Portfolio of Selected Works by Xheladin Hoxha

PORTFOLIO Selected Works

Xheladin Hoxha Associate AIA

CONTENT

04_11

BIM Fundamentals_1 Residential Project Academic Course

12_21

BIM Fundamentals_2 Commercial Project Academic Course

22_31

Critical Practice American Spolia Academic Course

32_39

Industrial Bar and Bistro

40_47

Retro Bar and Bistro

48_55

The Wall Bar and Bistro

56_63

Portez Rehabilitation

BIM FUNDAMENTALS _1 Residential Project Course Objectives & Outcomes

This course was an introduction to the principles and practices of Building Information Modeling. The course covered the fundamentals of BIM project organization and hierarchies, geometric organizational elements and component families. BIM tools were applied towards the creation of visualizations and graphical representations of the built form including orthographic and perspectival representations, and the integration of quantitative and graphical information to gain an understanding of the advantages and limitations of BIM

Residential Project Exploded Axonometric

First Floor 3D Plan (upper img) / South Section 3D(lower img)

Kitchen Area

South Elevation (upper img) / West Elavation (lower img)

Balcony & Hallway View

BIM FUNDAMENTALS _2 Commercial Project Course Objectives & Outcomes

Ordering Systems: Ability to apply the fundamentals of both natural and formal ordering systems and the capacity of each to inform twoand three-dimensional design. Use of Precedents: Ability to examine and comprehend the fundamental principles present in relevant precedents and to make informed choices about the incorporation of such principles into architecture. Technical Documentation: Ability to make technically clear drawings illustrating and identifying the assembly of materials, systems, and components appropriate for a building design.

Commercial Project Exploded Axonometric

Perspective Floor Plans and Structural View

Structural View

Second Floor Interiors

First Floor Interior

CRITICAL PRACTICE American Spolia by master practitioner “Austin & Mergold”

The Critical Practice Class of Summer 2018, of which I was part, had as master practitioners Austin+Mergold, an unconventional pair of two who introduced their pursuit of American Spolia. Their continuous referral to the past in order to make sense was their inspiration to bring the concept of the American Spolia. Spolia was about using past and present debris or building parts in order to produce a new original context. Their idea of keeping the durable enough materials away from the landfill, had some essence from the actual mainstream environmentalist movement. Also, another characteristic of the spolia in its core meaning, according to our master practitioner, was to remove potential artifacts from their first purpose of usage by decontextualizing them and reusing them later in a new desired context. The learning goals for the students were to improve the research process in a critical given timeline, working in a team format with the purpose of generating and representing design ideas and adopting a reflective quality in the design profession. In other words, the intention of this class was to prepare and equip us with critical thinking ability, fast acting techniques and continuous reflection at the same time.

geologists use core sample to identify major events that have occurred on earth’s crust, in our class we used this technique to identify particular historical layers of Detroit. We had to visit different junk yards to collect debris which originated from different historical layers of the city. This was hard because on one hand, we had to use raw professional judgment and on the other hand, we had to act as Baudelaire wrote in his “Painter of Modern Life”, “a child who see everything in a state of newness, always drunk and feeling the delight with which a child absorbs form and color”. After successful hunting campaigns into the dirt of the debris, there was a necessity of filtering the collected objects, a process which occurred in the second charrette. It was challenging as it required a certain professional maturity combined with research in order to fully understand their historical context and meaning. Immediately, the abstract we produced afterwards, gave birth to the need of re-contextualizing and materializing them into a ring, which later doubled in size, corresponding the purpose of the pre-final and final charrettes.

The class is traditionally run in a charrette mode, but unorthodox methods of study, inspired from disciplines other than architecture which combined on field investigation and crafting skills, were introduced. As an example, while

Downtown Buildings' Patterns Midtown Buildings' Patterns Highland Park Buildings' Patterns

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Buildings' patterns analysis through Woodward Ave, Detroit

Debris collection and pattern analysis through Woodward Ave, Detroit

Debris micro-level pattern study

Detroit re-imagined with debris composition / Exposing potential energies

Rig outline

Rig's Slots

25' Rig with all the parts assembled that includes all the three main sections of the "Woodward Ave" Downtown Detroit-Midtown Detroit-Highland Park

INDUSTRIAL BAR

My country has a lot to offer and such is the inspiration for this project. Albania used to be a small industrial country and today we see a lot of its remnants in almost every city. In every city you could find abandoned junkyards that do have a lot of materials that can be repurposed. For this project, I was mostly inspired from repurposed industrial parks in Germany and also the potential that abandoned postcommunist industrial parks that my country has. As soon as I got this opportunity to design a bar for a friend of mine, I recalled this idea of reusing repurposed materials to give life new projects and when I brought up this idea to my client, he liked very much and wanted to see it applied in his project. Also, I wanted to bring into my country a new concept of design that was never applied before. The industrial period has numerous objects with different shapes and functions that, installed into a totally different place, could create not only a very attractive interior, but could also be applied to exterior as well.

