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2025 Study Architecture Student Showcase - Part VIII

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A city’s infrastructure has a large impact on its community. Part VIII of the 2025 Study Architecture Student Showcase features projects that reimagine infrastructure in innovative ways. With interconnectedness at the forefront, these designs re-envision highways, commuter routes, and hybrid energy sources. Each project presents a design solution that increases accessibility, promotes connection, and makes a positive difference in its respective community. 

Scroll down for a closer look at these outstanding projects!

ARC HORIZON: Anchoring Humankind’s Future in the Orbital Era by Travis Colton Taylor, B.Arch ’25
Woodbury University | Advisor: Gerard Smulevich

“Arc Horizon” is an architectural redefinition of urban fabric in response to climate change, resource scarcity, and technological evolution. Faced with desertification, migration, and the weaknesses in traditional cities, humanity shifts toward vertical urbanism and orbital expansion. Anchor site mega-structures and orbital cities form a new interconnected system, enabling rewilding on the surface, autonomous mobility, and off-world industry. This three-dimensional urban fabric transcends terrestrial limits, catalyzing a regenerative, symbiotic relationship with the planet. As the orbital economy supplants geopolitics, humanity transitions to an interplanetary species, one that thrives across Earth and orbit, united through innovation and stewardship of the planet.

This project received the Architecture Degree Project Design Excellence Award.

UNRAVEL & REWEAVE: I-794 AS MILWAUKEE’S URBAN GREEN SPINE by Sean Thiel, B.S. in Architecture ‘25
University of Virginia | Advisor: Mona El Khafif

Milwaukee’s downtown and its surrounding neighborhoods have long been divided by the I‑794 freeway spur– an aging band of concrete built in the 1960s and ‘70s that now requires immense repair costs, poses a multitude of safety hazards, and leaves vast amounts of underused land in one of Wisconsin’s most valuable urban districts. Rather than viewing the freeway simply as an obstacle, it can be reimagined as a spine around which an integrated, multi‑modal network of streets, pathways, programs, and parks can emerge and flourish, connecting the North and South on a higher level, and connecting the waterfronts that the site lies between.

Scaling back access for automobiles— removing the “spaghetti” of on‑ and off‑ramps and consolidating access eastward at the Lake Interchange —reveals hundreds of thousands of square feet for housing and commercial development, a central greenway, and pedestrian-centric infrastructure. This new land emerges as the city’s connective tissue, linking important spaces of recreation and forming a new neighborhood to stitch together the central business district of Juneau Town and the Third Ward.   

Rather than a simple removal, a negotiated balance preserves critical commuter routes that aren’t supported by the current transit system while converting a majority of the former freeway footprint into a continuous open space connecting the greenspaces of the Milwaukee Riverfront to the state and county parks on the Shores of Lake Michigan. Housing, shops, cafés, and cultural venues step down to human scale at street level; the space beneath the elevated roadways becomes reclaimed for the city and bridges the gap between the freeway spur and the neighborhoods it divides. These new buildings integrate parking garages that are directly accessible from the I-794 overpass, allowing vehicles to enter and exit without encroaching on street-level activity. This approach helps relegate car traffic away from pedestrian spaces, promoting a vibrant street life and encouraging ‘park-and-walk’ rather than driving directly to one’s destination. Transit stops and bike hubs nestle at key intersections, linking bus and rail lines to pedestrian pathways that flow seamlessly into adjacent neighborhoods.

This symbiosis stitches together the city’s disconnected urban grid, transforming the concrete barriers into green corridors and crafting connectivity between people, place, and nature. Instead of a unimodal freeway, I‑794 becomes an interconnected downtown system where pedestrian mobility, outdoor recreation, and a new community thrive.

Instagram: @sean.thiel, @smt_arch, @monaelkhafif

Energy Networks: Stitching Infrastructure through Land & Water by Neha Mudu & Sarvesh Joshi, M.Arch ’25
New York Institute of Technology | Advisors: Marcella Del Signore & Evan Shieh

[This] proposal envisions a renewable energy power plant designed to act as a resilient backup system for Rio de Janeiro’s industrial zones, addressing the city’s recurring power outages while supporting long-term sustainable urban development. The design responds not only to the functional need for energy resilience but also to the environmental and social challenges faced by rapidly urbanizing coastal cities.

At the heart of the project is a hybrid energy infrastructure that integrates four key renewable sources — hydroelectric, geothermal, solar, and wind. These systems are carefully sited and layered across the landscape, forming a continuous network that blends with both the urban and natural context. The infrastructure is not hidden away, but exposed and celebrated, functioning as both a power-generating engine and a public experience.

A central feature of the project is a spine-like elevated pedestrian walkway. This linear path connects the energy-producing nodes across the site, guiding movement and interaction while educating the public about sustainable energy systems. The walkway is embedded with piezoelectric panels that convert foot traffic into electricity, symbolizing how everyday public activity can contribute to a collective energy future.

Along this spine, key programmatic zones unfold — including educational centres, community spaces, research pods, and waterfront public areas. The project becomes more than a utility; it transforms into a civic landscape where infrastructure, technology, and people converge.

By treating renewable energy infrastructure as a public asset, this proposal aims to blur the boundaries between utility and urban experience. It supports energy independence, encourages public engagement, and creates a resilient framework that can adapt to future environmental and social needs.

This project was featured in the NYC X DESIGN Presentation Showcase.

Instagram: @nehamudu, @sarveshjoshi2697, @ev07, @marcelladelsi

ELEVATE: Rethinking Urban Mobility Infrastructure by  Luke Stefanchik, B.Arch ’25
New York Institute of Technology | Advisor: Farzana Gandhi

Cities around the world are removing or decking over their highways in favor of linear parks and boulevards. Is this enough to repair decades of damage caused by highways and car-centric infrastructure? We need to develop a new typology that weaves public transit with community services and adaptive reuse, and bridges the divide created by highways. New public transit projects in NYC and innovations in architecture and infrastructure provide an opportunity to rethink the city’s existing transit corridors. [This project redevelops] the intersection of the sunken Brooklyn-Queens Expressway with the elevated Hell Gate rail bridge along Astoria Boulevard between Steinway Street and 43rd Street in Queens. This is a densely-populated and diverse area that lacks recreation and community spaces, and was split in half by the highway. 

