Permanent Interpretive Tribute
Pentagram, Abbott Miller
Position: Associate
Location: Washington, D.C.
THE KENNEDY CENTER
‘Art and Ideals: President John F. Kennedy’ is a permanent exhibit at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington, D.C. Located on the terrace level, the 7,500 sq. ft. former atrium space was renovated and repurposed to house the new exhibition, marking the culmination of the Center’s 50th anniversary season in 2022.
A LIVING MEMORIAL
Kennedy served just over 1,000 days as president, but during that short window, he left a lasting impact on American arts culture. When Kennedy took office in 1961, he was deeply committed to ensuring that a national cultural center be built. Following Kennedy’s assassination, Congress renamed the yet-to-open facility the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts. It was designated a ‘living memorial’ to honor Kennedy’s appreciation and promotion of the arts during his presidency.
COMMITMENT TO THE ARTS
As a ‘living memorial,’ the Kennedy Center actively seeks new ways to honor Kennedy’s legacy and celebrate his commitment to the arts. This exhibition establishes a permanent interpretive space at the Center that explores Kennedy’s personal connection with the performing and visual arts and shows visitors how Kennedy’s ideals relate to ongoing work at the Center.
THE POWER OF WORDS
The exhibit has four sections, each explaining the role art played in culture, democracy, social change, and the White House during Kennedy’s presidency. Kennedy’s eloquent writing and speeches amplify the themes of the exhibit through photographs, artifacts, and documentary footage.
A NEW ART FORM
Kennedy was widely considered to be the first president to understand and harness the power of television and mass media. Immersive media and digital technology was used to support the narrative of the exhibition and to augment the archival material and pop culture memorabilia. The exhibit features a dramatic architectural frieze of LEDs that allows visitors to vividly experience Kennedy’s oratory gifts through periodic ‘takeovers’ of the screens. At intervals, the gallery lights dim, and video or photo collages accompany voiceovers of some of Kennedy’s most famous remarks.
INTERACTIVES
A series of three interactive experiences were also developed: A large round dinner table nods to the fascinating figures the Kennedy’s invited to dine at the White House; visitors can snap a selfie and create an AI-generated portrait in the style of Elaine de Kooning’s presidential portrait; and as they walk in front of an expansive mirror, they are presented with a moving word cloud of Kennedy’s speeches, hearing his voice in archival excerpts.
COMMITMENT TO ACCESSIBILITY
The Kennedy Center has long championed the rights of people of all abilities to engage in and learn through the arts. The Center’s commitment to accessibility led to a broad approach to make the exhibit as inclusive as possible to the diverse audiences that visit. From the design of the physical elements (casework, lighting, materials, etc.), to alternative format resources (braille brochures, website, assistive listening systems, etc.), every aspect works together to create a holistic accessibility program.
EAST CONTENT ELEVATION
WEST CONTENT ELEVATION
MEDIA COVERAGE OF THE EXHIBIT
Classroom Renovation
Kennedy & Violich Architecture (KVA)
Position: Architectural Designer
Location: Cambridge, MA
EXISTING BUILDING
This renovation project transforms the top floor of a 1950s military training barracks to serve the teaching needs of the Department of East Asian Languages and Civilizations. Interventions in the existing building’s ridged 10 ft x 10 ft column and beam structure were made to maximize open spaces and bring in natural light. The design creates flexible language classrooms and a new social space for the department. The 18,000 sq. ft. project included providing elevator access to all floors, accessible bathrooms, and energy-efficient building systems.
CLASSROOM RECONFIGURATION
The existing building column grid is subdivided in a way that has produced poorly proportioned small classrooms and large classrooms with columns in the center of the space. The columns block students’ views of presentation walls from many of the classroom desks. Through space planning studies, in an effort to work with the existing structural system, a new floor plan configuration was created that reduces the overall area of obstructed views in every classroom.
FLEXIBLE TEACHING SPACES
The design provides more flexible classrooms to support traditional lecture courses, large group seminars, and small group discussions. Each classroom is designed as a flexible space, providing projection screens, whiteboards, and blackboards on three walls. With mobile furniture, lessons can quickly change from video-lectures to localized group collaboration.
