

peed eht ta egrev delit eht yb doots gniaL .thgil tnecseroulf gniyravnu eht rednu ,dne

.ezag lufthguoht a htiw gniaL gnihctaw saw layoR ynohtnA

These retrievers, poodles and dachschunds were all that remained of the hundreds or so animals who had once lived in the upper floors of the high-rise. They were kept here as a strategic food reserve.

dednimer erutinruf enilucsam dna gniliec hgih ehT .dlihc llams a sa detisiv dah eh esuoh a fo mih

skcits-eldnac revlis owt doots elbat moor-gninid dehsilop eht nO

gnidliub eht ni nees dah eh tsegral eht saw tnemtrapa ehT

Already, led by the jeweller’s widow, they were dragging the injured accountant towards the balustrade.

dah eh dehsiw eh ,emit tsrif eht rof toN ht03 eht evoba tnemtrapa na desahcrup .ssilb erew srotavele deeps-hgih ehT .roolf

Royal could almost believe that he was surrounded by a crowd of semi-literate children. The zoon had rebelled against its keeper.

A pair of tattered papier-mache wings, part of a child’s angel costume, were fastened to the victim’s back

The high-rise stank. None of the lavatories or garbage-disposal chutes were working, and a faint spray of urine hung over the face of the building, drifting across the tiers of balconies.

Laing knew that he was far happier now than ever before, despite all the hazards of his life, the likelihood that he would die at any time from hunger or assault.

The candlelight flickered over the silver cutlery and gold plate, reflected in the silk facings of his dinner-jacket.

It had started three weeks earlier when he and Pangbourne had decided to dress for dinner each evenng.

Royal had ordered the women to extend the dining-room table to its furthest length, so that he could sit with his back to the high windows and the illuminated decks of the nearby buildings.

The women had brought candles and silverware from secret caches and served an elaborately prepared meal

Far older than Wilder, his hair dishevelled by the wind, he stood at the head of the staircase, looking down silently at the intruder below him.

Would he soon be the last person alive in the high-rise? He thought of himself in this enormous building, free to roam its floors and concrete galleries, to climb its silent elevator shafts, to sit by himself in turn on every one of its thousand balconies.

For weeks all he had been able to think about were the next raid, the next apartment to be ransacked, the next tenant to be beaten up.

He could hear a faint hooting noisee from the darkened corridor, moving away from him as if emitted by these escaping women. His apartment was empty, the highceilinged rooms deserted.

A marauding band of women led by Mrs Wilder had entered the apartment. The circle of women drew closer. In their bloodied hands they carried knives with narrow blades.

Between the bedrooms a private staircase led upwards to another chamber, and a small suite of rooms overlooking the roof.

As the architect advanced down the steps towards him, Wilder raised the silver pistol and shot him through the chest.

esumably the bottle had been knocked over the rail a boisterous guest. Needless to say, no one at the rty was in the least concerned about the ultimate stination of this missile-but as Laing had already scovered, people in high-rises tended not to care out tenants more than two floors below them.

The sun, continuing its laboured descent of the stairwell, at last reached hem and began to warm his skin.

The residents of the high-rise remained where they were, hiding behind the barricades in their apartments, conserving what was left of their sanity and preparing themselves for the night.

This over-priced cell, slotted almost at random into the cliff face of the apartment building, he had bought after his divorce specifically for its peace, quiet and anonymity.

He stepped out with relief into th lobby of the 37th floor. He stood staircase doors, suspicious that guarding the lobby.

Wilder soon found that it was more difficult than he had assumed to climb to the 37th floor. The five top-floor elevators were either out of order or had been taken to the upper levels and parked there with their doors jammed open.

Three doors along, Laing entered an abandoned apartment. The rooms were empty, the furniture and fittings long since stripped away.

A bottle of sparkling wine had fallen from a floor fifty feet above, ricocheted off an awning as it hurtled downwards, and burst across the tiled balcony floor

As he pulled back the steel grille he noticed a thin-shouldered young woman hiding behind the control panel. She was pallid and undernourished, but she watched Wilder with interest, as if glad to welcome him to this private domain.

