A white box model of my first studio project. Existing on site was a parking garage, so the rebuilt structure retains and grows the parking availability while adding commercial space on the bottom, and a performance space on the top.

My second studio project was a mass housing structure. The prompt was to transform Le Corbusier’s Unite d’Habitation, while retaining its best qualities. My final project rotated the units 180 degrees to allow for more windows along the length of the units. Then by canting the stacked units I kept the windows at the ends, and allowed for a balcony space.

My third studio project was to create a series of office and common spaces for students and student organizations. My final idea was a series of structure-forward buildings that exist in spaces dug into the hill on site. The structure themselves cantilever out from the earth behind them on columns that contain the staircase entrances. Underneath are sheltered outdoor spaces with chalkboards embedded in the retaining walls.

My fourth studio project was to create an intervention in an undeveloped city block in Washington D.C. to be called “The Monster.” Over the course of the semester, we combined layering studies with radical procedural modeling techniques. At the end of the semester my challenge was combining the studies into a group of useful spaces. The base layer of the site is a multi-use, walkable commercial zone. In the center of the block, the monster rests on the stilts of it’s entrances hovering over the center of the block. The monster itself is a skeletal steel structure covered in doped fabric. Above the commercial buildings, connected by outdoor walkways is a perimeter of mass housing that is breached in many places by the monster’s tendrils.

My fifth studio project was one that was about strict adherence to materials. Required as I was to use 99% stone masonry, I designed a series of gathering spaces based around elemental concepts. Above are the fire (left) and water (right) rooms. The fire room is the room best suited for all seasons, as it is the only room with built in heating, though were I allowed to expand upon the idea I would have connected all rooms with a series of water pipes. Fed from rain water collected in the water room and heated in the fire room, they would have allowed all rooms to be used year-round.

My sixth and final studio project was focused more on using a procedural program to generate a variety of models in Rhino, so by the end of the semester the project remained quite conceptual. At the end of the semester my project was a series of sculptural buildings on a reclaimed industrial site along the LA river. The materials were chosen to promote sustainability and to create a clean air environment in the city landscape. The spaces the buildings created were multi-use, though best used for gatherings like farmers markets or large festivals.