ENV Downtown was my Senior Degree Project at Cal Poly Pomona. The proposal is for a new facility for the College of Environmental Design of Cal Poly Pomona in downtown Pomona.

As a concept, the idea of a College of Environmental Design is a unique one. The model at Cal Poly Pomona is unique in that it brings together the departments most relevant to our built environment—Architecture, Landscape Architecture, Planning, and Art—in an attempt to promote interdisciplinary exchange. A lack of facilities, however, means that these programs are dispersed throughout Cal Poly’s campus, making interdepartmental interactions all but non-existent.

The proposed facility provides a place in which to house the College as a whole, and this facility is integrated into historic Downtown Pomona in an attempt to better connect it to an urban context.
Within the building, then, there comes a need to provide a connective tissue that would integrate the departments on a deeper level than simply the sharing of facilities. The College of Environmental Design Downtown Facility, then, is an investigation into the concept of hyper-connectivity within the program and site.

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Much research went into the development of the ciruclution system employed in the ENV Downtown facility. In attempting to create a hyper-connected building it is necessary to investigate the and be critical of various vertical and horizonatl connective typologies – atrium spaces, open floor plans, etc. – and the spatial experience each possesses. The ENV Downtown facility is informed by these various canons of architecture and attempts to synthesize the methods employed in these projects to create a hyper-connected state.

A few of the study models I made throughout the process (I made a lot of study models).

Click for the full size PDF and further description.

Click for the full size PDF and further description.

Click for the full size PDF and further description.

Click for the full size PDF of the project space diagrams.

Click for the full size PDF and further description.

Click to see the full set of drawings.

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The task at hand for this studio was to design an economically viable space station. Initially, the station was to be programmed as a space hotel, but to make the station economically viable each student was to propose another use for the project that could feasibly create revenue. This was one of the most interesting/frustrating design studios I have taken because when it comes to designing architecture in near-zero gravity conventional design tactics just don’t work. To add to the stress the systems proposed also needed to be based on feasible technology, and we were reviewed by a panel consisting of more NASA and JPL engineers than architects. Still, it was a fun studio. If you’d like to find out more about the studio head on over to the studio website at Robotecture.

This studio was run a bit differently in that we were required to maintain a blog with updates on progress. Check out the development of this project here.

This project was on display at OBJCT Gallery in Claremont, CA and will be on display at NewSpace 2011, the Space Frontier Foundation’s annual conference at NASA Ames Research Center in Silicon Valley, CA.

Inspired by the ideas of John S. Lewis, the EVSS will serve as a home base and processing center for a near-Earth asteroid miningprogram. Instead of the dead vacuum some people might assume outer space to be, our solar system is full of resources readilyavailable for our use, and some of the most viable targets for space mining are near-Earth asteroids. Eventually, the EVSS willserve as home base for a comprehensive asteroid mining program whose goal will be to eventually hollow out and colonize a near-Earth asteroid for outer space exploration. This goal, obviously, will have to be reached in phases.Initially, the only programmatic element that will be appended to the EVSS’s hotel programming will be a small (relatively) stationthat will serve as host for the first small drones that will be sent to mine the most valuable resource available on near-Earthasteroids, water ice. The drones would be sent out to melt and collect the water ice and return it for processing. An electrolyzingstation and refinery would be housed in the station to process the water brought back by the drone. The electrolyzing processwould separate the hydrogen and oxygen from the water; the hydrogen, along with some oxygen, would be refined for use asrocket fuel and the oxygen would be used in the EVSS by its inhabitants. Also, it goes without saying that some of the raw waterwould also be used by the inhabitants of the EVSS. This initial phase would also require docking facilities not only for the dronesbut for other spacecraft looking to purchase fuel as well.Besides water-ice, valuable metal ores are available on near-Earth asteroids. It is estimated that at least 10% of the mattercomprising near-Earth asteroids in naturally occurring stainless steel. Additionally, it has been postulated that a two-kilometer wideasteroid could contain more ore than has been mined in the entire history of civilization. The ability to mine for such valuableresources would require more advanced drones and bigger processing facilities on the EVSS, so this ability would be phasedin after the water mining program has been proven successful. A docking station for the new, most likely bigger, droneswould be added as well as a manner in which to store the raw material. This would likely be an holding cell outside ofthe core EVSS facility because the raw material would not need protection from the environment. A facility to process thismaterial would also need to be added, and this would begin to reflect the manufacturing capabilities that the EVSS wouldhave. Once established this system would be self-sustaining and self-perpetuating. The material mined could return and beused to make more drones for more mining and to expand the existing facilities. The majority of the material, of course,would be sold to other facilities in space either in their raw form or as manufactured components.

The future Mairehoj culture center draws a clear profile in the landscape. With a new foyer, the culture center will get a new face that invites in all the people of Ruderdahl’s municipality and a heart that can bring together the many users and activities in the house.

The culture center merges together with the green landscape. It bridges the gap between the arrival area, the cultural plaza and the beautiful backyard of Mariehoj. It opens up toward the surroundings and incorporates the green qualities to the acitivites in the house.

The house is at the same time a cultural activity center and a well functioning working place. Through reorganization and rebuilding a more appropriate position is given to each of the various functions. At the same time more new functions, cross fields and meeting points are created. It brings together the multiple activities in the house and creates a space where new meetings and activities across interests and ages may arise.

I part of the design team on this project while I was employed at WE Architecture in Copenhagen, Denmark.

This project won first prize in an invited international competition and is in progress to be constructed.