The design is based on raw materials with unfinished surfaces and on repurposed objects for decoration intentions. The strongest part of the design are the continuously rotating gears that give a sense of energy circulation within the space. They are located on the longest wall of the bar and are protected from a thick glass panel. These gears rotate thanks to an electric rotor and they are lit from inside at the top and the bottom in order to create depth.

Industrial gears as a concept

Floor Plan

Interior Views

RETRO BAR & BISTRO

The small city of Lushnja in Albania, lacks in rewarding its citizens a cozy, friendly and comfortable place to enjoy something nice to drink. When I first visited the city I was left without any impressions and there was not really much to do. Based on my experience during the city walk, I came out with the idea that I had to design something that would be attractive and new to the city and maybe precede a different new trend that would fulfill the needs of the citizens and arranged to their taste. The design consists in the usage of original materials such as old bricks from deteriorated buildings that bring to memory the past time. In there you perceive the feeling of an old era in modern style. It has been an attraction point for the youth as they do not only enjoy a cold beer while finding themselves in very friendly social environment, but also it gives them some exciting and mysterious particles of a time they never lived in. After all, mystery always attracts.

The existing space was a new one but the height of the space would allow an idea of having two stories in one spacious story. By exploiting its height, I designed a mezzanine, which is used by people that require more privacy and this new space gives the idea of a hidden spot. Adding more to the place description, it is be positively evaluated that the exposure to the natural light on the east and west sides turned out to be an advantageous asset. Today, this place is overcrouded with people that are predominantly a young one and has gotten great reviews.

First Floor Plan

Second Floor Plan

Mezanine View(upper img) and First Floor View

THE WALL BAR & BISTRO

This bar was designed accordingly to a retrospective design style. In my homecity, Durres, there were no similar bars designed following this style and the idea to present a different concept was as brave as it was frightening. However, when presented to the client, I got his approval and he liked the idea of presenting to the city a whole new design that could also revive a nostalgic time. After being built, it turned to be the most frequented bar in the whole city. The given space was an old abandoned space that needed total renovation. It needed reinforced columns to carry the weight of the second floor, maximizzed views toward the street and the front yard and also an interior modification to build a mezzanine. Building the mezzanine was challenging in terms of height and structure needed. We digged into the soil about 20'' to increase the height and used steel structure to build the mezzanine.

The main idea was to emphasize the use usage of the original materials like: old repurposed bricks, exposed walls, rough ceiling, visible HVAC system, etc. Also, the bar was conceptualized to adaptable in terms of usage. During the summer time, the weather invites people to sit outside in the frontyard and enjoy a cold beer while also in a great safe and friendly neighborhood. The location has provided a generous front yard, a great accessibility for both cars and pedestrians and it also faces a three thousand years old pre-Hellenic wall, which also gave the name to it.

Floor Plan

Floor Plan showing the HVAC Sytem

Mezanine Interior View

PORTEZ REHABILITATION

A friend of mine and me reunited in a joint project in 2013. We had the opportonity to maka a successful intervention to this existing restaurant originally built in 1999. It is located at one of the most beautiful coastal areas of the city of Durres, a place detached from pollution and noises in Bisht-Palle, a north-west area of the city. It has a picturesque view as it faces the Adriatic Sea and the building itself was placed on top of the coastal hills where you cannot find other buildings around. In a 360 degree view, nature is the only focus to enjoy. The intervention required a careful and a well though plan as the client was trying to preserve the original materiality used but also was trying to update it accordingly to the contemporary needs. The building had thick bearing walls made out of heavy stones and for this reason maximum caution was required when maximizing the openings that would face the sea. The main focus was to maximize the panoramic sea view and pleasing the customers eyes and to brighten up the interior. The interior as well was badly painted and did not contexualise with the surroundings and needed brighter colors.

We did change some of the interior walls texture by applying plaster painting them in white and repainting the long wooden beams that at that time were covered in black paint. We made an addition at the balcony are in order to increase the capacity with dining tables. During summer the balcony would be enclosed with transparent fabrics without interrupting the dramatic view that the troubled sea and strong winds create. Also, the kitchen area and restrooms were totally redesigned as they did not meet the standards. In addition, the front yard of the building had to be reinforced with a steel structure as it was instable due to the soft soil. The existing cocrete floor was seriously damaged and had large cracks on it strating from an end to another end and often diagonal cracks as well. The front yard is being used during summer as dining area covered with light white fabric.

Project Location

kitchen area restrooms

main area

balcony

beachfront

front yard used as diding area during the summer time

summer bar area

Schematic Floor Plan

Maximizing the Sea Views (lower img) / Front Yard Reparation process (upper img)

Interior Views

Adriatic Sea Panoramic View From the Balcony Addition