LANGUAGE COMMONS
The re-configuration of the classrooms allowed for an open central common space partially enclosed with perforated partition walls. The space is filled with natural light from newly inserted skylights, helping to make it a comfortable and inviting space for students to study and collaborate between classes. High table work bars line the north hallway. Fitted with whiteboard surfaces and power outlets, the work bar is a great place for small group and individual studying. The Language Commons brings a new social space to a department that currently lacks communal areas.
PERFORATED ACOUSTIC WALLS
Custom acoustic walls line the perimeter of the Language Commons. They create a partial enclosure that gives definition and flexibility to the common space. The acoustic dots are a dark blue wool felt and vary in size between a 0.5 in and 2 in. The dots buffer sound, allowing collaborative and classroom spaces to coexist. The dot patterns are derived from a figural representation of a speech bubble, bringing a playful spirit and sense of identity for this academic department focused on language.
Installation on Detroit Renaissance
Alibi Studio, Catie Newell
Position: Designer
Location: Gare Saint Sauveur in Lille, France
METAL SCRAPPING
Scrap metal dealers have been part of the Detroit landscape for decades, recycling and rebending car metal during the once-thriving automobile industry. As the Motor City plunged into an economic downturn, leaving thousands of homes in disrepair, a new source for metal scrapping emerged. With global metal prices soaring, many jobless Detroiters turned to raiding empty buildings and scrapping metal as a new source of income.
Copper, a metal commonly used in wires, pipes, and other household fittings, holds high value, making it the king of metals among local scrappers in Detroit. Its widespread theft has brought great detriment to the city, leaving residents without power and streetlights. Contact with live wires can result in injuries or death, and getting caught can lead to a jail sentence. Although the hunt for copper comes with high risk, the rewards are even higher.
MATERIAL MANIPULATION
‘Dead Wire’ was a temporary spatial interpretation of copper scrapping in Detroit. The installation was an obsessive collection of copper wire made possible through theft. The copper wire has been scrapped, stripped, twisted, and hung to represent the electrical lines in the city. Appreciated solely for its monetary value in the scrapping industry, ‘Dead Wire’ emphasized copper’s physical composition. The metal is rich in color, glistens in the light, and has the ability to hold its shape when bent. Much like how scrapping altered the infrastructure of Detroit beyond repair, the copper wire was hyper-twisted and modified in such a way that its original physical form could not be brought back. Delicate yet aggressive, ‘Dead Wire’ exposed the tedious and detrimental nature of scrapping.
Environmental Branding Guidelines
Pentagram, Abbott Miller
Position: Designer
ENVIRONMENTAL BRANDING
Environmental branding extends the principles of a visual identity system from the print, digital, and advertising communications to the experiential realm of interiors, events, signage, and screen-based media. A visual identity system (typically comprised of a suite of marks and symbols, typefaces, colors, and compositional relationship) often needs to be adapted to the physical and spatial expression of a brand. There should be a strong connection between the visual identity and environmental interpretations.
GUIDELINES TOOLKIT
An environmental branding guidelines toolkit was created for American Express to establish general principles. It also incorporated specific recommendations for color, material, and recurrent strategies and motifs. The document was meant to be approached less as a catalogue of elements and more as a foundational document to guide and inspire the development of environmental expressions of the brand.
AMEX BRAND SPIRIT
American Express is a long-standing company with a well-established brand. The spirit of the American Express brand is modern, bold, classic, and confident. The brand’s expressive repertoire includes the iconic blue box logo, the powerful lettering of its wordmark, the beautiful intricacy of the ‘world service’ pattern, the friendly lilt of the ‘member since’ ribbon, and the powerful emblem of the centurion. The brand personality comes to life in the juxtaposition of this historic brand iconography with the contemporary spirit developed in the visual identity system.
MATERIAL QUALITIES
We started by creating a set of materials that could be the foundation of the American Express environmental brand. Since the brand colors cannot be perfectly translated into materials, it was important to look at many different materials and companies to find the ones that came closest to the brand and expanded on the visual identity system. The material and color specifications were then deployed in scenarios that show how the brand can be communicated through different qualities of environmental attributes such as color, textures, patterns, light, and materials. The scenarios show how a finite set of materials and brand elements can create a strong and diverse expression that conveys the strength and spirit of the American Express brand.
DESIGN PRINCIPLES
Design principles were established as reference points for American Express’ environmental brand. Spaces need to strike the right balance between invention and faithfulness to the brand. Taking too little interpretive license can result in overly similar environments, while too much creative license can lose the connection to the spirit of the brand. These principles establish a conceptual baseline for design.