Urban Continuance is the new urban typology. In dense urban areas, large, open park spaces are under utilized and inefficient. Sprawling expanses of grass are both unsustainable and unrepresentative of the needs of an urban population. Instead of the isolated grass lawn, then, a new park typology is needed: the park as connective tissue. The term “park” is used loosely because Urban Flow functions as more than a recreational space; it is an integrated infrastructure, a connection between the disparate aspects of the city. Urban Continuance connects. Urban Flow connects literally by linking the Arts District and Boyle Heights across the east and west banks of the Los Angeles River. The bridges provide a pedestrian access across the river to support the existing 1st Street Bridge. Urban Continuance connects epochs. The formal disposition of the new pedestrian bridges respects the existing structure and they bow out to acknowledge its presence. By framing the old 1st Street bridge the project creates a dialogue between the old and new; a connection through time. Urban Continuance connects people. Urban Flow provides a meeting space, a recognizable landmark for social gatherings. You can walk, jog, run, skate, bike, jump, and play or just sit and relax and catch up on your tan at Urban Flow. Urban Flow combines a number of activities providing a variety of experiences to the people of the city. Urban Continuance connects infrastructures. The structural supports of the bridge double as water extraction and purification systems to draw water from the river. The water drawn from the river is then used in the closed loop system of algae growth tubes feeding to and from an algae research center. These tubes constitute the skin of the bridge system. This system becomes an integral part of Urban Flow and prominently displays green technologies.

Notodden has decided to join several cultural functions such as a cafe, a museum, and a library under one roof. This project programming allows for the possibility of creating a building where people of different ages and interests can meet and interact. As a tribut to the history of the iste, the roof of the builidng is laid out as an amphitheater which spirals around the old shipping dock, and the dock itself houses a floating stage. Much like in a Greek theater, the surrounding landscape becomes the scenography.

I was part of the design team on this project while employed at WE Architecture in Copenhagen, Denmark.

A Walking City is a project on which I was design team member while I was employed at WE Architecture in Copenhagen, Denmark. The proposal was our entry in an international competition to reinvent the city of Drammen, Norway. The approach we took on this project was that of reinvigorating the historic city center of Drammen and transforming the city into a sustainable 21st century cultural metropolis. Although the city center had a prime waterfront location, it was essentially cut off from it because of a strip of industrial buildings and a railroad that ran along the water’s edge. This industrial complex has been struggling, and our proposal aims to reinvigorate the city by reappropriating existing structures along the waterfront and transforming the once industrial center into an cultural spine. For more information on the project, check out WE Architecture’s website.

Located very close to the busiest metro station in Denmark, Israel Plads can be seen asa central location various regions of København such as Nørrebro and the historical citycenter. This location makes for a natural gathering space for the inhabitants of the city andgreat social attractor, especially given its close proximity to Nørreport station. Until recently,however, Israel Plads had been used as nothing more than a parking lot for the adjacentbusinesses. Instead of becoming a social attractor, then, Israel Plads became not muchmore than a transient space meant to be passed through and not enjoyed. An interventionwas needed in order to bring a social life back the plaza and reinvigorate this urban node.The proposal to build an urban market at Israel Plads,then, must address more than just theshopping needs of local residents. A market at Israel Plads should serve a broader role inthe urban context as well.A Living Market proposes to retool the plaza and create a market that will not only provideall the necessary ammenities of an urban marketplace but also attempts to make connectionswith users on a broader urban scale. Starting with its formal disposition, the LivingMarket is meant to soften the edge of Israel Plads facing Fredriksborggade, the busieststreet adjacent to the site, and invite pedestrians in to the space. At the same time, a mirroringof this condition is necessary at the opposite end of the site along Vendersgade anda need to respect the existing building on the northern corner of the site means that a moreor less hard edge must be kept along that axis. The triangular form, then, evolves fromthe necessary conditions of the site. The motif is then carried from the building to the sitecomponents, informing elements such as the paving which continues on to the street and ismeant to blur the edges of the site and extend the extents of the plaza.On top of the market are a number of both covered and open garden spaces. These aremeant to be available to the shopkeepers of the market to grow their own produce as wellas the the general public as garden plots. Enveloping the entire mass is a planted facade.

Studenterhuset — translated literally to “student house” — is a bar/coffee house and general all around cool place to hang out owned and operated by Copenhagen University (Københavns Universitet). Although it is situated in a very commercial area of downtown Copenhagen, Studenterhuset had been receiving many noise complaints because of the large number of people who would smoke outside and therefore needed a space for its patrons to smoke that wasn’t directly on the street. The competition, then, was to design a covered space that would fit within their very narrow (approx. 6m wide) and provide not only a sheltered, heated space for smokers but also the possibility to have an outdoor bar area, seating for a proposed concert stage and flexible seating areas for the courtyard in general. Our project attempted to address all these issues in one over-arching design structure. Moreover, our design aimed to add additional value to the space by introducing the possibility of an additional stage area and integrated seating. Click on the PDF link below to read more about the project.

This project was done in conjunction with Matt Kingstreet, half of the team behind Jearded Besus.

Click above to view the PDF submittal.

The form came from an investigation of pedestrian traffic trends in the area and formal investigations into the idea of “meta-balls”. The round skin became a sort shell meant to encompass and protect the bathhouse. Apertures on the skin were created with two functions in mind; that of creating a gradation of light from a darker, narrower entry to a large, light filled main space and that of not letting the space become too vulnerable to solar gains. For the latter, an Ecotect analysis of the solar gain of the skin directly translated into the different size apertures of the skin via a Grasshopper definition. Within the space the program is laid out orthogonally to counter the circular plan and each element is contained within individual units meant to isolate and amplify the unique characteristics of each bathing space.

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