His own body was almost naked, and he rubbed at the lipstick smeared across his chest and shoulders

Suspecting a secret food cache, he rolled back the carpet, and found that a manhole had been drilled through the wooden floorboards and concrete deck to the apartment below.

A red-haired woman in her mid-thirties lay fully dressed on the bed, playing with a persian cat. The cat vigorously licked at the bloodstains on its coat, and then seized the woman's wrist and gnawed at the thin flesh, trying to reopen a wound.

The deliberately mindless assaults on anyone found alone or unprotected, the infantile smearing of blood on the walls of empty apartments

The walls around him had been freshly painted, their white surfaces gleaming in the after noon sunlight like the entrance to an abattoir.

He climbed the steps two at a time. The staircase was deserted-the higher up the building the more reluctant were the residents to use the stairs, as if this in some way demeaned them.

The dog’s eyes were fixed on the landing above. Its ears picked as it detected the sounds, inaudible to Wilder, of someone moving behind the barricade.

Beside a burnt-out fire, an elderly man lay asleep, apparently unaware of the spasm of violence that had taken place.

As he pressed on upwards Wilder peered through the windows at the car-park sinking from view below.

By now what violence there was had become totally stylized, spasms of cold and random aggression. In a sense life in the high-rise had begun to resemble the world outside-there were the same ruthlessness and aggression concealed within a set of polite conventions.

Laing looked out at the high-rise four hundred yards away. A temporary power failure had occurred, and on the 7th floor all the lights were out. Already torch-beams were moving about in the darkness, as the residents made their first confused attempts to discover where they were. Laing watched them contentedly, ready to welcome them to their new world.

The only real events in his life were those taking place within the high-rise.

The old woman, unable to take her eyes off the dog, stepped through the gap in the barricade. A young woman of about thirty, probably the daughter, peered over the old woman’s shoulder.

The stair case was carpeted, muffling the tread of his boots.

He felt suddenly exhausted, as much by the building's weight and mass as by his own failure. His casual and unthought-out attempt to scale the building had ended humiliatingly. In a sense he had been rejected more by the high-rise than by Royal and his friends.

Although it was after ten o'clock, the entire building was alive with noise. Residents were barging in and out of each other's apartments, shouting down the staircases like children refusing to go to bed.

As he guessed, even this apparently casual meeting in Charlotte’s apartment had been set up to test his attitude to the upper-level residents who were trying to exclude children from the swimming pool.

Giving up, Laing stood to one side. He watched as the shocked young woman stumbled into the mouth of this eager gauntlet and was pummelled through a circuit of fists before she was allowed to disappear into the stairwell.

Laing immediately recognized her as one of the "vagrants", of whom there were many in the high-rise, bored apartment-bound housewives and stay-at-home adult daughters who spent a large part of their time riding the elevators and wandering the long corridors of the vast building, migrating endlessly in search of change or excitement.

The first clubs whirled in the torch-light. Without any warning, he felt a flurry of blows on his shoulders .

Laing had found the dying architect while chopping firewood in the 25th-floor lobby.

She and her companions began by fooling about in the water, drinking champagne on a rubber raft against the swimming-pool rules and splashing people leaving the changing cubicles.

The party was one of the most successful Laing had attended. Unlike the majority of parties in the high-rise, at which well-bred guests stood about exchanging professional small-talk before excusing themselves, this one had real buoyancy, an atmosphere of true excitement.

When Laing last saw him, he was moving towards the steps at the shallow end of the swimming-pool, as if hoping to find a seat for himself on this terminal slope.

He was sure that he had drowned the Afghan, not because he disliked the dog particularly or wanted to upset its owner, but to revenge himself on the upper storeys of the building.

Realizing that his arrival had been anticipated by all these people, Wilder turned to leave, but the corridor behind him was blocked. A group of six residents had emerged together from the elevator lobby.

He gathered that the accountant was complaining that her children, not for the first time, had been urinating in the pool. His neighbours were like a group of unrehearsed extras playing a lynch scene.