BRAND EXPRESSION
The environmental expression of the American Express brand should follow the general traits expressed in the visual identity program. Its principle tenets are clarity, strength, simplicity, and elegance. The brand iconography provides a diverse set of tools that can be deployed in different combinations, materials, and scales to respond to varied conditions. A range of expressions were developed for each brand element. The applications range from ‘core,’ for corporate and consumer contexts, to ‘flexible,’ for entertainment or sporting events. This ensures a liveliness of expression that avoids rigid, ‘cookie-cutter’ environments, and allows designers and planners to interpret the brand in ways that acknowledge different needs and goals in place making.
SPATIAL TYPOLOGIES
The spatial typologies of American Express range from offices and training facilities, to customer-facing lounges and storefronts, to sports and entertainment events. Because the spectrum of environments is so broad, there is an equally broad range of spatial typologies. A diagrammatic understanding of the spatial qualities helps to conceptualize possible approaches to environmental branding.
Planning Study & Building Renovation
Kennedy & Violich Architecture (KVA)
Position: Architectural Designer
Location: Cambridge, MA
CHANGES OVER TIME
The Schlesinger Library building was constructed in the early 20th century and was originally home to the Radcliffe College Library. In 1967, after the library was moved to a new building, the existing building became a research library dedicated to the history of women in America, a special collections library within the Harvard University Library system. The Library’s archives and collections are housed within the building and put on display in a gallery space open to the public.
ADAPTING TO MODERN NEEDS
Over the years, the Library has been used more densely to meet the needs of a modern special collections library. Large and small renovations have accrued incrementally and contribute to the significant changes in spatial and historical qualities from the original building interior. The challenge of the project was to restore some of the original character while simultaneously adhering to the contemporary building code and functional needs.
ARCHITECTURAL ANALYSIS
While many aspects of the Library’s public programs have changed throughout its history of alterations, the existing floor plans reveal a spatial ‘DNA’ that remains legible and embedded in the bones of the building. The original relationship between the building’s space and structure helped inform the space planning process. Where possible, the building’s spatial organization complements the building’s original long axis.
SPACE PLANNING STUDIES
As part of the planning phase of the project, research was done to better understand the existing program, circulation, staff interactions, public movement, and material flow within the building. Diagrams were then created to illustrate the use, equipment, and material flow of each department. A deeper understanding of each department led to key discoveries: Certain program adjacencies could improve circulation and material flow; duplicate resources could be shared to maximize space; and reconfiguring office layouts could optimize workflow.
INTERNAL CORE REWORK
We proposed a reworking of the core based upon an understanding of the existing spatial ‘DNA’ and current building infrastructure. The core footprint has grown to over 40% of its original size. The dimensions of corridors and spaces around the elevator have been significantly reduced, which in turn has impacted the efficiency of material flows and public/staff circulation. Changing the core area would help unlock spaces within the building, improve the spatial experience of working in the library, and create much-needed usable square footage on each floor plate. The internal core rework scheme used a new elevator and a compact fire stair. The reworking of the core frees up space on each level totaling 1,035 sq. ft. of gained program space.
THE POORVU GALLERY
The Lia Gellen Poorvu Gallery is the public face of the archive and its gallery space is suited to display both original physical artifacts and digital media. The design incorporated the gallery infrastructure into a flexible ceiling system, which freed up the walls and floor for a more changeable exhibition area. A curved ceiling covers the main body of the gallery space. The system is designed to disguise track lighting, sprinklers, AV support, power, and data feeds. This ceiling system helps connect the reception desk and entry area to the rest of the gallery space.
GALLERY ‘TOOL BOX’
The gallery ‘tool box’ is a free-floating enclosure which contains support infrastructure including display cases, movable walls, and AV equipment. The south face of the ‘tool box’ is an important display and projection surface for exhibits.
CLASSROOM
The addition of a classroom and learning space was identified early on in the planning space stage to continue the sharing, education, and reproduction of the Library’s archival materials. The goal of the classroom was to create a space where manuscripts can be enlarged for group analysis, rough on-the-spot digitization, and a small area for materials to be stored for seminar classes.
