FIRST YEAR DESIGN STUDIO - FALL 2013, SPRING 2014
- LSU School of Architecture First Year Academic Achievement Award
These images represent a broad range of explorations into drawing, modeling, and composition - foundations in architectural design. Below are conclusions and lessons learned from this formative year in my design education. For a comprehensive portfolio of this studio's work, click here.
"The expectation of arriving at some final conclusion at the end of a term in design school is false and misleading. Learning occurs in the process of designing and making, so attempting to impose finality on the work strips away any opportunity for it to shape the designer. The projects contained in this portfolio continue indefinitely, always allowing room for improvement and refinement. So rather than claim mastery over the work produced during this foundational year, naiveté is embraced as a motivation to continue creating and growing. The lessons learned this year come not from an observation of the final product, but from an observation of the work that reached towards that goal. Furthermore, these lessons apply to all projects, spanning from the compositional studies at the beginning of the year to the exploration of site construction.
The first characteristic of the design process that revealed itself is the variance of scale. There is a constant oscillation between the fine details and the gross aggregation while working. For example, as the plaster casts were placed into the model landscape, its relationship to the material it touched in immediate proximity was considered simultaneously with its relationship to the rest of the landscape. Every drawing was created in a similar fashion, focusing on a specific moment and its qualities, then stepping back to view the image as a whole. Just as a camera zooms in on its subject, so the focus of the work zooms in and out.
The second characteristic is the value of hierarchical emphasis. By placing emphasis on a part of a composition, its importance is increased, and it registers as a signal in the field of noise. For instance, the wire armature that was used to define space in the final project employed this emphasis to draw the eye to specific relationships, namely the three lines of sight between the groups of plaster casts. Also, the design intent is expressed by the established hierarchy, placing an order on disjointed things and guiding the viewer to understand that order.
The final characteristic is the importance of a constant, rigorous analysis of reactions. Every line that is drawn, every layer of paint applied, every piece added, every word written, elicits a response from the field around it. In order to respect this phenomenon, the work must slow down. Each design decision must be carefully considered and respond to the previous decisions. In the final project, the material cut away from the landscape had to be placed elsewhere in the site, and that placement was a response to the cut that was just made. Similarly, every cast was positioned in response to the condition created by the existing casts.
These issues of scale, emphasis, and reaction are invaluable to the designer because they foster a more intentional pattern of work. Instead of structuring a specific outcome, the work is structured in such a way that great outcomes are possible."
LSU STUDY KIOSK
FALL 2014 DESIGN-BUILD PROJECT
TEAM MEMBERS: Christopher James, Catherine Bourg, Ariana Farrar, Brianne LeBlanc, and Natasha Sachania
LSU’s Quad is a crossroads. Paths, people, and stories all intersect at this beautiful junction to create an energized and dynamic environment unparalleled by any other space on campus. This project sought to inhabit the dynamic crossroads condition of the Quad by providing a unique “kiosk” for students to study in.
The project began by exploring the limitations of the kit-of-parts through model making. Using basswood sticks and sheets to resemble the allotted 2’x4’s and plywood, design proposals were constructed and analyzed for their spatial qualities, their use of material, and their structural integrity. Initially, two spatial typologies emerged from the group’s models. The first was a closed layout, where habitation occurs within the surrounding structure. The second was an open layout, where habitation occurs around a central structure. As the design progressed, the group decided to develop the open plan further, for it was the most efficient use of materials and allowed for a more interesting dialogue between inside and outside space.
The project’s success lies in its ability to address the needs of its users – shade, seating, and desk space – while embracing the Quad as an integral part of the dynamic fabric. At every critical decision during both the design process and the construction project, the objective remained the same – thoughtfully and beautifully inhabit the crossroads.
THE BATON ROUGE WATER CAMPUS
FALL 2014 STUDIO PROJECT
Can infrastructure be beautiful? Can the Louisiana Landscape dominated by flood control structures be re-imagined at a human scale, transforming what was once inaccessible into something habitable? From massive monolithic levees surrounding urban areas to natural oyster reefs on the outer fringes of the Gulf Coast, every effort is made to preserve the livelihoods of Louisiana’s inhabitants from the impending threats of flooding and land loss. According to the 2012 Louisiana Coastal Master Plan, approximately $50 billion has been appropriated to future infrastructural projects that address coastal restoration, flood hazard mitigation, and water management. However, there is still a separation between the infrastructure and people it is protecting. This project seeks to resolve that disconnect in an urban context, specifically for the future Water Campus in Baton Rouge.