Right now, two different projects plan to make use of the railway — Metro-North’s Penn Station Access and MTA’s Interborough Express — which is currently only used by Amtrak and freight trains. Merging these projects creates an opportunity to develop this new typology. I am proposing to add two bus rapid transit lanes to the BQE for the M60 bus to LaGuardia Airport. At street level, the expressway will be decked over to create a park with exhibition and performance spaces for local artists. A section of the bridge will be torn down and rebuilt with modern, lightweight materials to support a new train station for the Metro-North, Amtrak, and Interborough Express. The space under the bridge will house prefabricated, modular workshops for local artisans to create and sell their work. Sustainable aspects incorporated into the project include hanging vegetation, solar canopies, and retrofitted shipping containers in the park. This hub will bridge the divide created by the expressway and serve as a catalyst for future transit design.

Click here to learn more. 

This project received the Dean’s Award for Excellence in Architecture and was featured during the 2025 NYIT Symposium of University Research and Creative Expression (SOURCE) and the 2025 NYCxDesign Festival.

Instagram: @luke.js, @fg_architecture

The SVX Pavilion: EL Salvador At Expo 2030 by Elaine Bonilla-Villatoro, B.Sc. in Architecture ’25
University of the District of Columbia | Advisor: Golnar Ahmadi

The SVX Pavilion, designed for Expo 2030 in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, symbolizes El Salvador’s bold leap into a digital and sustainable future. Rooted in an expressive steel structure, the pavilion expresses a national identity through architectural elements, merging cultural roots with the country’s adoption of Bitcoin as a legal tender, which makes it the first nation to do so.

Inspired by the Ceiba tree, the pavilion features branching rolled steel columns that rise continuously from the ground floor to the roof and support a canopy and the glazed roof, which allows the spaces to be filtered with desert light. These structural columns shape the main circulation spaces and frame key exhibition zones while representing strength and interconnectedness, a metaphor for El Salvador’s digital network. A golden perforated panel facade references blockchain technology’s traditional craft and digital mesh, creating a visual connection between the past and future.

At its core, the SVX Pavilion includes the Bitcoin Lounge and Innovation Hub, with holographic displays representing El Salvador’s digital economy. These spaces offer a platform for education, interaction, and diplomacy while inviting global visitors to reflect on how emerging technologies shape sovereign futures and redefine national narratives.

Surrounding the pavilion, the “Digital Forest Garden” combines native Salvadoran plants that can adapt to Riyadh’s desert climate. This makes the futuristic structure belong in nature and promotes ecological resilience. The landscape is a metaphor for sustainable adaptation and a thermal buffer that enhances passive climate control.

Steel is not only the structural core of the SVX Pavilion but also a symbol of strength, modularity, and meaningful possibilities. Its use enables rapid fabrication and bold sculptural identity, which supports the project’s narrative of innovation and transformation. The SVX Pavilion is more than a national exhibition. It is a statement of El Salvador’s emerging role in the global dialogue on technology and sovereignty.

Instagram: @golnarahmadi

Stay tuned for Part IX!

2025 Study Architecture Student Showcase - Part VI

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Today’s installment of the 2025 Student Showcase highlights projects with a focus on landscape and agriculture. Part VI features student work that takes place in diverse settings, including New Mexico, Brazil, Chile, Alaska, and more. Each project utilizes architecture as a tool to promote sustainability, social equity, and community resilience. 

Scroll down for a closer look at these outstanding student projects!

The Agrarian City by Aneesha Muthuraj & Rajni Kathiriya, M.Arch ‘25
New York Institute of Technology | Advisors: Marcella del Signore & Evan Shieh

In a time when urban centers face growing food insecurity and rural traditions risk being forgotten, architecture has the potential to bridge the gap between cultural heritage and contemporary urban challenges. 

This project began with two key questions: 

  • How can architecture reconnect Brazil’s deep agrarian identity with its current urban food insecurity?
  • And how can we transform abandoned structures into systems that grow food, share knowledge, and empower local communities?

 From these questions, “The Agrarian City” was born, a design framework that proposes scaffolding systems and modular toolkit insertions to retrofit unused buildings into vertical teaching farms. These structures not only produce food but also serve as platforms for education, skill-building, and community gathering. 

Our pilot site in São Cristóvão, Rio de Janeiro, is rooted in the principles of adaptive reuse, seasonal crop planning, and integrated spatial systems that blur the lines between agriculture, learning, and public life. By treating architecture as an evolving, regenerative system rather than a static form, the project aims to demonstrate how the built environment can support ecological restoration, food justice, and social empowerment. At its core, The Agrarian City is about growing, reusing, and educating, rethinking the role of architecture as a living system that cultivates resilience and belonging within the urban fabric.

Instagram: @aneesha_muthuraj, @ev07, @marcelladelsi

Nuclear Landscapes of New Mexico by Amanda Champion, Master of Landscape Architecture (MLA)’25
University of New Mexico | Advisors: Catherine Page Harris, Chris Wilson, Nora Wendl & Dr. Myrriah Gomez

Champion (MLA 2025) investigated Acid Canyon, Los Alamos, NM, through her master’s project, making visible water moving plutonium through public recreational landscapes into the Rio Grande. Champion wrote, “The landscapes of nuclear sites, both historic and contemporary, are designed spaces that tell specific stories about the societies we live in. Whether highly visible industrial infrastructure or naturalistic spaces touched by the invisible yet toxic hand of radiation, these landscapes are woven into the fabric of the New Mexican landscape … Many of these landscapes are unknown due to the intentional secrecy of the federal government around the nuclear weapons industry.”

This project received a master’s distinction.

Instagram: @a_man_dog, @cph_landart

Roots and Rails by Alyssa Ascani, Naomi Metzger & Siraphat Sukarom, M.Arch ’25
New York Institute of Technology | Advisors: Marcella Del Signore & Evan Shieh

“Roots and Rails” is a design thesis focused on reimagining food distribution infrastructure in Brazil at a micro scale, specifically in the São Cristóvão neighborhood of Rio de Janeiro. The project addresses issues of food insecurity, infrastructure inequality, and community disconnection, proposing a local food network.