Temporary Suspended Installation
Alibi Studio, Catie Newell
Position: Project Manager
Location: Maspeth, NY
BEAUX ARTS BALL
The Architectural League of New York’s Beaux Arts Ball event traditionally celebrates a space of architectural grandeur through the insertion of temporary installations. For the 2015 Ball, the League invited three design teams to consider the theme of ‘Threshold’ in site-specific installations at the Knockdown Center, a former door frame factory turned into an artist/performance space in Queens.
THRESHOLD
‘Double Hung’ was a suspended aggregation system with script-like modules which hooked together to form longer lengths that drew throughout the space. Allowing both occupation and passage, the ephemeral threshold was constructed by assembling various couplings of nine different aluminum pieces. With an ease of assembly and the help of gravity, ‘Double Hung’ elegantly filled the space with intricate line work and minimal material.
Housing Project
University of Michigan, Systems Studio
Instructor: Matias del Campo
Collaborators: Tyler Smith & Maria Sturchio
Site: Vienna, Austria
BIOLOGICAL REPLICATION
‘Porous Folds’ investigates the use of an organizational technique that replicates biological colonies to speculate on natural behaviors such as repetition, variation, and density in housing. This project explores the spatial and aesthetic possibilities of using a single geometric component developed through morphological transformations. The component is multiplied fourfold to generate a secondary component ‘pod’ which comprises the basic living unit. This unit can subsequently aggregate in order to accommodate several different living arrangements.
CROSSBRED EXPRESSION
Situated across from the St. Stephen’s Cathedral, the housing project is geographically linked to historical Viennese architecture. The biological processes were crossbred with Baroque sensibilities to produce a system for living with possible connections to the roots of Viennese Gothic. Formal obsession and interest in digital fabrication ultimately creates a contemporary expression.
Featured on ‘Cloudz Watching’ design blog
CURVED FOLDING
The formal logic of the pod design was driven by the concept of curved folding. Unlike traditional paper folding with straight creases, curved folding uses curved creases to create continuously smooth surfaces. Once the system of folding was initiated, explorations and investigations using paper models led to a highly iterative process of formal operations driven by an intrinsic relationship to materiality. The technique utilized simple folded forms to create geometrically complex surfaces. Inspired by research of RoboFold, each pod is constructed out of two uniquely cut planar pieces of sheet metal and assembled using the technology of folding metal with robots.
SYSTEM FOR LIVING
The 4m x 9m x 3m pods have rotational symmetry around a central circulation core. Different pod cluster configurations allow for various living arrangements, ranging from a studio apartment to single-family occupancy units. The regularity of the pod is broken by periodic mutations to create more unique living situations that fulfill specific functional and programmatic requirements.
STRUCTURAL SYSTEM
Designed to exploit the properties of the planar material, the pod component utilizes the inherent structural capacities of folded sheet metal. Structural stability is primarily created through tension from the limited number of curved creases. A secondary structural system was created to stabilize the aggregated pods and support the entire building. This structural system grew out of the same curved folding logic as the pod component.
Permanent Exhibition Wall
Pentagram, Abbott Miller
Position: Project Manager
Location: Newark, NJ
COMPANY FOUNDING
Our team was tasked with designing a permanent display for Audible, provider of audiobooks and spoken word audio content, for their new headquarters located in a Newark, New Jersey renovated cathedral. The display occupies a 30 ft wall that spans three stories in the center of the new office space near the main entrance. The wall tells the company’s founding and history using video, audio, and three dimensional artifacts in celebration of its 25th anniversary.
TELLING THE STORY
The feature wall incorporates an inset vertical video installation that tells Audible’s history and displays statistics through dynamic animations and bold graphics. Flanked on either side of the multimedia are lightboxes with face-mounted dimensional quotes about the company’s founding ideals.
The lower portion of the wall tells a more detailed story about the evolution of the company. The left built-in niche includes two 32 inch canted monitors that evoke a book and feature edited footage of the founder. The right niche holds a display case with a chronological timeline using flat graphics and mounted objects.
In front of the wall is a freestanding case that shows the development of the Audible Mobile Player, the device jump started the company’s success.
CONSTRUCTION SEQUENCE
The majority of the exhibit was developed after the renovation was under construction, creating unique challenges that informed how the project was executed for completion when the building opened. To support the added elements, structural plywood had to be layered onto the already-completed base wall. Built by the exhibit fabricators completely offsite, the sub-frame was sent to the construction team for installation. We included supporting blocks with the sub-frame to ensure accurate positioning before the drywall was installed, painted, and finished. The final exhibit elements were then brought to the site and mounted to complete the exhibition wall.