He had seied the dog in the darkness when it blundered into the pool. Giving in to a cruel but powerful impulse, he had pulled it below the water. As he held its galvanized and thrashing body under the surface, in a strange way he had been struggling with the building itself. The changing cubicles were closed, the curtains drawn across the shower stalls.

The water had long since drained away, but the sloping floor was covered with the skulls, bones and dismembered limbs of dozens of corpses.

The entire 10th floor was given over to a wide concourse, as large as an aircraft carrier’s flight-deck, which contained a supermarket, bank and hairdressing salon, a swimming-pool and gymnasium, a well-stocked liquor store and a junior school for the few young children in the block.

Disturbed less by the sight of these mutilated bodies-residents who had died of old age or disease and then been attacked by wild dogs, Laing assumed-than by the stench, Laing turned away.

With his powerful physique he knew that he could put to flight any three residents of the high-rise. However, he calmed himself, deciding against a frontal attack-he would reach the top of the high-rise, but by guile rather than by brute force.

OVERVIEW All sixteen panels combined, with three plot arcs influencing the architecture

Presumably the bottle had been knocked over the rail by a boisterous guest. Needless to say, no one at the party was in the least concerned about the ultimate destination of this missile-but as Laing had already discovered, people in high-rises tended not to care about tenants more than two floors below them.

This over-priced cell, slotted almost at random into the cliff face of the apartment building, he had bought after his divorce specifically for its peace, quiet and anonymity.

A bottle of sparkling wine had fallen from a floor fifty feet above, ricocheted off an awning as it hurtled downwards, and burst across the tiled balcony floor

DETAIL Featured here are a few panels showing Robert Laingâ€™s plot arc. His is a more nostalgic journey, and is rendered with circular, temporally displaced rooms evoking the comic image of thought-bubbles. 20

PRESENTATION Section Story realized on the wall at Final Review. Meant to resemble a comic page, the project took advantage of a painted wall and vellum prints mounted on thin pieces of museum board. A comic book guide to the design concept was also created, mounted to the right. 21

ARCHITECTURE “201 E. Huron” Winter 2015 - Systems Studio Final Project Group Project with Ye Fu

Designed with my partner for the semester, Ye Fu, 201 E. Huron envision a mixed-use commercial/residential building situated in downtown Ann Arbor. The lot was small, at 9000 ft2, but with an FAR of 5.7, was capable of sustaining a skinny, tall residential tower on its commercial podium. This residential space (30,184 ft2) came in four distinct unit types, each taking advantage of the facade’s louvre and balcony alternate patterning. The podium consisted primarily of office space (15,218 ft2), with a handful of retail spaces (2,602 2 ft ). The lobby space was highlighted by a vibrant and expansive stairway connecting the three floors. My contributions to the project’s deliverables included all renderings, the West detailed wall section and material elevation, and plans for the podium floors.

INTERIOR RENDER Inside the lobby of the podium, underneath the unique staircase.

Unit 1

Unit 2

1F - Office

2F - Office

3F - Office

4F - Residential

Unit 3

Unit 4

North Wall Section 3/4” = 1’ 1 Flooring: Tile 1” Reinforced concrete mortar bed 1” Waterproof membrane 1” Reinforced concrete slab 8” 2 Precast concrete panels 2” Thermal insulation 2” Structural precast concrete wall 8” Interior concrete finish 1” 3 Floor screed Waterproof membrane 1” Structural precast concrete slab 8” 4 Operable wood-frame windows

DETAILED WALL SECTION/ELEVATION

Elements of the building was carefully considered, from the specific tiling system to operable windows to promote circulation within living spaces.

ARCHITECTURE

9 9 9

AUDITORIUM 5 INTERIOR ELEVATIONS

C C

4 C 9

I also lead the exterior redesign effort, taking inspiration from the metal facades along the town’s main street, and making the marquee tower evocative of the nearby tree, a staple of the town’s annual holidays and celebrations.

AUD. 5 73 FIXED SEATS

The small town of Polson was thrilled to hear that my firm was renovating their two-screen cinema. I was put on the project early in the process, and began to draft the schematic layout of the redesign, merging the two narrow screens together into one large auditorium, and adding five more.