Brazil is a major exporter of agricultural goods, but simultaneously imports rising amounts of processed food. In neighborhoods like São Cristóvão, this results in food deserts and traffic congestion from export-driven transport. Mapping studies revealed that large portions of the population live beyond walkable distances to grocery stores, especially in dense areas like favelas.    

Our solution transforms underutilized land and divides urban infrastructure, specifically the railway corridor, into a linear public food system. We identified three vacant or unproductive sites along the railway and connected them with a continuous “spine” built above the tracks. This elevated path hosts production, consumption, exchange, and celebration programs, forming the core of a new community-based food network.

The spine includes community gardens, open markets, dining areas, and public spaces. It is accessible via existing pedestrian bridges and integrates with surrounding neighborhoods, connecting local businesses, bars, restaurants, and homes. The spine’s design allows programs to “bleed” into adjacent areas, transitioning from large-scale infrastructure to neighborhood-scale interventions.

Gardens are divided into private, communal, and market plots, with varied sizes to serve individuals, families, and elders. These plots supply fresh produce to local vendors and cafes located along the spine, and excess goods can be distributed via the adjacent railway. Additional elements include amphitheaters, educational classrooms, seed exchange hubs, and compost stations.

A management team oversees garden plot rentals, market operations, and waste management. Organic waste is collected, composted, and returned as fertilizer, creating a sustainable loop that reduces pollution and supports local agriculture.

Roots and Rails reclaim neglected infrastructure to serve the local community, transforming a divisive element of the city into a unifying, productive space. The project not only tackles food insecurity but also fosters local economies, environmental sustainability, and community resilience through thoughtful urban design

Instagram: @ascaniarchitecture, @naomilewinter, @pattapsp, @ev07, @marcelladelsi

Reimagining Concon Estuary: Reclaiming Concon With Community-Led Catalysts by Mutita (Maeve) Ouk, Vicky Sindac Gomez, Daisy Castro & Qingyi (Eva) Gan, M.S. Architecture and Urban Design (MSAUD) ’25
Columbia University | Advisors: Kate Orff, Geeta Mehta, Sebastian Delpino, Gabriel Vergara, Emanuel Admassu & Lucas Coelho Netto

What if the Concon Estuary and the surrounding wetland ecosystem were restored to enhance the well-being of local flora, fauna, and community?

The Concon Estuary, located in the coastal region of Valparaiso, Chile, is a vital transitional zone between the Aconcagua River and the Pacific Ocean. It boasts rich biodiversity and a dynamic landscape that constantly changes throughout the days, seasons, and years– where river meanders, ocean tides fluctuate, sediment flows, and birds are free to come and go. However, human activities, including urban development, pollution from the ENAP oil refinery, the Asfalcom cement factory, sand mining, waste dumping, and unregulated recreational activities, have placed significant pressure on the ecosystem. This constant resource extraction and exploitation has led to more frequent and intense storm surges, increased flood risks due to rising sea levels, habitat loss, saltwater intrusion, shifting river course, and unregulated activities. 

ENAP, the primary polluter, contributes little to the local economy. Locals rely on small businesses along the beach that are poorly constructed and are exposed to flood risks due to the abrupt transition between the coastline and the urban area. Given Chile’s policy goals of replacing fossil fuels with renewable energy and the risk of sea level rise, we envision a future where ENAP is gradually phased out, paving the way for sustainable energy sources. Throughout this transition, the existing industrial structures and operations will be integrated into the design process to mitigate pollution and environmental impacts. Additionally, sand mining will be banned to facilitate the regeneration of the wetland ecosystem and restore its natural space. This will also create new job opportunities, supporting a more resilient and sustainable way of life for the community.

Click here to learn more.

Instagram: @mutita.ouk.arch, @vsg.arch, @dyc_urbdesign, @gsapp_aud, @mehtageeta999, @gabrielvergarag, @sdelpino_arq, @eadmassu, @lucascoelhonetto

Mount Baker Urban Farm [CLT Cannibalism Studio] by David Oluwamayowa Asokeji, M.Arch ’25
University of Washington | Advisor: Susan Jones

“Mount Baker’s Urban Farm” is a transformative community-based project that confronts food insecurity and economic disinvestment in Seattle’s Black and African American neighborhoods. Designed as a local response to systemic inequities in food access, the project reimagines urban agriculture as both a cultural anchor and a platform for environmental resilience.

At its heart is the Cassava plant—an essential staple crop widely used across West Africa, Southeast Asia, and South America. Known for its versatility and low-waste processing, cassava becomes both the functional and symbolic backbone of the farm. The crop supports not only flour-based food production but also textile, paper, and material research initiatives, making it a dynamic resource for community-building and circular design.

This urban farm integrates a greenhouse, processing plant, teaching kitchen, community food bank, textile fabrication studio, and a public-facing retail space. Together, these programs create a closed-loop system of cultivation, education, and empowerment. The design fosters hands-on learning through cooking classes and sustainable farming workshops, while simultaneously supporting food relief through onsite distribution.

An open-air courtyard anchors the project, acting as a communal gathering space and visible nexus of exchange. Here, architecture supports transparency, wellness, and social cohesion—inviting the public into the often-hidden processes of food production and collective stewardship.

More than just a farm, Mount Baker’s Urban Farm positions architecture as a tool for social equity, ecological intelligence, and economic resilience. It exemplifies how built environments can honor cultural heritage, activate underutilized spaces, and nourish both people and place.

Click here to learn more.

Instagram: @davidasokeji_0, @dbaarchitecture, @atelierjones

Equinox House: Contextual Materiality of a Residence by Austin Small, B.S. in Architecture ’25
University of Virginia | Advisor: Peter Waldman

Rabbit Lake, southeast of Anchorage, Alaska, is a peacefully calm, yet brutally intense landscape tucked into a corner of the Chugach Mountains. Reaching the lake involves a two-mile hike from the nearest road access point after driving 10 miles out of the city. Sitting higher than the alpine line, roughly 3200ft above sea level, the lake and its surrounding mountains are void of trees; the shores instead are dotted with shrubs and littered with rocks that have been shed in avalanches over the years. 

One half of the project sits atop a bluff on the western bank, bridging a creek fed by the lake: this is the summer house. Across the lake, directly to its east and braced into the mountain behind, lies the opposing winter house. The two dwellings are connected by their compass alignment and the journey made between them; one that the project proposes is initiated by the solar path on both the vernal and autumnal equinoxes. With one window in both structures directly facing the other, the sunrise and sunset on the equinoxes act as a seasonal sundial, initiating the changeover journey between winter and summer. 