CONTENT DEVELOPMENT
Developing the display required striking a balance between storytelling and compelling visuals. The process was in close collaboration with the curator to determine the story that needed to be told and what to show to support that content. The display uses two separate approaches. The upper portion of the wall is bold to catch the attention of visitors, but not distracting to employees working nearby. The lower portion of the wall and the freestanding case is meant to allow individuals to dive deeper into the content through artifacts and images.
Signage & Wayfinding System
Pentagram, Abbott Miller
Position: Project Manager
Location: Cambridge, MA
GRAPHIC STANDARDS
This project required translating the system-wide MIT Libraries Graphic Identity Standards into a signage and wayfinding system for the newly renovated Hayden Library located on the MIT campus in Cambridge, Massachusetts. In collaborating with KVA, the architects for the renovation, the goal of the project was to create consistency with the MIT library guidelines while also working with the architecture of the renovated space.
TYPES OF SPACES
By thinking through the different types of spaces and their uses, we were able to identify the private, semi-private, and public spaces throughout the Library. The Library includes private offices and administrative spaces that students will not typically need to go to. Semi-private areas are where librarians are available to meet with students and researchers during scheduled appointments. The Library’s public spaces are destinations that need identification signage like the cafe so people know where it is. Other public spaces, such as meeting rooms and classrooms, don’t need to be highly visible, but they do need clear wayfinding.
NAVIGATION
A major goal of the project was making the content experts more available to researchers. How students and researchers find content experts, schedule appointments, and meet with librarians was an important sequence that the signage needed to support and reinforce. We thought about the sequence as a series of paths. Starting with the main entrance, getting users from the Information Desk (where they might make appointments) to the Consultation Suite was a critical part of the wayfinding system that was developed.
It was noted early in the project that MIT students really don’t like to ask for help. By understanding the types of spaces in the library and focusing on key circulation paths, we were able to create an inclusive and accessible signage and wayfinding system that helped break down that stigma.
SIGN LOCATION PLANS
UNIVERSAL SYMBOLS
The use of symbols was a key element for ESL members and is an important component of universal language and communication. When they existed, MIT standard symbols were used. In instances where they did not exist, icons or graphics were created for all of the key locations.
LEGIBILITY & ACCESSIBILITY
Dark gray type on a white background or white type on a dark gray background was used to ensure strong contrast and a high level of readability. Vertically oriented type was avoided because horizontal words are more legible, even when smaller in scale. Mixed case, rather than all caps, is both more readable and consistent with the text cases on campus. The signage needed to work with the architecture while also maintaining a scale that was legible and easy to read from a distance.
Interactive Exhibit & Working Lab
Pentagram, Abbott Miller
Position: Exhibition Designer
Location: Chicago, IL
CENTER FOR DECISION RESEARCH
Mindworks: The Science of Thinking, presented by the Center for Decision Research at the University of Chicago Booth School of Business, is a discovery center and working lab dedicated to behavioral science. Our team developed a playful and engaging experience design for Mindworks that immerses visitors in an interactive exhibit space that both introduces the concepts of behavioral science and produces quality research. Mindworks is housed in the historic Railway Exchange Building, an architectural landmark on Michigan Avenue in the heart of Chicago’s cultural corridor.
INTERACTIVE DISCOVERY
Free and open to the public, Mindworks welcomes visitors to explore a series of interactive exhibits that translate the principles of behavioral science into dynamic hands-on experiences. The exhibit helps participants discover new truths about human judgement and decision-making. It also explains the kinds of predictable errors we all make and how to apply insights from behavioral science to avoid those errors.
DATA COLLECTION & ANALYSIS
Visitors are invited to participate and explore the theories, concepts, and factors behind the field through games, puzzles, infographics, and other activities. The interactives capture decision-making in process and allows empirical data collection and analysis. Participants simultaneously learn about human behavior while helping to advance the field of behavioral science.