“Polson Cinemas” Spring 2019 (Under Construction) New Cinema Design and Build

AUDITORIUM 5 PLAN

AUDITORIUM ELE

EXIT

AUDITORIUM 5 INTERIOR ELEVATIONS

AUDITORIUM ELEVATIONS A series of views from one of the screens, during schematic layouts

CONCESSIONS This concept took advantage of the existing conditions the owners sentimentally loved, while adding elemnts of pop with the brick-look tile in the background and the detailed clouds hanging from above. 28

AUD 5

AUD 6

MENS

PROMENADE 2

WOMENS

JAN. UNISEX STORAGE

STORAGE

AUD 4

LOBBY

STAIR

PROMENADE 1

JAN. CONCESSIONS

BOX OFFICE AUD 3

AUD 2

AUD 1

RAMP

SCULLERY

PLAN - MAIN FLOOR 29

ARCHITECTURE “Honey Street” Fall 2014 - Situations Studio Final Project Winter 2015 - Honorable Mention, Blank Space Fairy Tales Competition

One of the largest honey packers in the country, Groeb Farms Inc. of Onsted, Michigan, decided to start a bold new initiative, Honey Street. This project was meant both as a way to revitalize the Highland Park area and to make a tidy profit from the bee industry. Three nearby buildings were picked: a church, a strip club,and a hotel. Each was given an aspect of honey production while retaining its initial program. However, in 2013, Groeb Farms was caught in the largest food crime of all time, Honeygate. It drove them to bankruptcy. Their Honey Street initiative had to be abandoned, and the buildings were vacated and left unoccupied for years. But the bee contribution never stopped. As walls weakened and fell apart, the hives within began to become visible. As the honey bulbs kept dripping, pools of the substance began to form. Bees began to remake the structure, and the local community found renewed use in the mutated places they suddenly had access to. This conceptual project’s aim was to combine a stirring narrative with an imaginative architectural proposition for an area of Detroit.

DETAIL A closeup of the church’s massive honey pool.

DETAIL A closeup of the hotel before and after its conquest by bees. The former is a fairly benign hotel, with a courtyard. The latter is a fully formed bee garden.

The Drone Deja Vu

The Drone

Hive Complex

SECTIONS The Deja Vu gentlemenâ€™s club, once a bee trap, has fallen victim to arson (p. 32). The Revival Tabernacleâ€™s former honey storage grew to excess, with a huge pool of honey a reminder of what once was. (p.33). 32

The Queen

Revival Tabernacle

The Queen

Honey Resevoir

ARCHITECTURE “The Carr Center - Projective Plan for Transformation” Fall 2014 Group Project with Anya Sirota + AKOAKI

This collaborative project with Anya Sirota and her design collective, AKOAKI, saw the creation of a massive and complex model meant to convince the board of Detroit’s iconic Carr Center of the value of the space. The proposal imagined a revitalization of the interior, injecting the old with the new in the form of exhibition spaces, mixed medium workspaces, and an ambitious third-floor ballroom transformed into an experimental cultural space. Thanks to this model, and the tireless work carried out by myself and others, the proposal saved the Carr Center from being sold to the highest bidder. I was involved in every step of the model’s creation over a two-week period, from laser-cutting of acrylic plates, to spray-painting of entourage and scenery, to installation of lighting and overall assembly.

DETAIL Exterior shot from amidst the trees in Harmonie Park.

INTERIORS Several glimpses at the modelâ€™s interior, showing, from top to bottom and left to right, the mixed medium workspaces, the experimental cultural space, and the grand staircase of the lobby. 36

ARCHITECTURE â€œDesigning in Colorâ€? Spring 2016 (Founded) - Present Start Up with Christopher Locke and Opalia Meade

Designing in Color (DCo) is a collaborative startup created by young professionals based in Seattle, Los Angeles, and Boston. It seeks to challenge the established and oppressive structure of architectural practice that too often leads to the voices of designers of color being silenced. Through lectures, videos, and social media content, the group continues its tireless mission to provide resources for persons of color to thrive in the world of design. Now three years into its goal, DCo continues to lecture and hold workshops nationwide. Having recently completed lectures at Cal Poly, Tuskegee University, and Harvard University, the team prepares for a proposed series of workshops at the California African American Museum. As a collaborative, the three of us team up to plan lectures, research, and speak at the events. My role beyond that is to design graphics and lead branding efforts, as well as supervise marketing and social media. AT CAL POLY The DCo team chats with students and faculty after the lecture.