A more immediate indication of movement, the long covered bridge of the summer dwelling is a kinetic structure proposing a blend of interior and exterior. The glass walls on each side of the bridge are designed to rotate and open upward, transforming the span into a livable breezeway. While the Western dwelling is light, breathable, and tectonic, the Eastern house is a burly cave in contrast. Made from the stone found on site, [its] thick walls and a centrally located hearth offer protection and comfort from the sub-zero temperatures of the winter months. The protective western wall guards the structure from harsh winds coming off the lake, while the clerestories of the saw-toothed roof take in as much of the minimal daylight as possible and offer views of the “Aurora Borealis” in the northern night sky.

In an attempt to design a house precisely unique to its setting, this project proposes a response both to the seasonally extreme nature of Rabbit Lake and to the traditional Alaskan lifestyle, a way of living that is intrinsically exterior. The proposal imagines a cast of characters: a nomadic countryman with a possible family, living off the land and lake as much as possible, and maintaining the dwellings in a simple and slow lifestyle by returning to nature. As a result of the drastic seasonal differences in both light and temperature, the project splits the home into two respective dwellings, living not only on the site but with the site; allowing the landscape, and interaction thereof, to complete the proposed design.

This project received the Highest Honors for the 2025 Fourth Year Thesis at the UVA School of Architecture.

Stay tuned for Part VII!

2024 Study Architecture Student Showcase - Part IV

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Infrastructure is the central theme covered in Part IV of the 2024 Study Architecture Student Showcase. Defined as “the facilities and systems that serve a community,” infrastructure can range from public transportation to roadways.

Today’s featured projects look at existing infrastructure and use design solutions to improve conditions. Examples include creating opportunities for connection between surrounding areas, reimaging exclusionary foundations to support upward mobility, developing comprehensive building codes, and promoting sustainability.

Suburbia As the Anti-Society: Why We Need a Suburban Architectural Rebellion by Megan Kaminski, M. Arch ‘24
Lawrence Technological University | Advisor: Scott Shall

There needs to be a Suburban Rebellion in architecture. Suburbs were originally built for a white middle class and continue to be built for a white middle class, even as suburbs begin to change and evolve socioeconomically. The conditions of which are a prevailing continuation of a dependency on automobiles, zoning, and infrastructure that becomes dangerous limitations as the flow of suburban sprawl moves income and investment farther and farther away, causing an equal sprawl of suburban decay in its wake.

Existing suburbs should be reimagined by reusing decaying or underused conditions by the community, in spite of harmful regulations that have been institutionalized since the 1950s, to rewrite them.

To investigate this, I propose to design a methodology for how future suburbs can be designed by people/the community as well as detailing how existing conditions can be reused in order to achieve this.

Instagram: @scott_shall

Post-Infrastructure: Structure as Site by Hilal Kobrosly, B. Arch ’24
American University of Beirut | Advisors: Carla Aramouny & Sinan Hassan

The concept behind this project is an exploration of how infrastructure, in this case, the columns of the Mdayrej bridge, can undergo a profound transformation, transcending their utilitarian purpose to become integral elements in a new architectural narrative. By interweaving a performance hall and a hotel into the existing columns, this endeavor challenges conventional notions of these structures as purely functional, highlighting their potential as generators of space and meaning.

The project’s design engages with the history of architectural evolution, drawing inspiration from the Cordoba Mosque’s expansion stages. Much like how the mosque’s structure evolved over time while maintaining its essence, this project seeks to evolve the bridge’s columns, blurring the lines between pre-existing and newly constructed elements. This approach introduces a sense of continuity and harmony to the site, where the boundaries between old and new become indistinct.

As one enters the parking area, the experience unfolds progressively. The scale shift from the vast field of columns to the more confined performance hall is reminiscent of a journey through architectural time and space. It is as if one is moving through layers of history and design, gradually immersing themselves in the evolving narrative of the project.

In the context of the performance hall, the design draws inspiration from ancient Greek theaters, where integration with the natural landscape was paramount. Here, the topography lines of the site plan effortlessly lead to a niche beneath the eastern columns of the bridge, forming a natural amphitheater. 

The roof overhead serves as the only enclosure needed, allowing the audience to connect intimately with both the landscape and the columns. In this setting, the columns cease to be mere structural elements; they become performers themselves, adding a dynamic dimension to the grand hall’s ambiance.

Moving on to the hotel, it occupies a floating strip, gracefully positioned above the performance hall’s roof. Along the western columns of the bridge, the project’s field condition undergoes a transformation. 

The columns, now experienced at a more intimate scale, transcend their load-bearing role to become intricate surfaces. This shift in perspective challenges preconceived notions about the relationship between structure and space, highlighting how architecture can breathe new life into utilitarian elements.

Instagram: @ard_aub

Turnpike Beef by Ray Wincko, M. Arch ‘24
University of Florida | Advisors: Charlie Hailey & Bradley Walters

Turnpike Beef is a design project that synthesizes the inherent relationships amongst underlying infrastructural systems, the subliminal qualities of the banal, and a bucolic Floridian landscape. Florida is notorious for fantastical manufactured environments like the neon nightmares of Miami or the fabricated magical kingdoms of Orlando. Turnpike Beef suggests that the systems of infrastructure that stitch these urban centers hold a more accurate perspective of what this landscape beholds. Arguably the most overlooked component of infrastructure that, in its absence and introduction, has contributed to the development of Florida is the fence.

Through the analysis and invigoration of the fence, Turnpike Beef aims to envision how “fence” as an architectural tool can catalyze and shift the manner in which citizens perceive and interact with infrastructure, banal space, and the in-between of the Florida landscape. Once the idea of the fence surpasses its normally understood role of line and boundary, it acquires a greater set of roles as a spatial mediator, raconteur, and witness to the environment. The fence is most often interacted with while traversing between destinations at high speeds which demands a regional scale of response. Along with a regional response, a more impactful aspect of infrastructural interaction is that in a time of intimate and reflective pause or rather, rest.