The Water Campus is a large-scale development that will be the future home to numerous research organizations that strive to protect and manage earth’s most valuable resource - water. The site of the campus lies south of downtown Baton Rouge on the banks of the Mississippi River. It is a peculiar condition, for numerous natural and infrastructural barriers block access to the Mississippi River, dividing the site. These edge conditions drove this design to resolve the fragmented landscape into a cohesive fabric by utilizing transit, catalyzing circulation, and activating infrastructure. Together, the three structures embrace the edge conditions of the site as design drivers rather than barriers. Through architecture, the infrastructure that separates becomes a beautiful thing that unifies.
SPRING 2015 STUDIO PROJECT
Scarred with logging ditches that radiate from channels cut into marsh, Manchac is a site latent with narrative and history, especially in terms of its channelization. Once a dense cypress forest, the trees harvested during the early 1900’s left the landscape a barren expanse of what it once was. The unusual arrangement of the ditches inspired the further investigation of the channel as designer. Once dug into the land, vegetation evolves to accommodate the altered hydrology, sediment follows new deposition patterns, tides fluctuate, soil subsides, and the geomorphology transforms. This project seeks to embody the precipitous effects of channelization in Manchac both formally and programmatically.
As a stationary vessel embedded within the bank of the Galva Canal, the design emphasizes the ideas of visual nodes and rhythm that are prevalent in this hot, wet landscape. Habitation of the vessel is an ephemeral experience of the channel’s system at a micro and macro level, which speaks to the larger issue of architectural scale in an expansive landscape. At first glance, the marsh has no variation, so any built structure would seem imposed or incongruous. Upon further investigation however, the rhythm of a place and the nodes of emphasis that order it can inform an architecture respondent to its site. In this instance, the vessel chooses the channel as its informant, inhabiting this condition of difference within the larger condition of the marsh.
DESIGNING RESILIENT ASIA COMPETITION 2015
SUMMER 2015 DESIGN COMPETITION
(Hosted by The National University of Singapore)
TEAM MEMBERS: Jori Erdman, Robert Holton, Giovanni Coakley, Asalsadat Emamjomeh, Christopher James, Michelle Jones, Ethan Jordan, Margaret Long, Delaney McGuinness, Ana Orosco, Wanqin Su, & Yi Tao.
Situated on a narrow sliver of land between the ocean and the river, the village of Xinxing in the Hainan Province of China is positioned to become a beacon for resilience by utilizing its occupation of the intersection between fresh and saltwater to its advantage. Through the investment in resilient design, Xinxing will not only survive, but thrive in this unique geological condition, functioning as an example for other coastal communities. The goal of this project is to preserve and augment the elements that make an environment desirable for human occupation, while creating a means to mitigate and adapt to the damage of natural and economic disasters. Resilience by definition requires both active and passive measures to adequately confront present challenges while preparing for future ones, so as its name suggests, this proposal implements strategies that simultaneously break down the threats of flooding and isolation while they also make new opportunities for agricultural, aquacultural, and societal growth. The design strategies respond to the specific set of contexts at this harbor, including buildings that adjust to user needs, durable houses that consider availability of materials, as well as local technology, and are in tune with the site and climate conditions. The suggested programs within public spaces strengthens community bonds, while it fosters ownership and engagement in coastal issues. Architecture, here, is as much as an object and a symbol as it is a means of survival.
A CHICAGO RIVER DEVELOPMENT
FALL 2015 STUDIO PROJECT
Chicago is known for its infrastructural prowess. From the reversal of the flow of the Chicago River, to the elaborate network of multi-layered roadways and trains, infrastructure is embedded into the identity of this city. For this project, I sought to use architecture to highlight the importance of and the connection between two types of infrastructural systems – public utilities and community engagement. The program re-creates scaled-down versions of two monuments in Chicago that distinguish themselves from the rest of the world, namely the Jardine Water Purification Plant and the McCormick Place Convention Center. So, the building functions as both a water purification plant and a convention center, arguing that public buildings can serve multiple functions simultaneously.