PARTICIPATE IN RESEARCH
The 2,500 sq. ft. space encompasses both the interactive exhibition and PIMCO Decision Research Laboratories, a working lab that invites people to participate in academic studies designed by the scientists at the CDR. The challenge for the design team was integrating the exhibits within the context of a working lab with it’s own testing and interview rooms, which make up a majority of the space. The exhibition architecture was conceived as two volumes on either side of the space. The exhibition design uses the outer walls of these volumes as display surfaces.
WORKING LABORATORIES
The functionality of the lab inspired a workshop aesthetic, with pegboard used as the basis for a modular display system. This ‘kit of parts’ ties into the user experience, with the lo-fi look helping to make the complex concepts behind the experiments more accessible and tangible in a real-world context. The removable infrastructure supports the collection of valuable research data and physical data visualizations and can be easily updated with new exhibits and information.
Monument to Self-Cultivation
University of Michigan, Proposition Studio
Instructors: Clement Blanchet & Dan McTavish
Collaborators: Sidney Migoski & Danielle Tellez
Site: Nanterre, France
LA DEFENSE
Throughout history, La Defense, the central business district of Paris, has continuously re-evaluated its identity in relation to changing ideas of modernity. Originally intended to be an area of separate towers for living and working with a liberated ground plane for the cultivation of the self, the plan was not realized and La Defense grew into a business district exclusively for work isolated from the rest of the city. This project attempts to recover modernity by reappropriating some of the ideals of the original plan with separate zones for living, working, transportation, and self-cultivation in response to the spatial conditions in Nanterre, a western suburb of Paris.
HISTORICAL CONTEXT
The historical condition of Paris operates as a homogeneous mass that sets up a clear relationship with the Axe Historique, a boulevard that runs through Paris. The axis creates a void which organizes the dense city. In La Defense, the axis becomes more ambiguous with the addition of an elevated deck. Today, within the existing fabric of Nanterre, the axis is not a powerful mechanism of organization. ‘Axial Density’ proposes to continue the existing organizational axis into Nanterre with a linear building, thus establishing its importance in a historical context.
A MONUMENT
‘Axial Density’ is a monument in alignment with numerous other monuments situated along the Axe Historique. The project is a proposal for a new monument typology. The linear mass is a monumental space to be used by the people rather than a traditional monumental statue.
Presented project to EPADESA (Etablissement public d’amenagement de la Defense Seine Arche)
SPATIAL PLANNING STRATEGY
The supportive and anticipatory move connects the disparate neighborhoods of Nanterre by creating a spine for future development and giving the area a relationship with historic Paris. In order to anticipate planned residential development and to contrast with the existing central business district of Paris, the proposed building claims the axis as a space for self-cultivation. Just as cities develop business districts to compete globally, this project proposes the need for a leisure district to break the live-work cycle.
JUXTAPOSING PROGRAM
Various leisure activities were analyzed and grouped into three types: culture, recreation, and refuge. Each activity was mapped on a diagram based on the range of people participating, approximate time of day, and typical durations. The diagram was then used as a tool for configuring programs along the axis.
BOOLEAN OPERATIONS
The axis has a thickness and creates space for the proposed linear mass. A series of boolean operations, informed by the current conditions of Nanterre, were used to carve spaces out of the mass to create openings for connections to planned areas of development. The linear building responds to existing programs and is intended to create a delirious experience for users through the juxtaposition of radically different leisure activities.
LOUVRE TO LOUVRE
A vacant factory in Nanterre is proposed to become a large art museum similar to the Louvre. A physical connection is made between the ‘new Louvre’ and the axis, creating a bridge between the art museum to shopping areas and recreational facilities. The hub of leisure space is meant to counterbalance the Louvre in historical Paris and support the neighboring area planned for housing development.
CIVIQUE PROMENADE
In May 1968, Nanterre was the location of large demonstrations and strikes by students and laborers. The protests included communal public events. The Prefecture des Hauts-de-Seine, an administrative building in Nanterre, is connected by a promenade to the Nelson Mandela Plaza. The plaza, along with the surrounding market and lecture hall, is located on the site of the historic French strikes. Together with the promenade, these spaces provide an area for public gatherings and events.
PLACE DE LA CULTURE
A newly completed sports facility in Nanterre shares a physical boundary with the Axe Historique. An outdoor plaza in front of the stadium acts as a zone for relieving large crowds after a sporting event. This area becomes the location for temporary leisure activities in response to the transient population. A library, a theater, and restaurants surrounding the plaza, help disperse crowds after an event and allow for cultural and refuge activities that contrast with the large sports stadium.