In search of tying narrative and conditional threads between infrastructural landscape and seemingly regular program, this study proposes a set of interventions that utilize the “fence” as a tool for synthesizing and charging spatial, political, and cultural relationships. The intervention, programmatically, is a reinterpretation of a contemporary staple of American travel, the rest stop. A  generally disregarded, temporal experience along our routes, the rest stops of Florida’s state highway system are designed to operate as efficient exchanges of north and south-bound travelers with little regard for its infrastructural context or the often-enriched historical landscape that surrounds them. Through ceremonial defecation, boiled peanuts, trucker showers, and billboard propaganda, this project connects the individual with infrastructural traces and the forgotten celebration of the subsided program.

Instagram: @charlie.hailey, @r_winky

Central EJE de Movilidad Turística Tequisquiapan by Axel Josua Nogales Bernal, B. Arch ’24
Universidad Anáhuac Querétaro | Advisor: Jorge Javier

This project was born as an integral mobility strategy for the state of Querétaro, as well as from the need to connect the city of Tequisquiapan with the rest of the magical towns in the region.

The proposal is inserted in the periphery of the urban area, in order to integrate different local transports and make it easier to move around.

The building, a structural integration of uniform columns that link the large concrete roof through subtle arches, divides the public part from the private part, expanding the uses, in order to have internal plazas and open spaces and thus achieve a great amplitude for the transit and boarding of the bus users.

This project won the 2024 AIA Triangle Student Design Award.

Instagram: @axelnogales, @ajnb_arq, @arqwave, @arquitectura_anahuac

Exclusionary Infrastructure & Displacement: A Study on Architectural Mobility by Elisa Castañeda & Luke Murray, B. Arch ’24
Mississippi State University | Advisors: Jassen Callender, David Perkes, Mark Vaughan & Aaron White

Jackson, Mississippi, is a unique place, the capital of the most low-income state in the Nation, the Blackest major city in the United States per capita, and a city whose history is translated through its infrastructure and built landscape. While the implementation of policies and regulations are directly in view as forms of disenfranchisement in marginalized communities, public infrastructure, urban planning, and the built environment are not often recognized as forms of regulation. The placement of highways, railroads, walls, and more, have had profound effects on the organization of different racial demographic groups within the city of Jackson – these patterns are still pervasive today.

The above implicates exclusionary infrastructure, defined here as the placement and construction of built works that hinder accessibility between communities, resulting in systemic disinvestment and social plight. 

This proposal aims to examine how these factors – and their historical, social, and political contexts – have resulted in inequity at multiple scales. And furthermore, leverage that research to better understand how architecture can be a form of liberation rather than control in a city and a state that fails to reconcile under the weight of its own history.

What follows, is our research and conclusions on how architectural design skills can be used to illustrate how we might begin to break down exclusionary infrastructure and create collective autonomies over spaces that may seem divisive. To argue that physical divides can become points for connection. 

Through this analysis, we were able to identify what public infrastructure in the built environment had the most negative impacts within the Jackson community. Out of this came the Illinois Central Railroad as the site for a theoretical design intervention. In many instances, the track represents a literal earthen wall through the city that separates lower-income black communities from more fluent white-centric communities. The mission of the design intervention is to provide spaces to connect, while also contributing to social mobility among local stakeholders. This brought about a new re-imagining and reinvention of how we perceive train tracks as an occupyable space. One with broad reach and the ability to adjust to changing needs, both in programming and location.

This project won the CDFL Capstone Studio Travel Award.

Instagram: @elisa_castaneda, @chimichurrimurray, @jassencallender

Emerging Connections: Renetworking Formal and Informal Public Space by Hoi Ting Chan & Nicole Giella, M. Arch ’24
New York Institute of Technology | Advisors: Marcella Del Signore & Evan Shieh

“Emerging Connections: Renetworking Formal and Informal Public Space” focuses on adaptive reuse to revitalize mono-use infrastructure and reclaim underutilized public spaces in São Cristóvão, Rio de Janeiro. The project aims to enhance the local social infrastructure by extending its reach and promoting both formal and informal community interactions. A detailed analysis of the neighborhood’s existing connectivity and functional drivers informed the creation of a spatial matrix that seamlessly integrates current conditions with new opportunities for social engagement. In line with Rio’s goal of zero transport emissions by 2050, the design prioritizes pedestrian-friendly environments, reducing dependence on private vehicles.

The chosen site is characterized by intersecting boundaries, including a canal, a ground highway, an elevated highway, and the adjacent underutilized land. The intervention is executed in three phases: Phase One transforms ground-level highway lanes next to the canal into a pedestrian-friendly urban park, making the canal a central public space. Phase Two introduces a new community center on the adjacent underutilized land, enhancing local social infrastructure. Phase Three converts the elevated highway into a dynamic network for social exchange, with spaces dedicated to educational activities and formal gatherings.

Nodes play a critical role in the design, shaping areas for both formal and informal social activities. At the highway level, formal nodes, including a library, café, and lecture hall, are accessed through various paths to provide distinct user experiences. On the ground level, informal nodes are strategically placed around and above the canal, integrated with pedestrian pathways. Informal nodes accommodate street vendors, crucial to Rio’s vibrant social fabric, offering adaptable spaces that support formal events and accommodate temporary uses.

Resiliency measures include expanding the canal’s edges to prevent flooding and incorporating green infrastructure to improve air quality and address climate change. These interventions make São Cristóvão’s limited green space, previously dominated by a single park, more accessible. By focusing on implementing these strategies at the city’s boundary intersections, the project enables multi-directional and multi-level growth, enhancing public social interactions, and elevating the quality of life for Rio’s residents.

Instagram: @ngiella_, @virginiacht, @marcelladelsi, @ev07

Beyond Disaster Relief by Jean-Paul Abi Awad, M. Arch ’24
Boston Architectural College | Advisors: Ian F. Taberner, AIA & Asli Baran

This thesis explores how architects respond to disasters by designing urban spaces and architecture. The thesis has two perspectives: the immediate response to crises, which involves the design of temporary shelters and essential infrastructure, and future-proofing designs to prepare for potential crises by incorporating resilience, flexibility, and adaptability. 

The thesis aims to demonstrate architecture’s role in responding to and mitigating the effects of crises and how designers can create more resilient and adaptive spaces for the future.

The project aims to create a center to study and address the root causes of crises, develop comprehensive building codes and regulations, and conduct research. The project will engage with various stakeholders to promote collaboration and coordination in addressing crises and will be a hub for knowledge sharing and collaboration in the region.