AT THE 2018 CHICAGO NOMA CONFERENCE Our first large workshop, in a room packed with thinkers and designers and dreamers, discussing afrofuturism and its role in design.

ARCHITECTURE “The Architectural Imagination” Summer 2016 - US Pavilion at the 2016 Venice Biennale Curated by Monica Ponce de Leon & Cynthia Davidson

Detroit is a city of tremendous potential, and one undergoing an overdue resurgence. Ponce de Leon & Davidson’s submission to the 2016 Venice Biennale, “The Architectural Imagination”, is a work focused on making the architectural possibilities the city overflows with apparent to the world. As one of six Fellows chosen to install the exhibition, my contribution included unpacking, repairing, assembling, framing, and mounting the twelve projects in time for opening day. These projects included work from Marshall Brown, Preston Scott Cohen, MOS Architects, Andrew Zago, Bairballiet, and Stan Allen, among many talented others. The conclusion of the installation saw my duties transition to that of a docent, supervising the exhibition through the first several days, interacting with press, and giving tours to the thousands of guests that excitedly lined outside the Pavilion, hungry for a glimpse inside.

INSTALLATION Determining the layout of Present Future’s project for the US Post Office

INSTALLATION FLOW The twelve projects came in thirty-nine crates, all of which were unpacked, documented, and installed. The exhibition was well-received and well-attended.

INSTALLATION Mitch McEwenâ€™s project for Mexicantown required days of framing, mounting, and model assembly and repair. The final piece came together to the great satisfaction of the architect. 45

ART

Created between 2018-2019

Architecture and Art are the two great loves of my life, and I would be remiss to feature one without the other. The following are several works of art of mine, showcasing a range of competencies with the digital sphere - using Photoshop and Wacom Tablets - though each composition begins with planning via traditional pencil and paper.

PHOTOGRAPHY Created between 2018-2019

My foray into model photography has helped to develop my compositional eye. Itâ€™s been an incredibly fulfilling creative challenge to plan and direct photoshoots, as well as collaborate with various models, to produce beautiful artifacts. My photography has begun to grow into a professional venture - with paid work as both a model and wedding photographer.

CHIAROSCURO SERIES 2 Model: Renee Christinel 52

DAY IN THE LIFE Model: Leonel Montoya 53

TUSKEGEE SERIES 1 Model: Opalia Meade 54

METAPHORICAL MOOD Model: Kamari Bright 55

CHIAROSCURO SERIES 1 Model: Asha Denae Jackson (pictured right)

EVENING GRUNGE

Model: Jodi-Anne Ryan (pictured left)

stnediser wollef sih fo puorg gnihtaerb yllivaeh a yb delcricne saw eH

foor eht gnola devom dah ytrap liatkcoc eritne ehT

He unlocked the gate of the sculpture garden and moved through the darkness among the statues, releasing the dogs.

.selbat teffub eht dna rab eht neewteb enola doots won retiaw ehT

He saw that the whole interior of the play-garden was drenched with blood. The tiled floor was slick with bright mucilage.

,teparap eht tsniaga denael gniaL eht fo suoicsnoc emit tsrif eht rof dnuorg eht ot ecnatsid esnemmi .woleb

Dozens of the gulls surrouned him, crowded together on he tiled floor. They followed Royal expectantly, almost as if they had been waiting for him to bring something to them.

peed eht ta egrev delit eht yb doots gniaL .thgil tnecseroulf gniyravnu eht rednu ,dne

.ezag lufthguoht a htiw gniaL gnihctaw saw layoR ynohtnA

The Worker Bee Garden