Speculative Demolition Process
University of Michigan, Master’s Thesis
Instructor: Catie Newell
Site: Detroit, MI
TAKING BUILDINGS DOWN
Oftentimes, focus is placed on the design, construction, and operation of buildings, with little to no attention paid to the slow degradation or full removal of structures. To better understand the full life cycle of our built environment, this thesis project investigates the tension between the natural decay of components and materials over time and the code requirements of buildings through a speculative demolition process.
NATURAL DECAY
Over the past several decades, Detroit, known for its once-thriving automobile industry, has experienced a population decline and vast amounts of residential abandonment. Without people to maintain houses, they start to fall into disrepair. Over the span of just a few years, the neglected houses inevitably start to deteriorate.
DETROIT BUILDING MAINTENANCE REGULATIONS
Despite a functional lifespan, once a house becomes vacant, the built materials of the structure must continue to fulfill building regulations under Detroit Property Maintenance Code, Section 9-1-113.
Awarded honorable mention in Storefront for Art and Architecture ‘Taking Buildings Down’ Competition
MINIMUM REQUIREMENTS FOR VACANT BUILDINGS AND STRUCTURES
As a way to study and understand the regulations for vacant buildings, an object was created that fulfills the minimum code requirements for vacant structures under Detroit property ordinances.
BUILDING DEMOLITION
If a home is vacant for five consecutive years and not maintained to code, the structure is considered a blighted property. The building has deteriorated to the point where restoration is unreasonable. Blighted properties are highly susceptible to demolition by neglect, arson, and scrapping, and are doomed to complete destruction.
DUSTIFICATION PROCESS
A new speculative demolition technique, demolition by dustification, was created to re-imagine the future of building materials in vacant structures using aspects of existing removal techniques. Demolition by dustification is the pulverization of a bulk material to reduce the component to its smallest particulates of matter.
The demolition technique starts within the interior of the structure. This allows for complete containment of the demolition inside the shell of the building and fulfillment of exterior maintenance requirements. Once the last layer of the facade is removed, the entire house is reduced to a single pile of dust. Through accelerated degradation, dustification juxtaposes material permanence on the exterior and compositional impermanence on the interior.
DUSTIFIED BUILDING COMPONENTS
Each element of a 1,500 sq. ft. three-bedroom house was drawn and calculated for its volume as compacted particles. This allows for a spatial comparison of each building component as typically perceived and post-dustification. Reorganized into piles by material type, the dustification process disconnects the original functional value of the component and deepens the awareness of material properties.
SPATIAL RECONFIGURATION
The demolition by dustification process physically expands and compacts building materials as dust particles producing new spatial realities from an obsolete structure. The fantastical re-imaging of a vacant house from a simulated demolition technique is a speculative scenario in reaction to the inevitability of obsolescence in architecture. Deepening our awareness of the constant evolution of our built environment and harnessing its potential could be the key to transforming its occurrence from detriment to opportunity in the future of our cities.
Interactive Digital Art Installation
Studio Ijeoma, Ekene Ijeoma
Position: Fabrication Assistant
Location: Panorama Music Festival
THE LAB
‘The Lab’ was a showcase of New York-based digital artists at the Panorama Music Festival on Randall’s Island Park. With a total of six interactive installations combining technology, music, art, and design, the fully immersive exhibition produced a experiential digital playground for festival-goers.
CLOSING THE CIRCUIT
‘Heartfelt,’ one of the installations in 2017, comprised a total of 37 vertical metal poles arranged into two concentric heart shapes. Each pole contained a tube LED light. When a person held two poles, they became a human conductor and closed the circuit, illuminating the now-connected poles. The cluster of poles enabled participants to move through the installation to discover different ways to close the circuits.
SHARED EXPERIENCE
Participants began to discover more interesting ways to light up the installation, such as by holding hands or creating indirect links. ‘Heartfelt’ relied on these ‘hand-to-hand’ connections made between people at music festivals to create the experience. The visual result instilled a sensation of unity.
ONSITE ASSEMBLY
Signage & Environmental Graphics
Pentagram, Abbott Miller
Position: Designer
Location: Washington, DC
Signage, Wayfinding & Environmental Graphics
Pentagram, Abbott Miller
Position: Project Manager
Location: Washington, DC