This project received the M. Arch Thesis Commends.

Connecting Assets: towards an integrated city by foot. by Shreya Sanghvi & Tanaya Gawade, MS. Architecture in Urban Design ’24
New York Institute of Technology | Advisors: Jeannette Sordi & Jeffrey Raven

The São Cristóvão neighbourhood, often seen as an isolated island due to its perceived disconnection from surrounding areas, is on the brink of transformation. Our vision is to redefine this area, overcoming its barriers and enhancing connectivity to key landmarks like the market, bio park, and harbour. This initiative presents a unique opportunity for São Cristóvão to become a beacon of sustainable urban development, influencing the design of city blocks, open spaces, transit systems, and bicycle networks, thus revitalizing the entire region. Central to this strategy is the implementation of a major pedestrian-friendly system. Dismantling the invisible barriers that fragment the neighbourhood requires establishing a porous pedestrian network. This network will enable the seamless movement of people and facilities, fostering integration and accessibility throughout the area. By prioritizing walkable infrastructure, such as lively streets, plazas, neighbourhood parks, and green spaces, we can ensure safe and convenient passage between the neighbourhood and the harbour.

Moreover, innovative elements like elevated walkways and bridges will provide new dimensions of connectivity, further integrating São Cristóvão with its surroundings. The inclusion of blue and green infrastructure is pivotal, as it not only enhances connectivity but also addresses pressing climate issues. Green corridors and water management systems will create a resilient and inviting environment for residents and commuters alike.

Our strategy aims to breathe new life into São Cristóvão, making it a model of urban revitalization. By prioritizing pedestrian mobility and sustainability, we can transform this neighbourhood into a vibrant, interconnected community. This approach will not only improve the quality of life for current residents but also attract new visitors and businesses, driving economic growth and fostering a sense of community pride. Together, we can turn São Cristóvão into a thriving urban oasis, leading the way in sustainable urban development.

This project won the Black Spectacles, Spectacular Studio Awards, 2024

Instagram: @_shreya_sanghvi, @tana_yeahhh, @jeffrey.raven, @jeannettesordi

TerraCrux by Joseph Kim, B. Arch ’24
University of Southern California | Advisor: Eric Haas

The ceaseless interplay between human and natural forces focuses on the errors of our inventions and reminds us of nature’s everlasting presence. However, our efforts have left divisions in its realm, forcing the equilibrium to kneel to our errors. As our infrastructure falters, we will ensure that natural pathways resurface, interweaving with the very essence of our dominion. With the passage of time, aided by us, nature will thread through our past errors, restoring balance through its own fruition. Within the I-5 and CA-14 corridors, an error reveals an opportunity. This space will not only establish a new pathway but also create a sanctuary for wildlife.

Tapestry of tomorrow: weaving culture, commerce and community by Anushka Naik & Manogna Sai Padi, Ms. Architecture in Urban Design ’24
New York Institute of Technology | Advisors: Jeannette Sordi & Jeffrey Raven

In the bustling heart of Rio de Janeiro lies São Cristóvão, an industrial zone awaiting transformation into a sustainable, mixed-use area by 2050 through our visionary project, “TAPESTRY OF TOMORROW”. This endeavor aims to seamlessly integrate industrial and residential spaces, enhancing accessibility, connectivity, and harmony within the community.

Our approach prioritizes sustainability, considering the long-term impacts on environmental conservation, economic prosperity, social equity, and urban well-being. To realize our vision, we meticulously analyze the site, dividing it into a grid to address challenges such as flooding, waste management, and heat stress. This granular examination allows us to tailor solutions that ensure neighborhood resilience and sustainability. Our design serves as a versatile blueprint, capable of adapting to diverse urban problems in São Cristóvão and beyond. By understanding each location’s unique characteristics and issues, our strategies can be scaled and transferred, contributing to broader sustainable urban development initiatives.

It emphasizes green infrastructure, renewable energy sources, and mixed-use development to create a resilient urban environment. Incorporating elements like green roofs, rain gardens, and permeable pavements enables effective stormwater management and reduces urban heat island effects. The utilization of solar and wind power, coupled with energy-efficient building systems, underscores our commitment to sustainability. Additionally, our project fosters community engagement and economic growth through carefully designed public spaces and innovation hubs.

Furthermore, “TAPESTRY OF TOMORROW” celebrates São Cristóvão’s rich cultural heritage, blending history with modernity. By preserving the area’s cultural identity while embracing innovative design and technology, we aim to create a vibrant neighborhood that honors its past and embraces a sustainable future. This project epitomizes a holistic approach to urban revitalization, weaving a tapestry of sustainable, innovative, and culturally vibrant communities for generations to come.

Instagram: @anushkanaik12, @manogna_s_padi, @jeffrey.raven, @jeannettesordi

Stay tuned for Part V!

Study Architecture Student Showcase - Part IX

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Welcome back to Part IX of the Study Architecture Student Showcase! This week we focus on production systems in the built environment and how architects can reimagine those infrastructure systems to improve not just our economy but also the climate crisis. As we consider how to improve our rail systems, meet a nationwide housing demand and address the issues globalization has created around the globe, this week’s contributors shed light on solutions and areas that need our attention.

Incase you missed past installments, check out Part I, Part II, Part III, Part IV, Part V, Part VI, Part VII and Part VIII.

Post-Industrial Landscapes: Amplifying Existing Food Systems in Chicago’s Chinatown by Juanita Li, M.Arch ’22
University of Maryland | Advisor: Brittany Williams

Cities have long grappled with how to feed their populations. Globalization allowed cities to supply food and grow beyond ecological limits. During Industrialization, global networks expanded in capacity with the advent of rail, eroding a city’s tie to surrounding agricultural land. Rail was the genesis of Chicago’s expansion into a major urban center. When the rail system was elevated, rail lines and yards spanning many city blocks scarred and carved the city. One neighborhood bounded and constrained by active and remnant rail structures is Chinatown.

This project proposes a contextual response for a productive, post-industrial urban site, drawn from an historical review of Chicago’s rail history, Chinatown’s identity, and a typological food system analysis. Food is central to Chinatown’s identity as a destination, since food generates economic activity as a raw and crafted, cultural good. The neighborhood is food rich despite high poverty rates. Chinatown’s immediate spatial context is constrained by active rail lines, idle container yards, and major expressways, obstructing neighborhood growth.