Program aside, the most important lesson learned from this project was the process of developing an architectural detail, then using it to inform the project at larger scales. Traditionally, the design process begins with large scale questions of site, then zooming in to more detail over time. Reversing the timeline resulted in really unique discoveries at all scales, evidenced by the numerous models pictured to the left that study everything from material connections to the articulated rhythm along the site.
HATTIESBURG ARTS COUNCIL DESIGN CHARRETTE - APRIL 8-9, 2016
- Received Judge's Choice Award
TEAM MEMBERS: Faculty leader William Doran, Giovanni Coakley, Sarah Eikrem, Christopher James, Zach McLain, and Amanda Verastegui
The Hattiesburg American Newspaper Building was recently donated to the Hattiesburg Arts Council to house a community arts center. The stated goals of the center are to house a variety of existing activities within the arts community in Hattiesburg including dance, theater, kids programming, and culinary arts. The Arts Council also expressed an interest in incubating small arts-based businesses, incorporating community spaces such as galleries, a cafe, and an auditorium for public performances. The Arts Council invited three universities from the region, including the LSU School of Architecture, to propose designs for the center
that engage the local community and culture of Hattiesburg, while
creating an anchor at the North end of Main Street in the historic
downtown district.
This proposal focused on inviting the community into the empty
newspaper building to experience the creative activity it will house.
The proposal includes elevated walkways, an open floor plan, and
an adaptable facade. By extending an existing loading dock and
awning around the perimeter of the building’s street front facades
and incorporating a series of glass, garage-style doors, the structure becomes porous, opening itself to the community and the Main Street corridor - in much the same way that the porches on many of Hattiesburg’s historic homes create a public face and a welcoming space for neighbors and friends to share. The arts center can serve as a “front porch” for the city.
THE BATON ROUGE PHOTOGRAPHY HUB
SPRING 2016 COMPETITION STUDIO PROJECT
- Received 2nd place in the Letterman’s Blueprint Design Competition
Located on Government St. adjacent to Ward Creek in the Mid-City neighborhood of Baton Rouge, this project proposes a new, social experience of photography and community for the residents of the metropolitan area. The design consists of two major components – media creation and media collection. The first function, creation, exists as a network of “photobooths” along the proposed Ward Creek bike trail that runs throughout the city. The second function, collection, stands as a “media hub” where the photographs are archived, printed, enjoyed, and studied by visitors of all walks of life.
With the increasingly digitized world of the 21st century pervading every sphere of society, the relevance of physical place comes into question, since social interaction and the acquisition of information are quickly achieved by accessing the internet. For instance, social media connects people from all over the world to each other through photos, tweets, and comments, removed from actual face-to-face communication. These connections however lack the depth and verisimilitude of true, intimate friendship. By giving a physical, printed presence to photographs uploaded to social media, and designing an architecture that houses both the media and the media-creators, it generates opportunities for a palpable experience of place and people. This project re-imagines social media as a supporter of human interaction rather than the interaction itself. Through photography, experiences along Ward Creek are permanently memorialized as a printed artifact at the Media Hub, rejecting the “snap-and-upload” mentality of Instagram in favor of the care and precision inherent in the use of a Polaroid camera.
A NEW IMMIGRATION CENTER FOR THE CITY OF ROME
FALL 2016 STUDY ABROAD PROGRAM TO ROME, ITALY
- Selected to present project at University of Arkansas Rome Center Superjury
- LSU Alumni Global Leaders Study Abroad Scholarship
- Tiger Athletic Foundation Honors College Study Abroad Scholarship
- LSU Discover Travel Award
My semester spent in Rome was the most valuable experience of my architectural education to date. It was incredible to see first-hand many of the buildings that have permanently changed the course of modern architectural thought. Through sketching, traveling throughout Italy, and living like a local in the city, I gained a wider, global perspective.
My studio project responded to the migration crisis that has put tremendous strain on EU governments as they welcome refugees into their borders, proposing a new immigration center that effectively receives and welcomes persecuted peoples of other cultures into Rome. Currently, seeking asylum and residency in Rome is a laborious, bureaucratic process that is pushed to the periphery of the city, so this design challenges the status quo by bringing these functions to the city center. Additionally, the institutional functions of the building are paired with access to the rich heritage of the site, and opportunities for economic stability through business incubators on the first floor. Together, these programs effectively integrate immigrants into life in Rome. The design learns from the Loggia, an elevated, open-air arcade traditionally found in the aristocratic palaces of Rome. The conceptual impetus for the project is, consequently, the inversion of the loggia as a public amenity instead of an aristocratic luxury. The geometry of this loggia then responds to its context, the four Ancient Roman ruins of Largo di Torre Argentina, creating a unique and valuable public space in the heart of the Eternal City.