An idled rail container storage yard severs Chinatown. Extending for over 3 city blocks within Chinatown, this 18-foot-high concrete embankment sees active commuter rail activity. The low-rise residential area to the east has no visibility of the low- and mid-rise mixed-use area to the west. Viaducts through the embankment are 445 ft long tunnels, creating a further spatial separation. The challenging edge and tunnel conditions emphasize the spatial separation and require design solutions that soften and blur the division. The proportions of the site do not suggest that a rails-to-trails proposal is a viable solution.

Extending Chinatown’s robust food system becomes an opportunity to amplify the existing conditions, provide needed green space and economic opportunities, and create additional points of connection for the neighborhood outside of its boundaries. An 18-foot-high concrete, idled rail container yard spanning three-and-a-half city blocks is transformed into a place where Chinese food culture cultivates community and connection through its craft and consumption. The solution preserves the industrial and cultural identity of the site, maintains active rail, and can serve as a model for a diverse urban food system at multiple scales.

A Fabrication Process: Form from Assembly and Material Culture by Erin M. Paul, M.Arch ’22
Hampton University | Advisor: Carmina Sanchez-del-Valle & Marci Turner

If we put aside building types and formal styles, to consider the material culture and the ways in which we make, we will encounter forms that break with the traditional. Those that we impose now respond to a perception of a world preserved by rules that maintain a kind of aesthetic stasis. In architecture, designing for the materials and for construction, will deliver forms that will be more representative of who we are, than if we work by imposing them. Materials, ways of building, and the conditions of the digital can generate new forms.

This research is driven by the exploration of form through small scale physical models. The study models varied depending on the size of the base used to generate form – the site. Forms were also determined by the dimensions and qualities of modeling materials and their joints.

The research plan consisted of three phases. The first “Methods of Building” explored the structure for form. 2D and 3D grids and meshes were used to define boundaries. The second “Material Value” investigated shaping materials using gravity, applied loads, tension and compression, in both wet and dry conditions. The third “Contextual Domains” transposed a selection of the physical forms created into the digital adding scale and mass, and defining architectural components.

The design research made it possible to “see” gaps found in the representation of building components and their assembly into wholes. We make intricate drawings and struggle to translate them into the buildable. There is a disconnection between what we illustrate, and what is actually built. The research made tangible that what seems as very simple physical form, when transposed into the digital, becomes extremely complex and geometrized. Also, new forms appear. Building “know how” connects assembly possibilities to material potential. Form is always affected by the qualities of material.

SNAP! homes by Simon Needham, B.Arch ’22
University of Cincinnati | Advisor: Whitney Hamaker

SNAP! homes reimagines the Case Study house as a catalogue of precast modular systems of home components that ship on-site in addition to a mobile pod system which snaps to host structures and moves among sites. 3 options are given, allowing for a range of lifestyle choices for the consumer at varying scales. The whole proposal is streamlined with a website that users can order their home from.

The H-01 and H-02 homes are constructed from multiple precast concrete modules sandwiching a layer of insulation. Each module encases a programmatic element that the user may purchase or omit from their home. After the modules are chosen, users may swap the layout orientation of the modules, creating customized living spaces tailored to the user’s preference. Once the modules are chosen, the user picks the interior partition wall colors, adding another layer to the customization of the home. After the home is ordered, it is trucked to site and assembled quickly, as all of the interior elements have already been installed. The H-01 and H-02 homes range from just over 400 sq. ft. up to 1750 sq. ft.

The P-01 option from the SNAP! homes catalogue is the host module and mobile pod. The host module is again formed from precast concrete modules. This will contain the necessities for living (not found in the mobile pod) such as access to water, electric, bathrooms, a kitchen, and living area. This structure gives the ability for 6 pods to be hosted at once by easily snapping them into place. The mobile pod contains the user’s sleep and work spaces with ample personal storage in the thick wall. The exterior is clad in corrugated metal, while the interior walls contain CNC-milled sanded plywood panels that aid in dampening sound from the exterior. This allows for a peaceful interior as a quiet space is necessary for work sessions and sleeping. With the mobile pod, the user may choose to move their pod to a new host location as they please, not getting tied down to the same scenery or setting.

Instagram: @needham_arch, @daapsaid

Make Fashion Make Sense by Adriana G. González, B.Arch ’22
Pontifical Catholic University of Puerto Rico | Advisor: Pedro A. Rosario and Juan Emmanuelli

Fast fashion consumption has led to companies making new items more frequently, which has proven to lead to a higher percentage of discarded clothes accumulated in landfills, making the fashion industry the second largest polluter in the world. The approach of the industry to today’s increasing amount of consumption has weakened its own sustainability.

Therefore, the goal was to create a production network through a program that covers all the stages of the life of a garment (from design, to fabrication, to retail, to recycling the materials, and so on). This way, a circular cycle is created to reduce the costs of importation, and the amount of waste generated, to promote local sustainable clothing, and to enable accessibility to all spectrums of consumers.

The project, located along New York’s Garment District, consists of eight floors that showcase each phase with framed extrusions that are visible from its exterior. Its visitors start the journey with a display area that demonstrates through art the reality of the fashion industry. A level dedicated to retail follows. The third floor has a double-height runway area, which is the main focus of the East elevation with its lit up space being front and center for the pedestrians to admire the show from afar. An open activity area on the fourth floor creates a transition between the public levels below and the private ones that commence from that point on. The fifth floor has the fabrication/manufacturing area with another double-height open space for the workers to be comfortable and receive a considerable amount of natural light. The remaining floors are used for research, processing, educational and administrative purposes. Transformed into an outdoor area, the roof includes extensive gardens and solar panels placed to create smaller roofed spaces at the top. Lastly, a perforated mesh envelope clothes the structure with a weaving-like pattern. With buildings like this, hopefully a safer and healthier setting is generated for the fashion industry to make sense.

EVERYDAYLAND: Living within Disney’s Chemical Spectacle by Rocio Crosetto Brizzio, M.Arch ’22
Columbia University | Advisor: Mark Wasiuta

Chemicals and spectacle are indivisible elements in Disney World. Despite the persistent image of “purity” and “cleanliness” that Disney projects, it depends on and adds to the chemical components that shape contemporary life. Disney is part of our chemical modernity.

So, what if instead of hiding its chemicals, we render them visible?
Then, what would it be like to actually live within Disney’s fireworks? To be consciously part of that chemical experience?

Everydayland is a housing project at the center of Magic Kingdom, at Disney World Florida. It is a tower for long-term life at the center of Disney’s entertainment.

Everydayland rearranges Disney’s fireworks, so that they become a crucial component of everyday life, and through this it exposes their chemical condition and its presence in our culture.

By associating the fireworks with the castle, Disney makes chemical entertainment a fantasy, like Tinkerbell’s magic dust. Everydayland Tower both allows Disney fans to live this fantasy by literally making the castle a home. But at the same time it also shifts the chemical dimension of the fireworks from the world of fantasy into the real world – so it provides a fantasy and “de-fantasizes” at the same time.

Everydayland is formed by 5 main elements:

1- The Castle is Everydayland’s Lobby.
2- The Roller Coaster is its Real Estate best-selling machine.
3- The Atrium is a high-rise attraction
4- The Facade is the new fireworks launching site
5- The Domestic Life is completely immersed in the fireworks’ spectacle.

Fireworks, chemical entertainment, toxicity, fantasies, utopias, dystopias, bodies and materials configure a complex network in which Everydayland emerges as a radical way of living that acknowledges that chemicals and toxicity are part of our life – and they keep us entertained.

The dream to live in “the happiest place on earth” is now possible. If fantasy becomes real, would it still be fantastic?

Instagram: @rocrosetto, @balsa.crosetto.piazzi

Grids as a foundation by Jing-Ying Su, M.Arch ’22
Cranbrook Academy of Art | Advisor: Gretchen Wilkins

The grids: a set of horizontal and vertical lines. “The Grid Book” tells the story of the evolution of each grid from the handmade brick through the ethereal Internet in the language of a generalist to modernist boxes of architecture. The persistence of grids demonstrates that once a grid is invented, it never disappears.

Grids are the foundation of our understanding. We identify things in the world by building a line between me and the object. When things start to get complicated, the grid becomes a network that recognizes myself and various objects. The moment people realize the existence of the grid triggers our desire to understand.

In my project, I built a subtle grid in nature. The grid system in nature is unimportant to the viewers, but the project questions this unimportance by constructing a subtle grid foundation to reveal the uncertain relationship between nature and human existence. During the observation, the viewers disassociate with themselves, wandering in the grids as the mediator to arise their awareness of the movement of shadows, the reflection of sunlight, and the sound of wind. We exist in that moment. The hereness.

Instagram: @su780213, @grtnwilkins

Laves Twist by Gelmira Gourgel, Peiyao Guo, Allissa Gonga, and Chase Gasser, B.Arch ’22
University of Cincinnati | Advisor: Christoph Klemmnt

The Laves Twist is a bipartite capstone project which explores and researches the possibilities of the grid-based design by computational algorithms and its prospects of allowing for the repetition of componential geometries. (I) Using the Plesiohedron Laves Grid, which is a cluster of the 17-sided module that by a 4-rotational gesture allows for its multiplication and growth in all 17 directions, creating infinite possibilities on its aggregational exercises. Further, through the voxelization of the Laves Grid, the Laves Twist was born. In which translates to the elaboration of a precast concrete component that was derived within the 17-sided module. As a result, the generation of the growing structure entity. (II) Thus, with this connection system created using the Laves grid technology, each team member was to proceed to the next part individually to explore this connection system within different architectural programmatic exercises. With the Laves Twist connection system + the problem of how to infer its application to different programs, algorithms were developed to explore the potential of the system in the creation of whole structures, façade systems, architecture interventions, and cite climatic impact. Opening thought for growing entities grid systems as a design architectural medium.

The Laves Twist team won the Director’s Choice Award at the University of Cincinnati School of Design, Architecture, Art, and Planning’s DAAPWorks 2022 showcase under the B.S. Architecture Group Project category (https://daapworks.uc.edu/2022/directors’-choice). It was also displayed in the Reed Gallery Director’s Choice Award 2022 Summer Exhibition. (more of the Laves Twist project in this video) https://youtu.be/OahLyaSw1Gw

Instagram: @gourartch, @chaseg25, @gpei.yao, @alissa_gonda, @orproject

Data, Interstellar & Romance / The BIO-TECH Facility in the Universe in 2069 by Man Shu, M.Arch ’22
Southern California Institute of Architecture | Advisor: Damjan Jovanovic

In 1969, humans landed on the moon for the first time. In 2069, humans established the first BIO-TECH facility that simulates the cosmos’s environment, preparing for their colonization of other planets in the universe. This BIO-TECH facility is no longer a conventional building on the earth. It is a scientific center for data collection, processing, and research. It is a process of translating data into cultural artifacts of architecture.

Scientists collected data on the earth and brought them to other planets, storing them in the innumerable Bio-Module units, which were densely distributed on the façade of the building. Data is of great importance for humans. It includes the entire history of human beings for richness, diversity, variety, and ability to express cultures, languages, places, times, customs, methods, processes, and every other element of our ecosystem and civilizations. The future of architecture is to give sensibility to a multitude of voices and data, often invisible or underrepresented and yet crucial for our global survival. These Bio-Module Units are also the decomposed structure of the double-layer enclosure, which are considered as shields to protect the interior living space from the harsh environment of other planets. Also, The program of a BIOTECH building will represent the interconnected interests of multiple stakeholders. As a building for research and laboratories, where individuals with similar infrastructural needs convene, it will be programmed as a negotiation place for various points of view.

We should consider what kind of habitat we want to live in on other planets in the future 2069. We no longer want to live in cold building machines which are everywhere on today’s earth. We are humans. We have hearts, alive hearts, beating hearts, warm hearts. We can feel the fragrance of flowers, the beauty of diamonds, and the coldness of stones and metals. Our hearts fear death and yearn for freedom, love, and romance. That’s what makes us different from machines, robots, AI, etc. Therefore, the future habitat on the other planets we will live in should be filled with emotion and romance instead of cold machines.

Instagram: @sookie_man_shu, @d4mjan

Stay tuned for next week’s Student Showcase series!