SPRING 2017 STUDIO PROJECT
Located in the historic Castro district of San Francisco, the Richard Serra Center for Visual Artists is a bold, yet sensitive gesture in the terraced landscape of Corona Heights Park. Inspired by the sculptures of San Francisco native Richard Serra, the architecture of the Center embeds itself into the landscape, marrying the built and natural environments. With a strong stroke in Corten Steel, the design asserts its presence in the neighborhood, formally as well as institutionally.
The program of the Center is concentrated in two linear buildings – living spaces to the north and working spaces to the south. Between the two structures is a lively, public streetscape, encouraging interaction and dialogue between the resident artists and the people of the community as they pass through. Adjacent to the street are additional communal spaces for special events, recreation, and community engagement, blurring the line between inside and outside. In contrast, the sides opposite the central street are more private, offering respite for the artists-in-residence and shared work space for the studios. Additionally, a secondary pedestrian axis runs up the slopes of the terraced landscape, connected by exterior glass elevators and penetrating the buildings on either side of the street.
The material palette of the design is purposefully limited, true to Serra’s minimalist style. Site elements such as planters and retaining walls are made of Corten Steel, while the expansive roof overhead is framed with exposed glu-lam beams. The exterior walls are clad in wooden shingles found in the surrounding houses of the neighborhood, with large windows and overhead doors to let ample light into the interior.
Connected to its context and integrated into its landscape, the Richard Serra Center for Visual Artists is an important anchor for the advancement of arts in the city of San Francisco
US DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY RACE TO ZERO STUDENT DESIGN COMPETITION
COMPREHENSIVE STUDIO PROJECT SPRING 2018
PROFESSOR: Robert Holton
TEAM MEMBERS: Christopher James, Michelle Jones, and Zach McLain
- Finalist selected to present project at the National Renewable Energy Laboratory
The final comprehensive studio of the Bachelors of Architecture program focused on the design development of a net zero energy elementary school for 300 students, emphasizing the tectonics, mechanics, and presentation crucial to the architectural profession. The studio participated in The U.S. Department of Energy Race to Zero Student Design Competition, utilizing its program and deliverable requirements to structure the project.
Entitled “Baker Park Elementary School”, my project team’s proposal applied the competition brief to a school district north of Baton Rouge, Louisiana that suffered from a recent natural disaster. In August of 2016, flood waters as high as 24” caused by heavy rainfall intruded the small town of Baker, LA over the course of two days. The high school suffered the greatest damage of the educational facilities, forcing hundreds of students from multiple schools to shift to other locations. In response, the target market of this project points directly to the Baker school system, providing a new elementary school for the students that have been displaced and crowded into other buildings. A new educational facility that reaches net-zero energy performance alleviates the current population pressures and models resiliency for a struggling community. Drawing conceptual inspiration from the solid, liquid, and gaseous states of water, the building responds to existing flooding habits while securing a sustainable environment for learning.
The school was designed with the intent that sufficient renewable energy could be installed on-site so that the “actual annual delivered energy is less than or equal to the on-site renewable exported energy”. (2018 Race to Zero Student Guide). In order to balance these loads, the project employs a number of conservation and generation strategies to achieve net-zero efficiency. The building utilizes northern exposure to daylighting, climate-sensitive landscaping, and proper climate insulation to minimize thermal gain. Water cisterns, living walls, and green roofs maintain a consistent natural temperature, while efficient appliances and multi-functional programs cut down on overall energy needs. To reach net-zero, the generation strategies include placing photovoltaics on the southern facing roofs and using microbial fuel cells collecting energy from green walls on the site to achieve a higher level of energy sustainable design.
Our team was selected from the studio class to represent LSU at the design competition, presenting our proposal at the US Department of Energy’s National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) in Golden, Colorado in April 2018. In the competition, finalist teams presented their designs to a panel of expert industry jurors, compared their efforts to those of other teams, and learned form presentations by leaders in the renewable energy sciences. It was an invaluable experience to develop this architectural proposal under the auspices of the University’s and NREL’s building science knowledge, with the aim of achieving a holistically sustainable, net-zero energy school building design.
